If this is the first of Hike or Die blog that you are about to read, we suggest that you take a look at our disclaimer first to get an idea of what we are all about.
I am not a prepper. I am sometimes barely able to function in the present, let alone some hypothetical future reality where all contingencies are accounted for. I am, however, totally in love with the tv show (Doomsday Preppers). I’m not sold on the doomsday angle, but these guys and girls have skills and plans and gadgets that I would love to master. Yet, I often leave the house without my wallet. I leave vital equipment behind when I go away for work trips. I guess it takes practice.
This is why I definitely felt the harsh challenge of prepping for such an isolated adventure. Ideally, we would gather all the equipment, food, cameras, and canoes and head into the everglades for 3 days. We would be well prepared, and we would have fun. We could even make this all look easy. I pretended to be confident. In fact, we did very well. But it was not easy. The 80kms of canoeing, with 3 lads in 2 canoes, was to become one of the best times of my life.
In the lead-up was a 2 hour car ride with Tommy to spend the night at Rob’s house. We lay heaps of gear on the floor of his garage, and spent hours packing and repacking. Water and food, tent and sleeping gear. Everything was in drybags, and we were preparing for rain. As we were getting ready to retire, Tommy presented me and Rob with new Gerber knives to stir up our animal instincts. A gift. He is such a sentimentalist. Within minutes Rob was using the blade to strike his flint and light cotton balls in his living room. Perfect.
Day 1
We all fell out of the overcrowded car at about 8am. We took Tommy’s hybrid canoe off the roof and paid the dude at the park for the Canadian-style canoe we would rent. It was much bigger and we could put heaps of gear in it. It also comes with 2 watertight barrels which sounded like a great idea.
The Canadian canoe was filled with gear and I was propped in the back with my paddle. The other two were in the swift 2-seater and we were ready to go. It was 9 O’clock and we had 35kms to go. The dude at the park asked why we were going all the way to campsite 15, and he seemed surprised that we couldn’t really say. He said he can do it in a day, but he looked a bit fitter than me….Something in his voice said he would have left a bit earlier.
Also, we had made a mistake. I was having a hard time with this canoe. It was moving pretty slowly, and I was trying to take photos (as is my compulsive disorder). In fact, I soon realised that the other guys were hardly trying while I was working hard to keep up. I dug in really hard to get to the mouth of the everglades. If I tried really hard, the bow rose and left a huge wake and the noise was incredible. At times I felt like Arnold Schwarzenegger in ‘twins’ when he made the rowboat rise like a powerboat. Or maybe that was just how I saw it…
It was an hour across to the mouth and I was a little stuffed. I really didn’t want to complain this early on, but it was obvious we needed to repack the canoes. Rob came into the Canadian canoe with me and we put some gear on then now empty seat in the hybrid. Now we could move at a more consistent (and faster) pace. Soon there were no motorised vessels allowed, and no vehicle access to the 13 campsites once you have passed campsite 2.
The rest of the day was great. Hard work all the way but it was so nice to be on the water. We had lunch at campsite 3 and swapped positions in the canoes again. There were a few other people in canoes, mostly backpackers launching canoes from Harry’s Hut but we saw less people as the hours went on. We paddled pretty much non-stop that day for 8 hours and got to number 15 around 5pm. It was already getting dark
and we rushed the gear up to the campsite and set the tent. No fires permitted but we lit our crux and made some curries (seriously great camping food). By 7 we were dressed for bed with mosquito head nets and headtorches, discussing the canoeing, the photography, and girls. We knew that this was the hardest leg, and it would get easier from now. Tomorrow we might even get to go for a swim I thought as I sipped turkey from my hip flask.
Day 2
We awoke to mist over the water in the morning and it seemed so peaceful. The next 8 hours made the whole trip worth it. We only had to paddle back to campsite 5! It was cooler and a bit overcast. We had eaten some of the food and drank litres of water so the canoes were lighter and we were much more settled into rhythms. There were times when we would all just drift, chat and take photos. Tommy even towed the Canadian canoe for a bit and I think I was only semi-conscious as we moved down the stream.
We set up camp before lunch and put on our boots. I love hiking and we decided to hike from campsite 5 to campsite 3 through the bush and stretch our legs. My arms were so sore (in fact my elbows were giving some acute pain at times) and it was really nice to get the legs moving. It turned out that the map was right, and there really was a toilet (thunder box) at number three, and so we proceeded to do number two’s. Everything seemed better on the walk back.
We went down for a swim when we got back. It was grand! The fresh water of the everglades is stained with tee-tree tannin and feels so nice to swim in. I have video of us jumping from trees and having a ball. Seemed like I was 10 again.
Day 3
We left early again today. We all wanted to be back at Rob’s house by midday. It was still a decent 3 hour journey to the car so we put our heads down. Our gear had all worked well. The torches and stoves and knives all got good use and no cameras had been lost or submerged. I also felt closer to the boys. We had fought a big battle together… with a convincing win. We began talking about our next adventure.
We had prepared well, with gear for all weather and unforeseen isolation. We had not been here before but we had researched well. There were lists and there were lots of conversations before we embarked. I had bought new gear for wet weather. I had updated my headtorch. We had been off the grid for 3 days and had no phone signal at all and it felt awesome. The canoes added a huge unknown quantity for me and really stood-out from anything I had done before. My arms felt broken and my lower back was really complaining. I was physically exhausted.
I remember standing in the knee-deep shallows when I had just gotten out of the canoe for the last time. I was crash-tackled into the water when I thought Tommy was coming to shake hands. He knew what this meant to me. I felt so strong yet so weak at the same time. The Everglades are a beautiful part of Australia, 2 hours north of Brisbane, near Noosa. You can hike the trails or canoe the stream, and the campsites are magic. It is the perfect location to reset your clock and get away for a while.
The peaceful moments have gotten under my skin and we have since tackled many other adventures. Photography, bushcraft and mateship are getting easier to prep for…
