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Broke Inlet Trip – January 2024

This year an ‘Octette of Swannies’ descended on Broke Inlet for our annual dose of kayak camping in the sublime wilderness of D’Entrecasteau National Park, approx 25 km west of Walpole.

Having been advised by DBCA of a large fire (contained but not controlled) burning on the western side of the channel to the ocean sandbar, we revised our usual plan to camp at ‘Windy Point’ in favour  of ‘Birthday Beach’ near Bald Island and well away from the fire zone.

On Wednesday 24th Geoff Emery and Marty Wells met at Camfield to undertake a reconnaissance paddle to check water levels, and scare away any potential competitors from our camping site.

With a towering inferno of smoke on the horizon, we paddled across in a stiff breeze with Geoff on a northerly dog-leg route and Marty on a southerly one. Needless to say the ‘old dog’ chose the better route, with his ‘offsider’ having to drag the fully laden kayak through about a km of very shallow water before reaching Birthday Beach.

We set up our tents and the communal tarp shelter on the beach between the clusters of beautiful rounded granite boulders that characterise this part of the Nat Park. A single 4wd visitor (a gap toothed old codger even older than us!) then arrived but was thankfully deterred from setting up his camp on ‘our beach’ and continued driving on to the sandbar.

On Thursday morning we paddled back to Camfield to greet the other six intrepid swannies (Colin Scully and Elena Lennox, Andrew Griffiths and Christine Futno, Steve David, and Peter Ormond).

Paddling across to camp via the ‘Geoff route’ we again encountered strong winds and waves but only a minor area of shallow water. Everyone opted for the beach camping experience rather than within the adjacent woodland, as it provided the appropriate ambience! Some of us secured man caves amonst the boulders, while others braved the more exposed positions with only a few scraggly trees for shade (and Pete’s hammock). After camp setup and exploration of our surrounds, the evening provided a glowing display of the fire on the horizon burning towards our usual camp site at Windy Point.

On Friday, Australia Day was briefly acknowledged, with Christine being very disappointed with our lack of enthusiasm for singing our national anthem. Colin and Elena then paid our respects to Robbie Burns via a Scotland tea towel display and Pete reciting some ancient words of poetic wisdom.

We then paddled up to the inlet channel and sandbar with Andrew and Christine, Steve, and Geoff under modest sail power. We had a closer view of the fire, still burning in places on the steep western slopes adjacent to the channel, and just missing the two huts near the water’s edge.

Lunch break on the beach facing the ocean provided specky views of the erupting columns of smoke deeper within the Nat Park up towards Windy Harbour. The paddle back was another challenging one into a strong south easterly and we notched up around 21 km before retiring at our camp.

The evening meals, on this and other nights, under our communal tarp provided the usual variety of culinary experiences.  Andrew’s gourmet meal made a bid for freedom at one stage resulting in a gas burner ring landing on, and becoming embedded, in a portable table. Pete’s home-made Limoncello, and Marty’s Glayva (whisky liquor with tangerines, honey and spices) provided a pleasant supplement to the usual mix of red wine and warm beer.

Saturday was a warm one, and after a strenuous paddle the day before we took the wimps option of just paddling across to Bald Island for a climb and photo opportunity of the magic of the Broke Inlet landscape on a clear, almost wind-less, sunny day.

With the water level this year it was not possible to paddle over to Inlet River (too shallow) or up to Shannon River (too far, and smoky) so we did some beach walks instead. Retreating into the shade under the trees behind our camp for a snooze or a read, was another popular activity!

Geoff resisted the temptation of laziness and paddled up to our old camp site at Windy Point to observe the extent of fire damage and see if there were any campers. Fringes of the camp, including ‘Urea heights’ were burnt out but will no doubt regenerate in time. For campers, just a single guy in a jock strap apparently – but none of the Sea Kayak club we had been expecting.

On our last night, Elena insisted we move out from underneath the EFFING TARP to participate in star gazing. For some of us this was aided by phone apps providing ‘definitive’ names for stars and constellations, even if our reliance on the small screen meant missing various satellites.

On Sunday morning the weather changed, so we packed up early to avoid getting our tents and gear wet. The paddle back across to Camfield was again quite challenging with scattered showers and strong wind providing a contrast to the beautifully calm sunny day previously.

Departing from Broke we mused on the absence of other campers, including 4 wheel drivers, and just how magical and quiet it made our annual trip this year.

Thank you all for your company, and in 2025 we may entice some more Swannies to enjoy this wonderful remote paddling / camping experience.

Marty

 

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PALM – PENGUIN PADDLING – December 2023

Despite the usual concern about strong wind warnings in windy Western Australia, six ‘Swannie’ paddlers headed out from Palm Beach on Sunday 10th December, bound for Penguin Island. There was a lot of beach exposed by the low tide and with an Easterly wind blowing about fifteen knots, there were a few whitecaps as we headed west for John Point, under the Garden Island causeway. Along with the veterans, Marty, Mike, Paul, and Geoff we had two new strong sea kayak paddlers, Helen, and Janelle.

Pushed along by the wind, we covered the three kilometres to John Point fairly quickly and turned south out of the wind and into the reef. Despite the rising tide, there was a lot of reef exposed and it was rudders up for all of us as we followed a meandering path behind Mushroom Rock, over some magic deep pools, finally to Point Peron. After another kilometre, exposed to the wind and waves, we entered the still water behind Bird Island and checked out the small cave. It was pleasant to be out of the wind, but the aroma of bird droppings encouraged us to move on toward Seal Island.

