Wednesday 21 October 2026 Ocean Grange Day 2: Rotten Island circumnavigation

With the wind forecast to kick in mid morning every day, morning paddles were scheduled so it was another sumptious breakfast at 7.30am.

After some inventive thinking was undertaken by the blokes, an addition was added to the big yellow beastie to give G a decent backrest. We then launched and headed west from the jetty to

 head up yet another channel toward Rotten Island. KT had her camera with her this day so we've got some fabulous pics.

 

5 cygnets - I wonder it this is the same family group we disturbed in the channel between Barton and Cresent Islands on Monday?

Just mooching along, taking it all in.

Having rounded the southern end of Rotten Island we crossed over the channel and headed down the side of Rotamah Island; on glassy water,

which gave some lovely reflections. Here you can see the addition to enable G to have a backrest. Great when there was so breeze, terrible when there was as we were to discover on Friday.

Squadrons of pelicans regularly flew overhead, other times we would watch them circling, riding thermals high into the sky.

The reason for the side trip - to inspect the Rotamah Island footbridge - a favourite perching rail for a bunch of Little Pied Cormorants.

And here it is.

Returning to the lake 

We crossed back over the channel to Rotten Island to

continue our circumnavigation and look for a suitable site for morning tea. Having found it we once more enjoyed the view whilst we had a break.

About to turn into the main channel back to Ocean Grange we and the pelicans waited and watched this yacht sail passed.

In the distance we watched an aerial dog fight between two immature sea eagles, one of whom had something in its talon which it dropped before they disappeared from view.  A few minutes later we espied one of them looking rather forlorn - at its loss?.

However it came to attention on our approach.

Now for L's video. Unfortunately the GoPro slumped until it was almost navel gazing.

Back home before the breeze fully picked up, there was time for a cuppa before climbing the tower to take in the view.

Another cold buffet for lunch and then it was time to relax in the pool.

A few more sunset photographs. This was the perfect spot for lounging from mid morning to early afternoon.

This being a public jetty there were comings and goings all day and boats moored here overnight.

A delicious beef curry for dinner followed by warmed Lemon Drizzle Cake and whipped cream - we were eating like kings AND queens! :)

 

6.74km

Tuesday 20 October 2026 Ocean Grange Day 1: Cresent Island circumnavigation

 Up early for a breakfast at 7.30 of GT's world renowned fresh fruit salad, GS's home made bread, berry jam and marmalade and fresh percolated coffee. Yumbo. Then it was time to get ready to paddle and to choose a suitable craft from those supplied by the Homestead for P&G.

P&G get launched in the craft of choice

We paddled past the Ocean Grange jetties before cutting across to and rounding the tip of Cresent Island. 

R noticed that G was getting seriously uncomfortable with no back support in the yellow beastie so we paddled across to a sheltered bird free beach on Waddy Island to have a break. It was a great spot, sheltered from the breeze and we could look across to the pelican colony on Cresent Island. 

The handy folding stools lined up like ducks in a row.

R had packed a choice of fruit cake and KT's famous Choci Sludge for our morning tea.

We set off again having made G a little more comfortable and enjoyed paddling on more sheltered water as we

completed the circumnavigation of Cresent Island and seeing heaps of swans, pelicans and other bird life along the way.

Here is some Go Pro and drone footage.

Back home in time for a bit of a loung around before lunch - a buffet of corned beef and mustard sauce, chicken, left over duck,  salad stuff and a variety of condiments.

After lunch a variety of activities and inactivities were undertaken - walking, swimming, reading, sleeping and lounging around yakking. Lovely.

KT roused herself for a spot of sunset photography: said sunset lighting up the tower and 

looking west from the end of the jetty.

Dinner that night, Greek Lemon Chicken, another culinary delight.

4.82km

Tuesday 20 October 2026 Ocean Grange: Arrival

 First a bit of background.  Eight of us were booked for a return trip to Baranguba/Montague Island at this time.  With only two weeks to go until our departure we read the news that bird flu had been detected on the island. The next day I received a call from NPSNSW to hear what we had long been expecting; the island was being closed to the public and all bookings cancelled.

So, it was a mad scramble to find an alternative venue. All my ideas were proving fruitless and I was beginning to despair when KT suggested Ocean Grange Homestead across the lake from Paynesville. Checking out the website we liked what we saw and after looking at google maps we were excited by the paddling opportunities. L gave the idea a big thumbs up as he spent a number of much loved,  adventure filled family holidays camping at Ocean Grange when there was only the homestead and two other houses - some 60++ years ago!

