Tripping down the river is all in a days fun us. Annie hadn't been in the boat, so set off down stream to Tweed Heads. We made good time going down with the river running out, and pulled the boat up on the beach in front of the Twin Towns Services Club which fronts the lovely little bay you see in the pictures.
As we made our way down the river we found the water changing from muddy brown to clear blue and green.
I knocked a few oysters off the nearest sewer pipe I could find, with a hammer and screwdriver I had in the boat, while Annie stood around telling me not to cut myself - which I did anyway.
In heading out of the bay, and back up the river, we found the tide running out at a good rate of knots. We should have pulled back in the bay at that stage, till the tide eased I reckon, but decided to press on up river and home.
The little Mercury struggled hard to push us up river, against wind and tide.
About a kilometre from home, with both of us a little cold and jaded, and becoming short tempered, we came up to some people on the bank waving frantically to us. Thinking I had hooked up their fishing lines, I turned the motor off to ask what the problem was, to be told the river was closed for a speed boat ski race. Well, saying something like that to me is like waving a red rag at a bull, so I told them what I thought of speed boat racers - what I thought of people who watch speed boat races - and ''what did they want me to do carry the fuckin' boat home''.
Poor Annie sat there aghast at my outburst but didn't comment, except to say ( of the many people lining the river bank ) '' I thought they'd turned out to watch us'' - very witty!
Anyhow had a good day, but discovered the little motor not really adequate to push two people along at any speed.
