The Tully River White Water Rafting Experience

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What a day this was! We were picked up from right outside our hostel in Cairns early in the morning, and about 1.5 hours later we arrived at Raging Thunder's cafe near the start of our journey downstream. After getting kitted out with helmets and life-jackets we were off to the rafts in 6-person groups. I was the first to get into the raft and didn't realise there was a deep spot at the side and fell straight in to the water ripping a small patch of skin off my shin - sound!

Comedy falls aside, we set off downstream. The first few rapids were pretty tame, a bit like a previous trip I'd done in Wales (actually even the tame ones here were as good as the big ones in Wales). After a few rapids we abandoned ship for a swim in the very pleasant waters of the Tully River. It is teeming with fish, and ones that don't seem to bothered about a boat load of Pohms and Aussies (and one Pole) diving around above them. We saw hundreds in there, even a massive eel lurking around a big rock near where we were taking lunch. The scenery, as you drift down the river, is awe inspiring. It's like a movie scene, the trees are gigantic, and covered in vines, everything is green, everywhere you look, brilliant, green rainforest. The cliffs that the river gouges out rise about 150m above, and the trees are almost as high. There are little waterfalls all along the way, the place is absolutely beautiful, I've never seen anything like it!

the place is absolutely beautiful, I've never seen anything like it!

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To be continued.....

I learned only a few days after that a guide had drowned a month ago and a 22 year old girl from Cairns drowned only 2 weeks before we went! Karolina wasn't far off being another one of those quiet statistics when she attempted to swim down the rapids with her eyes closed! Not the smartest thing to do as you need to spot the waves coming so you can breath! Suffice to say she nearly drowned me in the ensuing struggle, but luckily I managed to save her life and my own. Unfortunately for me, very little was shown in the way of gratitude!