Australia Day Long Weekend Road Trip

Australia Day marks the end of the Christmas holiday season on the South Coast of NSW. This now means that all our favourite weekend haunts are not so busy. After an afternoon fish at Preddys Wharf at Moruya we drove down to Potato Point and parked at our favourite picnic area and toilet block. We didn't want to attempt the road in the the National Park during the storm and in the dark. Dusty does not have great  undercarriage clearance, the low hanging water tank takes a bit of a pizzling on dirt tracks. After a top up with water and and a dash to the loo we set off to find the spot Mr P had located a few weeks earlier. This area is a maze of tracks and after a couple of wrong turns we found the spot in time for breakfast on the lake and what a view.

Saturday morning paddle to Borang Lake

I had hoped to photograph the 2 Little Eagles that I had spotted last weekend, so loaded the camera and tripod and set off after breakfast. Given the windy conditions, this was going to be a challenge. Midway down the creek past Horse Island the wind picked up from the south, I made good time with the tide in my favour reaching Borang in 1 hour and fifteen minutes. The paddle back was fine until I was  back in the open lake. My little boat had taken in quite a bit of water by the time I reached camp on the southern side of the lake. Round trip time 4.5 hours of paddling, I was shagged and no Little Eagles.

Sunday Morning and the north easterly was up early again, so we decided  to drive over to Coopers Island and explore that part of the river system. We have often given these bucolic dairy farming areas a wide berth because of the flies, but with the breeze today they weren't too bad. It was a beautiful paddle downstream in to Trunkatebella Lake and upstream towards Tuross.

We decided to explore the camping possibilities along the river near the bridge on the drive south to Bodalla. Given that it was Australia Day proper, there were lots of Aussies, water skiing, jet skiing and sitting in plastic wading pools eating sausage sangers  so we opted for a quiet spot down stream of the bridge. We had the area to ourselves, probably because this part of the river does not have deep water access. A great spot for some more fishing and exploring of the river.

Fishing and birding

The windy conditions didn't help, but we managed to eat fish each day with a nice bream to bring home. On the birding front I spotted 45 species, with this one seen on the shore of the lake closer to the beach, I think it's a Black Fronted Dotterall and other suggestions?

Tuross River kayak trip

My hectic work schedule and the thermometer hitting 40 for the last 3 days, had me feling rattey and  in much need of an escape to the coast. Mr P had discovered some excellent kayaking spots along the Tuross River on his last 2 solo trips and was keen to show off the fishing and bird life in the area.

We arrived in the early Thursday afternoon, I was still not sparking on all cylinders and decided to veg out and tackle a longer paddle around Horse Iisland after a good nights sleep. This is such a pristine waterway.

Friday morning and I set off in a thick fog for a paddle around Horse Island, I always feel a bit nervous paddling with my camera gear, even in dry bags. My lenses are great only if you get up reasonably close to the subject. This Willy Wagtail was very obliging and didn't seem to mind me hanging around it's nest trying to get a good shot.

The paddle around Horse Island (named, we think because it is shaped like a horse) takes around 1 hour not counting stops for birding, I managed it in about 2 hours. I was battling the tide and a strong north easterly breeze on my way back to the camp site.

Sunday morning we were both on the water by 7am, Mr P off to his fishing spot and I went further down river to Borang Island. I never knew that this lake existed, lots of birds in this quiet backwater surrounded by now defunct dairy farms. The trip  took around 2 and a half hours, in that time the fisherman had been busy, wcatching this stud 70cm flathead.