The Local Adventures of Worleybird

Ok so here it is.  The infamous (read: a couple of people may have heard about it!) misadventure of the bobo!!! It took a while to get this report done as i’m waiting for some other pics (which i’ll get later) and also as the full story was only revealed once we went back to get the kayaks to see what went wrong!!

The basic story is that we were doing a creek that we haven’t done before (bobo gorge section) and so it took a while to get the car to the take out. We had to walk a couple of kms down to the river to see exactly where the take out was. We placed a bright pink towel on the river to signal the track and then headed to the put in.   We didn’t really get onto the river till about 10:30-11am and from the moment we got on I just had this feeling that I wanted to get to the bottom and go home.   I was worried about getting home late to Mel (who I had told we would be home before dark!).  But with the whole river ahead of us there was also a heap of anticipation for running a VERY hyped creek that’s been on my list since before I even started kayaking!!  The level was JUST above the min level for running the creek (.5m at frog hollow, which I would now argue is too low to be worth paddling!!).  There were a lot of rapids that were easy read and run and some fun rapids from the beginning but then there started to be a heap of rapids that were not big OR fun looking but we had to scrape down or portage because they were too rocky and/or dangerous.  Most of these rapids would be more runnable with more water but NOT that much more fun as there were a lot of straight forward rock bolder rapids.

Tom on one of the less rocky rapids.

The highlight, definitely, of the trip was a nice 25ish footer that was relatively straight forward and a nice aerated deep landing, which we all ran.

Kyle with a great line over the 25footer. He almost didn't get wet at the bottom!!

A highlight in a day of mediocrity.

As it got later and later we eventually got to a waterfall portage that corky had said was 2/3 of the way through the trip.  It was 5ish when we got there so we were hoping that the end was closer than a 1/3 away!!!  Fortunately it was!!  A bit before 6 we hit the junction with the Little nymboida river.

Sketchy portage around a sketchy waterfall!

This is where the maps show the track is about 500-1000m UPSTREAM of the junction. We had also been told by someone that it was just a quick paddle up the river to the take out. As we pushed up river we never came to anywhere that even looked similar to where we put the towel and no sign of it anywhere.

This is the point I realised my paddle was NOT in my boat and had to go back downstream about 200m to get it.

We kept pushing as it got darker and darker whilst constantly referencing the maps I had photographed on my camera, we were starting to get concerned about what was going on.  Either we had missed the track, overestimated how far we were traveling or the map wasn’t right (we had kinda dismissed this option as i’d referenced several maps including topo maps)!!

After traveling upstream in the dark for over half an hour we got to a larger waterfall that made us CERTAIN the track was NOT further upstream!!!  How could we have missed the track??? We had the towel signal out there and Tom and I both memorized what the surrounds looked like at the take out???

This is actually a picture of the waterfall!! I think!

This is essentially the same picture as above except with more generous lighting!!

We decided at this point to stash the boats and just try and make it out so we could get home (I was particularly worried about Mel not knowing what was happening and her having 6 week old James at home to look after!!)

We kept our paddles as walking sticks and some safety gear and dry bags. We left the boats at 8pm and walked downstream for a bit to make sure we had not gone past the track in the dark.  After this we decided to try and find the road up on the ridge of the valley so we then headed up hill, and by up i mean UP!!! VERY steep rainforest in pitch black. Interestingly there were luminescent fungi everywhere. Glowing blobs across the rainforest floor. It was kinda trippy (and we hadn’t even eaten any!!)

This was our impromptu torch for tom and kyle. Worked quite well. Couldn't have done what we did without it.

It took forever to climb as it was thick undergrowth and after a long day it was a strenuous task with ‘wait a whiles’ and other vines and spikey things everywhere!! At about 11:30pm and reaching a flat spot, in which it became really hard to navigate with no stars or moon to see and no slope to determine which way was up hill, and our impromptu camera torch batteries dead, we decided that we were going to have to stay the night (a very distressing thought of what Mels’ night would be like flashed constantly through my head!).

