Eliza Looby took third place in the years 5/6 story category of the Wangaratta Young Writers Award with this piece. The competition is run annually by the Rotary Club of Appin Park Wangaratta and the Rotary Club of Wangaratta, and is supported by the Wangaratta Library.

Heidi Harrington placed a quivering hand on the icy railing of the stairs. Her heart raced as she tried to ignore the sound of the roaring plane engine, as its obnoxious droning carried through the chilly air. 'If this plane crashes, I'm dead. Literally. No, stop worrying! Trust the pilot and the plane. I'll be up in FNQ soon, exploring every hidden gem.' A wave of beautiful rainforest imagery washed through her anxious mindset, soothing her a little. Heidi suddenly snapped back to reality as a grouchy granny grumbled from behind her.

"Young lady," she indicated to Heidi. "I would be pleased if you moved your butt into plane. Just there. Can you see it?"

"You know what I can see? Someone that needs to mind their own business," Heidi retorted, holding back a giggle.

She listened for the little snarky comment that would follow her sassy response, and sure enough, there was a predictable "Children are rats" or something along those lines muttered underneath the old fart's breath. As Heidi ascended the stairs at the rear of the plane, she listened to a hostie repeating the same 'good morning' to every passenger, her voice warm and well-natured. She'll care for me, right? I'm only thirteen, after all. It was now Heidi's turn to step onto the Boeing 737-800 and receive the greeting.

"Good morning," the hostie said spritely, flashing her pearly teeth and brushing at her tight, red skirt. She was very tall and wore a manicured, mousy brown bob which made her seem even taller. "You seem young. Don’t worry; just get me if you need assistance." She scanned the details on Heidi's boarding pass and handed it back to her.

"Thank you," Heidi said, and tucked the pass into her navy-blue hoodie pocket.

"That’s what I’m here for, darling," the kind hostie grinned, and her eyes jumped to the next person who was the grouchy granny.

Heidi settled into her seat, waiting for the last passengers to board. Seat 17E overlooked a piece of the right wing and fortunately, no one came to sit beside her. Having flown only three times before, this being the fourth, Heidi still found thundering down the runway thrilling. As the wheels left the ground and she peered out the window to watch Melbourne disappear below her, she considered that flying wasn’t so horrendous and deadly. At least she would soon be at the Daintree Village in Eric’s house. Eric Price was Mike's, Heidi’s dad's, best mate who used to live in Victoria near the Harringtons. Once retired, Eric moved to the sultry north. He'd invited Heidi to stay at his for a calm, non-structured holiday and he'd be waiting for her cheerfully at the airport.

"So. Where do we start?" Heidi stood sipping a peppermint tea on the back porch of Eric's house, overlooking the glassy, walnut-coloured snake-like Daintree River. A pair of Olive-backed Sunbirds compelled Heidi as they chatted exuberantly in an attractive hibiscus. Their satin throat feathers glittered in the afternoon sun until Eric's kelpie, Dog, charged past and flushed them away as he pursued something invisible to humans.

"Let’s get the old girl out of the shed, take her for an outing!" Eric said, and waddled off the porch to the shed to get his boat out. His shiny black mane swished around as he dragged the silver and red striped tinny from the shadows of the rusty corrugated iron shed and down to the water's edge.

'He's so lucky to have a water's edge property! But that comes with stories of crocs sleeping under his clothesline,' Heidi thought. Eric's house, an elaborate historical Queenslander house, had sky-blue weatherboards, white window frames and a huge backyard of hibiscus plants with no fence dividing the river from his lawn.

"Right. Let's get a wriggle on then! The tide's our enemy," Heidi said, swinging her precious binoculars over her shoulder. She crab-walked down the steep hill to the water, where Eric stood six foot three, hands on his hips, and stretching his 51-year-old arms. Heidi tried to stand on her tippie-toes to annoy Eric, but she was only average height and couldn't match his enormousness.

"Best time to be croc-watching! I’ll take you on a free 'Eric's Epic Experience: River Cruise Edition!"

"Yes! Can we do Birdwatching Bizarre Edition as well? Please?" Heidi asked, gripping her binoculars' focus dial.

"Definitely." Eric waved Heidi into the boat and pushed it off the bank. "Come hop in the boat, Log. If you’re wondering how she got the name, it's pretty simple. Got this boat as a 40th birthday present from my wife, who died of cancer the year after, and on the first time I drove it I rammed it into an inconspicuous, stupid big log, damaging the bottom. Amateur mistake, really. But my boat being named 'Log' will always remind me to be wary of logs. The end."

"Nice story, Eric," Heidi laughed. She listened to the crunching and sifting of the eroding river stones beneath the boat's bottom in the shallows. The water deepened dramatically at one point, signalling to fire up the tinnie's engine. The hum of the boat mingled with call of a Great-billed Heron, creating a river sensation.

"Look! A Great-billed Heron! I've never seen one before," Heidi exclaimed. The Birdwatching Bizarre was in action. 'Gee, this river is full of surprises!' A Spangled Drongo swiftly glided above her head, the mid-afternoon sun shimmering off its metallic feathers.

