It was a Sunday afternoon, and the occasion was lunch with all the family at The Gap. We had finished lunch and David said, “Lets go for a walk”. So being the mature adults that we were, we all went for a casual walk along the streets, which somehow lead on to Mt. Glorious road which started to wind up and past the large expanse of the water reservoir. As per usual, the boys, David, Sam, Tom, Pip were walking along the narrow strip beside the road, in their respective pecking order. Us younger boys were chatting away at the back following the trodden path of the pace setter at the front, David. During one of these dwindling conversations, our front man suddenly pounced and bounded over a three-strand fence and started bolting through the mass of dead branches and tall gums. This startled us to the point where a decision had to be made and had to be made quickly as our front man started to disappear and only the sound of his sneakers (Dunlop 26’s) breaking twigs could be heard. Sam looked at us and without a word, his mind was made up, no way was he going to be the front man so he too bolted over the fence and started to chase after those Dunlop 26’s. Well that was good enough for Tom and me and we too charged after Sam as it had to be better than being left stranded on a remote road somewhere between home and the bush. Well the following of the body in front of the body in front of the front man continued for a while until we all came to a stop on the edge of the bush and the back marsh lands of the reservoir. We all just stood and looked at the scene. The bush was behind us, in the short distance we could see the bush start again but in between was a land mass that resembled a dairy cow paddock full of Lucerne. The lush green marsh land was then separated by a narrow strip of mud which we had to cross before we could continue. At this point Sam must have felt that his moment of leadership was to be tested. He had observed how David had leapt with authority off into the bush knowing full well that his brothers would follow. So with this observation fresh in his mind, he leapt from the side bank into the narrow strip of mud and towards the green lush land mass and eventually towards home. Well the brothers did not follow immediately but instead fell down laughing because in Sam’s initial leap he ended up in the mud but he was now stuck firmly in place with his legs buried up to his thighs and totally immobilised. We wished him well on his journey and proceeded to cross about 100m further up where there was no narrow strip of mud. Somehow Sam regained his position with us but with mud covering his entire legs as though he was in some National Geographic photo, alias poor squelchy toes was truly tested that day. The journey continued through those back marsh lands and more obstacles were overcome. The 6ft high grass need to be penetrated for us to continue. There we stood again, each looking for an alternative way around this predicament, but there seemed no answer when another bolt of leadership arose and Tom just charged at the 6 ft grass and started to make headway through it. Well that inspired the rest of us because we just all followed at pace, but it was easier for us at the rear as the front man was taking all the full force of the grass jungle. Well the thought of snakes, boa constrictors (another National Geographic photo), alligators all sprang to mind which just made us all jumpy, lifting our knees high and staying in close proximity to the man in front. Always knowing that if you are the last man and straggling at the back, well you would be the one caught and taken (blast those black and white cowboy/Indian movies, they played havoc with our young minds). So this caused a bunching up of the rear runners aiming to be as close as possible to the front man. Tom was doing well unti we started to hit some uneven ground which was totally hidden by this long 6 ft grass. Down he went, but not in a sudden fall more in a slow motion style as the grass cushioned his fall as he fell face first. But as the rear men were in no state of mind to be thinking about the fortunes of the front man, we were not even observant to the fact that we had all run over the top of Tom as he lay face first into his cushioned bed of long grass. Straight away Sam was now the lead man and just kept pushing, running, lifting knees, anything to keep our legs out of the long grass and absolutely anything but the last rear man. When suddenly my front vision, which was the back of Sam’s shirt turned into a vision of long strands of grass, and under my feet I felt the soft cushioning of Sam’s back as I ran over his fallen body, David and Tom followed immediately after me, So here I was the lead man pushing and shoving at this mass of grass, and poor Sam was now that last man, as long as it wasn’t me, when my vision of long grass turned into dark shadows as I too felt the pounding of feet over my arched back as I realized where I was, lying face down in this grass where boa constrictors live. Not much conversation, well intelligible conversation was happening at this time, as we fought with our minds and of course the grass, but eventually we emerged from this land of National Geographic exotic wild places, and we faced with a large body of freshwater to cross before we could get home. Home seemed so distant, so remote from this land that was trying to engulf us. So the slow swim was entered into, first the freestyle, which ended quickly, then the breaststroke, which was painful to the mind, because the land that we were trying to swim to did not seem to be getting any closer. Lastly, backstroke but without the stroke, I was the least capable of swimming and David stayed with me as I slowed and even had to drag me through the water. Eventually we reached a point where the shallow lake started to rise towards the banks and we all could touch the bottom. We started to wade towards the bank with Sam and Tom in the lead when they started to slow down. The foreshores of the lake were impassable due to the heavy growth of aquarium weed. This particular weed was long, up to 10ft long and interwoven with every other weed all struggling to reach the sunlight from the bottom of the lake. It took great team work to move through this