Night in the logging camp
- 28 Feb 08, 02:09 PM
Posted from: Atalaia
The first night at the logging camp. Around the hut it鈥檚 a mudbath due to heavy rains and now it鈥檚 stopped the mozzies are out in force. Bruce has moved well away from the hut to string up his hammock and the rest of us, about 15 in all, are packed under the shelter.
Preparing for sleep in the hut
There are hammocks strung onto every available post and I鈥檝e my small tent perched on the edge of a few planks. The loggers are all chilling in their hammocks and I鈥檓 resting in my tent. My clothes are so damp and mouldy it's not pretty. One by one our team climb into their hammocks and the rickety wooden shelter starts taking the strain. First it鈥檚 a few creaks but then these become louder and louder. On earlier inspection the roof and main beams seemed only held together by rusty nails and it's clear why Bruce had moved away.
The building feels as though it鈥檚 at full capacity and about to collapse but we each hold our breath, not daring to move. It then emerges that Pete has just returned and has yet to climb up. We joke that there鈥檚 no chance and he鈥檒l have to sleep on the muddy floor but he鈥檚 having none of that. As he climbs into his hammock, loud cracking noises reverberate around the roof structure. If this crashes now it wouldn鈥檛 half hurt. Pete wobbles and fidgets as he鈥檚 tries to close his mozzie net, only for us lying under it in the darkness to hear even louder cracks and snapping sounds. There鈥檚 quite a funny atmosphere with the loggers laughing and Rob starts fidgeting as he鈥檚 let mozzies into his hammock and he鈥檚 now in the unfortunate position of having no way of being able to get them out for the night.
The loggers' hut
With the roof still buckling under the strain I lie there sweating, trying to get some sleep when can suddenly hear wild injured animals howling to the moon. In reality it鈥檚 actually the good Dr and Pete who have dozed off next to me and are the loudest snorers I鈥檝e ever heard. Strangely they are in complete syncopation with not even a break of silence between them. I lay there and eventually tried counting them like sheep. A snore every four seconds. With the other filling the gaps that鈥檚 30 snores a minute, 1800 an hour.
Scrabbling around in the dark, I'd lost my damn ear plugs that have looked after me so well on this trip. This couldn鈥檛 go on and in a vain attempt to muffle the sound I wrapped a t-shirt around my head and finally reached out of my tent and grabbed a tree felling hardhat. I should have though of this earlier as it has flip-down industrial strength ear defenders attached to it. It wasn鈥檛 the most comfortable piece of headgear to wear to bed but in the end I had a really good sleep that night and as well as the first class noise defence I felt a little reassured that at least if the creaking beam above my head collapsed in the night I had some head protection.
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