The passing scenery presented itself as muddy riverbanks with crocodile slide marks that bordered lush green paddocks. It was beautiful. Daintree River riparian differed to that of the Murray River, but there were still moments that could relate the two. There were no River Red-gums on the Daintree, but the occasional screech of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo gave Heidi a pang of nostalgia.

"So, Heidi, look to your three o'clock, and there's a big boy that might catch your eye," Eric notified Heidi. He drew an imaginary circle with his pointer finger around a patch of mud - actually, a mud looking animal.

The creature was the most majestic reptile she'd ever laid eyes on. Rectangular and triangular scales the colour of mud and khaki blanketed the beauty, smaller around the eyes and giant on the tail. The two eyes appeared as spheres of yellow mottled with green, finished with a sleek obsidian slit in the centre.

Heidi leaned over the edge of the boat, sending ripples across the river and her shoulder-length blonde hair falling around her face. She gazed at the extraordinary crocodile with her bright green eyes through her binoculars. Now THAT was what you call a maneater! She breathed deeply in awe, tasting winter's tropical humidity and smelling boat engine fumes.

"His tail scales are like dinosaur spines,” Eric observed, staring adoringly at the beast. "At five meters long and 20 years old, this guy is the largest croc I've ever seen."

"Hmm," Heidi absentmindedly responded. She noticed that they'd done a u-turn and begun to speed back towards the house until Eric abruptly cut the engine.

"Right. We are approaching a huge sandbar that I don't think you saw before. Keep the weight of the vessel even. We wouldn't want to get stuck, but if we do, we won't have to wait too long." He came and plonked himself next to Heidi and they drifted over the sandbank where the sandy bottom was visible from the surface. The evening sky glowed a warm pink and yellow above, casting a pretty reflection over the water. Then suddenly, the boat started scraping along the river floor until it came to a complete and inconvenient stop.

Eric cursed under his breath and slumped his irritated shoulders. "Dammit," he mumbled. "Anyway, we'll be fine." But after five nervous minutes of the water creeping slowly up the boat walls, the vessel still hadn't budged.

Heidi was the first to notice why. "Eric, have you noticed the water?" she asked shakily as her non-waterproof grey runners turned to inky black sponges. "I think there might be a hole in the boat. And look, there's a huge, submerged tree trunk just ahead of the bow."

That was true. A big, black, algae-blanketed log had one of its slimy branches stabbed into the boat. "AHHHH! WERE GOING TO SINK!" Eric cried croakily, panic flooding his face. He chucked Heidi an ugly orange life jacket and struggled one over his head as well. "The recent flood must have washed this dumb tree down here! I’m so dumb to not have seen it and that huge croc could see us and —"

"This ain’t your fault," Heidi sighed, patting Eric's sweaty back. Heidi trusted Eric with all her heart that he would protect her from danger, but nature was unpredictable. Water was now spilling in over the sides of the boat, creating an unwanted pool at their feet. Eric swore some more as he was now knee-deep in water, Heidi waist deep.

'Is this the part where we swim to the riverbank, escaping the jaws of a crocodile at dinnertime? Because gee, that would make a hell of a story back home!' Heidi thought, wondering about the oohs and aahs she might earn from friends and family. But interrupting her fantasy, the roar of a fancy speedboat approached from the rear.

“HEEEEEEELP!” Eric yelled, waving his hands like high-speed windscreen wipers at the boat. An oldie sitting in the driver's seat waved back at them and stopped, sending a huge wave at Heidi and Eric's faces.

Heidi spat out a mouthful of river water, coughing and spluttering. "Are they going to save us?" she asked, shivering.

"OI! MATE! What's with the boat? Ya need a hand?" the old man asked, leaning over the side, his salt and pepper coloured hair whipping around in the breeze. The sky above was a navy blue, resulting in poor vision. He squinted to look at the problem. "Well, that’s unfortunate —"

"Can you give us a ride, mate?" Eric said pleadingly. "We’re kind of croc meat."

"Jump in and show us the way to yours, then," the oldie said. "And by the way, I'm John. Me wife's Rita." John beckoned Heidi and Eric to swim over and climb in, so they did, Heidi holding her binoculars high above the water away from danger. The two of them heaved themselves into the midnight black, elaborate speedboat.

The woman Heidi figured was Rita looked strangely familiar. Her dyed-brown mop of uneven granny hair fell around her leopard print, thick-rimmed sunglasses. The skin on her wrinkly, flappy arms was spotted with blemishes and strawberry-coloured mossie bites. She wore a black, knitted shawl with ripped jeans and lime green heels. Fashion granny.

Heidi slouched into a creamy leather seat beside the granny. Rita eyed Heidi like she smelt of rotten eggs. They locked eyes, a familiar hostility radiating off Rita.

Finally, Heidi concluded about the mystery of who Rita was. She was the lady from Melbourne Airport who wasn't minding her own business!

But unfortunately, Rita seemed to figure out who Heidi was at a similar time, and asked the question with a recognisable, harsh attitude. "Do I know you?"