The sandbar at the river mouth was still intact, so that water levels were higher than usual and we could easily explore the eastern end of the inlet. Camp was set up on Clarke Island, just across from Bald Island and our first night was so tranquil and still, we could hear the surf in the distance.
Over the following days we explored Coal and Windy Point as well as the Inlet River off to the east. We also paddled to the river-mouth and had a swim in the ocean, followed by a lazy lunch under some trees.
We had a great camp-site on white sand, under the paperbarks and in the evening we sat on a rocky hill at the west end of Clarke, telling lies, adjusting our ethanol levels and watching the sun go down.
One of the highlights happened at Coal Point, when one of our female paddlers dived behind some bushes to answer the call of nature. She carefully draped her spray-deck in front of her to preserve her modesty, but failed to realise that there was a sunken four-wheel drive track behind her. She ended up being busted not by one vehicle, but a convoy of twelve vehicles! Her red face became redder when thereafter we called her the Moon-maid.
Geoff managed to take 425 photographs, narrowly escape lynching and even whittled the pics down to 52 suitable for general consumption. Finally all good things come to an end and we headed for home on the Monday, via a swim at Shannon Dam and a burger in Manjimup.
Thanks to Colin, Gail, Gisela, Maggie, Andrea, Carol, John, Andy, Lee and Phil for the great company and a great weekend.
Geoff Emery.