Wednesday 27 May 2020 Mogareeka

Weather Willy had listed High Tide at Mogareeka entrance to be 11.58am 1.3m.  Accordingly a plan was made to meet at the reserve opposite the boat ramp at 10.00am for a 10.30 off.  Luckily we were all early as much had passed on the political scene in the week since we last got together and the more politically aware among us got stuck straight in and there was no hope of diverting them to the matter at hand, i.e. unloading the boats and getting ready to paddle, until all avenues and angles of the week's news had been delved into, explored and discussed.

The forecast breeze had not made an appearance and the water was like a millpond

Much to my amazement we made it onto the water at the appointed time and while everyone else was ready to head up stream, he who would like to be obeyed  makes a beeline for the entrance.

The Delta Queens in a huddle, no doubt discussing mutiny

But there was lots to look at up lead to the entrance, which at the moment is very narrow. Interestingly the tide was going out - quite strongly.  Which begs the question, had Willy Weather got the tide time wrong or had the entrance recently opened and water was flowing out to sea - or perhaps there is another explanation. Whatever the reason it put paid to our plans of a tide assisted passage up and back down the Bega River.

Spotted was this dark grey bird, which I think is a Grey Morph of the Eastern Reef Egret.
Am awaiting a better photo from one of our group, who shall at this point remain nameless!

And here they are - no need to resort to name and shame :)

The Grey Morph taking flight

We paddled back down the lead

and across the lagoon heading for the bridge

Once under the bridge we paddled around the south side of the island.  Is this some sort of erosion control?

After negotiating the shallow water around the back of the island we paddled up the river

passing this pair of Sea Eagles.

At 11.30pm we stopped at the sandy beach on the big bend for morning tea.
Taking to the water again at 12.20pm, L and I swapped boats so he could try the Castine 145 and its comfortable seating arrangement. We continued on up the river.

A cold breeze sprang up so we wove our way through some islands seeking shelter. At 1.05pm we found a sunny sheltered beach and decided to pull in for lunch.

After a break of approx 45 mins we donned our rain jackets, I reclaimed my boat - don't want to lose it - and we headed downstream into a cold head breeze,

seeking respite wherever we could.

A Great Egret hunting where we had stopped for morning tea

 
and a little further along the same beach, this bird

which, after scowering three different bird books, I have tentatively identified as a juvenile Crested Tern.  I am happy to be corrected.

Paddling steadily back down the river, we reached our put in point just before 3.30pm (as is usual with paddling, as we neared the bridge the cold breeze died away so at least we got to poddle the last 100 metres or so).
We were all a bit pooped and nursing various aches and pains so it took a while to unpack the boats, carry them across the beach to the car park and load them up and say our goodbyes. Christmas, then the fires and then the Covid-19 shut down have seriously impacted our paddle fitness! Or is it just age?
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12.8kms
5 hours