The paddling weather over the past
weekend was as good as it gets - sunshine and warm weather, light
winds, low sea and low swell. On Saturday, we headed out to paddle
from Tomakin up to Jimmies Island near Rosedale and ended up
continuing on to Malua Bay. The tide was fairly low when we launched
from the far west end of Barlings Beach in Tomakin. A few old
surfers were idly standing about talking about surfing but not
actually getting out on the water. Admittedly, the swell was pretty
small. We toyed with doing a little surfing in the kayaks before
starting our paddle, but the conditions were so good, that we just
started heading west to Long Nose Point.
Barlings Beach at Tomakin
Barlings Island was dry on the inside
so we went around the outside. At higher tides, it looks as if there
a couple of small passages you could squeeze through. From Long Nose
Point to Burrewarra Point there are many little steep cliff backed
coves, tiny islets, and rocky reefs that all make for interesting
paddling.
Barlings Island
Burrewarra Point sticks out a kilometre
in the north/south tidal current and deep water comes right up to the
point so even on calm days, the water is confused and bouncy. I
certainly noticed not having my 12 litres of water ballast in the
kayak as I was bouncing around a bit more than usual. From
Burrewarra Point we headed straight to Jimmies Island but I found out
later that you can scramble up a fishermans track to Burrewarra Point
from below - next time.
Near Long Nose Point
Paddling around the east side of
Jimmies Island schools of small fish jump ahead of the kayaks. It is
time to stretch our legs, so we aim for the north end of Rosedale
Beach and land in a small dumping surf. At this point, we realise
that, if we continue on around Pretty Point to Malua Bay we will be
just in time for the regular Saturday bus that runs from Batemans Bay
to Moruya.
Landing at Malua Bay
Jumping in the kayaks we paddle quickly
north around Pretty Point and into the beach at Malua Bay. I grab my
dry bag, sprint for the bus stop all the while thinking, "I
should run more" and, arriving at the bus stop (right behind the
beach) realize I have ten minutes to spare. Twenty minutes later, I
am back with the car.
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