Seal Island had some tourists on skis and in kayaks, and four or five large sea lions resting on the beach after a hard morning’s fishing, so we didn’t stay long. From Seal Island we worked our way around the exposed reef and landed without any difficulty on the seaward side of Penguin Island, for an early brunch in the shade of some rocky cliffs. On the way into the beach, I picked up a floating tube of what I thought was sunblock, labelled S-Factor. Once on the beach, Helen was looking for block-out and I offered it to her. She was smart enough to read the label that indicated it as “a genuine fish feeding stimulant and attack response trigger,” that fishermen apply to their fishing lures! Who knew? Helen wisely declined to use it in case she went for a swim! After all that excitement, and my attempt to make Helen fish food, things quieted down and we were entertained by a couple of fearless and friendly skinks that looked interested in our beach brunch.

With a clear blue sky, and not much wind, it was tempting to spend longer on the beach, but every so often an extra gust reminded us that the wind was expected to come around to the south-west and kick up to around twenty knots. Discretion being the better part of valour, we headed back to sea, rounded the south end of Penguin Island, and headed back north. Janelle and I were watching the pelicans riding the thermals and when I wondered what they were up to, she suggested that was just what pelicans did on their days off! Unfortunately, despite her sense of humour, Janelle wasn’t feeling great. However, she resisted my repeated attempts to put her on the beach for later collection and was determined to carry on. They obviously make anthropologists tough these days.

The trip back was uneventful as we retraced our route and only started to get some wind action after we had rounded John Point and were headed for Palm Beach. The three kilometres from John Point into the rising south-east wind wasn’t a lot of fun and once we made landfall, I suspect Janelle might have kissed the beach when my back was turned. All in all, we had a lot of fun with our mates and were reminded how lucky we are to have such an interesting environment to explore. Thanks once again to Helen, Janelle, Paul, and Mike for coming along and especially to Marty for his support and what he laughingly calls his sense of humour.

While it was pleasant to have a small group, hopefully we might have a few more paddlers next trip.

 

Geoff Emery

Sea Instructor

10/12/23

 

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Blackwood Trip – November 2023

I have been organising this trip for the club for a number of years now, but missed last year’s trip due to knee surgery. So, it was good to be back this year.

This part of the Blackwood River is a great section of river to introduce paddlers to whitewater river touring. It’s a very scenic and tranquil part of the Blackwood River, which meanders its way through mainly national park and state forest.

This year we had a group of eight competent paddlers, including myself. Normally there are a few easy grade two rapids along the way which can be fun to stop at and practice our whitewater skills, like ferry gliding and breaking in and out of eddies. Unfortunately, this year, due to the low rainfall, we had mainly rocky rapids that were not suitable for playing, but did keep us on our toes looking out for those sneaky rocks waiting to scrape the bottom of our kayaks, especially Geoff who was paddling his brand-new plastic slalom-type kayak and Dess who was paddling a composite slalom kayak.

The weather forecast for Perth was for a hot weekend so it was great to be in the cooler part of the southwest. Most of the group arrived at the base camp Friday afternoon, apart from Ross who arrived well after sunset and started to set up camp in the dark. After a few drinks sitting around the campfire, it was an early night for most of us.

Saturday morning was warm and overcast. With the help of Geoff’s wife Hett, we were able to leave a vehicle at Hut Pool and all meet at Sues Bridge for the start of the trip.

Everyone seemed to be handling the river conditions really well until someone had a capsize. Luckily Des was there to take control of the situation. Then not long after there was another capsize and again Des was at the right place at the right time or should I say the wrong place at the wrong time.

After a break for lunch, it was mainly flatwater paddling to Hut Pool. After stowing the kayaks and picking up vehicles from Sues Bridge we all arrived back at the base camp for a well-earned beer or glass of wine.

Sunday morning, most of us were up early in preparation to pack up camp. But there was still enough time for a relaxed breakfast around the campfire.

The sun was out and it looked like it was going to be a glorious day on the river. Again, Hett helped us out with ferrying people to Hut Pool, where we retrieved our kayaks and headed off downstream.

After about 5km we came to the end of the rocky rapid section and after a few more kilometers we found a spot to stop for morning tea. Ross who normally has something healthy to eat from his fishing tackle box, surprised us by producing a bacon and egg sandwich. He told us that a young couple whom he was camped next to gave him the sandwich for breakfast, as they had had enough to eat. I thought they might have mistaken Ross for a homeless person, as he was sleeping on a mattress with a tarp
over him.

Back in our kayaks, it seemed like there was a never-ending number of bends in the river to go around before we reached the Warner Glen Bridge. From there it’s only a short distance to our get-out point. Although it had been another great trip down the Blackwood, I wasn’t sorry to get around that last bend before the bridge. Some of us finished off with a roll or two or three. Then after loading the kayaks and picking up a vehicle from Hut Pool, we had a BBQ lunch before most of the group headed off back to Perth. I was staying for an extra day to paddle down the Donnelly River and Dess was picking up his partner in Augusta the next day.

Thanks to all the paddlers, Colin, Des, Elena, Gemma, Geoff, Marty and Ross. Also, thanks to Hett for helping with the car shuttles.

Footnote. According to the river gauging station at Hut Pool, the water level was between 11.02 and 10.98 over the weekend, which is probably the lowest level that I have paddled this section of the Blackwood River. In future, we probably won’t run this as a club trip unless the river level is higher.

Colin Priest

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Murray Delta – October 2023

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

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Upper Murray Paddle and Nanga Weekend – SEPTEMBER 2023

 

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NANGA WEEKEND & UPPER MURRAY PADDLE

 

On Friday 8th 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.