In November 2002 a friend of mine, Mike, who works for the South Nowra Great Outdoors Centre invited me to join him and some friends and family on a weekend Canoeing/Kayaking trip on St Georges Basin. It was during this trip I got to use Mike's Hobie 'Maui' kayak. I found it most enjoyable and easy to use. A sit-on rather than sit-in kayak and Mike's shop is the only business where you can purchase Hobie kayaks in the Shoalhaven region. Now that I was again working I decided that it was time to do something about purchasing a kayak. I saved hard, probably harder than I had in a very long time so I could own my own Hobie before the summer was finished.

However, I did check out other retailers and the boats they had to offer. I must admit, all other retailers had some very good kayaks and some were cheaper than the Hobie and I was very tempted in making a quick purchase. It was the great relationship I have with the staff of South Nowra Great Outdoors Store though that helped me make the final decision. Over the years I have bought most of my outdoors gear from these guys and they've always provided expert advice, always been friendly and helpful and given me great deals on all my purchases.

On Wednesday 5th February 2003 I finally purchased my Hobie Maui, plus roof racks and Flotation vest from the Great Outdoors Centre for just over $1500.00 - In the week just after purchasing this kayak I did 2 one day kayaking trips with the Shoalhaven Bushwalkers. Reports of these 2 days can be found below, along with further reports of kayaking in 2003 as they become available.

  DURRAS LAKE KAYAKING

On Saturday February 8th I met 10 other members of the Shoalhaven Bushwalkers at Lakesea Caravan Park in Durras for a weekend of canoeing & bushwalking. The weekend was organised by Karen Davis. Only 8 of us participated in the water activity. At 11.00am, after pitching our tents in one of the park's camping areas we portaged our boats to Durras Lake and paddled upstream. The weather was overcast, but there was no sign of rain.

My new 'Hobie' was handling well, but was slower than most of the other kayaks. Whether this was due to my boat or the fact I'm a newcomer to this activity will only be revealed in time. The paddling was quite pleasant but it wasn't long before my arms became sore and I was concious of blistering my hands like I had on previous canoeing trips. I also had a problem with my right lower leg falling asleep several times during the paddle, was it caused by the new kayak, or was it due to the fact I was so unused to this kind of exercise?

During our paddle to the north-eastern end of the lake, some 5km away, we passed many arms of Durras Lake and had to stop to be certain we were heading in the right direction. The water was very shallow in places and very deep in others. Small sandy islands in the lake were surrounded by thick weed and were a haven for the birdlife. Once again Brett Davis was quick to point out and name many of the birds we saw.

By 1.00pm we had reached the far end of Durras Lake and searched for a suitable spot for lunch. We beached our craft and stepped out onto the mudflats - and sank up to our knees in foul smelling black ooze.

While Brett took photographs of several mud caked feet we enjoyed a nice lunch sitting on an old tree log and watched a White Throated Tree Creeper dart from tree to tree in our immediate vicinity. Returning to our boats we were alerted to some splashing in the water just beyond the last kayak. It turned out to be a large Stingray, confirmed by the appearance of it's wings occasionally breaking the surface. Some of us were rather quick to get on board our kayaks for fear of accidentally treading on any others that were in our vicinity.

The paddle back to the caravan park was a very tiring affair. We were battling the oncoming winds and in the middle of the lake, quite a reasonable swell. This made paddling a little more difficult, but eventually we arrived in calmer water and it wasn't long before we were loading our kayaks back on our cars.

It was still rather early in the afternoon, just after 3.00pm, so we all went for a stroll on the ocean beach down to the Durras Lake Inlet. We noticed a storm out to sea and it wasn't long before we were walking in light drizzly rain. We returned to our campsite and spent the evening cooking our meals and chatting away in the shelter of the Table Tennis area.

Next morning we packed away our gear. The rest of our group were going on a bushwalk along the southern end of the Murramarrang National Park. As I felt uncomfortable taking the risk of leaving my kayak with the car in a remote carpark I bade the others farewell and headed home.

Me paddling my new Hobie Kayak on Durras Lake
Photo - Brett Davis

  LAKE CONJOLA

On Wednesday 12th February I joined 17 other members of the Shoalhaven Bushwalkers for a canoeing/kayaking  day on Lake Conjola. The day's activity was led by Sandra Kelley. A sunny almost cloudless day greeted us as we met at the Bewong Roadhouse on the Princes Highway south of Nowra. Most of the group had kayaks attached to the car roof racks, but a good number had Canadian style canoes.

We arrived at Fishermans Paradise a small village on the shore of Lake Conjola and unloaded our craft at the boat ramp. Amazingly, we did not enter the water immediately, but had the obligational morning tea. 20 minutes later we were in our boats and paddling upstream. At the first fork in the creek we turned left and a little further on left again. This turned out to be a dead end, as did another left turn not far up. Once again my right lower leg went to sleep and I spent most of the mornings paddling trying to regain some feeling in my toes. Im starting to wonder about this problem. We followed the main tributary as far as we possibly could before turning around and paddling back to the first intersection.

