FART 09

Well, it's several months past the point and our small world of blog has died the death but I will carry on regardless.

Details are sketchy given the period of time between composing this and the actual reef trip but below are the major points:

- Group flight to Brisbane
Our small but intrepid group of adventures sets out from Melbourne bound for Brissy and then by hire car to Gladstone, another 8 hours further north. We had a largely uneventful night in Brisbane the first night which I guess shows we've all grown up a lot since our last, rather debaucharous, experience. It was then in the Toyota nice and early for Steve to direct us unerringly toward our 11AM appointment to pick up the camp fridge. It turns out Steve is precogniscent and was actually trying to prevent us from picking up the fridge by directing us in circles for 45 minutes. The fridge didn't work the whole time we were on the Island so we should have listened to his mute warnings. It DID take up a lot of space in the car though.

- The ever picturesque and metropolitan Gladstone
Finally arrived in Gladstone and caught up with some of the old crew. Was good to see Woody and Jen again. Prep was as gay as ever with much washing, carrying, folding, stacking and, most of all, sweating. We got it all done in pretty good time though even with the majority of university students who were on hand being unable to scratch their own arse without direction. We even squeezed in a mango run which was actually one of the highlights of my trip. Stealing mango's with some mates, climbing trees and having Mat do funny voices is well funnier than it sounds.

- My overconfidence is my weakness
With warnings of high seas and stormy weather ringing in my ears I proceeded to drink heavily and eat large quantities of pizza before the scheduled 8 hour sea crossing to North West Island. Needless to say I spend the next 7 hours with my head over the side of the barge; the perfect preparation for the 5AM start we had to move all the shit off the barge. We followed this up by moving all the camp gear to the communal area, setting it up, moving our personal stuff, setting that up then passing out.

Traveling lite:

- "It's like they saw a bad documentary on how birds are suppose to act".
I'd forgotten how stupid mutton birds are. We setup on the first day at dawn which is when the little fuckers fly out to sea for the day to feed. Within 10 minutes one had flown directly into my face. Over the next three weeks they were a constant source of equal parts amusement, frustration and annoyance.

- Tiger Shark Vrs Turtle
Upon our arrival to NW Island, after the initial few hours of profuse sweating moving about 44 gallon drums of petrol and water, a few of the lads decided a quick dip was in order to cool off. About 50 meters away a large dark shadow could be seen thrashing around in the water but nobody really thought too much of it. Come low tide we discovered that a tiger shark had in-fact been having a little snack.

Before:

After:

- Camp awesome
The name of our camp, whilst being a touch pretentious, was spot on. Ian and Tim joined our merry band and it was a privilege to have such great "roomies" for the duration. We bought a massive tarp in Gladstone and Mat climbed many a watsonia tree to put the damn thing up and over the next three weeks there were constant modifications to ensure structural integrity. Again, though not exactly mentally exhausting, tying notes and figuring out how to keep dry are actually pretty good fun.

Present and accounted for:

- A heady trip around the Island
One fine day we all went for a walk around the Island. It was unreal. No, really. All in all a wonderful day though spent with some great people. This day typified all that was good about the island, friends and life in general.

The expedition party (minus I-rock):

- The rest.
We spent three weeks on the Island in all and, whilst this seems like a long time, you do surprisingly little. Most days were spent spearfishing and most nights chatting and having a few beers. All in all very chilled. There were party nights which involved more drinking and additional drama but all in all a positive 3 weeks very well spent with some friends old and new. The return trip was much the same as the outbound journey but with less vomit. Packing up was the same as unpacking but with more sweat.

A funny old trip in hindsight hindered by too many artificial roadblocks of our own making but certainly worth the effort even with this consideration. If nothing else, the island itself is the perfect focal point to realise the size and significance of ones own place in the world and where importance should be assigned.

Feel the serenity.

* Big shout out to I-rock for being "the man" on the snapper and (unknowingly) supplying most of the pictures in this post.