.
We aimed for Bullock Island, with an early withdrawal due to mechanical failure, the rest of us continued easy paddling under the road bridges, left past the massive Tommy Nolan sand dredge, on to the Esplanade.
The Esplanade is full of interesting marine craft from small fishing boats to huge ocean going cruisers as well as the local fishing fleet, inspiring dreams of "what would I buy if I won Tattslotto". On the opposite shore are the New Works Historic Cottages, a handful of cottages built on the shore, by fishermen in the 1880's, reputedly when their contracts to cut a safe and permanent opening in the four hundred metre wide sand bar ended. After World War I the New Works cottages became desirable as holiday houses for local farmers - access by boat only. They are now handed down from one generation to another and rarely/never come on to the market.
In front of “McDonalds” a small sandy beach with a walkway up to the pavement was an ideal stopping point for a rest stop and food before some ventured a little further along to the pedestrian bridge, Sue caught a “ lift” back, and the rest of us did a return paddling journey to our vehicles, a simple easy paddle for a hot day.
Thankyou to all who made the effort to join in a fun activity - Dan, Sue, Jenny, Michele, Jenni, Christine, Jackie, Peter, Avenel, Richard, Pat, Jean & Roz.
Sunday 2nd February - Nicholson River
With a forecast of 39 degrees - paddlers were up early, some returning home, some doing a recci! and others a paddle on the Nicholson.
With an early start we entered the water at the Nicholson boat ramp at 9.00am, a very hot day predicted. Under perfect conditions we leisurely paddled upstream under the main highway bridge & the rail trail trestle bridge. According to the Timmins family history, they were involved in transporting the logs by bullock dray, that make the main pylons of the trestle bridge , many years ago.
It was beautiful on the river with changing scenery - boats at the jetty, cliffs with many unusual holes; they looked the size a wombat would dig but then we wondered if a wombat could actually scale a cliff to dig them ! Bird life abounded - water birds duck diving, fish jumping & swirling around in the water. Trees lining the right hand side cast welcome shade over the water for some of the paddle.
We paddled to Dale & Robyn's kayak launching & swimming place before returning to the boat ramp and a well deserved coffee at the Nicholson Cafe, prior to our journey home.
Thank you to those who participated in this delightful paddle.
Michele
Slaughterhouse Creek Recci
When you have an itch, you have to scratch it!
Roz and I had been itching to investigate the above area, so we snatched the opportunity on Sunday morning. In our trusty little inflatables, we crossed Swan Bay at the mouth of the Tambo River and wound our way into Slaughterhouse Creek. To our delight it was an absolute gem for birdlife and paddling, especially since we managed to reach the highway before turning around. Wading in knee deep water was a lovely way to complete this journey. Can’t wait to share this area with fellow paddlers.
Pat