Gumboot country pioneers

Yes its been dry here too . For the first time in living memory our lake - the largest freshwater lake in Victoria dried up completely . Last year , when it stated to dry out ,we all just got stuck in this 6 foot deep jelly trying to mark the edges . This year we (Michael and I) conquered a crossing of Lake Colac well before anyone else Jan 21st - using specially made shoes.
But after 4 hours of sliding ,diving in and recovering , even the plywood had given up . The first few falls weren't so bad ,but the mud on your legs and arms quickly got onto the boards and made the boards very very slippery to stand on - so- so much easier to slip off and dive in again. Here's John resting about half way . Paul and Joel returned to safety after an hour and a few new tragic dives from the very shaky jelly piles you can see under the shoes in the picture. Miss the centre of the cracked pile and your foot goes down the crack ( at least to your knees!)
Afterwards, the shoes were one of the few things I managed to throw out so far this year!