TOUKLEY KAYAK KLUB OLD REPORTS
Website created on 9 Jan 2009.This page has reports from 30 June 2009 to 31 December 2009.
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For earlier reports, 9 Jan 09 to 30 June 09 Click Here
For reports from 1 Jan 10 to 30 June 10 Click here
The overcast sky and busy time of year meant we had only 21 paddlers today, including some newbies. Long-lost Richard C came back bringing his daughter Janaya, Phil B has recently retired and turned up with his home-made plywood kayak, and a work of art it is too, and Russell and Suzie brought their g'kids Rhys and Toni so welcome to all of you.
We went up Spring Creek past the Link Road bridge, then back to the lake for a look. How far was that, Doug?It turned out to be a bit too windy on the lake so we called it quits and headed back fucoffee.
On another subject; If we can get a substantial order for embroidered caps like the ones the original Skylarkers were presented with, or hats, with Toukley Kayakers on the front, we can get them cheap, like $10-15. So think about it and let Sue know next time you see her, or e-mail your order (see link at the top).
See Russell's photos here.
Danny
No paddling today, but we have pictures of last Friday's adventures up the Wyong River. Doug, Danny and Barry launched at the Milk Factory and went as far as we could upstream. It rained most of the time and we were hoping for a flash flood. Anyway the pix are here.
Haven't been here for a while but it's a very pleasant location with excellent parking, launching and lunching facilities. About 19 of us set off today - Doug stayed on shore to guard our stuff - anti-clockwise around the lake so we saw some nice country: how about those big rock cliffs? After the usual paddle up some dead-end but still interesting creeks we continued through the drowned forest which some of us find irresistible, then back across the lake into a sudden stiff nor-easterly to test us out. Nice to see Jeanne-Marie back on her own boat, but I understand she still has a spot more surgery to undergo. Welcome to Mike's friend Glynnis from London where the temperature today is about 3°C, compared to 35 here now.
Sue presented me and Richard and Doug and Barry with special club caps in appreciation of our efforts for the club.
There are heaps of photos coming so come back again soon to see them,
Danny
A vintage kayak day, great venue, lovely water, 27 paddlers, first-class lunch... This was a new location for us, so thanks to Mike for showing us around. Excellent facilities, with good access to the lake, toilets, showers, picnic tables and nice surroundings, pretty well ensure that we'll be back, and soon.
The lovely clear water was interesting, with plenty of currents and tides, and some breezes (Seabreeze says 15 knots easterly). The scenery was spectacular too, with barges full of dredged sand being shunted around by two punts with 225hp outboards on them, beautiful islands, and houses, boats etc.
Highlight of the day for me was Russell going through a half-pipe under a roadway that was only 15 inches high and about 30 inches wide, and about 30 feet long. He had to take his seat off and most of his clothes to squeeze through. I took some photos on his camera which are here.
Merle is back from Asia and completed the paddle with us, while Don caught up with his reading ashore. Welcome back, Merle!
Thanks to everyone who helped make the day such a success.
To see Mike's map of our 9km trip, click here, then Back Arrow to return here.
Danny
Just got more pix from Russell for last week. Added them to Doug's.
What a brilliant place for a kayak! Glad Doug thought of it. From the launch spot the 26 of us went into Edmunds Bay and circumnavigated it, taking in Mudd Creek, a short but interesting excursion. Then we found Stony Creek which we went up for miles till we had had enough. Very pleasant! We paddled about 11 km so we were pretty knackered by the time we got back. At least I was.
It was Mike's and Robyn's birthdays so we had a mud cake which Mike brung himself. 65 and 60 respectively.
By the way, that shortcut I mentioned, confirmed by Google maps, doesn't exist. I didn't find it on the way in, so I looked for it to go home, and kept running into dead-ends. I finished up on Wakefield Rd which I followed for miles before giving up and turning back only, as it turned out, only 3 km from the freeway. Forgot my UBD innit! So I did about 20 extra km and wasted half an hour. Grrr! Still, had a nice drive in my new truck.
Danny
PS Doug's and Russell's photos are now here
A Big Hello From Cambodia,
I'm keeping up with all the fun you guys are having - photos look great. Last Tuesday looked like a good test for you all on Brisbane Water.
Phnom Penh treating me well, as usual. Eating well, shopping in the markets, going for massages, swimming every day and generally taking it easy.
