The Sanders Files

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The Sanders Files - Day 7

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The Sanders Files - Day 7

19/10/2010

Hoping for glassy conditions, we got up with the sparrows, if they had any sparrows here (sadly crocodiles have eaten them all). But instead, it was choppy. We did a bit of riding, then re-emerged later for an awesome chopper session. I tried pretty much every hard trick I can do and… er, ate shit a lot. I woke up very sore afterwards and lucky not to cause myself a serious injury, but it’s the second last day, so whatever.

Grubby did a 35ft backflip from the top. No croc came out. He was our test dummy.

We’re even more relaxed with crocs now. Now we try to find them before we go out! This is probably not very sensible. Parks wanted to do triple-up whips, so we cranked the Great Escape up to full noise and he tried to whip into its massive rollers via the ski. He went alright. Still, today Grubby holds the Man Of The Match for the longest, most enduring rides. He’s been killing it.

Afterwards we pretty much got straight into the beers – the pressure was off, because we’d gotten what we needed for the show. We went up to a place called Croc Creek for a swim. It’s two ponds separated by a tall, sloping waterfall, with a bottom pond that you shouldn’t swim in (crocs = hungry) and a top one where you can.

So Grubby did a 35ft backflip from the top. No croc came out. He was our test dummy. Then Parks did it, and then everyone did it. Except our first safety briefing said that they’ll stay under for 90 minutes if they think you’re about. We solved this when Azza, the life guard, dropped his water camera and we all dived in, swam down a few metres and felt about for it on the bottom. This is a 100 percent foolproof way to check for crocodiles, but also 100 percent poorly conceived.

Still, we survived and everyone was there with beer in hand so I decided to do a bit of a closing speech. My performance would have shamed Obama acceptance speech in 2009 – it was only right that someone spoke. People cried. But mostly one of the film crew, after I belittled their efforts beside the wonderful stuff I’ve shot on my iPhone.

At the start of the trip, there were splinter groups that would talk among themselves. Now, everyone’s mates with everyone else. It’s great to see, and it’s amazing that everyone gets along so well. If we could just get Israel and Palestine to do a wake trip together, the world would be better off. Honesty, it’s turned all of the 22 people on the boat into good mates. We’re lucky that we’re all such great blokes.

Oh, except for Rag, the sound recordist. He’s a top guy, and I love him, but he insists on strutting around in alarming white flower-print slug-huggers. And someone bit me, but I’m not sure who that was. In the absence of evidence, I’ll blame Parks.

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