I had some dry matches with me and so we attempted to make a fire (A VERY hard thing to do in a rainforest!!!) You could actually squeeze water out of the leaf litter on the ground so finding dry kindling was hard work. We tried dryish leaves a few times but it didn’t work. The matches were old and only about 1/4 of them actually lit properly!! Once getting down to the last few matches I decided for a different tactic. I hunted around and found a few bunches of ‘old mans beard’ (lichen stuff that hangs from trees) which worked well but would go out once the match went out. Finally we were down to the LAST match!!!  (I know, it’s like a movie.  If this was on tv it would go to an ad just as I struck the last match!!  ”LOST- the bobo saga! will be back after these words from our sponsors!!”) I searched around for every bit of old mans beard i could find. I struck the match and it lit, I then lit the match box, which then burnt long enough to get the kindling lit properly and we franticly tended to the fires every need for the next hour, slowly building it into a nice size fire. I also had a folding prune saw in which we were able to cut larger wood which was priceless as we were able to stoke the fire up with logs to keep it going while we slept around it. It only required the odd replenishing every couple of hours.

For me it wasn’t that big a deal staying out overnight. i knew we were not in danger, but the night WAS TERRIBLE knowing that my wife was at home with a 6 week old baby having no idea what has happened  . I kept imagining what she’d be doing. How she’d be coping. Who she’s contacting. etc..

It was a mild night considering how cold it can get up there but i’m sure glad we had the fire otherwise it would have been a very long night. I ended up sleeping about 3 lots of 1.5 hours, which I thought was pretty good for sleeping on the rainforest floor with a dry bag for a pillow, only wearing our river gear (polypro top, spraytop, shorts, pfd, kayak deck and helmet and booties(all worn for entire time out) (‘mmmmmm 30 hour wet bootie feet!!’)

Once the morning came we ate some of our food whilst warming ourselves by the fire. We were undecided whether to keep heading for the road or head back down to the river where we could try and find the original take out as well as being in a place that people would look for us if they were. We decided to head for the river. We were sure we would be able to get to the car either way ourselves but at the time my main priority was that Mel know we were safe as soon as possible. This meant that if the search chopper came, I wanted to be seen!! As a last minute thought I suggested we throw a heap of greenery on the fire to pump a heap of smoke out just in case there’s someone looking. Literally 5 mins after doing so a helicopter flew straight over our heads!!! There’s absolutely no reason for a helicopter to be out there, in the middle of nowhere, on the easter weekend, other than to be searching for missing kayakers!!! I rushed with a space blanket (shiny, silver blanket) to a nearby clearing and the boys kept the smoke coming. It came so close we saw the westpac sign on the side and saw people inside!! But it seemed they did not see the smoke or us!! It kept flying around in circles working down to the river. We decided to pump the smoke out with a heap of leaves and then make the dash back to the river.

We’d only gone about 500m when the chopper started back up the hill. Tom rushed back to the clearing with the blanket but the chopper flew straight over and pretty fast. We figured at that speed it was leaving for coffs to refuel. We decided to make the dash down to the river and head downstream to try and find the track or get to the juntion (which is a large, clear, flat spot) and if the chopper came back it would see us. Otherwise we’d get ourselves out. The walk down was WAY easier than up, due both to the prevailing pull of gravity downwards as well as being able to see!!!. We got to the river and headed downstream. We walked about two kms downstream before hearing the helicopter again. Tom rushed out onto a clearing above one of the rapids in the middle of the river. The chopper flew around the corner heading straight for Tom and the shiny space blanket. Immediately they saw us and pulled up like a jockey pulling at the reins of a horse. They took a good look at us (i’d say counting heads), took some photos (I’d say for posterity sake, or maybe we just looked that interesting) then they went up and flew around in circles higher and higher around our spot (we found out later that this was to get high enough out of the valley to radio base and to burn off a heap of fuel as they had just refueled and won’t do winching with full tanks if they can help it). After about 15mins they got closer and closer and eventually (with much protesting by the nearby trees) they hovered right down and winched two paramedics down to the river bed. After some quick checking to make sure we were alright, kyle was chosen to go first with the crewman while we would wait with the paramedic while they flew them to Dorrigo. During this time we had a good chat to the medic and stashed our paddles and other gear we couldn’t take with us (this now meant our paddles were about 3km from our boats when we went to rescue them!!!!).

Tom and I were then winched up (I’m sure if I was injured and it was a more dangerous situation it would be different, but I can’t say that it wasn’t an interesting experience getting winched out of a river in a helicopter!!  ) once the chopper returned and we were off to dorrigo. We got a great view of some rivers we’ve done before and some we’d like to do as well as seeing the rescue heli crew doing their thing 1st hand!!!

The rest of the day gets a lot more mundane!! We got winched out at about 11am. It took us about 3 hours to finally get home after reaching dorrigo in the chopper. The local SES brang pies and drinks for the heli crew as well as us. We took some pics with the crew and chopper. We then went to SES base and waited for police to sign off the case and for SES to retrieve one of our cars so we could drive home.

It was great to see that Mel did exactly what she should have. She told the police the exact details or our trip (which I leave for her every time I go paddling) and when we were expected home. They then went and found our cars at 2am in the morning to confirm that we hadn’t made it off the river. They talked to my boss to ask whether i was the sort of person that would deliberately stay out all night to drink or take drugs etc, and I’m happy to say they said “no way”!! So after ensuring we were in fact missing they readied the chopper for the morning by which time my parents had driven up to coffs from forster and everyone’s family was informed and now extremely worried!!  I’m sure that this whole ordeal was FAR worse for those at home than for us three who actually slept out overnight!! All i ended up with was wet pruney feet from being in booties for over 24 hours (which I also pulled a MASSIVE leach out of), scratches from climbing through the bush in the dark, and I stopped counting the tiny ticks burrowed into my skin when I got to 80!!!

Now, What happened???
After talking to a few people who have done that creek several times, the take out is actually a few hundred metres DOWNSTREAM of the juntion with the little nymboida!!! This contradicts what the topo maps say and would only be confirmed once we got up to get our boats.

This, we finally did but not till our boats had been left in the bush for 3 weeks!  I’m glad no-one goes there often!!!

The salvage trip was almost as much of an adventure as the paddling trip.  We drove right down to the river on a very overgrown road (read: windy, steep, slippery walking track).

The track that would later exact it's revenge on the pajero.

We had armed ourselves with GPS locaters and a sat phone this time (it would look VERY bad form getting winched out of the same place twice in one month!!).  Once geared up with our river gear and a couple of inflatable riverboards, we headed up the river to see how far we’d gone wrong!!

Paddling upstream on the riverboards.

Well after 500m we confirmed that the maps were indeed wrong and that the take out was DOWNSTREAM of the bobo/little nymboida junction!!! Only 15mins in and the world was starting to make more sense already!!

After another 800mish we reached the point where we got winched out and where half our gear was stashed.  Ok, at least some of our stuff was still there and we know where we are and where our boats are. Just how far away are they?  (hard to tell exactly in the dark).

Our gear exactly where we left it.

Proof that the papers are all wrong!! "they had no food or supplies". Then why do I still have food left after 3 weeks!!! The nutrigrain was still good too, had some this day and then for breakfast the day after!

We kept on paddling/swimming/hiking/climbing/scrambling upstream.  Tom and I uttered the words “I think we’re getting close” pretty much at every rapid, which i’m sure was tiring for Chloe and Matt who were on the trip but weren’t on the first adventure!!

Paddling a riverboard with our newly found paddles.

Eventually we reached the waterfall and could see our boats looking snug high on the bank.  Woohoo!! I have a kayak again!!!

kayaks, after a long sleep.

After some scouting around the waterfall and determining it was unrunnable we set off back to the the take out (This time we knew EXACTLY where it was!!).

We had some more adventure when we got back to the car.  With a wet and slippery steep road we had quite a time getting the car back out.  After several attempts we were able to get through but for a little while we were thinking it’s all happening again!!

At last!! Leaving the river with kayaks again on our roof! It's not nice leaving a river without them!!

It will be interesting to see how the spot 2 messenger goes.  It would have made this whole ordeal a lot less stressful for those at home and we could have just stayed out overnight and got out in the morning without all the trekking to try and get out at night as well as not calling the cavalry in for a rescue!!

Cheers again to all involved in the search and to all those who were concerned at the time.

Stephen

P.S If anyone has seen Tom’s pink towel he misses it dearly!!  It’s bright pink, has “TOM” embroided onto it and it may look like this artists impression below!!

Artists impression only. Actual towel may vary!!