Ride The River.

                                      Ride The river.

 The Shoalhaven River  has been described by long distance swimmer, Susie Maroney as the cleanest river in Australia, and there is a reason for that.The Shoalhaven River runs from the beautiful mountian ranges surrounding Kangeroo Valley. And when the rains come, it cleans itself. Millions of gallons of murky brown water thunder down from the mountians, snatching the shrubs and lantana bushland from the rivers edge, as it rages towards the sea, creating a massive powerful force of water, littered with dangerous logs, shrubs and all sorts of debree, carving it's path eighty miles to join the sea.

Never had I seen the river so violent as the year of 1973, I was thirteen years old, when I remember my best mate Rick and I, finally being allowed out after about three weeks rain. We stood in awe at how the usually calm blue river, tossed it's head about, and roared as it sped past us, with it's stolen treasures of trees and shrubs, from the mountians towards the sea. After standing there mesmerized by the river for an hour, Rick and I started walking along the banks, down past the milk factory, towards the sea following the raging current.

''Imagine going into that'',I said to Rick as we made our way down the banks of the river past  the milk factory.'' No thanks'' was his reply, ducking under the fence to cut through the old tractor factory. We were on our way to pick up wheat for our pigeons, from where the trains brought it to a farm produce place. But half way through the tractor company yard we noticed two big shiny tractor tire tubes stacked up against a fence. Looking at the huge inner tubes, and then at Rick, I said ''Hey Rick, we could go down the river on these tubes, wouldn't that be a mad ride''. Rick looked at me with a cheeky grin on his face and said,'' I'll have a go at it, if you will Darcey''.

For the second time that day I found myself standing on the rivers edge, staring into the raging current, but this time we were ready for her irratic behaviour, we had tractor tubes that she could never sink. Rick and I must have stood there for at least an hour repeating the same words to each other, "Either you going to jump this time Rick, or I'm going home". "You balked Darcey and if you don't this time, I'm going home". For another half hour, we repeated this chorus, until I think finally we had both had enough.

Calling on our sacred blood brother code, that was made when we were five, I looked him in the eyes and said, "On the count of three, I'm gonna go Rick, and if you don't go, don't ever talk to me again, and don't call me your brother", with that statement, my mate Rick and I, with tractor tubes around our waists,on the count of three, jumped into the raging river.

Immediatly we were struggling for our lives, as the massive force of the water tried to suck us from the tubes that we clung to for dear life. It didn't take me long to realise, I must get above the water or I would be pulled down into the merky depths, so lifting my legs above the tube, I layed back with my legs hooked over the front,and gripped to the slippery tube for dear life. My back was still in the water ,and felt like someone was punching me as the tube continually scipped across pointy little two foot waves,and thumped back to the water.

Looking across I noticed Rick was in trouble I could hardly see his head above the water and he had one arm locked around the tube,fortunately just then Rick went into a big swirling eddy swirling him arround straight in front of my path. As our tubes bumped the only part of Rick I could see in the tube was his swirling long hair. Grabbing a big handfull on my way past my momentem pulled Rick up through the tube allowing him to get his legs over the back .He was now laying with his belly hanging through the tube,gripping for his life as the raging current swept him away from me.

We both had been swept to the middle of the two mile wide river,now a few hundred yards apart,and both copping a pounding as the tubes skiped crashing from wave to wave,after five minutes of this I wondered how much more we could take, before we were turned over, or washed off the slippery tube,into this massive dark brown churning hell.Just then I heard a tiny voice from a hundred yards away scream, ''Darcey were gonna get killed !''.

We had traveled five miles spinning and crashing down the river ,when I thought we would be saved as we passed the paper mill, there were men standing out the back watching the raging river.I screamed repeatedly''Help Help,we are going to drown''. I watched in disbelief as they all just stood their ignoring us ,pointing to other parts of the river,as we swept past them apparently just another piece of debree bobbing, arround in this powerful force of nature.

Ricks constant screaming''Darcey we are gonna get killed'' was getting louder as we were swept closer to each other,as the river narrowed approaching Broughton Creek. Both caught in a massive eddie where the creek met the river,sweeping past Rick I managed to grab and lock my arm around his tube,and he did the same. Now both tubes locked together emerged from the massive eddie and were swept in close to the rocks .Rick and I both screamed ''Arrrhhh'' as looking up our faces were a few feet from the oyster covered rocks flashing past.

My back and I suspect Rick's belly ached with the constant pounding we were taking ,skipping and crashing into the white horses,as the river tossed us about like a match stick in a blender.  Again we were swept to the middle of the river as it became wider and even more powerful by volume, as it continued to rage towards the sea. I was convinced we were going to die ,long before Rick started crying the names, of all the people he would never see again. And I remember looking at my brave little mates face, and gripped my arm tighter in his, as I saw a reflection of the terror I felt, in his eyes.

For over four hours we clung together with Rick crying the names of his family all the way,He seemed to think different family members could help him at different times,and I noticed when the going got realy scary, it was his mothers name he cried. But over the sixty miles we had been swept down this raging river all the family names, had recieved a bit of a work out. As we passed along side Comarong Island I noticed ahead the waves got higher,and the water swirled treacherously with massive undercurrents swirling like tornados, as the river pumped into the sea.

Several times crashing through waves I was almost dislodged, as we desperately clung to the tubes,with our eyes closed we were swept through the crashing waves and eddies,out of the rivers mouth and out to sea. Still traveling at a good rate of knots but much calmer beyond the break, we floated what I estimate to be about two miles off shore in the huge rip created by the river.Before it swept us in a currant around the front of the Island into blue water,and we were slowly drifting back to shore.

It was just getting dark as we crawled onto the beach on Comarong Island.We lay there for half an hour unable to move frozen in every joint, and most likely frozen with fear. Like two little old men, me hunched over and Rick bent back ,we hobbled the twenty miles or so across the Island in the dark. About three in the morning we saw the lights of the ferry coming across the river to take us back to the other side.The kind ferryman gave us a coffee from his flask and a couple of blankets to wrap arround us. He said our parents must have rang the police and reported us missing,and that he would ring the police, when we got to his house on the other side.

Looking at my little mate rick I saw the fear return to his face,and he must have seen the same fear return to mine. As we both realised we would still have to face the music.

                                                                                                                        Darcey D.