Oz360 - Tom and Amy explore Australia: CAMPSITE # 161 - EXTREME White Water Rafting on Tully River, QLD

Yes, we could possibly be crazy. After a catchup coffee with an old friend of ours, Courtney who now lives in Mission Beach, we quickly learnt that extreme white water rafting was THE thing to do on the Tully River. I guess I didn't really think the whole thing through, the next thing I knew I was on the phone reading out a credit card number.

Surely the 'extreme' in Extreme White Water Rafting was just the word they used to glorify the event. How extreme could it actually be?

In the bus on the way there...

Within the first ten minutes, we were paddling harder & harder through the rapids, dodging boulders the size of the troopie and just generally hanging on for dear life... I could feel the adrenalin pumping through my veins, my brain was buzzing with excitement and I couldn't help but give my vocal chords a really good work out. I reassured myself that the extreme just stood for extremely good fun.

By lunchtime, I had lost count of how many times I had exited the boat. I knew it had been at least twice to jump off a rock (one 5metres high) into the raging water below. It's all a bit of a blur considering how fast paced the entire experience was but I'm pretty sure we'd capsized the boat at least 2 or 3 times before lunch. Even though I'm not the strongest of swimmers, I still felt a sense of invincibility, I never once feared for what could have gone wrong. I had faith in the fact that our leader knew what he was doing, he would never dare put us in harms way.

After we had refuelled for lunch, I was ready & roaring for the adventures that lay ahead. Nothing could stop me now, I just wanted to get out there and keep on going. In between the rapids, we'd have a few spare minutes as we were floating downstream to have a little chat and get to know the others in our boat. It was also a great chance for question time with our leader. How many trips have you done? Do you still operate during the wet season? Do you get any crocs in the river? What happens if someone goes overboard and you can't find them?

All of these questions I was totally ok with, they were all questions requiring answers and Tim, our leader, was one of those guys who would just answer your question straight up, no beating around the bush. It was upon hearing his answer to James' next question that things were really put into perspective for me. How many people have died white water rafting here? Not only was I not ready to admit the possibility of any casualties on the Tully River, I certainly didn't want to hear any number above zero. Tim's answer made me want to crawl back up my tortoise shell and clench onto the side ropes all the way to the finish line.

Tim : Oh, I think we're up to five, maybe six.

Pardon me? Err what? Did you just...? Hmmm, perhaps this wasn't such a good idea. Ha! So THAT'S what they meant by extreme! I'm just glad I wasn't aware of those statistics before I got on the boat otherwise, instead of rafting I would have been sitting back at the coffee shop in Mission Beach writing a eulogy for Tom & Jimmy.

What a day! Once I finally set two feet onshore, my legs just felt like jelly, my arms were throbbing and we were all smiling for ear to ear... we had an absolute ball!

Site : Beachcomber Coconut Caravan Village
Rating : 9 / 20
Facilities : Across the road from the beach. Swimming pool. Fairly good toilets & showers. Free BBQ.

When was the last time you saw bananas at those prices?!