Catch you guys in a couple of weeks.
Merle (Monday 30/11)
Well here are the dedicated ones that turned up tonight. No, we didn’t paddle, but we had a great impromptu supper, an “ooh ahh” at the moon and wore our glow sticks.
What a good time we had. Very good company and lots of laughs.
Had it not been for the wind (that damn wind!) it would have been close to perfect. The moon arrived on cue, it was still quite light until after 8.15, the glow sticks worked a treat, so all in all it would have been everything we had hoped for. Pictures here.
Fingers crossed now for January.
Doug and Sue
Barry, Richard and I went for a paddle up Wallarah Creek, out of San Remo, today. We should all do this one again soon. It was a hot day so Richard and I went for a quick swim in the river when we got back.
By-the-way, Russell's photos have been added to last Tuesday's Gosford album of Harry's wonderful pix, and can be seen here.
Danny
Bit of a different day here at beautiful Brisbane Water — raining, windy... Yes, The old magic last-minute fine weather failed to happen today, but at least it wasn't cold. Southerly breezes of around 15 knots churned up a good chop at the top end of Brisbane Water as we scurried across The Broad Water to the safety of Fagans Bay. Narara creek was pleasant, despite the gently falling rain for most of the trip. The return trip across the big water was interesting, with head-winds and a chop of over 45cm (that's a foot and a half to you imperialists). Going was slow and much water was sloshed into boats. Russell and Suzie had their scupper plugs in, so finished the trip with the same level of water inside their boat as out. It was a good test of the design of the kayaks for rough conditions. Doug's calculation of our distance today was 9 km.
Welcome to Clarry from the bike club who started out in Sue's tub, but did most of the journey in the front of the double with Doug, having swapped with Sue. A few would-be paddlers opted to wait at the park rather than risk it, and no-body could blame them. Nineteen souls did paddle though, six of them in doubles. Not bad for a terrible day!
Harry's photos and Russell's photos are here!
Thanks to everyone who brought stuff for lunch. Especially Sue for the sangers.
Danny
The Tumut Adventurers are back, and Brenton has written a report. See it here.
Russell's photos from last Tuesday are now available here.
Sorry to be repetitive (no, I'm not) but another excellent trip today. Overcast and a bit windy at times but with most of our trip up the secluded Wyee Creek, we paddled mostly in quiet serenity. Some of us (Russell, Richard, Peter and Danny) went as far upstream as we could only stopping when there wasn't enough water to float our boats, so we must have done about 12 km.
Jill joined the Submariners' Club when she got caught in the pipe under Rutleys Road and was emptied into the warm salty water. She's thinking of selling the experience as a Hydrotherapy variation.
Twenty-three paddlers today despite many of our members being up on the Tumut this week.
Thanks to everyone who brought stuff to eat, it was yummy!
Go to Photo Album for Russell's photos.
Danny
Bike club members and others — we have some new pix from Port Mac by Margaret: the best pix of the trip! Click here for her new photos. Today Doug and Danny and Barry tested out the upper reaches of Wyong River to the limit. Such fun! See some pictures here.
Our first anniversary outing, in beautiful weather, with about 35 personnel on the water, and another 7 or 8 later at the lunch. We went down Ourimbah Creek from Sunshine Park, into Tuggerah Lake and north in shallow water. The provisional distance is about 9.6km. This was followed by the mother of all morning teas/lunch with bbq and trifle. We even had a birthday cake and candle for the club. Many thanks to Doug and Sue and their many helpers for organising and executing the event. A presentation of a little red book of our thoughts and a speech were made by Richard to the happy couple. Kee even cracked a bottle of champers.
Very pleasant! Harry's and Kee's photos are here. Russell's photos are here.
Danny
Message from Sue and Doug
Wow! What can I say that hasn’t been said! Thank you all, every one of you, who attended today to make our 1st anniversary BBQ so successful.
Firstly I must make a very big apology to Danny, I am so sorry. It was very remiss of me not to thank you for all your hard work and dedication to our website, without which, I am sure, we would not have so many paddlers joining us week in and week out. It has been a wonderful tool that we all rely on to keep us up to date and so with that I say “Thank you”, “Thank you”, “Thank you”! [blush]
I am not sure whether it is the website or the morning teas that have encouraged so many people to keep coming back, either way something is working.