mass, the front man would make a path, and push the weed to one side while the rest of us in a close formation let the weed go past us and close in behind us. It was a slow process but a successful event. Through all this fight with the weed, we were able to catch sight of the ranger’s house in the distant that was built on a rise of land that had magical views over the reservoir. The ranger’s duties included keeping trespassers out of the reservoir compound, as this was largely the drinking supply of water for western Brisbane. As we left the water, pulling long strands of weed off our bodies, we all started wave our hands around and started to swat at bugs, huge biting bugs, mosquitoes that could be heard flapping as they approached our warm blood, as if they had never seen such a feast before their beady eyes. Well this turned us boys into a fanciful elite Austrian dancing troupe. As each of us stated to jump, hop, slap and move around as though it was carefully choreographed. Another solution had to be found, and one of us bolted away from this area along the foreshore, but still these huge bugs had their honing targets on us. A gravel stream came before us that was no deeper that about 6 inches and we all jumped into the stream throwing water into the air. This seemed to quell the flying rodents as they sought our warm blooded bodies. So all four of us sat in this stream throwing water into the air as we gained relief from our bitten bodies. Our arms started to tire, so one of the boys laid down in the quick flowing water and discovered that the fast flowing water would cover your entire body, and if you put your head upstream it would create a veil of water that projected over the top of your face and fell back to the ground. So we had the perfect solution in providing total relief from those bugs. We could rest, our bodies were being soothed by cool flowing water and the face veil of water meant we did not have to wave our arms around creating the shield of water. Well we must have laid there for about 10 minutes, until the thoughts of home started to enter of minds as we were now starting to feel safe from, mud that could swallow an entire cow, to boa constrictors, to marathon swims, to choking weeds and blood thirsty gnats. So the call was made lets make a dash up this flat gravel bed creek, which will make for easy running from the gnats, but also the splashing of the water will keep them away, and we can always dive under the water again when we get tired. So 1,2,3, we all sprang up and started to run up the creek. The creek ran straight for about 10-15 meters then took a right hand bend around this low lying willow wig tree which partial obscured the creek and its banks. So as we ran towards the willow wig tree we had to prise or duck under the sagging branches knowing that once under this wall of sagging branches the tree would open up into a large void, a great place to hide. Well were in no mood for hiding so we just jogged on through the sagging branches, each person in single file following each other. I was last and following the others I could see them do a large side step, a quick head turn then a burst of acceleration out to the other side of the willow tree. I did not know was going on till my nostrils filled with the vilest smell which caused my head to snap, then my body did an enormous side step as my eyes came into focus on a large shape lying in the creek bed. A dead cow was lying bloated in the middle of the creek bed, the same creek bed downstream where we were delighted in creating a water veil over our faces, especially as some of the water would fall into our mouths which gave us a refreshing drink (so we thought). Well my legs burst into acceleration to enable me to breathe fresh air again, and as I emerge out the other side of the willow tree, I found three brothers huddled together, each with a wretched look on his face as all of them and myself started to spit, gag, moan, anything to try and rid ourselves of the vile thought that we were all drinking water that was shared with a dead bloated cow. Well, this inspired us to head for home in the easiest straightest path. A road crossed our path, so the natural decision was to walk along this road in the direction of home, knowing that home was now only a short time away, and with no obstacles to overcome. We were walking in two by two formation, chatting away, especially about that cow, yuck, when three brothers become acutely aware of a strange but familiar noise. The noise of a two stroke engine, on this secured road, which was blocked from the public with large signs declaring “No Trespassers”, a road that was cut into the hill with a large sharp rise on one side and a sharp fall on the other side. This road had many twists and turns as it stuck closely to the regular contours of the tree studded hill. This made it impossible to see more than about 20 meters of road, and even more impossible to determine which direction that noise of this motor bike was coming from. Now I said three brothers heard this as Tom hearing is not as acute as ours and as this noise became more louder instinctively all three brothers reacted, as there could only be one solution to the noise, “The Ranger” the one who probably had spotted us swimming in the precious drinking water of the reservoir. So all three brothers knew our orders, “Hide”. Tom on the other hand was totally unaware and was perplexed to the sudden convulsion of his three brothers who all jumped over the sharp edge to hide against the sharp wall on the low side of the road. Tom still standing on the road, looked at us, as the noise of the motorbike became loder and louder. With a lot of hand signaling and pulling on arms, we managed to get Tom down the embankment, and pressed our faces hard against the earthen wall just as the ranger? Zoomed past and left behind a cloud of dust. We waited and listened and listened, Tom sat and looked, we listened. The bike disappeared, we left our safe hiding spot of the sharp wall and started to head home. Home was but a few streets away, and the afternoon was almost gone. It would be shower and then tea and toast before driving to church and of course no mention was need to be made to Mum, because we only had been for a Sunday walk.
