Chopper Creek - May 2008
Two groups went to Chopper – one leaving at 8am departure and the others with Steve and myself at 1pm. At long last the infamous Chopper Creek (Murray Creek) was about to be returned to. If I’ve heard this story once I’ve heard it one thousand times. Easter 9 longs years ago. I was not present, thank God Steve says. The long and the short of it is – a group went there, it rained further up north – the water rose – camp packed up to leave – Our car got hung up on a tree/log/stick in the bottom of one of the creek crossings – car flooded (had trailer as well) – car dragged out of water – group split in two – one group camped one side of creek and the other group the other – Groups thought they would wait it out but six days later water still not lowered enough – cars left behind and groups walked out. A couple of others things that happened – beyond anyone’s control – CQ Rescue Chopper sent in – Lyn (an expectant lady and our daughter Kirrilee) were air lifted out – Some other club members came down to meet the others and drove t hem out and home – Cars picked up 4 weeks later – they all had extra growth on them inside and out.
Back to our current trip. Our second group arrived at the homestead without any diversions; some of us let tyres down and locked hubs in. We arrived at the campsite about 4pm whilst travelling there we had to cross the infamous Chopper Creek five times. Each crossing was different – rocks – sand – sharp angles – s shaped – drive 100m along creek before turning to cross. Lantana was rampant (The reece crew had cleared some) (Apparently Bruce cleared some as well earlier).
The days were full of nothing, exploring, fishing and some swimming (the water was freezing, so I was told), I had a couple of goes at making damper in the camp oven. The nights of course were the usual around the campfire. One incident was Natalie lost her Wedding Ring but Thankfully it was found the next morning beside her chair where she had been sitting the night before. There was a pile of rocks beside Jumbo’s camp and after much debate and discussion it was decided that it could be an old grave.
Some people camped up on the bank and others on the sandy shores of the creek. For sentimental reasons we camped where Steve, Clinton and Kirrilee had camped all that time ago. Two groups departed on the Monday, one at 12 noon and the other at 1.30pm, we really didn’t want to leave. Very nice spot. On our way out we came across the Property Owner and colleagues mustering the cattle, which was a sight I haven’t seen for quite a while. We stopped at the Homestead again to pump up tyres and check out the wild boar in the pen (Xmas dinner I assume).
