 |
| Hitch Contents |
|
 |
|
By Gavin Tyte
Print
Email
On the way back from Broome on the west coast, hitching east, I visited the largest permanent lake in Australia. Being a keen fisherman I wanted to try my hand at the large Lake Argyll catfish. To cater for my habit, I carried a two-piece fishing rod around with me that was strapped to my backpack. I also carried a reel and a small selection of end tackle.
I walked from the small hotel through the barren, rocky landscape down to the waters edge. The water level in the lake rises and falls a huge distance depending on the rains and there was no permanent jetty although a floating jetty was moored at the end of a long, steep and winding driveway. When I reached the bottom of the driveway there were people swimming in the lake and a couple of people fishing off a solitary moored boat. I begged some bacon fat from a fellow angler and cast my baited line from the end of the jetty. It was nearing evening and one by one the people departed leaving me to fish alone. I decided to stay after dark in the hope of catching a bigger fish.
It was a beautiful scene. The lake was illuminated by the stars and I had already caught a couple of small fish. The end of my rod twitched and I was into another fish. After a minute or two I had landed a good sized catfish. Okay, I admit it was only a couple of pounds in weight. Lake Argyll catfish have been known to reach 90lbs or more! I held the catfish carefully but it struggled and one of the needle-sharp, poisonous, barbed spines at the tip of its gills plunged deep into the flesh between the thumb and first finger of my left hand. It was impossible to get the spine out due to the barb. It had gone in deep and the fish was still attached. I had to remove the hook from the mouth of the fish whilst it continued to send the spine in deeper. After much pulling, the spine came out but the end had snapped off and was deeply embedded. I tossed the fish back and to keep the hook out of harms way, still with a bit of bacon fat attached, I dangled it over the edge of the jetty. The pain was excruciating as the poison started to spread. Blood was pouring out of the wound. I washed my hand in the water and dug around in my rucksack for a T-shirt I could use as a bandage. Blood was dripping from the wound and I had to wash the wound again before I could tightly wrap the bandage around it. Just as I was about to tie the knot I heard a scraping sound and turned to see my rod being dragged off the jetty and into the water. I jumped off the jetty into the 15ft deep, pitch-black water with my right hand outstretched to grab the rod butt. Somehow I managed to grab hold of the rod complete with fish tugging on the line. I swam back to the jetty and climbed out. Totally drenched, I wound the catfish in and successfully unhooked it. My left hand was screaming with pain. As I tossed the fish back into the water I saw my hat in the water and it slowly began to sink. There was no way I was diving in after an old straw hat.
I decided to leave my hook well out of the water. I'd had enough fishing for one night. I pulled my sodden wallet from the pocket of my soaking shorts. All the dollar bills were wet and I laid them out on the jetty to dry. Blood still poured from my left hand and I wrapped the bandage tighter. It was now late at night and the hotel was a good half-an-hour walk from the jetty. I would have to camp for the night. As I packed up my rod and money a large cloud of mosquitoes descended from nowhere and started to whine and bite my head, neck and arms. By this time I was starting to feel pretty miserable with the pain, the wetness, losing my hat and now the mozzies who had decided to eat me for dinner. I picked up my backpack with my right arm and squelched my way back up the steep driveway.
I decided to pitch my tent on a flat area at the top of a small hill overlooking the lake. The site was rocky so I pinned my tent down with large stones. My hand was hurting so much it was starting to worry me. I hung my wet clothes over the top of the tent and climbed inside. There was no way I was going to sleep and I sat clutching my wrist. My fingers were going numb and the pain was getting worse. I could feel the poison spreading throughout my hand and the excruciating pain was complemented by a throbbing ache. I was getting really worried. How far would the poison go? Would I be able to summon help at midnight? It was the worst pain I had ever felt and no amount of praying seemed to help. At 1am the pain had stopped getting any worse and by 3am the pain had subsided enough for me to start contemplating sleep. The bleeding had also stopped and I managed to sleep between stabs of pain.
I woke at about 8.30am and I had to pack up quickly as I was in clear view of anyone passing. I had camped on private land. The pain had subsided but my hand continued to ache. I was feeling miserable and ravenously hungry. I removed the bandage and cleaned the area of dried blood with saliva. The wound hurt to touch as there was a small amount of catfish spine still inside. I couldn't see anything and it was too deep to dig or prise out so it would have to stay. I figured it would eventually dissolve (actually if I squeeze the skin between my thumb and forefinger I can still feel that same aching pain today). I made my way down the hill and walked to the hotel in search of breakfast. I sat down in the empty dining hall and ordered a cooked breakfast. I satisfied my hunger on a measly portion padded out with a couple of rounds of toast. The bill came and I was told I could pay for it at the reception. The bill was enormous. It was more than I would ever pay for breakfast. It came to $11.75. I walked to the reception area. There was no one around. A couple were just leaving and without thinking I asked them for a lift. They agreed and I went out with them, got in the back of their car and we drove off.
I hadn't paid for breakfast. I had had such a bad night that I felt entitled to it. But I wasn't. It wasn't until were a couple of hours down the road that I remembered I was supposed to be a Christian. I felt very guilty. I had stolen something. I prayed for forgiveness and admitted my sin. Why did I do it?
It’s easy to let circumstances give us an excuse to behave in a certain way. We often say we are sorry but we excuse our actions by beginning sentences with, “But I…” But I was stressed, but I was in pain, but I was on my own, but I had been waiting, but I was worried, but I… The key word that should get our alarm bells ringing is the word ‘I’. To a Christian, sin is putting ourselves first - before God. There is no excuse for doing or saying wrong things. We have no one else to blame but ourselves. I had had a terrible night. I stole food.
“I’m sorry God, but… but… but nothing. I’m sorry.”
View Comments (0)
|
|