I trust everyone enjoyed the lunch and the good company, we certainly did. Thank you all again for your very kind thoughts and words in our book. It was very unexpected and a lovely surprise.
Regards,
Sue and Doug
The photos from the Bike Club trip to Port Macquarie are visible here. Please send me any you have, especially of raptors eating a fish.
This was probably a record attendance of about 28 paddlers, but there were too many to count. And they wouldn't stand still. The only disappointment was the amount of yukky floating algae on quite a bit of the lakes. Still, you could paddle through it, and some people took delight in doing so.
There are a few interesting spots, including one creek which ends at some logs. The guy on the tractor mowing the grass promised to have the timber cleared for our next trip. Not a very long trip today (Mike will probably send me a GPS map), but that allowed more time for morning tea. The weather was perfect if somewhat hot at 38°C but we didn't notice it on the water.
Welcome to Trevor in Ken's single/double, and Paul in Marie-Jeanne's Cobra Escape, which didn't, luckily.
Darcy is selling that beautiful sit-on Ocean Kayak if anyone wants it, for $800. Ring him on 4359 1729.
See the details above for next week's outing — not to be missed!
Danny
PS Harry's photos are here. Russell's pix are here.
Threatening weather and early rain kept would-be kayakers away in droves, but we still managed 20 paddlers, and we had an excellent time in overcast FINE conditions. There's a rule to use for kayaking and cycling — don't decide not to participate until the scheduled start time, as so often when it looks bad early, it's fine on the day/time. And so it was today.
The venue is a new one for us but looks like it will be a popular one. Only 40 minutes from Gorokan via the F3, so not too far, and a very interesting and varied place with several different bays to explore, and all subject to tides which will affect our journey. Correa Bay, Horsfield Bay, Phegans Bay, Woy Woy Bay, Waterfall Bay (couldn't reach the waterfall) and Parks Bay all formed part of our travels today.
Warwick and Robyn brought their new kayaks, his a D.A.G. Taîki same as mine, and hers a Cobra Play. So Woz and I are now a couple of DAGs. Also Barry invited young Rhys and Alex from the Kayak Direct showroom to join us which they did in their nice demo kayaks. They offered to give away one free kayak each week till Xmas just to help our club along. At least I think that's what they said. Not!
Anyway, Mike says we, or he, did 12.5 km today, but he went under the railway bridge which was a bridge too far for most of us. We have some great photos to see when they come back from the chemist.
In two weeks we will be having a special party to celebrate our first anniversary, the day when three of us went out together for the first time 12 months ago. Wow! So read the arrangements up the top and let us know if you're coming so we can inform the caterers.
Danny
See Mike's map of today's trip. Click here! Photo album now available here.
What can I say, a picture perfect day and another good roll up. 24 paddlers in 21 boats. A few familiar faces have returned, which is great to see, so welcome back Jenny, Graeme, Suzanne, Russell and Patrick, we missed you. Darcy arrived with yet another new kayak, we might have to start calling him the ‘Imelda’ of the kayak group. Today we paddled Wallarah Creek and paddled about 10km. There was a bit of confusion with GPS’ as some went further than others, so will call it 10km – near enough. It was a glorious day with the temp in the mid 20s and barely a breath of breeze. It is very pretty along the creek once you pass the residential area. There was an ‘environmental rapist’, a trail bike tearing through the undergrowth, we didn’t see it, but we did hear it for a while. The only blot on a lovely paddle.
Whilst we do visit the creeks fairly often, there is always something of interest and they are so very peaceful (‘cept for today’s trail bike grrrrr) with very pretty scenery with some amazing trees along the banks. I hope Russell and Harry managed some good photos. Next week we are heading to Woy Woy so hopefully the weather will be good to us again (we will get Kee on to it) and have another good roll up.
Sue
Harry's pix are here.
With the overnight temperature a balmy 17°C, we enjoyed a warm but windy morning kayaking in beautiful Dora Creek. Paddling a total 11km we finished with a 15 knot tail wind so the trip upstream took twice as long as the return journey. With 27 paddlers in 23 kayaks we can claim a new record attendance, boosted by 3 or 4 visitors for morning tea. Welcome to first timers, such as Don from the Lake Macquarie Paddling Group. Apparently there are a few such clubs around but we have the best website. Kee's photos are visible here. Harry also has contributed photos which can be seen here.
