Sunday 30 December 2018 Cuttagee

A little family paddle and picnic today.

After a bit of discussion we sorted out who was going in which boat and we got ready to launch

So it was Dad and the two kids (J and IF) in Big Red and Mum in Bluey

Faster, faster J kept saying - apparently a tough little cox in the making

 Dad having a rest whilst IF does the paddling

L coming into land at our picnic spot.

After our 45min lunch break we took to the water again and headed back down the lake.
IF did the most amazing job keeping in sync with her dad. Born to paddle, L&I decided

Having a float and looking the great big jellyfish

 Here's Mum, showing her form

Let's look for more jellyfish, said Dad

 A happy Mum and Dad and IF still in sync

A couple of the great big jellyfish

Looking at the stingray

On the home stretch

C'mon Mum, its easy.

We ended our 2 hour paddle about 2.30pm. Everyone having had a good time. The kids were fantastic and listened to instruction and we look forward to taking them paddling again. And IF did an amazing job, paddling for most of the 4.3kms

Monday 24 December 2018 Bermagui River

Having being deserted by the rest of the CKC, L&I couldn't resist taking advantage of the king tide (2.02m at 10.54am at the Bermi Bridge). We started the paddle at 8.55am on crystal clear water

Heading up to the bridge the current really picked up and we were whooshed under the bridge and up around the next corner. We paddled easily across the oyster leases and around the bend saw these??? on the edge of the wetlands.
Possibilities Whimbrel or Eastern Curlew. According to the bird bible the Whimbrel is rare on the southern coast but it is about the right size and the Eastern Curlew is seen along this coast but is too big! Whichever they are they have flown all the way from Siberia!

Paddling through the mangroves

We came across some mangroves covered in yellow seed pods. I couldn't get a better shot as the current was quite strong and was pushing us along, making steering difficult - definitely need to improve the my boat maneuvering skills.

Got whooshed around the next bend. The surface disturbance is the current not wind

Once past the bend the water returned to glass and the clarity was amazing

Into the mangrove we head - our mission to see if we could get through and cut the corner

An amazing amount of sea grass in here and loads of fish

At 9.40am we stopped for a 5 min leg stretch on the other side of the little hidden lagoon

Upon boarding our boats we continued wending our way through the mangroves searching for a lead back to the river

Unfortunately, we weren't successful and we wended our way back through the mangroves and out into the river once more. We paddled on upstream, passing a paddle boarder and two kayakers battling their way downstream against the current. We found our usual lunch spot full of tents and with no beach and the big log under water we continued to the next bend where, at 10.55am,  L declared he just had to get out. At a tiny spit of land with no shade so he resorted to this. What is our adage about never letting L choose our lunch spot!!!

35mins later, after watching the water rise up L's chair he determined that slack tide was not long off, we headed off back downstream.

Back down beside the topmost oysterbeds and look at the water

The water was beautiful, but now it was the wind ruffling the water and not the tide

Floating with the now outgoing current

Paddling to catch the whoosh around the bend

Once round that bend, the wind picked up in force we battled back against a 25+kph headwind on very lumpy (made worse by the wind blowing the water up against the outgoing tide). They were the biggest waves I have so far paddled through.  And going under the bridge was most unnerving - a 3-4 foot chop, coming from every which way pushing us relentlessly toward the pylon as the tide was sucking us out. Scary. But we made it, and once through the bridge we clung to the shoreline where the water was far more calm and we could relax.  Lesson: Don't paddle through the middle arches of the bridge when there is a strong outgoing tide and the wind is in opposition and I need to work on my paddle skills.

However the upstream and half the downstream paddle was beautiful. We have never seen the water so clear so far up the river.

11.5kms

Monday 17 December 2018 Cuttagee Lake and Creek

Finally, a sunny day to paddle. We met down at the lake and started our paddle at 8.00am. The 88mm of rain we have had in the past week has raised the level of the lake by at least 6 inches.

This was a day for reflections

After visiting the closed mouth of the lake we headed back under Cuttagee Bridge

And paddled down the northern side of the lake

With Stuart swimming naked in the distance we gave the Woolly Butts arm a miss

After taking a short break on Clear Waters silt jetty (with a bit of heaving we could have paddled over it) we came across this large and very dead, according to V - ling, according to M - eel !!!!

Leaving L behind we ventured further up the creek - by various methods.

Hauling V up a little gravel race

Feeling that we had left L on his own for long enough we reluctantly turned around at this point - he furthest we have got so far, oh for another few inches of rain!

Each of us made it back down this little gravel race and another under our own steam - very exciting.

We rejoined L for a welcome break

Before continuing our journey back down stream

Looking for the dead fish S eventually saw it beneath this sea eagle

which took flight as we approached

Ok, here are some gruesome pics so someone can identify it

Spot the sea eagle waiting for us to make ourselves scarce so it can return to the eel carcass

Speaking of birds, up the creek we saw 3 kingfishers, a red robyn, Lewins Honeyeaters, bower birds, Yellow Faced Honeyeaters, Swallows swooping the water for insects and numerous other small birds. Lots of fish jumping, a lot of water swirling and heaps of fry from minute up to 3 inches long. Saw quite a few kangaroos, mostly along the edges of the creek, and one huge water dragon. All in all it was a fantastic day for the wildlife.
After another leg stretch we paddled back home. Baby jellyfish are still massed in Little Cuttagee

The last to return

Our paddle ended at 1.00pm
A fantastic paddle. Looking forward to more rain so we can try the creek again.