Our time at the Gap was dominated by two great activities; battles with the Arnolds and adventures in the local creek and dam. I am sure others will beat me to the stories of the Arnolds – Baskerville’s afternoon entertainment. This is the story of our white water rafting before the international sport had even been invented. I had a friend, Robert McMurdo, who was not supposed to be outdoors by his parent’s decree, but when at the Baskervilles, he was eager to discover all the adventure that he had missed in his early life and we were eager to help him. We had discovered a large swimming hole in the Enoggera Creek. During a dry spell, the local farmer had excavated a large section of the creek and installed a pump line into its deepest part. To service and monitor this line he had put a 4 man rowing boat into the pond. The thing leaked very badly so it only had a water life of 5 min before needing to be beached and emptied. The repairs we did helped, but it was only pine boards hammered down over the holes. By sitting in the front, we could lift the back clear of the water and get extended water time. It was all fun for a time, but eventually we needed a greater challenge. The opportunity came when the rains set in and the Enoggera Reservoir overflowed. This lifted the level of the creek, turning it from a quiet meandering stream into a mini Colorado, the only difference being that there were trees everywhere in the water course. Why should these be a hindrance to a great adventure. The creek was in full flood when Sam, Rob and I set off to explore the creek. On arrival we quickly spotted the boat struggling at its tether, and the thought crossed my mind immediately “let it go and watch ride the wild water”. The problem with this was it would shoot off down the creek and we would not see the drama unfold as it negotiated the creek rapids. So the obvious extension to this thought was “lets set the boat free and jump in”. It will be a journey into the unknown. We were wearing shorts, tee shirts and raincoats. The boat moved off slowly as it moved across the large pond towards the start of a kilometre of boiling white water charging over stones and boulders on its way down to calmer waters at School Road. We all moved to the front to keep the back end high and prolong our floatation. As we entered the jaws of the rapids I realised I had committed us to something that would be beyond my scope of experience or control. Hey, that’s when the adventure starts. The ride turned immediately from a controlled drift into a uncontrollable, bucking, twisting charge down the creek. The rapids were huge and we had no control in the nose. Water was coming in everywhere, we were sinking fast. Our redemption came every time we hit a submerged object, the boat would jolt to a stop for a moment and the momentum of the water in the boat would carry it out over the end and we would have flotation again, a self bailing process, well sort of. We had now successfully travelled 200m when we were channelled into a deep narrow chute of water. Once in it our speed increased, and then we saw it, a large tree right at the end of the chute with the water splitting each side. We hit it square in the middle with the blunt end. There was no jerk, stop or turn around, the tree just kept advancing towards us as our boat, plank by plank, turned into match-wood and disappeared into the water. And then it was our turn. The three of us were in the water, totally at the mercy of the water, boat all around us in a thousand pieces. I was just starting to work out the next plan when whack, whack, whack; the three of us were pinned on the three stranded barbed wire fence that was still in place across the creek. At least we had stopped and now we could work out a plan. We were all in raincoats which turned us into batman with his cape and the spread of the coats was pinning us so hard we could not move and the barbs were digging into our chests. We immediately began to push off the fence but every time we did the natural forces swept our feet under the fence and our heads were getting lower in the water. I think it was at this moment I started to worry about Sam. I told Rob to do all that he could to get onto the other side of the fence while I stayed with Sam. After 15 min of living every second as if it was your last, and realising that help must come shortly or else; Rob had achieved the impossible and was scratched and bleeding, but on the other side and moving back to us. Getting out of our raincoats was our salvation, this was done every so slowly with the constant force of water trying to drive us through the fence. The barbs in the arms and chest were just constant and accepted. After another painful 15 min, we were all on the other side of the fence and we made our way along the life rope (barbed wire fence) to safety. Bruised and bleeding we tidied ourselves up and set of for home with clear instructions, ..what ever happens Sam, don’t tell Mum.
