Wednesday 30 December 2020 Bermagui River

 With the full membership of the CKC turning out, plus a couple of ring ins, our final paddle of 2020 turned out to be, for most of us, our largest social gathering of the year.

Just before 8.00am we took to the water, an hour before high tide,

happy to be out on the water again.

With the tide assist we made good time, even with all the chattering going on.

Despite the many fishing boats - tinnies and kayaks - out on the river there were still some fish who had managed to resist the temptations on the fisherpeople's hooks.

Mooching along we poddled out from under clouds and 

into a consummate paddling day. 

Here is some footage of the ring ins going well in Big Red.  In the last clip you may see that A and I had raced ahead for a quick stretch at the campground.

When the rest of the group caught up it was decided to keep paddling up to the confluence of Coolagolite and Nutley's Creek which marks the start of the Bermagui River - a good spot for morning tea.

At 9.30 we pulled in to the sand bank

to munch our snacks and while away the time until the tide turned.  40 minutes later the tide went slack and it was time to pack up.

Sadly, no exploring Nutley's creek today - we had a luncheon to attend. 

By 10.30 the rest of the gang had cleared out and I was, as usual, last on the water.

Still lots of chattering going on :)

 For the next couple of kilometres or so we had the river to ourselves , after that - well it was a bit of a shock to the system- tinnies and kayaks everywhere. Bermagui, still sleepy when we launched had obviously woken up.  A little after 11.30am some of us pulled in for a last leg stretch at the top of the salt marsh.

10 - 15 minutes later we embarked again

for the final stretch, being whooshed down on the now strong outgoing tide; past idiots in hire tinnies trying to take shortcuts through the oyster leases and grounding out, past the people cheek by jowl at the long fish cleaning table with more queued waiting; weaving our way through paddle boarders being knocked off their boards by the wakes of multiple tinnies and avoiding said tinnies. For the members of the CKC it was an amazing sight.

  By 12.05pm our delightful paddle was over and

it was time to pack up and head through the heaving mass that was Bermagui to the quiet of R&G's to sit on their balcony and while away the rest of the afternoon partaking of the wonderful repast they provided amidst good chat, lots of laughs and convivial company .  Thank you very much, it was the icing on the cake and the perfect way to end our last paddle of 2020.

Trip Notes:

High Tide:    River Entrance: 9.07am, 1.8metres

                      Bermagui Bridge: 10.03am

Put In/Take Out: Slipway Beach

14kms

4 hours 5 minutes

Shoalhaven Gorge 30 November - 2 December 2020 Day 3

 Getting up to find the forecast headwind had arrived way ahead of schedule we took our time taking down and packing up camp and we ready to start loading the gear into the kayaks at 9.00am

View of Wirritin campsite (13kms) from the water

As usual I was the last to take to the water - at 9.23am

and off we go

One creature still in abundance - the water dragon.  Only two goanna spotted and no possums invading the camp this trip, tho' I did hear some possum squabbling across the river in the wee small hours.

Casaurina's killed during the flood.

L hugged the edge to avoid the wind as much as possible which meant he had lots of 'whoops' moments.

Paddling the gorge was still awe inspiring

We pulled in at the 10.7km camp on what was left of the tiny beach at 10.06am for our 1st leg stretch. 

S&R did an explore of the campsite and declared it still in pretty good nick. At 10.16am we took to the water again.

Another water dragon giving S the evil eye for disturbing it's peace

We pulled in for our 2nd leg stretch at 10.50am and to look for the sunglasses S lost on the paddle up river, departing at 11.20am

Some water still running off the escarpment after last evenings storm

We pulled in for our 3rd leg stretch at 12.07pm for 5-10mins.

Paddling on through the magnificent scenery

In some areas up the walls there was no regeneration on the trees.

At 1.00pm we stopped at the bottom of Bullan Gap again for lunch and to continue the sunnies search.

Leaving lunch at 1.28pm we wove our way through some burnt remains of the 'ghost forest'.

The headwind having strengthened there was no stopping paddling to take pics and the cameras didn't come out again until our 5th and last stop at the head of Tom's Gully at 2.38pm,

where we we waited  for 40 or so minutes hoping the breeze would abate.  With no sign of it doing so we debated whether to move to the campsite and stay the night or to push on.  Tired as we were, the thought of unpacking the boats, erecting tents seemed a tad daunting - the thought of a motel bed in Nowra was much more appealing. L clinched the deal when he lied and told us we only had a kilometre to go. So about 3.20pm we took to the water for the last time and paddled out of the bay and into the wind.

After paddling for what seemed like miles we passed a 1km to the dam wall sign and we realised we had been deceived!!!! We did briefly think about mutiny and letting the wind blow us back to Tom's Gully but the thought of hot showers, real beds and good Chinese stiffened our resolve and we slogged on.

At 4.04pm only 40 or so metres to go for these two and about 100 for L in Big Red :)

By 4.30pm we had the boats unpacked and most of the gear up.

And by 5.15pm we had the boats loaded, had changed and were ready to go.  L,R and I stopped to check out the dam wall and the Shoalhaven River below.  The portage track down to the river had a NSW Water closed sign on it without explanation and being too pooped to walk down and have a look we don't know if the track itself or the launch site is the cause of the closure.

