So I set off on my own to join Raging Thunder’s Xtreme Team of morning rafters on the Tully River. The guidebooks say that it’s the best guided rafting in Australia and possibly the southern hemisphere. They also all consistently said that the Xtreme tour was worth the extra few dollars as you are able to get ahead of the rest of the tour groups and get to participate in a few side activities. More on that later. Once again I was the token American, although there was a solo Canadian from Vancouver also on the Xtreme tour. I didn’t get the nationalities of the other two rafts but mine consisted of two Frenchmen, two Aussies, myself, and our guide, Mauricio, a self-proclaimed Patagonian. In my ignorance I don’t recall which part of South America that’s in, Chile or Argentina. Something to look up when I get home.
The bus ride out to the launching point was a trifle alarming. The guides put on a ruse about how they were the worst rafters and that’s why they were put in charge of the Xtreme team, because they were so bad (and dangerous). That’s fine, I can go for that kind of ghost story around the campfire stuff, but when they started talking about the saltwater crocodiles, I started to get some apprehension going. They pointed out the warning signs posted along the road warning about estuarine crocodiles being present and said that while they had only seen them a handful of times, they did seem attracted to the rafts and new exactly how to flip them over. Moreover, they didn’t have a plan on how to deal with them other than not to be the last person to shore. Ha. That’s a riot. Suddenly I was a little glad Kirsten was back at the hotel and I had to remind myself that if it was too dangerous, these guys wouldn’t be doing it.
I had been whitewater rafting before in Tennessee with my Dad and sister 14 years ago on the Ocoee River – the same river they used for the rafting competitions in the 1996 Olympics so naturally I would be comparing the two experiences. We got in our rafts and paddled around a bit and got familiar with Mauricio’s commands. Forward, Stop, Backpaddle were all pretty easy. We also mastered Hang On which meant grabbing the oh no ropes and ducking into the raft as well as the Jump Up and Down command which involved a lot of bouncing in place to get us over rocks that had beached us. The command instructing us to move around on the raft such as to the right or left or front or to squat down on the floor proved a little tougher but we managed.
Then we were off. The rapids came at a pretty relaxed pace with just a bit of paddling to get us into position for each one. The stretches in between were either placid pools or gentle rapids require no paddling. It was actually pretty relaxing compared to the furious paddling we were constantly doing on the Ocoee. It gave me ample time to enjoy the scenery. The river started out in a normal forest but descended into a rain forest. At times we were going through deep canyons that seemed to be hewn out of one solid black rock. I think I read somewhere that this was all basalt. Whatever kind of rock it was it was very impressive. The greenery was very pretty and impressive as it towered above us. We coasted along like this with a few points where the guides invited us to jump off boulders into deep pools and to shoot the rapids on our backs relying on our lifevests to keep us afloat. The first half concluded with a dip under a waterfall before we stopped for a hamburger and hot dog lunch on the banks. Australians like to eat their burgers with beets and carrots.
The second half of the day was similar to the first with the exception of a few water dragon sightings. They look like iguanas so anytime a city boy like myself sees a big ol lizard is pretty exciting! So it was a fun trip and the rain forest was stunning – even when it rained. All things considered though, I think I would have rather had a second day on the reef. Thankfully no crocodiles were seen.
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