Galley Gourmetwith Captain Chaos

If it rises much more she’ll be gone

The floods, torrential rain and howling winds last month were such that even the ducks were roosting 20 metres up gum trees. Meanwhile, I retired with a book in front of a merrily burning fire. That was until the phone rang.
“Hi Bob I’m trying to get in touch with Bill but his mobile’s not responding.”
Having had many of these calls over the years, I knew what was coming … help me!
“What’s happened? Where are you?”
“Well I wasn’t going to ask …” said Jane. “But I’m stuck a couple of clicks on the old road from Bill’s place.”
I could hardly hear her for the noise of the rain on the tin roof.
“I’ve slid into the mud under the overhang near the creek.”
“How high’s the creek? Can you see the old boat Bill uses to ferry goods over when the creek’s up?”
“Yes. It’s on the other side from me. This road I’m on is breaking up.”
“Stay with the car! I’ll be there as quick as I can.”
“Please hurry!”
Jumping out of my reverie, the dog was on his feet ready to go. I donned my wet weather gear yelling to Little Person to throw some of the lentil and ham soup into a thermos and telling her what was happening.
I ran down the backyard to the tinnie moored to the bank, threw off the cover and started the motor. Both the dog and I jumped in and we started up the swollen river to the entrance of the creek. I knew from past experiences that the boat was the only way to get to Bill’s crossing because the dirt roads were all mud and flooded.
I could hardly see through the rain and gloom. I was thankful for the dog as he stood in the bow and barked at the driftwood which appeared in the rushing water ahead of us, giving me time to turn the boat out of the way. Even so we got hit by some large pieces that nearly capsized us. We turned into the creek. The water here wasn’t flowing so fast as it had spread out over a large area. Now I had to be careful of submerged fences and stumps.
Crash!
The boat stopped suddenly, the dog flew over the bow and disappeared into the dark water with a huge splash that drenched me as I cut the throttle. I saw something dark coming alongside, grabbed a handful of hair and pulled a very happy dog back into the boat … he rewarded me by shaking himself, covering me with mud and water.
When I went forward I found we had hit a railing which was just under the water. I could see there was no damage to the tinnie, so I pushed us clear and got under way. I spotted Bill’s road and noticed that the old boat was now on his side tied to an old gum tree. I couldn’t see Jane or her car so I headed for the old boat. As we came closer the dog started to bark excitedly and I thought I saw something stick up for a second.
“Hello! Is anyone there?” I yelled.
Suddenly a figure stood up in the boat and answered in a shaky voice, “Thank God you’re here. I thought I was going to freeze to death.”
I came alongside and grabbed the gunnel.
“How come you’re in the boat? I thought I’d said to stay in the car!”
Teeth chattering, Jane explained as she clambered into the tinnie.
“The car started to sink in the mud and I thought I wouldn’t be able to get the door open. Then the boat broke away from the other bank and because it was tied to the big gum over there it floated across. I jumped out of the car and waded out and climbed in.”
Luckily I had the tinnie cover to wrap her in, and as soon as she was seated I served her some of the hot lentil soup.
“Hey Bob this is the best soup!”
It didn’t take long to get back to the house, Little Person fussed around and in no time Jane was tucked into the spare bed with more soup.

Lentil and Ham soup

Ingredients
2 cups red lentils
1 smoked ham hock – slice meat off the bone
1 cup chopped onion
1 bay leaf
Bouquet garni of oregano, parsley, lemon thyme and French tarragon
1 desertspoon minced garlic
season with sea salt and crushed black pepper, to taste
Cooking
Combine all ingredients with 1½ litres of water in a slow cooker. Cook on low, covered, 6 to 8 hours. Turn up heat and put all the ingredients with the water in a pot. Turn to a low heat giving it a good stir every now and then for about 4 hours. Taste and adjust seasonings, serve with crusty bread.