Paddle Report

A Quiet Thirty Minutes

At 7.30am I parked at Sandy Beach and waited. I was waiting for four people to do their swim test. They were late. I sat motionless in the vehicle, rested my chin in the cup of my hand, and looked directly towards the park and river. It was cold, but with my CDU beanie wrapped around my head, I felt cocooned and content. Beyond the windscreen the river was quiet. No paddlers, no rowers, just ducks, coots and cormorants landing and taking off.

In the park the trees stood high and majestic. The grass was green, and even greener where the old car-park once stood. Mallard ducks circled the large trees, like fighter aircraft. To my surprise they landed on chunky branches high in the trees. I tried to remember if I had noticed ducks so high up in the trees recently, but I couldn't.

Corellas stormed the nearby tree ending my peaceful trance. They squawked and danced upon the limbs. They soon fled along the river like a white moving cloud. A bunch of Western Rosella took over the tree briefly, but soon they were gone racing north as if they were being chased by predators.

Figures flicked across my mirror. I stared into it and saw my former neighbours doing what they usually do at this time in the morning. Walk their dog and pick up any rubbish that they see along the river. What a gift to have,. it takes a special person to pick up other people's rubbish. How many times have you walked passed rubbish pretending not to have noticed it.

Clouds dampened any possibility of a great sunrise. The sun however tried desperately to peer through the long thin horizontal gaps in the clouds and as the sun rose higher it succeeded in beaming through.

Across the river an egret was wading in the muddy shallows hunting for breakfast. It's amazing how clean and white egrets stay as the forage for food. Above the egret, over the centre of the river, swallows swiftly circled as if they were chasing their own tail. They were probably catching insects though.

A mob of 28 parrots flew over, a few stragglers landed in the trees had a few noisy moments and fled as quickly as they came. Willy wagtails foraged amongst the grasses, their tails waving excitedly. My swimmers were now 30 minutes late, I turned up Garth Brooks and listened to some good old country music that stirred memories of America.

I should have been annoyed, having to wait, when I had lots of other things to do, but I felt content, peaceful, relaxed. The wait, watching nature reminded me of life beyond work, of times gone by before I became so busy.

Over 30 minutes had gone by, but the sense of calm that I felt made it seem like a weekend away. It gave me time to dream of past adventures - it dawned on me, it surely must be time for another grand expedition.

Terry Bolland