Tuesday 3 November 2020 The Murrah

 A 10.31am, 1.7 metre high tide at the entrance determined our start time of 10.00am.  What we hadn't considered was the rate of the downstream flow from all the recent rain - so our return paddle would be against an outgoing tide and the downstream flow, at least the wind was forecast to be in our favour.

We took to the water 20 minutes ahead of schedule

L dusted off the Tarpon 140 to undertake a comfort comparison check against the Tsunami and Chinook.

We were carried down river at a reasonable clip, the downstream flow being far stronger than the incoming tide.

Some bank damage was apparent since our last paddle on the Murrah.  

But it was heavenly to be paddling through some unburnt country, especially after seeing the widespread devastation caused by the 2020 fires down south when we went to Green Cape and paddled the Wonboyn River last week.

The leaders threading the rock garden on the way to the mouth

About as close as we got.

A brisk breeze now having developed, some of us landed on a small sheltered beach on the northern side of the river for a quick leg stretch, while S&V chose the more exposed dune south of the mouth for their leg stretch.

Re-threading the rock garden, we stayed on the right side of the lagoon whilst S&V headed back upriver. We stopped for our sangas in the sheltered lead to the river and after which we paddled back. At first we had a decent breeze pushing us along, but after 10 minutes or so, as is usual when kayaking, the breeze swung round to become a headwind which, added to the downstream flow and the outgoing tide necessitated steady paddling for the remainder of our journey.

Trip Notes: See previous entries for The Murrah