Anyone with photos of us should e-mail them to the address at the top.
Danny
Today was a glorious day for kayaking. The weather was as near to perfect as you can get. 15 paddlers in 13 kayaks travelled to Patonga and it was worth every km travelled to get there. Kee is claiming credit for the beautiful weather, apparently, he "ordered it" from the weather channel - he is a man of many talents - but hey, we all appreciated the day "he" arranged, so thanks Kee.
Doug planned the tide to perfection for us to go up the creek while the tide was on the rise and on our way back, the tide had turned to the run out.
We paddled 11.3 km today and went as far up the creek as we could. The scenery along the creek is beautiful and it was so peaceful. After all the rain we had over the weekend, the water wasn't quite as clear as it could be, but still clear enough to see the fish and the sandy bottom for most of the paddle. We heard lots of different bird life and saw a huge Sea eagle circling above. The vegetation was full of Cabbage Tree Palms, ferns and huge imposing Gum Trees. Don even commented on how healthy all the mangroves were.
All those that came today enjoyed the venue, and for all those that didn't make it today, don't worry, I am sure it will be on the "revisit" list.
Also, we had yet another new face today, so a big welcome to Robert and hopefully we will have you join us again in the not so distant future. The website has done its job yet again.
Next week 13 October, we are heading to Dora Creek, Newcastle map 175; B 12 - can Kee arrange the same weather as today please?
Sue
Extra report from Kee:
It was a wonderful outing today. The weather was a bit chilly when we arrived but Bob assured us it all had to do with the clock having moved forward and it was just the 7.30 am conditions. He was right and eventually, the weather was as we ordered, clear sky, sunshine and the temperature got more comfortable.
With the water flat and almost no breeze, we ventured out towards Brisk Bay and had a look at the Heads/ Lion Island. Some of the more adventurous ones, eg, Linda went a bit further to enjoy the swell but Darcy was determined to test if his new yak was tough enough.
We then paddled back into Patonga creek, passing the caravan park. Two teens on their surf boards but used as kayaks tried to challenge the oldies to a race but we, the more experienced ones won, of course. Our sleeker kayaks had nothing to do with it. We then paddled pass Sue's old house to go upstream. When we reached the oyster beds, Robert, was more interested in having oysters for breakfast. Some paddlers, like young Richard, also paddled across the oyster beds for a similar purpose, I assume. Fortunately, the high tide saved the oysters and the kayaks' bottoms from being scratched.
The high water level also allowed us to paddled up the creek at the western offshoot. With the correct combination of clear water and sunlight, the scenery was picturesque. Some of the scenes were captured in the almost perfect photographs (and this has very little to do with the photographer).
On the way back, there was a flurry of activities and suddenly I realised that I was left behind with Allan in Doug's single kayak. Doug has now upgraded into a rear passenger in their double and we could see that Allan is no Doug when it comes to paddling power. We were in no hurry though, checking on the performance of the fishermen on several boats. Some of them might have to visit the fishermen co-op shop later.
Then we noticed a white sleek kayak dashing in and out of the now properly flooded Mangrove. It was Mike, and Allan thought he was trying to catch mud crabs in there. When Mike finally paddled towards me, he asked if I had seen the Waratah. I was taken aback, thinking that he was testing my general knowledge in Rugby and I almost replied that last weekend, the Storm beat the Eels only to realise that it was not a sports question but one very cultural one. He meant the Australian National icon, the flower. Then it occurred to us that he was doing a bush walk/ paddle in the Mangroves. Some photos of the blooming wild flowers along the road out of Patonga as education for some like me.
I had a great day and in good company. We must have done about 10 km. I am sure we will see more of Lee on the water after her so determined effort to move the kayak forward in a straight line. (Someone will have to tell her eventually that this type of kayaks are not mean to go straight). Welcome to Robert Hellyer and also to Allan and Wayne for the courage to join the pack again.
The after paddle tea was welcomed refreshment. Thanks again to Doug and Sue for making sure that the essentials were available especially spare cups (mine was still sitting on the fence when I got home). Also thanks to those who prepared the pastries, etc.
Kee
Kee's beautiful photos are available here.
