Escaping The Madness Of Crowds: Sir Joseph Banks Group

Easter weekend, and, although we are eight solid hours drive from Adelaide, the Eyre Peninsula is getting busier and busier. Time for two sea kayakers to escape the madness of crowds and head out for an island adventure. We have chosen the Sir Joseph Banks Group of islands located near the southwestern end of Spencer Gulf but well sheltered from ocean swells. For us, this will be the least committing sea kayak we do in South Australia and it feels, appropriately, like we are winding down.

We have decided to leave from Tumby Bay, the usual launch spot for kayakers heading out to the island group. The forecast is, of course, sunny, and winds should be favourable, light northeasterlies for two days followed by light southerly winds. It is about 26 kilometres out to where we plan to camp at a bay on the northern end of Revesby Island, but we can shorten our crossing to 20 kilometres by having a quick break on Tumby Island.

Day 1: Tumby Bay to Revesby Island.

Leaving Tumby Bay, we can just see a small hump of an island in the far distance which lines up with our "rough enough is good enough" compass bearing and we assume this is our destination. Turns out, over a 26 kilometre crossing, "rough enough is good enough" is not quite good enough and the hump we end up heading for is at the far southern end of Revesby Island. Had we looked more carefully at the topographic map before leaving this would have been obvious as, at 33 metres, the trig on the south end of Revesby Island is the highest point in the entire island group. Compared to our other South Australian sea kayaking trips, this one felt so easy and uncomplicated that we got a little lax with navigation, and thus our navigation was a little off.

To shorten the crossing, we stopped at Tumby Island as we headed southeast. Tumby Island is pretty much connected to the mainland, at least at low tide, and a long reef spreads east for about a kilometre so we had to paddle around that to get back on our bearing. There is not much you can say about long crossings except that they are long, and there is nothing much to look at. Eventually, however, like all things, crossings to come to an end.

On the way to our final camp for the night we paddled by Winceby Island where there is a good sized Australian Sea Lion colony. Camped only a couple of kilometres away across Douglas Channel we got to hear the sounds of sea lions at sporadic intervals. They are louder than you might think.

We had a great campsite in a big sheltered bay on the north end of Revesby Island. Up on a sand dune there was good shade and a breeze, all important features in South Australia sea kayaking, and a choice of two beaches, one on either side of a sand isthmus to walk along.

Day 2 Revesby Island to Stickney Island

A lovely, if hot, day of island hopping as we paddled south to camp on the north side of Stickney Island. First down the east side of Revesby Island and then across to Blythe Island, Hareby Island and Roxby Island. Sea lions are everywhere and we also pass occasional pods of dolphins.

By the time we start the 10 kilometre crossing to Stickney Island from Roxby Island, we have both stripped off life jackets and spray decks as it is glassy calm and very hot without a stirring of breeze.

At Stickney Island, we rig our tarp up to give some shade, swim many times, and wait for the afternoon to cool before we walk east around the island on granite slabs and boulders to a big bay on the south side of the island. Stick nest rats live on these islands, as do Cape Barren Geese and osprey. We see evidence of all this wildlife.

Day 3: Stickney Island to Revesby Island

Taking advantage of the cooler morning air we walk around the western half of the island to the big bay before packing up and heading north. This time, we paddle up the western side of the island group, passing Langton Island, Dalby Island and Kirkton Island. We pass a big colony of Sea Lions laying flat out on a beach completely unbothered and uninterested in our presence. There is a buoy off the beach and we realise that this is the where the tour boats bring swimmers to interact with the sea lions.

The next island is Lusby Island and we are very close to Home Bay on Revesby Island. Home Bay is the only place we see other boats in our journey around the islands. There are about 12 boats and yachts anchored in the bay and, as we are on an escape the crowds trip, we avoid Home Bay and have lunch on Lusby Island instead.

Heading north we pass Partney Island and finally around into our previous camp on the northern end of Revesby Island. There is a monstrous power boat anchored off shore, but the inhabitants are not seen nor heard and they head back to the mainland in the late afternoon leaving just the sea kayakers and the sea lions to enjoy another spectacular sunset.

Day 4: Revesby Island to Tumby Bay

We have decided to do better on our return trip to the mainland so we take a careful compass bearing, adjust it for declination, and follow it assiduously back to Tumby Island and on to Tumby Bay. It works very well and the trip back is smooth, aided by a modest tail wind. It turns out that, given the timidity of the average Australian (don't "at" me) escaping the crowds was easy.