With fingers crossed I rang David,  the owner of Ocean Grange Homestead. And yes it was available for our dates however the only access to Ocean Grange was by boat. David was very helpful and suggested a couple of possibilites for boat charter and he held the booking until I could find someone to take us from Paynesville to Ocean Grange and return.  H20 Boat Charter seemed to be the only boat big enough to transport us our luggage, food and five kayaks. However the were not available to pick us up from Ocean Grange on Friday but could do Saturday. After more phone calls to see if everyone could spend an extra day and to David to see if the homestead was available for another night we eventually got the bookings locked in with only about eight days to go. It was then KT's turn to knuckle down and co-ordinate the catering, especially as there would be no going back for anything forgotten or run out of - ever growing and amended lists of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, nibblies, snacks & drinks were delivered to our inboxes on a seemingly daily basis. 

Those of us with longer drives elected to head down and spend Sunday night in Paynesville so we would be ready for loading at 11.00am on Monday.  Sitting on our verandah relaxing after the drive we were visited by a pair of swans looking for a handout. A few oats pilfered from P&G's muesli went down a treat.

G&R arrived with a few items for our eski and then we went to the Cruiser Club for dinner and from whence we would be departing the next day.

Looking down the canal from our bedroom just before 6.00am on Monday morning. A pretty good start to our holiday :)

We arrived at the club about 10.10, and the boat arrived at the jetty shortly after. KT&G arrived about 10 minutes later and Rob, the owner of H20 Boat Charters came and said we could start loading if we liked. The Kayaks went on first followed by the food and luggage. And all of a sudden we were off! We were going to arrive at Ocean Grange at least an hour and a 1/2 ahead of schedule. I rang David to check it was okay. He was most gracious even tho' it must have been a mad scramble for him to get ready for us.

Departing Paynesville

David wasn't the only one madly scrambling  - these were too,  to get out of the way of our boat. A fifth cygnet got left behind and we all watched, with baited breath as they dwindled into the distance, until it eventually caught up.

The channel leading to Ocean Grange was quite narrow and we had a good view, looking across and down to the many nesting swans on the long thin spit of Cresent Island and Rob warned us not to paddle close to the shore on any island where birds were nesting or congretating.

There were a couple of trolley carts and a wheelbarrow on the jetty awaiting our arrival and by the time we got the first loads to the end of the jetty David arrived with a buggy and trailer to take our luggage up to the house. Several trips later the luggage was done and only the kayaks remained. Rob and his side kick handed them to us over the back railing of the boat and we carried them off one by one, a suprisingly smooth process.  After stashing them under a tree in the shade we walked up to the house to properly introduce ourselves and get the grand tour. After a good explore we chose our bedrooms and David left us to it. We unpacked and stowed the mountain of provisions - a walk in coolroom with shelving making it very easy. After a lunch of chicken and salad rolls made by G that morning as we thought we would be lunching on the boat we took the short walk to the ocean

for a quick peak 

before returning to the solar heated pool to laze away the remainder of the afternoon

Later that evening we supped on Duck in a light Peking Sauce and Asian Greens, the first of many culinary delights.

Tuesday 1 September 2026 Nelson Lagoon

 The gossip is true - the new carpark at Nelson's is something of an eye popper, used to, as we are down here, NP's car parks being of a more rustic nature - incorporating a variety of potholes, bumps and tree roots! However, once all the plantings have grown it won't look so bad.

Having strapped on the carts and unloaded the boats and loaded them with our gear we began the approx 340m haul to the lagoon - not an easy one - along a dirt track with a few soft sand sections, the rest bisected with tree roots ready to trip the unwary or tip the cart. Then a quick breather before removing the carts and carrying the kayaks down some very steep rough steps down to the lagoon.

Having made it unscathed we stood for a moment to take in the beauty of Nelson Lagoon, and then launched onto pristine water.

We first paddled to the entrance and then began a gentle float on the incoming tide around the northern edge of the lagoon, passing over underwater gardens, rocky outcrops and the like.  Schools of fish darted hither and thither and birdsong seranaded us from the nearby forest. It was spectacular.

Hugging the shoreline and the shade we paddled slowly up to the first junction and decided to head up the creek for about 1km before stopping for morning tea.

We then returned back down the creek and poddled along the southern edge of the lagoon dipping in and out of the mangroves passing over a most obliging skate along the way.

Upon pulling up to the take out we spied three people supine upon the sand. Not wishing to startle them I announced our presence and one of the bodies stirred to life and sat up. Much to our surprise and hers it was L's great niece. 

