On Saturday morning we finished packing up, loaded the truck with all the gear, the canoe and Bow the dog, and set off north. The drive took a few hours down a dirt road, through the mining town of Bisset for a last proper meal and into South Atikaki Park Reserve. We parked by Wallace Lake and loaded the canoe a the dock.
It was well into the afternoon by the time we were out on the water but Dave had a motor so we zipped across the choppy waters of Wallace Lake, passing a few boats and cabins on the way. Then we came out into a small meandering river and headed upstream towards the next lake. It was calm and there was nobody else to be seen! We puttered past reeds, grasses, forests and wetlands. There were beaver lodges every few hundred meters and we saw beaver and musk rat as well as a smelly moose carcass. We stopped along the river for a wander amongst beautiful wildflowers, lichens, shrubs and trees. The ever present expanse of sky was a beautiful turmoil of blue, white and grey. We could hear thunder.
We came out the river into Siderock Lake and it started to rain, so we made for a big island and set up camp.
It rained for a bit then calmed down so we sorted our kit, cooked bacon and ate in the tent when the rain came back. We sewed up the holes in the tent's mosquito mesh then the rain stopped so we went for a swim. It was so beautiful I didn't want to get out.
As evening came, the breeze died down and the sky was gorgeous. Huge clouds were forming to the east, billowing into giants and blowing away to rain in the distance. We could see two ends of a huge rainbow, the rest of it swallowed in the cloud. To the west, thunder and dark sky.
We laid in the tent watching the sky darken as rain, thunder and night came, lit by flashes of lightning. The only sounds were chirping crickets, lapping waves and thunder. What an island! I wanted to stay awake all night and watch the world but I think I fell asleep around midnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment