This year’s Murray Delta paddle started (and finished) with 13 seasoned Swannies taking to the water at Jetty’s Bar and Grill in South Yunderup. This locality is on the lower portion of the Murray River a few kilometres upstream from where it flows, via a multi-channelled delta, into Peel Inlet. So, despite the name of this club trip suggesting it was only for those paddling a Delta (4 of us on the day) it was open to all comers!.

We had a slightly staggered start due to a brain fade by your’s truly in neglecting to contact one paddler with the news we were starting half an hour earlier than previously planned – but we are almost on speaking terms again aren’t we Sarah?

A full car park at Jetty’s greeted us with a number of dragon boats also taking advantage of the pleasantly mild paddling weather. After breaking the news that our planned coffee stop on the homeward route (Pelicans on the Murray) was temporarily closed, your team leader skulked off with most of the pack while Geoff and Claire waited to placate Sarah when she arrived. Heading downstream past all the holiday houses and their private jetties, the advance party led by Colin took a detour up one of the canals (Murray Waters) until everyone caught up.

With a full compliment, temps in the low 20’s, and under a cloudy sky, we paddled westwards down into the delta via the river’s Minjoogup branch on the southern side  of Yunderup Island. Judging by the number of signs adjacent to river the local inhabitants appear to be in a battle with our beloved State Government over some issue, possibly the potential loss of some shacks deemed unable to comply with current planning requirements – but really this does seem to pale into insignificance compared to the closure of the coffee shop!

The initial ‘residential’ portion of the paddle provided an interesting insight into how holiday shacks inevitably morph into substantial homes/ aka Mc Mansions. The delta area, in contrast, provided a number of channels where we were able to quickly get away from ‘civilisation’ and boat traffic, and just enjoy the fringing vegetation and its associated birdlife. There was also the prospect of encountering dolphins (although personally I only saw two this year).

Briefly entering Peel Inlet and passing some patient fishermen / fisherpersons, we managed to avoid shallow areas, as we skirted around Little Yunderup Island and headed back eastwards. Passing along the northern side of Yunderup Island we encountered Worallgarook and Ballee Islands on our left until emerging back into the main boating channel.

OK I confess, I couldn’t really remember the names of the various islands and channels without the attached map / cheat sheet!

Once back in the main boating cannel we headed north-west to our lunch spot on Cooleenup Island where picnic tables, toilets, a kids playground, and access to historic Coopers Mill awaited (see red dot on map between Meeyip and Jennala Islands).

At lunch we seemed to split into a girls group (Gabriella, Bec, Evi, Maria, Sarah, Shantha and Claire) and a blokes group (Geoff, Colin, Ross, Trevor, Patrick and Marty) – I will let you guess where the most impressive food was laid out!  Ross bravely tried to gate-crash the girl’s table with a bribe of grapes – but returned empty handed!.

Geoff made the 100 m pilgrimage to Coopers Mill on behalf of all of us and STOP PRESS we didn’t have any issue with mossies this year! This was probably due to the gradually increasing wind which, were predicted to reach more than 20 knots on the Inlet in the early afternoon.

So, with an abundance of caution, the decision was made to truncate a small part of the trip. Instead of our planned excursion out into the exposed part of the inlet and then back into the Serpentine River and around Jennala Island, we instead just briefly stuck our noses out and then scuttled around to the northern side of Cooleenup Island. From here we paddled back along the narrower, scenic Wargoorloop branch towards ‘Pelicans’ café on the main part of the river. (see blue dot on map).

After shedding a tear or two at the café’s closure we continued back up-stream for a few more kms on our return to Jetty’s B & G. Being back in ‘civilization’ we were entertained by a bit of raucous doof doof music from some bloke’s powerboat while his female passengers sat in the back looking completely miserable (at least he was enjoying himself!).

After a modest 13.5 km paddle, we congratulated ourselves on ending with the same number of paddlers we started with. The hardiest members of the team (Ross, Sarah, Shantha, Maria, Evi, Bec and myself) then took the opportunity to stay for a while at Jetty’s and listen to some far more pleasant music (80’s era) over a leisurely drink before returning home.

A good day – thank you linesmen, and thank you ball boys.   Marty

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

NANGA WEEKEND & UPPER MURRAY PADDLE

On Friday 8^th September a group of ‘Swannies’ travelled down to Dwellingup and the Nanga Bush Camp for the weekend. Elena Lennox had organised two houses, Hermitage and Marbo for the fifteen of us. Down at the Hermitage we had Elena, Colin, Craig, Ian, Roz, Fiona, Lisa, Jennifer, and Geoff, and up the hill at Marbo we had Vicki, Fran, Gemma, Karrie, Des, and Penny. It was a great setting in the forest, not far from the river and best of all we had a nice open fire at the Hermitage.

On Friday we had a pleasant wander upriver to near the new footbridge below Baden-Powell with hot soup and homemade bread for dinner, followed by a tango lesson from Craig and Fran! We sat around the fire before going to bed and were unlucky to have noisy neighbours playing music until around 1.30am, but most of us managed to sleep.

