Unloading our kayaks on day 1
Out
To The Islands – A Sea Kayak Adventure
A part of the Princes Hill Secondary
Colleges
Inaugural Wilderness Week
December 4 to December 8, 2006
Day 1: Melbourne to Port Welshpool
The earliest of the Wilderness Week expeditions to leave, we departed
Princes Hill for the wilderness as less fortunate students were just starting to
arrive at
school for a normal week of classes. Seventeen students and two
teachers set
off to brave the wilds of the Nooramunga Marine and Coastal Reserve
east of
Wilsons Promontory near Port Welshpool.
The
trip down was happily uneventful and we arrived at the Long Jetty
Campground
(which really was next to a very long jetty – see photo)
around lunch time to
set up camp and meet our guides from Sea Kayak Australia.
The group was quick to
get set up and soon we were pulling kayaks off the trailer, adjusting
rudders,
working out how to put on all the gear and coming to grips with just
how little
space we had to fit all our gear in.
We spent the afternoon learning how to paddle our kayaks and practising rafting up, hand signals and getting used to the wind and current. Very different to our training day in the pool at La Trobe Uni! We finished our training day with a capsize drill which was to be the only time during the whole trip that anyone flipped a kayak. When it came time to take the kayaks out of the water, we found the tide had gone out revealing a large and very soft sand flat across which we had to carry the kayaks. This was probably the hardest physical work we had to do for the whole trip, but the guys got into it and soon enough we were back in camp cooking up our first trangia meal for the week.
Unloading our kayaks on day 1
Getting sorted
Packing
The view from the beach
at “Long Jetty” caravan park
Day
2: Out to
Day
two saw us begin our four day expedition with clear blue
skies and glassy water. We paddled out into the channel and then across
to
snake island to camp. The colour of the water was straight out of the
brochure
for
Kayaks
packed and ready to go
Campsite on
Tropical colours in
southern
The smoke from nearby
bushfires gave us amazing sunsets
Crabs
anyone?
In
the morning of day three a moderate breeze had sprung up,
but with not far to paddle, we waited until midday to leave so we could
go with
the tide. The first half hour had us paddling into the wind to get
across the
mouth of an inlet, but as we turned and ran along side the land we had
the wind
at our backs and the tide in our favour and we surfed our way into camp
at
great speed. The wind and waves also provided a little excitement as it
is
always possible to get tipped in if you don't pay attention. The
campsite this
time was really beautiful. Again the colour of the water and the
driftwood on
the beach would have made great promotional shots for
Lucci looking pensive
while Jimmy and Tambo prepare dinner
Hunter –
gatherers at work
Sunset over
the water
Day
4: The Big One
Day
four was to be our longest paddling day. We set out
early with the incoming tide and paddled across two entrances to the
ocean
where the menace of the clearly visible breakers made us keep our
distance. We
lunched on a sandy, windblown spit of land near one such entrance where
we were
greeted by a seal and warmed by the sun, then continued on as the wind
sprung
up at our backs once more to push us into camp. The third campsite was
perhaps
the most beautiful. We pitched our tents on a small island in amongst
the trees
on the lee side of some large sand dunes, facing back towards the
mainland. A
deep water channel came close to the site (so no carrying heavy, loaded
sea
kayaks) and the view was stunning. Behind the camp was a series of high
dunes,
flattening out towards the ocean. Once over the forested ridge that
separated
the campsite from the dunes, it was like a Saharan dessert scene. Big
dunes
that had formed cornices and beautiful wind patterns in the sand,
pristine
slopes, far too tempting not to try to ski down, and a simple beauty
that only very
arid, lifeless landscapes have. As
the sun set we were treated to a beach scene that was perhaps the most
beautiful vista of the trip. Hundreds of little jellyfish, stranded by
the
receding tide, lit up by the sunset were gleaming like gemstones on the
sand.
The usual army of soldier crabs was marching to the sea and the light
was
golden on the water. It was amazing and sadly is not done justice by
the
photos.
Beautiful weather made
for happy paddlers
Castaway
Scouting the dune
Day
5: Back to the Mainland
The
last day had the potential to be a hard slog. So we
started early. We were all keen to get home and the group paddled well.
We
started the day as we had started the trip; on glassy seas with water
clear
enough to see the rays and sharks (small ones) below us. We cruised up
to our
take out point in no time and had the kayaks emptied, cleaned and
loaded with
far less trouble than expected. We did a quick car shuffle and got on
the road
pretty much on time. We made Leongatha by 3 and Melbourne by 6. No
injuries, no
flat tyres, no disasters of any kind. It was a fantastic trip with
perfect
weather, beautiful campsites and great paddling. The group worked well
together
and there were no complaints about how far it was or how hard the days
were.
Everyone helped out and everyone had fun and learned a lot over our
week away.
Thank you all for making it such a great camp, and I look forward to
seeing you
all out there somewhere in the future.
Unpacking
