Raging Thunder

Day 2 - Raging thunder

On deck for day two of the vacation was some white water rafting. The tour company we were using is called Raging thunder, but the actual river we went on was the Tully. As with most excursions, we got picked up by a bus in front of our hotel. Immediately we could tell that the vibe of the day was going to be very different from the previous day. The great barrier Reef tour we did was very polished, with a catered lunch and tea and coffee available. Our river rafting guide, although still clearly a professional, had a dreadloc mullet and wasn't wearing any shoes. That's right. We had just met our first true Queensland bogan. We actually found out later in the day that he was from New Zealand, but he's been living in Queensland for about 6 years, so I think it still counts.

Its probably time that I finally talk about bogans. This is something I have been putting off for literal months now because I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it justice. I first heard the term in the lunchroom maybe 6 weeks after i started school. I don't remember the context exactly, but at the time it wasn't being used as a compliment. When I asked what bogan meant, everyone was shocked that I hadn't heard the term before. They attempted to explain it to me, but even they weren't great at it. Essentially, a bogan is kind of like the Australian version of a redneck or a hick. But kind of...trashier, and also more friendly. Bogan is simultaneously a type of person, an attitude, and an adjective. Many of the friends I've made identify themselves as bogans at their core, that put on a nice professional face at work. I've even heard one of them describe themselves as coming from "fine bogan stock". Most of the time, in the big boujie city that is Melbourne, it's rare to see authentic bogans. It is, however, one of the ways Melbournians describe rural areas, both affectionately and otherwise.

When telling my supervisor about this vacation, I mentioned that I was excited to be out of the city and meet some local colour. We both knew I was talking (affectionately) about bogans. As soon as I saw our dreadloc'ed, shoeless guide, with his very dark tan and very strong accent, I knew we were in for a treat. This was Queensland bogan at its finest, and both Justin and I were there for it. The mystique only increased as his overview of the day included lines like "if you fall out of the boat, just get back in Yeh," and "drink as much as you like at dinner. You can even buy some beers to drink on the way home", and "we can drop you back at your hotel or a bar. It's your choice". In the words of the Aussies: yea, nah, no worries mate. This was going to be amazing.

At this point I would like to officially state for the record that I am not judging our tour guide at all, merely observing. When I call him a bogan, I'm doing so with great affection. Justin & I both genuinely enjoy living in Melbourne, but it is a very big city. Neither of us mind that for a while, but ultimately, we know we are not big city people. We feel far more kin ship with the self proclaimed bogans that we have met than the die hard urbanites. We recognized early on that we like bogans so much because we know we are kind of bogan-y ourselves.

Okay, moving on to the actual trip. The bus picked up a bunch of people at their hotels, and then headed south out of Cairns towards a small town called Tully. We both kept forgetting how tropical this area was, until we started passing the farmers fields full of sugar cane and banana trees. We got to Tully in about an hour and a half, and stopped there for some lunch. We also picked up a bunch more people that must have come from a different direction. Then it was a 40 minute drive up the gorge that we would be rafting down. This time the drive was through the jungle, and the road was quite twisty. Along the way, our guide Dan (yes, the dreadloc'ed, barefoot one) went through some safety procedures, showed us a video of what to do if we fall out of the boat, and divided us into boat groups. Justin & I were delighted to learn that we were in Dan's boat.

When we got to the launch site for the boats, it was time to gear up. We were told that anything that came with us on the boat would get wet, and potentially end up lost unless it was physically attached to our person. That means no hats, sunglasses, phones, jewellery, etc. They gave us all rash guards for both warmth and protection, as well as helmets, life jackets, and rafting shoes (which were essentially crocs). Then it was off to our boats. While still attached to the shore, we got some basic instructions on where to sit, how to paddle, and the cues and instructions that we would need for the day (forward paddle, backward paddle, hold on, get down, etc). We also went over what to do if we fall out of the boat (for I think the third time). Then we were untied from the shore, and did some practicing in a calm part of the river.

The actual river is part of a hydroelectric operation. Just above where we put our boats in, there was a power station with a dam. Every day at a certain time they open the dam and let a bunch of water from a lake flow down the river. Obviously this makes the river rise, and creates rapids. The actual tour was timed with the release of the dam. We could see the waterfall from the dam from where we launched, so while we were practicing, Dan was also watching for when the dam opened and we would be good to go. I should note now that the water rise is not as dramatic as the tidal bore - it doesn't come through as one big wave. But the water level does rise pretty quickly.

And so we were off! The first couple of rapids we went through were relatively basic - more to get us to follow the commands we learned and get used to how the rapids feel. They were still fun though! It soon became clear that Dan had strategically picked who was going to be in his boat. The day before, his boat hadn't been as fun to work with, so on this day he got to pick who he wanted. The result was a boat full of young people that were all fit and strong swimmers. This made for a very fun boat, full of swearing and raunchy jokes as we went down the river. It also meant that anytime we had the option of going down a rapid the regular way or the 'spicy' way, we always picked spicy.

The rapids themselves were awesome. They were graded as levels 3 and 4 on a scale of 1 (nothing) to 6 (death). At least, that is how Dan described the ratings scale. There were many highlights to the day, but the one that stands out is when we hit one of the other boats in the rapids, nearly tipping our whole boat. But we saved it! The boats hold 6 plus the guide, 3 on each side with the guide in the back. Justin & I were at the back of the boat on either side, with Dan immediately behind us. We actually heard Dan yell out 'oh shit!' when we hit the other boat, but somehow we managed to stay upright and afloat. One of the other guides told us later that he saw the whole white bottom of our boat, and was sure we were going over. Other highlights including when we went down a rapid backwards (on purpose and for fun), and the rapid where Dan told Justin and I to 'hold on really fucking tight' because it had a tendency to throw people at the back of the boat out.

Overall, we didn't lose anyone out of the boat during the whole trip. And there were a bunch of other fun things we did along the river. We paddled under a waterfall, we drank from a natural spring coming off the side of a cliff, we got close to a massive python curled up on a rock along the shore. At one point they asked if we wanted to climb up a big rock on the shore and then jump into the river. Obviously, Justin and I both answered yes to this question. When someone asks you if you want to jump off a cliff into a river, the answer (at least for us) is always yes. Later in the trip, Dan asked me if I wanted to sit on the front of the boat and dangle my legs into the water, masthead style, while we went down some very light rapids. Again, this was an obvious yes from me. At some point during this experience someone called me a mermaid, prompting me to actually yell back "fuck yes I'm a mermaid!" Clearly this trip was just an all around amazing experience.

The actual rafting route was about 7 kms, and took about 3 hours. At the end of the run, we all helped pull the boat out of the water, carry it up a short track, and throw it (literally) onto a truck flatbed. Then we all de-geared, changed into some dry clothes and headed back into the town of Tully for dinner at the pub. The food was especially good, probably because we were all exhausted and deeply satisfyed with the day. We had a couple of drinks at the pub, and bought some beer for the ride home (roadies as they say in Australia). We got back to the hotel at 9:15 and we're in bed by 10, partially because we were very tired, and partially because we knew we had another big day ahead of us the next day.