The lure of visiting two wineries combined with paddling on the Goulburn River was too good to miss.
Once the paddling team had arrived at Major Creek campground and set up camp, many settled into a toasty fire to ward off the chilly evening.
The plan was to car shuffle the kayaks up to the bridge over the Goulburn River around 2 km back up the road in the morning, leaving Avenel’s car up there to collect upon returning back to camp after the paddle. However, some campground neighbours graciously offered to drive Avenel back to the departure point, which meant everyone left their cars at the campground.
Setting off on a beautiful clear and slightly chilly morning, we meandered down the Goulburn River towards the Mitchelton winery. The day was calm and it was easy paddling, passing majestic mature eucalypts lining either side of the river. The lack of other boating traffic made the trip very pleasant. We pulled up slightly downstream of the winery and wandered up. A wedding was taking place, with our team looking decidedly underdressed for the occasion compared with the wedding guests. Luckily we weren’t invited to join the festivities, and we instead enjoyed a delicious morning tea in the sun. We weren’t so lucky with the winery tastings, with the tasting room completely booked out for hours. So some of us instead decided to check out the Aboriginal art gallery onsite where there were some exquisite pieces of work.
Setting off once again downsteam, we passed the intersection where the Major Creek branches off the river and continued paddling downstream until reaching Tahbilk winery. This very old winery was a contrast to the earlier modern and sleek winery we had just visited. Some beautiful old heritage buildings surrounded a lovely garden where we sat down for a picnic lunch. After lunch we had a look downstairs at their cellars. These were extensive and many of the enormous barrels towered over us. Happily, we were able to do some tastings here, and many of us made some delicious purchases. After loading up our kayaks we headed back upstream and into the Major Creek back to camp.
Another toasty campfire and dinner, and afterwards we enjoyed a quieter night than the previous night when some nearby rowdy campers kept some of us awake.
We woke to another beautiful day and paddled in the other direction along Major Creek, circling an island and returning to camp. The paddle was interesting with plenty of bird life to observe. The creek was narrow and navigating was challenging at times with lots of fallen or submerged trees. At one point a large tree lay just under the surface and blocked the entire creek. Everyone eventually made it over by leveraging off a nearby tree and Avenel helping out on the other side. There was also the low bridge to pass under without knocking oneself out. Once back at camp it was a leisurely camp pack up in the sun before returning home after a great weekend.
Written by: Jenni Chandler
Participants: Avenel Casson - Leader, Janene Ammeraal, Roz Spratt, Alec Stewart, Nathalie Charles, Gerard Best, Russell Christie, Julie Christie, Jennie Chandler and Pat Williams.
Distance: 18kms
Difficulty: Easy