Gold Rush by Jim Richards

Author:Jim Richards [Richards, Jim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fremantle Press
Published: 2016-10-06T22:00:00+00:00

As my pile of equipment got bigger, my pile of cash got smaller. It was a race to get into the bush before my money ran out.

I made it, just.

Finally I was at Ogle Aerodrome sitting in the aircraft I had chartered. It was loaded to the weight limit (1,500 pounds, or 680 kilograms) and Charlie and I were perched upon dredge parts, diving gear, fuel, food and countless other essential items.

I was heading out to start up my own mining operation and I felt like a king on his throne – if a poor one – because the flight had cleaned me out of the last of my money. It had been a long and eventful journey since that forlorn departure from RAF Brize Norton in the UK only ten months earlier.

The weather on the flight worsened as we approached Ekereku and we were buffeted by strong turbulence. The pilot could no longer dodge the large areas of storms and we were enveloped by clouds that sparked with lightning. We could not see a damn thing, and the plane had no GPS (it was early days for this technology). As the rain streamed over the windshield, the pilot flew on using compass, dead reckoning, experience and nerve.

I was feeling distinctly uncomfortable as we came out of the cloud and saw tepuis all around us, but the bush pilot knew his stuff and up ahead the familiar landing strip of Ekereku came into view.

After we landed, Charlie and I stumbled off the aircraft feeling sick as dogs. I was relieved to see Colin there to meet us and we transferred all of my gear into the leaky old boat I had on loan. I proudly attached onto the stern my new 10-horsepower outboard engine, making sure it was tied on to the boat with a rope in case it fell off the back; I didn’t fancy my first dive being for a lost engine instead of diamonds. Charlie and I waved goodbye to Colin and headed off downstream, with Charlie bailing water as we went.

We stopped at the spot above the set of falls that I had chosen for our camp on my recce. The rain held off and we managed to unload all of the gear and outboard engine onto the riverbank just before the boat sank. We would have to pull the boat to surface, tip out the water and bail it each time we wanted to use it.

Nightfall comes fast in the tropics. We raced to make our camp before sunset. We tied a rope between two trees and threw the tarpaulin over it, tying it down on the sides, then slung our hammocks under the tarp. We did not use mosquito nets, as Ekereku was so high there were very few around.

We ate some bread as darkness fell, and collapsed into our hammocks. I lay back with the cool breeze on my face and the sound of crickets all around. Finally I was not spending money any longer; now I was in with a chance of making it.

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