Friday 23 December 2022 Wapengo

 Our last chance for a paddle before Christmas coincided with a king tide of 2.00m, a sunny forecast and not much wind. So we set off from home with a keen sense of anticipation at 7.30am.

By 8.16 all boats were on the water and we headed up the lake in perfect paddling conditions.

After crossing the lake our route took us up the creek where we encounted swirling schools of fish, prawns flicking across the surface of the water, this juvenile Sea Eagle and

 

further up, in shallow water, a large skate or stingray.

Having reached the bridge we turned around and paddled back a short distance and pulled in for morning tea at 9.25am.

Taking to the water again at 10.00am we retraced our route. Once out of the creek we encountered a light breeze and paddled down the lake. Past the oyster shed we caught up with the outgoing tide and floated downstream to the last point before the entrance where we pulled in for lunch.

Getting out of our boats  at 11.30am we disturbed another Sea Eagle, probably a parent of the juvenile one we saw up the creek. Whilst loitering on the beach as L flew his drone some cheeky person rudely graffitied my boat!

Noticing the water level had dropped by a good 30cm as we lunched, we packed up and set off at 12.20 for what we thought would be an arduous paddle back up the lake against the outgoing tide.  However by sticking as close to the shore as possible we found the going not bad and the further we went the more the current eased. 

Reaching the Oyster sheds at 1.10pm we found an Oyster Catcher busy feeding at the ramp.  Usually quite shy, this one seemed reluctant to leave the scene, only flying off as our kayaks beached on the sand. Mentally refreshed we were all now ready to face the rigours of Christmas :)

Here is the GoPro and Drone footage of today's paddle.

Seasons Greetings to everyone reading this blog.

Trip Notes:

High Tide at Entrance: 8.37am 2.00m

Put In/Take Out: Wapengo Oyster Sheds

13.4kms

4hrs 55mins