Davistown/St Huberts Island. Unbelievably pleasant paddling. Park your car in the carpark at the water's edge, next to the toilet (essential for pensioners) and throw your boat in. Brisbane Water is a fantastic place for kayaking, and we saw several others out at the same time as our little group of nineteen.
From Cockle Channel we headed around Rileys Island nature reserve, then continued anti-clockwise around Stuberts Is, having a look up one channel (Sandy Cove) to see all the beautiful houses and boats we can't afford, under the bridge and back to the start. Only about 8km, but a nice paddle and beautiful scenery, and the weather was perfect. Top that off with our legendary morning tea/lunch and you have my idea of bliss. Photos now available, click here.
Danny
Below: Davistown, Restella Avenue boat ramp
Gorokan Fish Co-op. Under the Toukley Bridge towards Wallarah Bay and straight into a brisk south-westerly. So we paddled past the WB Club and across to Pipeclay Point. New girl Yvonne in her new kayak couldn't make any progress so young Peter took her back for a paddle up by The Corso. From Pipeclay Pt we kept going south to Karraganbah Point, Tuggerawong (you better look that one up) where some of us wisely decided to head back, but Margaret and Richard kept going towards Rocky Point. The wind had picked up and swung Nor'west just to make it harder to steer back to Toukley Bridge, increasing to the wrong side of 15 knots so it was pretty hairy in the middle of the lake I can tell you. Gusts of over 20 knots and waves breaking into one's boat meant that most careful kayakers took the sheltered coastal route, especially Margaret who didn't wear her life jacket because the colour didn't match her shirt. With my wide sit-on kayak I was well-equipped for the conditions, though Darcy sent a rescue team in a tinny out to check on the lone kayaker in the middle of the lake but I sent them away. The Seabreeze Wind graph doesn't show anything for this morning, but at 2.00pm it shows 28-32 knots NW.
All 21 paddlers, including six on doubles, made it back OK, exhilarated by the effort and looking forward to a comforting cuppa and a choccy bicky. Thanks to Doug and Sue for the effort in making sandwiches and bringing the coffee stuff. And they didn't even paddle due to ill-health.
New reports for the last two weeks added below on 25/9/09. Also Mooney pix added.
Danny
(PS I had a wonderful motoring trip to Adelaide and Melbourne, completing over 4000 km.)
Mooney Mooney Creek was today’s venue and 26 enthusiastic paddlers in 23 boats were ready and very willing participants. 9.25km of the creek was paddled on a day that started out overcast and a little doubtful resulted in a very pleasant day.
The creek itself is very pretty with clear water and lots of birdlife and fish very visible. There were lots of perfect photo opportunities but I am not too sure if anyone actually took photos.
As in recent weeks, we had 4 new faces today, so welcome Chris and Wendy, Bill, and Yvonne. All going well Yvonne should be back next week with her own kayak as she set off after today’s paddle to buy one – now that’s keen!
I am sure we will be returning to Mooney again as everyone enjoyed this paddle.
Doug and Sue
Today’s paddle was from Budgewoi to Munmorah hot water inlet, 9.2 km.
17 paddlers in 14 kayaks all seemed to enjoy the paddle, even though at first the wind was a bit of a concern but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm or slow some of them down. Out of the wind was glorious, warm and sunny.
We welcomed a few new faces today, Christine who ventured up from Sydney (she checked us out on our website, thank you Danny), Bob (a friend of Darryl’s) and Alan (from cycling), welcome to you all.
Doug and Sue arrived with their almost new 2nd hand ‘Cobra Tandem’, and not to be out done, Merle and Don arrived with their very new ‘Viking Double’. I don’t think Merle and Don had any domestics on their craft, but the same can’t be said for us – we will get there eventually, I think it has something to do with being synchronised ....
Morning tea was delightful as usual and there seems to be a lot of interest in next week’s adventure to Mooney Mooney Creek, so hopefully we will have a good turn out.
Sue and Doug P.P.P.P (Pedallin' paddlin' piddlin' pensioners)
A very nice paddle today on our second attempt from Vales Point Park. Across Wyee Bay past Wyee Point into some little bay and up some little creek, then north past the hostible into Bird Cage Bay and up Pourmalong Creek, all spoiled a bit because of shallow water. Back across the lake to Vales Point a total of just over 9km. Perfect weather and no verbs were harmed in the writing of this report. Sadly no photos either.
