A day in The Bush

[Bob Pacey]

We were only nine years old when this happened.

The trip had been weeks in the planning and so it was with a great deal of excitement that myself and Ray headed off to seek adventure. Bikes loaded up with crawchie gear buckets and lines and of course air rifles strapped to the cross bars and covered with old footy socks.

The destination was a little creek about 50 klms out of town where we knew the biggest crawchies hid. A secret spot for us as it was hidden from the dirt road and although we suspected others visited the area it was still isolated.

The ride out saw us buzzing with expectation and as we headed down the final streach it was plain that nothing had changed or been disturbed for some time. We lifted our bikes over the fence and wheeled then the short distance to the almost invisable creek. Lines were set up immediatly, small pieces of meat on cotton lines and with about 4 lines each we were instantly under pressure as all seemed to move at once as the obviously ravenous crayfish snaffled the baits.

Our bucket filled quickly and with a small fire on the go we sat down to a beautiful and tasty feed of fresh crayfish and those not consumed were stored into a sealed bucket to make the trip home. Off we set to our next destination the local horse knackery which we had passed on the way home. We quickly stowed our bikes in the bush and set off along the dry creek bed where we set up targets to practice our shooting. Obvilious to the outside world we held competitions and recored our scores. Imagine our surprise when a loud voice rang out " Hey what the hell do you boys think you are doing "

The knackery was surposed to be closed on the weekend and we always ignored the No Trespassing signs. I do not think I have seen two kids move so quickly as in a mad scramble we bolted back along the creek bed to where our bikes were stashed. The road ran along the front passed the Knackery entrance so this meant the only other way home was an extra 10 klms around the dirt track and that was where we headed at a pretty rapid pace convinced that we were being followed.

It was almost dark ( Our Deadline ) as we made it back to town and knowing that I would be in real trouble I let my back tyre down and limped into the yard to be comfronted by Dad. He accepted my excuse of having to walk most of the way and it was with a very guilty conscience that i watched the next morning as he tried in vain to find the puncture so that I could ride the bike to school.

For days after myself and Ray fully expected a knock at the door which of course never came but we spoke for weeks of the excitement of our Crawchie catching trip.

Bob

[Bob Pacey]

Was talking to an old fella at the shopping centre yesterday and he was lamenting just the fact that most kids these day do not get to have such adventures. Most are driven everywhere and with mobile phones are in constant contact with their parents.

A sad reflection on how times have changed. We left home most mornings with the provision that we were home by dark.


Spent many a day fishing, collecting lead from the local car dealerships or roving around the local council depot.

Bob

[Neville Briggs]

Good story Bob.