On Saturday, Elena, Colin, Craig, Des, Geoff, Karrie, Fran, and Vicki went through the locked boom gate and headed down the riverside track on the Middle Murray River looking to ‘park and play’ on the rapids. Vicki, Fran, and Geoff practised their ferry gliding, breaking in and breaking out on the rapids near the picnic ground, while Elena, Colin, Craig, and Des ran the Middle Murray to the get out point, while Karrie took pics and did the car shuffle. We had a great day and we all managed to be tired but dry, unlike Gemma, Ian and Roz who got wet walking into Dwellingup. That night we all had a pleasant pub dinner at the Dwellingup Hotel, in an overheated dining room, perhaps intended to encourage us to drink more?

Unfortunately, our noisy neighbours played loud doof-doof music until about 4.30am which was painful, especially for those in the direct firing line up at Marbo.

On Sunday Colin and Janet joined us for the Upper Murray Paddle and we all went upstream to Yarragil and dumped the boats, gear, and non-drivers before going back to Baden-Powell where we left our cars and dry gear. Having some non-paddlers was a bonus, as Ian and Roz and Jennifer were kind enough to ferry us back to Yarragil, meaning we didn’t need our usual car shuffle. On the water we split into two groups with Geoff’s group having Fran, Vicki, Karrie, Craig, and Colin Scully as tail-end Charlie. Colin Priest’s group had Janet, Gemma, and Des and Elena as back-up.

We all had a play on the first rapid which was good fun and the newer paddlers impressed with Janet, Gemma, Fran, and Vicki demonstrating good white-water skills and once again we all stayed dry! We worked our way downstream from there through a few small rapids and around a few tea-tree thickets for about four kilometres until we reached Island Pool. With the water being lower than last year there seemed to be more rocks than usual. Geoff went through first followed by the rest of the group and most of us ran through fine. Karrie was unlucky in her longer kayak, when she brushed a rock on her left, feeling somewhat hot with embarrassment she dived into the water to cool off. Not being the sort of girl to give up, she promptly carried her boat back above the rapid and ran through cleanly wearing a large smile. Colin’s group also ran the rapid cleanly and I was particularly impressed with Janet making a clean run in her first contact with white water.

Our usual lunch stop, on river left, had a few fishermen on the platform so we went over to river right where Ian and Roz were waving, and joined them for lunch on the river bank. With batteries recharged, legs stretched and calls to mother nature sorted we headed off downriver again weaving our way on the moving water through beautiful forest.

At Bob’s Crossing, Craig got annoyed with his club paddle and managed to break it. Fortunately, Colin Scully had his trusty back-up paddle handy, and we soon had Craig paddling again. Colin and I agreed that breaking that particular paddle was the nicest thing that could have happened to it. There was a bit of tomfoolery when a drifting tennis ball was found and thrown about, until Colin reached out a bit too far and flipped his Finnatic. He failed his first roll but recovered with his second roll to cheering from the crowd.

Finally, after about a ten-kilometre paddle we made it back to Baden-Powell and those beautiful dry clothes. The wet gear was packed away, more cake was eaten, and boats were tied onto cars. Geoff won the prize for the most tie downs ever used to secure three kayaks on a vehicle, and after that we all headed back to Perth. We had a great paddle, and it was really good to see our newer white-water paddlers improving with each trip and reassuring to see the club developing a group interested in white-water. Once again, a special thanks to Elena for organising the Nanga Bush Camp accommodation and helping out on the paddle. Likewise, thanks again to Colin Priest, Colin Scully, and Des McLean for being there and for everyone else for coming along. Hopefully we’ll see the same faces on the Blackwood River paddle in November and have some more white-water fun.

Geoff Emery 13/09/23.

The recent paddle to Matilda Bay had its challenges and rewards, as do most paddles where we rely on wind, tides and temperature.

After much deliberation and consultation regarding the forecast wind conditions, twelve club members headed off to Matilda Bay earlier than planned in an attempt to be back before the wind “picked up”. What started off to be a gentle breeze at the club, turned into a not so gentle wind coming from the south west. The wind caused a few issues with some of the boats ignoring their rudders and preferring a sideways direction which proved a little challenging at times.

A not so leisurely coffee break was enjoyed at the Bayside Kitchen in Matilda Bay. Once everyone was refreshed we headed back out to be challenged by a slightly higher than forecast headwind. Martin Wells who was an unofficial, land based photographer for the trip happened to notice a select few of the group coming ashore at Nedlands. He kindly drove them back to the club to collect cars and by the time the main group returned, all were safely back. Thanks Marty!

Some of the newer paddlers agreed that although it was a challenging trip, there was a sense of accomplishment gained and new skills learned. All in all, it was a fun day out and it was great to paddle a bit further afield than the normal peer paddles. Thanks to Bob, Geoff, Colin, Jillian, Marion, Doug, Marjan, Patrick, Suzanne, Maggie and Lorena for taking part in the adventure.

Jocelyn Sisson – Feb 2023