Danny
What a shocker! Westerly winds of up to 25 knots, so there was no possibility of getting off the shore at Wyee Bay, so the hardy eight of us went round to the Manno Sailing Club, on the lee side of the peninsula, where conditions were much more pleasant. We paddled with the wind down to Chain Valley Bay, lovely, but the trip back was hard going with gusts stopping my boat dead in the water. Still, we didn't go too far and were back by about 11.20am. Seeing we only started at 10 nobody was complaining. So we had a lovely morning tea, as usual. There were me and Doug, Jill and Trevor and Darryl, Peter, Harry and young Margaret from Newcastle, who has bought my Frenzy and did very well in it too. We will try the same venue (Vales Pt Pk) next week as it's worth doing and we couldn't think of anything else. See the Seabreeze graph below.
Danny
Hi! After Tuesday's aborted run across Lake Tuggers, Richard and I felt a little cheated, so we went out again today. At 9.30am the water was beautiful — glassy, warm air... So we headed across the lake towards Ourimbah Creek. Even though on the map Chittaway Point sticks out 1500 metres into the lake, from the other side at water level all you can see is a panorama of shoreline bush with no indication where the Creek is. Funny, that! Maybe it's just my eyesight. Anyway, Richard and I ploughed on across the beautiful calm lake, marvelling at how pleasant it was, as we always do. As we got closer to the other side some waves appeared in the smooth surface, then some ripples, but we could feel no breeze. Eventually a light breeze sprang up, and amazingly I could see dark water and whitecaps ahead, only about 500m from our destination. Quickly enough the front hit us and we could paddle no further, too rough and too hard to make headway. So we turned around and paddled back towards Pelican Island, flying along ahead of the wind and surfing on some of the waves. Steering was difficult for me but Richard has a retractable skeg on his kayak which helped a lot. An interesting and exciting kayak adventure!
Surprise! It’s me again.
Yesterday was a beautiful sunny morning, but when we arrived at Picnic Point someone had left the door open somewhere and an icy cold wind was blowing straight off the water, brrrr.
Not to be perturbed, 20 paddlers in 17 kayaks set off east toward The Entrance Bridge and on to the lake opening. We then headed toward Nth Entrance. By this time lots of layers of clothing were being removed as it became quite warm and the wind (thankfully!) dropped. We paddled toward Two Shores Caravan Park, we then headed south back toward The Entrance paddling around the outside of the islands into the lake. We paddled 7.8km, not our longest but enjoyable all the same.
Getting back to Picnic Point was not an easy task for us that didn’t follow the leader and took a short cut and many of us had to walk a fair distance before we reached deep enough water again to get to shore – not happy Jan! I don’t do wet! Oh well, there is a first time for everything I guess, pity Mike wasn’t there to witness it – yes I got wet.
It certainly is a wonderful way to while away the time. By the time we were having morning tea / lunch the wind had dropped completely and the water was now like glass, typical! We have yet another new girl, Margaret, who found us through our website, so well done Danny, all your hard work is paying off. People are starting to find out about us. Hopefully we will see Margaret again soon, her work commitments permitting.
Sue
BTW, new photos from last week are here. Also, have a look at Sue and Doug's suggestions about funding morning tea. Click here.
You don't have to have beautiful sunny weather to have a good time... Today was cloudy with rain sprinkles, as we paddled from Sunshine Park up to the weir and back, about 7km. Twenty-two paddlers including 6 newbies, tho I think 2 of them were there last week when I wasn't. So welcome Bill and Chris, and Jill and the others. Ourimbah Creek is a wonderful natural place and we saw a big sea eagle which stayed perched high on a dead tree for the trip up and back. When we got back and were loading our boats it started to rain lightly and didn't stop for an hour. But we were safely installed under the shelter in the park with toilets nearby and a BBQ if we wanted to toast our sandwiches. So thank you Wyong Council for the lovely facilities which contributed so much to our successful BDO(big day out). And apparently the big eaters were back so we munched our way thru a heap of food. Thanks to everyone who brought something, and especially to Doug and Sue.
Danny
The weather Gods smiled on us yet again. Today was a little cloudy with occasional bursts of sunlight, very little breeze and quite warm out on the water. Hmmm, I thought this was meant to be winter?!?!
