Before starting on the tale of our Yeerung River paddle I would like to note that in the 24 hours ending last evening we had 155mms (6") of rain and Cuttagee Lake is about to pop. This pic was taken at 4.00pm on Friday 10.2.2023. Hopefully she won't, pop that is, before we can paddle her again.
I forgot my trusty little Pentax camera which I use to record start, break and finish times etc, so all I can tell you is it was another 8.00am departure from the Orbost motel and that we reached the Marlo pub for lunch sometime before 1.00pm.
After slipping into the dark tannin stained waters of the Yeerung we headed downstream toward the entrance. Along the way we disturbed a flock of cormorants resting in the trees, some of whom were presumably so full of fish they failed to fly and crash landed into the water ahead of us.
Upon reaching the lagoon we found it greatly changed since our last paddle in October 2019 (see map below) and the entrance was now at the eastern end and I guess it was cut through during the time of our visit to Marlo in April last year when it bucketed with rain for over 24 hours and here were huge floods. Landing toward the eastern end we were about to exit our boats when a wave washed over the sand barrier which made us pause. While S&V paddled a little further to the west I proceed up to the barely closed entrance before returning to join them on the beach.
Meanwhile L had sent the drone aloft for a looksee. We regrouped at the old entrance then completed a circumnavigation of the lagoon before heading back upstream, past our put in point and under the bridge.
From there we had a magical paddle through a landscape of black and burnt orange tree trunks and the vivid greens of new growth. The water was glassy and the reflections mesmerising. We pushed on, wending our way through obstacles until some fallen trees lying lengthways down the river prevented further progess.
At one point I spotted what I thought was a bird of preys nest up in a tree beside the river. Upon drawing alongside I realised it was flood debris at least 20feet (6m) above me. No wonder the bridge we had passed under was still closed for repairs.
The GoPro battery ran out a little before reaching the limit of our paddle. So our return journey, equally entrancing is unrecorded. At the end of the paddle L declared that the Yeerung River had become one of his top ten paddles. High praise indeed.
Our outing culminated in a long pleasant lunch on the verandah of the Marlo pub overlooking the Snowy River estuary.
Trip Notes:
Put in/Take Out: Canoe Launch Yeerung River via Marlo
7kms
Entrance closed.
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