A weekend in the wilderness - without leaving town!

Boat packed, trolley ready, time to get away to the wilderness for the weekend.

 

 

Traffic was heavy getting out of town

Met Mark Schroeder on the way and we found a nice place to land, with an ideal campsite right next to the sea!

We set up camp in our remote cove and cooked dinner to the sound of waves and a chorus of frogs!

 

 

Mark has a free standing tent

I don't

but my view from the bedroom was pretty good

We saw a whale, dolphins, a seal, albatross and a green sea turtle. The other bonus is there was no phone reception!

On Sunday we checked out another possible wilderness camp spot to the south of the heads before heading back to Sydney - even though we'd never really left!

A Landing at North Head

On a calm day mark decided to land just around the outside of North Head. So we did...

lining up the exit

not to be put off by bad timing Marks powers on

in the hole

a quick self rescue by Mark and we were on our way

A trip to Yakushima Island (Southern Japan)

Yakushima Island is located South of Kagashima in the South of the mainland of Japan. It is about 504 square KM with a population of around 13000 residing almost entirely around the coast. The island is mountainous and rises to 1936 metres at its highest point. A large part of the island is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its outstanding natural beauty, enormous trees and varied flora and fauna. As my wife loves the bush and I love the sea Yakushima was the perfect destination for our family adventure holiday.

It's about 140 KM all the way round and would be a fantastic paddle

We timed our arrival with that of a low pressure system and rainy weather but that was not going to dampen our spirits. As soon as we disembarked from our ship we were on a bus and heading to the start of the track that would take us over the highest bit of the island and over to the other side over three days.

About to dock at Yakushima - a notoriously rainy island

The lower areas were covered in moss and was some of the most lush forest I'd ever seen

Once we got above the tree line temperatures were around 0 and it was very wet

We made it across the top and after staying in the second of three bushwalking huts descended down the other side to where an old logging rail line has been converted to a walking track.

With three days of walking behind us it was time for Dad to go kayaking whilst the rest of the family went sight seeing

My wife, being Japanese, had found a keen kayaker on Yakushima that ran a small kayak guiding business. He used a local boat that he helped design himself called the Nanok. There was a 4.8 metre version a 5.3 metre and a double. As we were planning to paddle about 20 KM and there was a bit of wind forecast I decided on the 5.3. The boat I hired was in good condition, handled well and was a fast and maneuverable boat. I really enjoyed paddling it.

Besides hiring kayaks and guiding, Taeji also offers accommodation at his sea side location in this beautiful kit home he built himself.

Accommodation offered as well

As the weather was still less than ideal we simply decided to get in the van and go over to the lee side of the island - always an option when you live on a small island!

 

About to launch

calm seas and a spectacular backdrop

We headed north and soon spotted the first of five rather large sea turtles. We also saw a shark, which was following Taeji, lots of barracuda, cormorants and some flying fish. The water was warm, and the wind was almost non existent.

enjoying lunch

I was shown an excellent sea cave that could be paddled all the way through.

some coves led to small harbours and rivers

When we got home a local fisherman dropped a few flying fish over to Taeji. Here is his wife showing one off. I've often seen flying fish off our Australian coast but never got up close or seen them in a shop. In Yakushima they're a delicacy.

Yakushima is a kayaking and bushwalking paradise. It would be a bit hard organising things and getting around without being able to speak Japanese but there were a few foreigners about who seemed to be managing all right. The main tracks are well marked and the bushwalking huts are basic but well maintained and weatherproof. There's lots of deer and monkeys, one of which attacked us, as well as some rich birdlife. Yakushima also has quite a few frogs and salamander species but I couldn't find any of those on this trip although I did find a salamander a few years back in Hokkaido. Like all good holidays, I wish it could have lasted longer.

Glebe to Currarong

The NSWSKC held it's annual Rock N Roll kayak fest at Currarong, just north of Jervis Bay. The weather looked good so my paddling friend Megan and I decided we'd paddle there. I trollied my kayak and a weeks worth of food and camping gear down to Rozelle Bay where I packed the boat and launched. An hour and a half later I was rounding South Head and heading out to sea in a surprisingly strong Noreasterly - this was a great start! I hoisted the sail and headed out to sea to make the most of the wind. Three hours later I was at Jibbon Beach where Megan and I had arranged to meet.