V, upon getting mobile coverage managed to secure rooms for us at the Balan Village Motel in Bomaderry, where we stayed on the way up and dinner at the adjoining Chinese was as good as we remembered.

Trip Notes:  See Shoalhaven Gorge paddle, October 2017

Day 1: approx 5hrs 30mins

Day 3: approx 6hrs 45mins

Total paddled: 28.75kms

Shoalhaven Gorge 30 November - 2 December 2020 Day 2

Today was predicted to be a scorcher and it was already very warm when we hit the water at 9.10am to paddle upstream, hopefully to the infamous Fossickers Flat.

L pops out from behind a rock to see what's taking us so long

Already we are hugging the shade wherever possible

Ahead, beside the rocky beach is where we encountered the first gravel race on our last trip in October 2017. At that time we got out and walked up the bank on river right only to see gravel races stretching into the distance and so called it quits. This time we were more hopeful.

The water level was now high enough that, though shallow, the water flowed smoothly and gently over the gravel race.  We paddled on round the corner and up the straight a bit to the next gravel race. This one was flowing quite strongly so we got out and walked the boats up the shallows.  I must confess that I did not get out of my boat so much as fall out however the dunking was a welcome relief from the heat.  

Once above the race we paddled up a long pool to the next obstacle - a large gravel race disappearing around a bend.  Sitting in the eddy below this rapid, this skink and I eyed each other off while

 

L checked out the rapid

After some discussion we decided not to attempt a boat drag - Fossickers would have to wait for yet another day.  So while the others bobbled in the eddy L and I practiced some ferry gliding and break ins and outs and he taught me how to hold the boat steady at the bottom of the little rapid. After 20mins or so the troops started getting restless and we returned to the next eddy downstream where we could get out in the shade. The rapid can be seen in the background.

We sat in the shade for nearly and hour

contemplating our surroundings

 until we finally roused ourselves to

 head back to camp

We drifted back downstream

The excitement for the day, or so we thought, being riding the gravel race dowstream.

Drifting over the 2017 gravel race - flood damage beyond L apparent.

We poddled over what is, at lower levels, an extensive rock garden,

reaching camp at 11.30am

By this time it was stinking hot and the rest of the day was spent seeking the deepest shade with frequent dips in the river. By 1.00pm the tents were nearly fully shaded and not long after L took himself off for an afternoon nap.

As the afternoon dragged on it got hotter and the humidity relentlessly grew. Our comfort level was not helped by the decibels of the cicadas which seemed to increase with the humidity until the noise was deafening and reached close to painful levels for our ears.

By late afternoon it became very oppressive and we remembered that some rain had been forecast for 5.00pm. So R&I went down to the boats to close hatches and put on the spray decks. As we slithered down the slope to the water we could suddenly hear in the distance a howling noise, looking up we could see the front of a large dark cloud looming over the edge of the escarpment. As we worked the howling got louder and louder. By the time we finished it was drowning out the cicadas and we legged it back to the tents. 

Just as we reached them the wind and rain hit and it was a mad scramble to to chuck stuff in the tents and get in ourselves. Just as we were zipping up the fly there was a great crack and a crash - half a tree came down 30 metres from our tents. R,L &I had managed to chuck our chairs into our tent so after closing windows and vents we managed to sit in relative, albeit cramped comfort whilst riding out the storm as our cheap tent bowed and swayed, but most importantly held, in the wind.  Meanwhile, amidst the roaring wind, driving rain, thunder and lightening at the other tent life was not so easy - the great big luxury awning was threatening to take off with the tent attached so S&V had no choice but kneel exposed to the elements and hang onto it for the duration. However being outside they did get to see the two foot waves driving up the river whilst wondering what was happening with our boats. Luckily the storm moved on as quickly as it had come and just as their strength was giving out it was all over.

The boats were safe, each tied to the other and then to Big Red which was tied to the roots of a tree brought down in the flood. And luckily for the Delta's the wind had driven them out into the water and not up onto the rocky shore. Then it was time to clean up and sort out the camp. One benefit of the storm - the temperature in the 10 minutes had dropped from oppresive to pleasant and most of the cicada's had shut up or died :(.

Here is an extract from the Goulburn Post 1 December 2020:

A super storm cell has cut a swathe of destruction through Goulburn and district and sparked multiple SES call-outs.

The storm, which started at about 4.40pm, also cut power to parts of Tallong, Marulan, Taralga, Crookwell and to the west, affecting up to 5000 residences.

Acting SES Argyle cluster commander Daryl Skinner said the Crookwell area was the worst hit, with 34 call-outs following just 15 minutes of heavy rain and strong wind.

Rain droplets glistening on the casaurina's after the storm

By the time we had set the camp to rights it was well after 6.30pm and it was time to get the dinner on.

During dinner we all decided it was a mistake not having pushed onto Fossicker's Flat - I think the cooler temperature was reinvigorating us. We also discovered that none of us could eloquently or even adequately describe the noise of the wind in the lead up to the storm. After studying Saturn and Jupiter, in unusually close alliance so L told us, it was off to bed and a surprisingly good nights sleep for all of us.