Taking the right hand fork we followed this tributary for some distance, paddling under a small road bridge just as a herd of cows were crossing. I hoped there were no gaps in the bridge between the cows and us. This tributary was winding its way through farmland and past a number of large grassy hills making the paddling quite scenic, though not spectacular. We were soon negotiating a number of submerged tree trunks. This got worse the further we paddled, sometimes we barely had enough space to paddle over some of these logs and on several occasions feared capsize as my Hobie slid across logs barely 6 inches below the waterline. Eventually it got so bad that we could continue no further. We headed back to the boat ramp and had lunch with half our party going for a midday swim.

After lunch half our group decided to paddle into the lake proper. We passed a cosy looking beach before coming out into the main lake. Suddenly the calm waters became quite choppy and we found ourselves paddling into a strong headwind.

The water became very shallow too and it wasn't long before the boats in front became stranded. We had little choice but to get out of our boats and pull them into deeper water. 5 minutes later we arrived at Kidgee Point and noticed that the tailenders had not followed. We paddled to the opposite side of the lake and made our way back to the little beach we had seen earlier. There were the other paddlers, swimming in the lake, their boats up on the beach. We wasted little time in joining them. It was then an easy paddle back to the boat ramp where we loaded our boats back onto our cars and returned home.

  WANDANDIAN CREEK

On Friday morning 23rd May 2003, Steve Ahern and I put our Hobie Kayaks into Wandandian Creek at Bewong, not far from St Georges Basin. Steve had his Yellow Hobie Mirage - the one with the 'Pedal Drive system' while I had my trusty sky blue Maui. I was a little apprehensive about having to keep up with the Mirage as I have heard they can really move fast on the water, but Steve kept a nice sedate pace that was no faster than my traditional paddling.

The sky was clear, a little chilly and occasionally accompanied by a stiff breeze which rippled the almost flat murky waters of Wandandian Creek. It had been a few months since I had last used my Hobie and I felt rather unsteady as I first clambered aboard, but this was somewhat relieved as I started to paddle. We headed eastwards, following the initial route we had taken during the Basin to Sussex Inlet trip last year.

The paddling was sedate and we were enjoying the peacefull scenery either side of the creek as we made our way to the main intersection. It wasnít long before 'Borstal's Kayaking Curse' reappeared. I had been paddling less than 30 minutes before my left leg and foot went numb. This is becoming quite frustrating, yet I'm starting to wonder why my left leg doesn't cop this problem. I was to constanly suffer from a numb right leg for the entire paddle.

Just before the main intersection we pulled the boats ashore for morning tea, a break of just 10 minutes (enough for feeling to return to my right leg) but also time enough for swarms of mosquitos to attack and feast on our exposed skin. We wasted little time getting back into the kayaks and onto the water where the light breeze seemed to keep the brutes away.

Instead of turning left at the intersection and heading into St Georges Basin, we turned right and followed a very pleasant and still channel to Tullarwalla Lagoon. Steve looked like he was really enjoying himself, lying back in his seat and peddaling along without a worry in the world. As for me, my arms were beginning to get quite sore, obviously from lack of this kind of exercise. As we entered Tullarwalla Lagoon we were hit by a rather stiff breeze and choppy conditions. The view across the lagoon included the escarpment of the eastern Budawangs and was quite spectacular and clear. Although the water in this section of the lagoon was very shallow, we both paddled easily around the point to our lunchspot on the northernmost bank.

It had been more than eleven years since I had last been at this spot. The long lush grass has been replaced with bare dirt, but it was still a suitable spot to enjoy lunch. It had taken us about 2 hours to reach this spot, not bad going really. Our lunch break took up the next 25 minutes before we again boarded our Hobie's for the return journey back to the cars, following much the same route.

 TALLOWA DAM

On Sunday morning 1st June 2003 I joined up with 2 families for a paddle west of Tallowa Dam. I arrived at the Tallowa Camping area at 10.00am and waited for the rest of the canoeists. Mike Vicary and his family arrived at 10.45 and introduced me to Bob and his family, the latter of which had been parked opposite my car for the past 45 minutes. We unloaded our kayaks & canoes and very soon were paddling across the dam under a clear blue sky.

The scenery ahead was brilliant and reflected in the clear water of the lake. This included Purri Plateau and Mount Phillips and part of the walls of Shoalhaven Gorge. About 2km into our paddle we came ashore for lunch. This spot is often used as an early campsite for those travelling to Fossickers Flat, 14km up river. The site is just below a spot marked on the Burrier map as Herbert Buttress and adjacent to 'Toms Gully'. There is room here for maybe 3 tents, but plenty of firewood for the ample-sized fireplace that has been built here.

It was hoped that after lunch we would paddle to the valley of dead trees, but unfortunately, halfway there we had to return to the picnic spot as Mike's children, paddling their own kayaks were getting too tired to continue. For me, there would always be next time. Back at the picnic site we relaxed or explored the area before heading back to our cars under a cloudy sky. The day's paddling was most enjoyable, there was very little wind and the water was flat and calm.