ItÕs a fine way to spend the public holiday weekend, meet up with a group of your fellow Swan Canoe club members and have a 16km paddle down the Serpentine River. That was how I thought it would be, the weather forecast was promising fine weather and temperatures of 23 degrees, I put my new roof rack on the car and had my maiden drive with kayak firmly tied in place.
However the best laid plans etc etcÉ
I arrived at Karnup bridge, our start point, in good time greeted Geoff (Emery) and Andy (el Presidente) and their respective partners, full of the joys of a good day ahead. Chatting away merrily I got my paddling gear out of the boot of my car, and with a confident air slammed it shut É.OH DEARÉ.I realized with sudden horror my keys were in the boot! Also all my gear and more importantly my mobile, no way to call for help. At this point I will draw a curtain across the next couple on minutes as swearing and panic took place I tried desperately not to lose my temper and/or burst into tears of frustration. Full marks to my fellow paddlers who did not laugh at me and my predicament and did their utmost to help. As a result 5 minutes later IÕm on the phone to my husband (thank you for the use of your mobile Geoff), and he is on his way like the proverbial knight in shining armor, he arrived (smirking slightly but kind enough not to laugh at me), and I was in and sorting myself out while the rest of the group were doing the car shuffle. While awaiting the return of the car shufflers, the heavens opened and the rest of us took shelter under trees and the bridge waiting for it to blow over, nice to know that the weather forecasters here can be as bad as the ones back in the UK..
Now the day can properly begin, we launch ourselves into the river just under Karnup bridge, getting the feel of the water and realizing that in places the river became very shallow, leading to, at times, a very meandering course. Slowly the clouds parted allowing us to dry out and warm up and enjoy the green countryside slipping past . The group was of varied paddling experience, but we kept together nicely, at times in single file as the water got shallow, and spread out chatting away as and when the river allowed.
As we approached Lake Amarillo (yes! you too may know the song but hum it to yourself while reading this, so not to annoy others),we were greeted by what seemed like a forest of Tea Trees. A couple of the more experienced paddlers edged their way through the tangle of branches and gnarled trunks, finding a paddle way then blowing their whistles to announce a safe path. The rest of us then carefully paddled through, making for the canoeist we could see who had positioned themselves as way markers for us. The waters at the top end of the lake were very shallow, and it took a few minutes of trial and error to discover a channel that was deep enough to let us glide through to the main part of it. Once on the lake we were able to spread out a little, though a side wind, from which we had been sheltered on the river did liven things up a little for those without a rudder. The lake itself is lined with Tea Trees, which makes spotting the exit route out a little difficult for those who have never paddled in this area. Luckily for us Mary, our leader and organizer is familiar with these waters, and we found ourselves heading for the far side of the lake, that to me looked as much like a Tea Tree lined bank as the rest of it, itÕs not until you get to within 50 meters that you can tell that is the opening into which the serpentine river continues its meandering course.
A few kilometers farther on and we stop for lunch. A chance to stretch our legs, mull over the mornings paddle, compare tasty treats for lunch and water part of the countryside, all accompanied by the sound of slapping as the local mossies turn up for a free meal. Large, voracious and certainly persistent the air became filled with of the scent of citronella and other substances as we performed our own chemical warfare on the pristine countryside. Needless to say ,I think the mossies won.
Back into the Kayaks, some impressive bank launches carried out, worthy of a bottle of champagne and the lines Ò I name this shipÉÓ The mossies, thankfully wandered off to find better meals as we paddled leaving us to concentrate on the surrounds and the river which, continued to be very cluttered with overhanging branches, complete with sticky webs and even stickier spiders, and the odd submerged tree again had us pinballing from one side of the river to another. Occasionally the sky would cloud over briefly to threaten the wet stuff, but then open up again and we would find ourselves bathed in sunlight. The Serpentine continued southwards through the marshlands and into Yalbanberup Pool, a long relatively narrow lake that again was very deceiving regarding the exit , we paddled right down into its south east corner before it became obvious, the tall reeds and tea trees providing an endless landscape of green.
From the end of Yalbanberup lake, we paddled through further narrow channels of reeds before the river opened out again into another small lake, and there in the distance we could see our finish point of the car park at Woodland Parade, actually it was GeislaÕs truck that helped us realize we were reaching our destination. Arms that had been tiring, suddenly became reinvigorated and the group seem to put on a spurt of speed with the end in sight. On reaching the finish we went into military mode as kayaks, once vacated, were taken into the car park, and put onto the trailer and various roof racks, GeislaÕs roof looking like a game of Tetris gone mad, with 3 secured in place and so gentle reader we all made our way home to nurse our mossie bites.
The finish point ,according to Mary, was approximately 16kms, though with all our meandering it did feel further, and despite my inauspicious start to the day and the early threatening weather it was a great day to be on the water. Thank you very much to Mary Roche for organizing the day and to Geoff for the supply of snakes to keep us going and Andy for being our rear gunner and shepherding us all home.