Westward HO!

(Written on Saturday 26/9/09)

This story is referring to an adventure we had on our first visit to the beach near our lodge (so really this is an elaboration of the second to last paragraph of the “Bula, Bula” post written on the 21st)

If you will recall, on the 21st, Alex and I found the local public beach just 1.5 miles from the lodge and went to get some sun. Our plans were minorly foiled by the clouds which did not let the sun shine through too much, but it was still an enjoyable experience. The walk over took about 30 minutes to get there, and upon arriving, I was a bit disappointed. The whole area was a bit trashy. It looked nice, but the whole parking area (in and amongst a patch of palm trees) was unkempt and covered by litter.

Because of the poor appearance, and the awkwardness of a group of natives sitting around under the palm trees, we decided to walk down (well, actually North) the beach to a more distant part of the beach. On the way to the place where we would eventually lay out, we crossed this little creek. It seemed pretty insignificant, and very pretty. You’ll see a photo once I upload them (not until I’m back in Adelaide, sorry! The internet here is SUPER slow), but it had high sand banks with dense tropical foliage on both sides. It was very beautiful with this slow trickle of water flowing out of the stream into the ocean.

We finally got to a pretty good location and got ourselves set up for some tanning. Over the next few hours (or however long we stayed there) we had to move several times as the tide came in. So by about 5:30 when we left, the tide was pretty high. Perhaps you can see where this is going: when we came back to the little stream, it was no longer a little stream. Although not wide, it was pretty deep, deep enough to not be able to see the bottom through the partly turbid water.

After about 2 or 3 minutes of discussing our options, I tried wading across. The water actually only came up to my mid thigh, but it was a steep slop into the water, and as you step in you dread that it will be several feet deep. Afterwards I laughed at myself. I was filled with so much consternation and had to consider the options before crossing this rather small and safe stream, while the explorers of America, and the families who made the movement out west would cross rivers of much greater magnitude than this several times. And we had a pretty well defined knowledge of the bottom of the stream and its characteristics.

It was a fun experience, and one that makes me appreciate more one of the major obstacles that were faced by those who made the United States what it is today.

Cheers!