After a chat we unloaded the boats and did two trips up the steep track, not the steps this time, with all our gear. Then another two carrying up the boats by which time we were both out of breath and weak legged. After attaching the carts we loaded all the gear in the boats then we both hauled them one by one through the worst of the soft sand.  Another rest was necessary before hauling them the rest of the way back to the carpark - it was heaven to reach the flat bitumen for the last 15ms to the car!

Handy hint if you are using a kayak cart: Take a spare tie down strap. Thread it through or otherwise attach it to the front handle of the kayak. Make a loop with the strap. Put the loop over your head and across your body, adjust the loop so you can hold the kayak handle by your side while standing up straight. It makes the haul so much easier upon ones body.  We only had one spare strap and L insisted I use it and he was seriously knackered by the time we got back to the car.

Enjoy the video, you'll see why its worth the pain :)

Trip notes:

High tide at the entrance: 10.52am 1.6m

Put In/Take Out: Nelson Lagoon carpark

Note: 340 m haul/carry to the lagoon.

5.53km

Sunday 30 August 2026 Cuttagee Lake

 The last of our winter outings was a short paddle with S&V. Having not seen much of each other for a number of months it was more chat than paddling which suited all of us on such a sunny, laze inducing day. Having met up down at the lake around 9.20am we launched before 10.00 and headed down the lake. 

Out in the main lake L paused to give the Spry a fly - the results, compared to the DJI proved to be disappointing. Meanwhile the rest of us poddled on and L found us about to start morning tea further up the lake.

We talked for too long and the breeze had sprung up when we started back; thankfully not very chill this day. Not much bird life about but in the straight we did spot a Sea Eagle, perched in a dead tree eating something. 

5.63km

Friday 15 August 2026 Brou Lake

 After collecting R we headed off to Brou Lake, arriving about 9.30am

As we unloaded the boats and got ready to paddle we were serenaded by a Sea Eagle pair.

After launching I paddled a little way up the shoreline and spotted them high in a tree,

and wondered if they were a breeding pair and if so, had the eggs hatched yet. The Sydney Sea Eagles Live Cam had shown the second of their eggs hatching about 4.00am this morning - the first chick having made its way into the world about 25 hours earlier.

As I paddled back L was launching, perfect timing, and we headed up the lake toward Whittaker's Creek and turned into the narrow entrance to the first bay. Sidling quietly past a pelican we entered the bay for a paddle around.

Upon returning to the narrow entrance we discovered the pelican had departed and L decided to send the drone up for a look see at this intricate water way. While we waited R and I rafted up for a cosy chat out in the creek.

Once L was back on the water we headed back down the creek and round a pelican sandspit and 

crossed to the north side of the lake, seeing, in the distance large flocks of swans and cormorants. We paddled into a bay, sheltered from the breeze and at 12.00pm pulled in for lunch with the sun warming our backs as we looked across the lake to the closed entrance.

L flew the drone again and discovered the crash landing at the end of the previous session had done some damage and affected its flight :( :(   ( R&I, when rafted up, had heard a loud expletive float across that water but have learned when it involves the drone, its better not to ask!)  

Having taken to the water again we continued along the northern shore heading east.  Nearing the entrance to the north eastern lagoons we were followed by a drone for a bit and wondered where it had come from.  Unfortunately the entrance to the N.E lagoons was, at this water level, too shallow to navigate so we gave them a miss and continued along the eastern shore line where we spotted this Eastern Curlew. Presumably a recent arrival from Siberia or Manchuria unless it was one of the few that overwinter in Northern Australia.

The Curlew in flight.

Next were what L identified as a small flock of Bar Tailed Godwits also recently arrived from Siberia.

Having paddled the length of the closed entrance we found a NP's bloke flying a drone. We stopped to enquire - one of his fellow officers informed us that they were checking the birdlife for signs of the HN bird flu. Their present task is to check, once a week, all the water ways from Wallaga Lake north to I can't remember where, pretty much I full time job I should think.

Another sigthing of a Sea Eagle toward the end of our paddle topped of another excellent outing.

 

Here is the Go Pro and Drone footage.

An Addendum to last weeks paddle.

The weird boat at Bermagui wasn't constructed by 'tank man'.  It was designed and built by Samuel McLennan from Nubeena in southern Tasmania. His boat, Heart, is made from marine debris, mainly from salmon farms. A keen environmentalist, McLennan said "... there are big issues with the salmon farms, lots of plastic, pipes... the salmon farming industry was negligent when clearing up the cutoffs that resulted from maintenance. Fines are issued only for pieces longer than two metres."

The boat having been certified, McLennan embarked on his voyage in February 2024 and has been slowy making his way up Australia's east coast, stopping frequently and for long periods along the way.

Trip Notes:

Brou Lake: Currently closed

8 kms