Wednesday 27 February, 2019 Nelson Lagoon

G & R arrive at Nelson Lagoon at 12:30pm for a 1pm put in.  On the road trip G had enquired as to how far the walk from the car park to the Lagoon was and I had very dismissivally answered that it was 100 metres, there abouts.  Well, triple that! it was 300 metres, through soft sand at the very end,  and down a set of stairs onto the beach!  I took a minor shortcut with my vessel and veered off the track, slid my kayak down a steep but short embankment and on to the beach sand.  Much easier, I felt, than tackling the soft sand and stairs.

G & R's arrival and set up at 12:30pm.

S&V and L&M on their arrival at 12:50pm.  Some opted for the stairs and others opted for the 'cliff slide'.  A minor miscalculation, w've put in about an hour too early.

CKC getting on the water and set to paddle out to the entrance of the Lagoon.

S relaxed and waiting patiently for all boats to be out on the water before take off.  (FYI: we learned  just why S was so chilled - her month of not having to cook meals was imminent!

And off we go, still in relaxation mode, out to the mouth of the Lagoon at 1:25pm.

With the tide still coming in it was quite shallow and took some effort and manoeuvering to reach the entrance to the Lagoon.  Some of us looking longingly out to the Lagoon opening and wanting to venture out to catch a wave or two. Others not so much.

It was decided Lunch at the entrance was the way to go, on a hard packed sandy beach in amongst a crop of strategically placed rocks that served as seating and tables at just the right height.  G had to ditch the peddles and engage the paddle in order to join us for lunch.

A relaxing lunch at 1:45pm was enjoyed whilst V&S brought us up to speed on the political candidates' visit to Bermagui, they being the only CKC particpants who attended.

At 2:20pm it was time to get back on the water to explore the Lagoon.

The crystal clear emerald waters were full of fish of varying species and sizes. (Further upstream we floated over a banjo shark (or fiddler ray as it is otherwise known) a member of the ray family and therefore no need for the CKC to panic!) It is the most variety and number of fish concentrated in any one area, that we've seen yet.

After battleing the shallows once again we made it upstream where the banks were made up of Mangroves and along the edges we spotted skate fish resting in the shallows.

Oyster beds adorn this part of the Lagoon and to avoid the shallows it was necessary to hug the oyster beds line to stay afloat.

Up ahead in amongst the oyster beds we spotted two oyster workers, one in the usual motorized, flat bottomed boat and the other uniquely on a SUP board paddling from bed to bed attending to his crop. A most unusual but efficient mode of transport for just such a job we all thought.

A lone Magrove surrounded by its roots system filtereing out the excess salt water.

4:25pm sees us arrive back at the Lagoon entrance and ready to disembark and go on to savour the delights of the Tathra Pub.

Yet another brilliant paddle that has offered up some new and interesting sights. After hauling our boats up the steps, back along the sandy track and loading them onto the trailers we decided a reward was required so we headed a little further south and had an excellent dinner at the Tathra Pub.

Put In/Take Out: Nelsons Lagoon (note: a 300m kayak carry/wheel along a sandy track with steps down to the beach is required)

High Tide at Tathra: 4.18pm  1.15m

7.11kms

We started an hour too early.

Wednesday 20 February 2019 Wingan Inlet Day 3

Having decided, reluctantly for some and with great relief by others a paddle on the Wingan River from Boundary Track was beyond us, we had breakfast (whilst doing so we had a visitor),

 packed up our camps, waved goodbye to KT&G and headed down to the carpark near the beach ready to paddle the inlet on the high tide.

Once again our timing was a little off and the tide was going out. Once again we found our boats afloat. Not having to load much gear we were quickly afloat and heading off by 10.22am.

You can just see L behind the tinny, paddling out from behind the railings.

 No searching for routes through the shallows and sandbanks today - the inlet was our oyster. We chose to head for the eastern edge

The water was initially a deep emerald

Paling to this

And crystal clear

The paddling was sublime

We hugged the beautiful eastern shoreline

The Skerries looking huge in the distance

Paddling carefully to avoid submerged rocks and oyster outcrops

We did a lot of floating too

And watched a pair of sea eagles with their young one wheeling overhead. There was a lot to look at

The closer to the entrance we got the more we hugged the shore

A little further on from the above pic I bailed out and whilst the others paddled bravely closer to the entrance I bobbed about in a little cove and when they eventually turned to head back I paddled out and rode the nicely spaced incoming swells, which was fun as, I angled across to the western shore.

We met up at the inland end of the western sandback in a shallow cove protected from the breeze for a leg stretch and a snack.

We continued paddling up the eastern shoreline spotting lots of fish along the way

We poddled our way slowly along, not wanting to finish

And when we got back at 12.25 it was to find the water had receded somewhat and afforded us a dry landing.

Waiting for the boat trailer and enjoying a last look at Wingan Inlet



After loading the boats and packing away our paddling gear we decided to meet up at the Eden Wharf for a late lunch of fish and chips, or the case of L&I, a very good hamburger.

Trip Notes:
Put In/Take Out: Wingan Inlet Campground
High Tide at Rame Head: 9.39am 1.57m

Tuesday 19 February 2019 Wingan Inlet Day 2

Paddling up the Wingan River was on the agenda for today.  As always with camping, the old bods were slow to galvanise and it was an hour after our planned start that we got going and upon our arrival down at the little beach we found the tide was well and truly in.

We had left our boats high and dry and previous evening. Packing the boats with the day's essentials

At 10.00am we were all on the water and ready to paddle

About to head upstream under an overcast sky

Roosting cormorants

Cruising along the outer edge of a large reed bed

As we neared the rapids the forest changed

KT in relaxed pedalling mode

The limit of our paddle is in site

Looking for somewhere to disembark

By 11.35 we were all ashore, or should it be all arock

And settling down for lunch

Some of our lunch time views

We embarked again, with the first of us taking to the water at 12.10pm

There were lots of nooks and crannies to explore whilst waiting for everyone to get sorted

Paddling back downstream

This time taking the alternate route around the island through the reed beds

We then had to make our various ways back across the inlet, battling a strong gusting side on breeze

By 1.40pm we were all beached on the now exposed beach

KT&G who were departing the next morning loaded their boats whilst the rest of us once again tied them to the railings as we were determined to have another paddle before departing the next day.

After a cuppa back at camp KT&G decided to walk to the beach and the rest of us piled into the LC to go and check out Boundary Track.  A look at Google Earth shows the river a couple of kms upstream of the rapids (tidal limit) widening up again into what looks like a very paddlable  2km+ stretch of water and our quest was to see if we could reach it.  Surpisingly Boundary Track was open down to the gauging station about 30metres above the river. The remainder of the track down to the old ford was impassable but walkable, but not for old farts carrying heavy boats. There was however, metal steps just below the gauging building leading down to within a couple of metres of the waters edge, and then a 2-3 foot drop (at the current water level 1.2m on the marker) into the water. Again sadly not for the old, but the young, fit and agile could do it and the water looked deep and inviting and wanting to be paddled.

Trip Notes:

High Tide at Rame Head: 8.47am 1.61m
9.5kms