A daily (Monday to Saturday) bus
service runs along the north coast of Tasmania from Burnie to
Devonport which opens up the possibility of a one way paddle (with a
tail wind) along this section of coast. Burnie, with ports and
industrial development is not so interesting as a starting point for
a paddle so we began this trip from Blythe Heads near Heybridge
instead. Doug dropped me and our two kayaks plus gear off at a small
boat ramp at Blythe Heads and then drove into Ulverstone. After
parking at the boat ramp in West Ulverstone and he hopped on the
number 70 bus from Grove Street in Ulverstone, arriving about a half
hour later, back at Blythe Heads.
The tide was dropping and we had a
little rapid run (grade 1+) out to the ocean via the Blythe River.
The coast to Penguin is low rocky reefs with very few sand beaches,
and it took us about 1.5 hours to reach Penguin where we pulled in at
Penguin Beach, just inside Stubbs Point to stretch our legs. While
pleasant, this is not particularly interesting coast-line to paddle,
especially compared to Rocky Cape or Circular Head.
Doug disappearing into a trough
It was 11 am when we left Penguin Beach
and the usual westerly wind was blowing. I'm sure we had the current
against us for this section as it took us almost an hour to reach
Three Sisters, some small rocky islets just past Penguin Point
despite the 15 knot tail wind blowing. We paddled around Three
Sisters looking for seals (no luck) and then into Goat Island, a big
conglomerate blob of rock near West Ulverstone. Immediately we
passed Three Sisters we were sheltered from wind and sea and the
paddling became much calmer.
Hello seal
Paddling out around Seagull Islet we
came across large beds of huge seaweed waving about in the current
and on a steep rocky islet near Ulverstone we found five or six large
seals lounging on the rocks. They were not overly disturbed by us
and we were able to paddle by quite close. The final section up the
Leven River to the boat ramp was quick and easy with the tide helping
us along.
Goodbye seal
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