We had 17 paddlers in 14 kayaks today. Some more new faces today, hopefully we didn’t scare them off and we will see them again. We explored Wallarah Creek, an ’oldie but a goodie’. We went as far as we could up the right arm of the creek until we reached the very narrow, overgrown section which was not on our agenda. When we returned to the launch site, most paddlers continued on down to the opening of the creek at Budgewoi Lake then returned to the launch site for morning tea. 9.2km was the distance, if you did the extra bit to the lake and back.
Today is the first time we have had food left over after morning tea, so we have kept the unopened biscuits (2 packets) and the Blueberry Cake for next week. I know Barry brought one of the packets of biscuits so, Barry, please don’t bring anything next thank you. I am not too sure who brought the cake and the other biscuits, so same applies, please don’t bring anything next week. I took the liberty and sliced the cake and have it in the freezer all ready for next week, thank you again.
Given all the food left over, that must mean all our big eaters were away this week! Not mentioning any names...
Next week we are back at that other favourite spot, (or are they all favourites?) Sunshine Park, Chittaway Point. Map 59, M 7
Cheers,
Sue and Doug
Cockle Creek, Speers Point. This week we paddled straight up Cockle Creek to a point near Ridleys Rd, Edgevale. We know that cos a man told us. The weather was chilly to start but fine and sunny, with only the slightest breeze. This is some big creek, so there were no narrow streams, obstacles, trees down or mangrove swamps — just Big River and plenty of serious paddling, 12 km worth of it. Fifteen of us including Merle back from her overseas travels, in the double canoe with Don. I drove up the F3 from Lake Haven, via George Booth Dr, West Wallsend, and Main Road, 67km all up. I went home via The Esplanade which as it turns out terminates right near our launch spot, and via Belmont and Swansea, a distance of only 49km but it took about the same time. I thought you'd like to know that. Anyway, a very pleasant paddle, enhanced by watching a big crane pull an old large boat from the creek. Russell's pictures now visible here.
Next week is Wallarah Creek, 3km from my place.
Danny
Report
21 July 2009
Kincumber
Creek. An absolutely perfect day for 15 paddlers, including 2 newbies
— Welcome Richard C and Bob! We paddled first up Kincumber Creek
which wasn't very nice, through dingy places in murky water, with a dog
barking at us running along the water's edge... till I yelled at it and
it ran away and never barked again! Downstream again and out into Kincumber
Broadwater and then into Brisbane Water near Empire Bay. Very beautiful
and worth going again for a better look, maybe launch closer to the action.
A total of 10.9km though some of us didn't go the whole way. Some of the
sit-on kayaks can't keep up with the big boats, but we work harder in
the attempt. The launch venue was a bit rough with a concrete ramp and
muddy, rocky parking area - no grass anywhere. Still, thanks Doug for
the variety and interesting paddle. Thanks also to Margie who opened her
house to us for a barbecue, and to Kee for a beautiful Malaysian curry
cooked by his wife Mandy.
See Russell's great photos Click here.
Next week Speers Point again, by popular request. See you there!
Danny
Nice day up Wyee Creek, sunny, beautiful... Turned a bit nasty during morning tea but. Over 20 paddlers today. No other paddle has 15 metre long drain pipes, a little challenge for variety. Russell has taken some nice photos. To see them click here!
Danny
Picnic Point, The Entrance. Only eleven hardy paddlers on this cold and gloomy morning — air temp about 14°C, a light southerly breeze, and just a smattering of rain, but we had a good time as always. Around Pelican Island, across to Terilba Is and along the eastern shore to the lagoon. Then a circumnavigation of the lagoon, with only Mike and Russell brave enough to go with the current down the channel to the ocean outlet, paddling against a fair current to make their way back into the lagoon. Then we went back to Picnic Pt, although Richard was keen to continue along the lake edge but the rest of us had had enough. So, only a one-hour forty-minute paddle, probably six km, just to show we don't always go mad like last week.
We had some new kayakers, from Mannering Park, so welcome Lou, Andy and Judy. Only Richard and I were from somewhere south of Manno today, so we were outvoted for next week's venue. Andy and Judy just bought a beautiful new double kayak from C-Kayaks, and plan to take it with them on trips. See Russell's photos, click here. Here is Mike's map of the trip, click here!
Danny
