On Sunday, we had an uneventful paddle
from Moruya Heads to Mosquito Bay getting the requisite 30 kilometres
done just moments before the Mosquito Bay cafe closed. There were
good waves at Moruya Heads and even an outgoing tide to facilitate
paddling back out for the next wave, but both lads were shy of
getting wet at the beginning of the day. I had a lone dolphin swim
beside my boat through the channel and caught one good wave before we
started paddling north.
The beach and kayak shot with Burrewarra Point behind
Mark wanted to catch a few waves off
Tomakin Beach, the site of previous kayak disasters. It's not that
many months since I had a long swim into the beach after capsizing in
a wave and wet exiting here. The Dart managed to ride a few waves in
but with a heavy less manoeuvrable boat - the Tug, perhaps - I found
the waves a bit small to get on. Doug was resolutely staying dry.
Leaving lunch beach
Burrewarra Point was probably as calm
as I have seen it, possibly because we managed to round it at slack
tide. We had lunch, or oranges, on a small south facing beach with a
squirrelly wave near Jimmies Island, and on my urging went in to
check out the wave on Mackenzies Beach which always looks so perfect
whenever I drive past. The swell was certainly big enough but did
seem to be dumping onto a steep beach so we passed by. After that it
was a straight line for Mosquito Bay and the putative delights of the
Mosquito Bay cafe.
Doug and Mark at Burrewarra Point
Monday with light northerly winds
forecast we drove up to Conjola Park north of Ulladulla to paddle
from Conjola Lake back to Ulladulla. A "shoppers bus" runs
up the coast from Ulladulla to Nowra and it is only 1.5 kilometres to
walk from the bus stop on the Princes Highway out to the boat ramp at
Conjola Park. After unloading the boats at a small dirt ramp in
Conjola Par, Doug took the car back to Ulladulla and joined a handful
of grey haired ladies taking the bus north while I hung out at a
small jetty at the west end of the lake.
East end of Conjola Lake
It's a straight forward paddle east
along the lake which is pleasant enough in winter but must be
horrific in summer as I doubt anyone sticks to the 4 knot speed
limit. As you approach Conjola Beach you start to hear the roar of
the surf on the beach and, of course, begin to hope the surf exit
will be easy and dry. Conjola Bar is currently open but only to
kayaks as the water is not near deep enough for a power boat. The
channel snakes around in an oxbow before draining out through some
rocks.
Heading south down Conjola Beach
We got out of the boats to take a look at the surf break-out
and it looked easy enough to paddle north through the swash zone and
ride a prominent rip out through the swells near Green Island. There
was, however, quite a few white-caps and a 10 knot southeasterly
blowing. I made it easily but Doug got bottomed out on some rocks in
the channel and had to get out of the boat again. Paddling south
down Conjola Beach felt like a bit of a slog into the wind as I was
feeling sore from the day before. Long beaches are like long glacier
approaches, the end seems to approach quite slowly.
Ulladulla Head
We pulled in at Narrawallee Inlet where
the bar is also open for small craft to unravel our legs. South of
this small nature reserve, the developed all the way to Ulladulla.
Soon after we started paddling again Doug saw a green turtle which
seems very far south from their normal range. Heading east along
Bannister Point we got some shelter from the wind and there are big
sandstone cliffs as you round Bannister Point, where we had a bit of
bumpy water but the wind had slackened.
Herons in Ulladulla Harbour
A few pods of dolphins swam with us as
we paddled south to Collers Beach where a group of surfers were
riding a small break. Next is Ulladulla Head which has a big
sandstone spit sticking into the ocean, and then, happily for me,
round the headland and into Ulladulla Harbour. My shoulders, back
and butt were tired and 22 km was far enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment