.Day
11
-
6/6/07
-
Toowoomba
to
Oakey
Bruce's
Report:
An
interesting
day
from
the
support
crew
perspective.
Dropped
Steve,
with
some
trepidation,
into
a
very
swollen
Gowrie
Creek
in
the
rain
and
wind
cautioning
him
about
fences
across
the
creek.
After
fighting
the
fog,
rain
and
traffic
in
Toowoomba
we
made
it
out
to
Kingsthorpe
where
Steve
contacted
us
to
be
picked
up.
Unfortunately
there
is
a
substance
out
here
called
"black
soil"
that
when
mixed
with
water
becomes
very
interesting
to
drive
on.
After
some
difficulty
using
4WD,
muscle
and
lots
of
colourful
language
Kerrie
and
I
extricated
ourselves
and
picked
Steve
up
in
time
for
an
appointment
with
the
High
School
at
Oakey.
After
another
presentation
at
Oakey
State
School
where
we
have
been
made
very
welcome
we
dropped
Steve
back
in
the
water
before
we
headed
for
Jondaryan
State
School
for
our
final
presentation
of
the
day.
Steve
hadn't
had
enough
so
he
hit
the
water
for
another
session
before
dark.
Due
to
the
fact
that
all
the
accommodation
in
the
area
has
been
booked
out
we
were
invited
by
Oakey
State
School
to
stay
in
one
of
their
unused
rooms
for
the
night.
This
very
generous
gesture
is
typical
of
the
people
in
the
area
and
we
are
sincerely
grateful.
Steve's
Report:
We
got
25mm
of
rain
in
Toowoomba
last
night
so
when
we
got
back
out
to
Gowrie
Junction
ready
to
walk
we
looked
in
the
creek.
There
was
plenty
of
water
to
paddle
in.
The
creek
banks
were
very
high,
maybe
12m
in
a
lot
of
places.
The
corners
were
tight
and
there
were
barbed
wire
fences
across
the
creek.
None-the-less
I
made
it
down
towards
Oakey
with
only
falling
out
once.
The
waterproof
bag
with
the
phone
in
it
has
a
big
tear
from
barbed
wire
but
apart
from
a
very
wet
and
cold
paddler,
that
was
the
only
down
side.
There
were
some
grade
3
rapids
and
the
kayak
scraped
the
bottom
a
lot
on
them.
It
was
particularly
exciting
to
go
over
concrete
causeways
with
about
600mm
drop
off
followed
by
a
metre
drop
through
rocks.
At
one
stage
I
got
stuck
against
the
outside
bank
because
the
kayak
was
too
long.
There
was
a
snake
about
500mm
long
with
me
but
he
didn't
try
to
hop
in
so
I
was
pleased
about
that.
Further
down,
the
banks
are
not
as
high
and
there
was
a
bit
more
water
in
Westbrook
Creek.
I
seemed
to
go
over
the
top
of
the
fences
but
banged
into
the
top
of
a
star
picket
once
and
got
stuck
in
willow
trees
a
couple
of
times.
If
willow
trees
are
so
bad,
why
are
most
of
the
on
the
inside
of
the
bends?
And,
why
does
the
water
seem
to
slow
down
where
there
are
a
few
of
them?
My
engineering
instinct
tells
me
that
we
need
a
lot
more
of
them
in
the
creek,
not
less.
We
went
to
three
schools
today
and
again
it
was
just
great
talking
to
the
kids.
 |
 |
| Steve
on
Westbrook
Creek |
Steve
on
Westbrook
Creek
again
|