Dave left up the creek
DAVE Thompson is struggling to rebuild after floodwaters ravaged his 112-year-old Broome pearl lugger at Innisfail.
Mr Thompson, who lives aboard the Mitchell at the Johnstone River Slipway and Boatyard, had the old lugger out of the water at the weekend as he worked to restore it to its former glory.
“I’ve had it out of the water since December because I’ve RAFTING businesses are ready to reap the rewards of a decent wet season as the benefits flow right through 2018.
Experience Co chief operating officer Danny Hughes, who manages adventure sports organisation Raging Thunder as part of the brand, said last week’s downpour had created “the best rafting we’ve seen for a long time” on the Barron River near Caravonica.
“Water levels have been great and there we have just had a really great flow,” Mr Hughes said.
“We haven’t seen the waterfalls flowing around the area for a while, so there is some really beautiful scenery along the way.
“We had our first commercial run yesterday. Given the higher water levels we haven’t been able to operate for a few days.”
Mr Hughes said the company had attracted plenty of interest from tourists and he encouraged locals to take advantage of a resident’s discount.
“Due to the levels in Tinaroo and Koombooloomba dams, now we’ll be able to raft seven days a week,” he said.
“It is really good for tourism and for the economy and white rafting is really big in Far North Queensland.
“Given the amount of water in Tinaroo compared to where we were last year, and given we are still in the wet season, we’ve got enough water for the whole of the year. It is a nice balance between farming and tourism activities.