This is a popular stretch of coast with
local sea kayakers as it passes Murramarang National Park and only
requires a short car shuffle. Doug and I met Mike at Surfside Beach
and strapped his beautiful hand made kayak on top of our two clunkers
for the drive to Cookies Beach, where we drove right past Mark who
was inexplicably calling our mobile from the parking lot behind the
boat ramp. Obviously watching too much Federal election coverage is,
just like other reality TV show, bad for your cognition.
Doug along the Murramarang coast
We paddled out between Wasp Head and
Wasp Island where the usual grommets were working a small wave.
Heading south with a slight tail wind, Doug and I put up our sails
which is the only way I can keep pace with the others, and, for that
fleeting time that the wind was blowing, I caught up to the others.
Mike continued paddling south far off-shore but the rest of us headed
closer in and started weaving through some rock gardens as we paddled
past small beaches and headlands.
Milling about near the entrance to the Blue Cave
There is a tiny rock strewn bay,
inaccessible unless you are in a kayak, just north of the trig
station on North Head which I have always wanted to paddle into.
Once you get inside the rock reefs, the little black stone beach at
the back is quite sheltered. It is a pretty spot but the sun does
not reach far in during the winter. We ran through some easy rock
gardens here and then somehow ended up split into three groups well
off Three Islet Point. I wanted to paddle through a narrow cleft of
rock right on the spit of Three Islet Point as I had wimped out last
time and easily convinced the others that we should do that while we
were close by. This time around the gap looked capacious and we all
paddled easily through.
Looking out from the opening to the Blue Cave
Mark wanted to visit the Tollgate
Islands before lunch so we paddled over to the north island next.
The conditions were really looking very good for a visit into the
Blue Cave with only a low southerly swell running. Still pictures do
not do the Blue Cave justice, better to watch one of these videos
instead. Since seeing this ominous looking cleft on our second visit
to the Tollgate Islands Doug and I had become somewhat obsessed with
getting inside. No visit to the Tollgates was complete any more
without taking a look at the access slot. But, despite much looking,
we had not yet ventured inside.
Doug looking over his shoulder at the entrance to the Blue Cave
We were soon at the opening of the Blue
Cave and milling about outside. Personally, I often find waiting and
watching much harder than actually getting stuck in and doing as your
mind can imagine all kinds of nasty scenarios while hanging around at
the start of something so I volunteered to go in first. I happened
to strike a nice long lull in the waves and easily got through the
first narrow bit to a wider pool where it was easy to turn around.
This is where I went wrong. I knew that there was a cave running off
at 90 degrees to the first slot but thought the cave ran out to the
right (west). No amount of straining my eyes revealed any such cave
and some how I didn't think to turn around and see if the cave
actually went off to the left (east). I took a couple of photos and
paddled back out. The others were, of course, a bit surprised that I
had not found it, but no-one else wanted to go in and I was not sure
I had enough adrenaline left for a second visit so soon after the
first. We continued on paddling into the little bay behind the Blue
Cave before paddling through the gap between the islands and then
heading north to a little sandy beach at Chain Bay for lunch.
Mike sailing by Snapper Island
Mark wanted to visit Snapper Island
before we landed at Surfside Beach so we paddled the four kilometres
across the bay to the island and had a tour around there.
Apparently, the big cave on the island was used for smuggling back
when Batemans Bay was a timber port not a tourist destination. Now
the island is a sanctuary for breeding sea birds including Fairy
Penguins. Finally, the last three kilometre paddle across the bay to
Surfside Beach and Mike's car.
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