We had planned to paddle on Thursday however the thin and wispy cloud layer covering the sky and the subsequent chill in the air meant we stayed home and by 10.00am the fire was lit.
On Friday the winter weather on the Far South Coast had reverted to type - blue skies, warm sun and largely windless. Around 12.30pm L came in and announced we were going paddling. As high tide at the entrance was 2.14pm (1.6m) it was a bit of a scramble but we made it onto the water around 1.45pm.
As this was to be L's first paddle after receiving the all clear from the surgeon we intended it to be a short paddle and to be off the water by no later than 3.30pm before it got cold. We had a lovely poddle up river on the last of the incoming tide.
Around the 4km mark L wanted a break for lunch and to fly the drone. He managed to find a not so desirable site to pull in. As you will see at the end of the drone footage the spot he picked came with, what I subsequently dubbed, a hole from hell.
Whilst L was mid drone flight I returned to the kayak to retrieve our lunch. Stepping back from the boat one leg went down the hole - all the way, only my left leg splayed out on terra muddy prevented me from going further. It was at this moment, with inner leg muscles stretched to the limit and screaming that I was bitterly reminded why, years ago, the CKC barred L from choosing landing sites. So with L occupied with droning and totally ignoring my plight it was up to me to extract myself from a situation in which no overweight old woman should find herself. Suffice to say there way much gasping, groaning, having and hauling, getting covered in mud before extraction was successful.
Having taken awhile to recover and clean up a bit we stayed longer than intended. We packed up, carefully avoiding the hole from hell as the warmth was leaching from the air. We launched onto an outgoing tide and paddled on glassy water, back down the river keeping in the golden afternoon sunlight wherever possible. Past some of the egrets we'd seen going upriver, now joined by a large flock of Masked Lapwings.
Finishing the paddle at 4.30pm it was with some relief we got in the car, still warm from the sun, just after 5.00pm and turned the heater on, very happy to have got back out on the water again.
Trip Notes:
High tide at entrance: 2.14pm 1.6m
Put In/Take Out: Slipway beach
8.16km
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