Not too long after I'd landed Megan arrived having paddled the eight kilometres from her place up in Port Hacking. We headed out into a strengthening wind and made short work of the 11 kilometres to our next stop at Wottomolla.

Megan Pryke let it rip the first time she used the sail

The next day was going to be a cracker with North Easterly winds to about 15 knots forecast to blow all day. We headed out and soon had the sails up. The GPS was recording us moving at an average of almost 10km p/hr. Once we got past The Royal the wind began to weaken. It became harder to catch the diminishing runners. I don't mind paddling in calm conditions or even opposing winds but when the forecast was so good I have to admit to being less then happy about the lack of wind and then downright grumpy when it turned southerly!

We were a couple of kilometres off shore when the Southerly really picked up so we headed in to Wollongong for shelter. We had some lunch, checked the forecast which still maintained we were supposed to be getting Noreasters and then headed out again, albeit in a calmer sea but with no help from behind. It seemed a long time getting past Port Kembla and that bleak industrial skyline and by the time we'd rounded Red Point we were ready to land. We went in to the northern tip of Port Kembla Beach which was a less than ideal camp site but after a 53 km day that was going to have to do.

Port Kembla Beach

53 KM

The third day of our trip was again calm but we were in good spirits and enjoying the paddling. We made a quick stop in Bushrangers Cove at Bass Point and then had lunch at Kiama Harbour. After around  38 kilometres we discussed our options. With a strong Southerly forecast for the next day we'd either have to finish the trip and do another 25 km on top of what we'd already done or risk having to abandon our plan and get someone to pick us up at Geroa. We decided to pass the Geroa rest stop and go for it, hopefully with some help from an as yet non existant Noreaster. The wind did come up and we sailed while paddling hard all the way to Currarong.

63 KM

We pulled in about 5:40 feeling good and glad to have made it. We commented on the fact that whenever we do the big days its usually with all the extra weight that camping gear, food and water adds and that it can take a while to adjust and makes the k's a lot harder than the numbers would suggest.

Friday we went for a bushwalk around Beecroft Head and on Saturday I took a strong group out into a solid southerly for a partial circumnavigation of Beecroft Peninsular.

Honeymoon Bay to Currarong is about 27 km

The Beecroft team was Mark Hempel, Mark Schroeder, Mark Dabbs, David Linco, Wade Carberry, Paul Edwards and Joel Murray. We were all well pumped as we rounded Gumgetters so I probably came accross as a bit hyper as Wade and I barged into a rescue situation and took over - apologies to anyone who felt we should have stayed out of it - blame it on my training!

The wind had returned to Noreasterly by Sunday so I took another group back to Honeymoon Bay where we explored all the fantastic caves and slots between Target Beach and Point Perpendicular.

Awsome natural features - some of us went in here and then came out of the other tunnel on the left

Inside a sea cave

Sylvio gets through!

Although I felt pretty good about paddling from Sydney to Currarong one thing put all those kilometres into perspective. Jason Beachcroft who last year paddled the entire way around Australia, including Tasmania did more than our entire trip in one stint three times on his trip when he had to paddle past the unlandable Baxter and Zuytdorp Cliffs in Western Australia and The Bunda Cliffs in South Australia. Jason gave a talk on his trip on Saturday night which I'm sure all sea kayakers would find truly inspirational. Congratulations Jason.
 

A great video about one of our ocean brethren

A day out with The South Coast Legends

Three of us Sydney paddlers were honored to be invited to The Pancake Paddle down at Mystery Bay on the South Coast. We had the pleasure of paddling with some legends of kayaking. I hope I can still paddle as strongly as some of these folks when I'm their age.

Looking North from The Mystery Bay camp ground

John Wilde & Mike Snoad brief the group

Laurie Geoghegan - Builder of the famous NADGEE range of kayaks

Seals

Peter & Dirk

Shaan

John Wilde

Paul Loker - Still can't help getting into caves