Time to get back on the road

I am writing this after my last morning paddle up the river at Sandon, we have been here now for 14 days and tomorrow we need to point the Dusty Campervan south to be home by next weekend.

Paddling, is like a narcotic, calming, sleep inducing and addictive. I have paddled up river for several klms every morning with the tide and against it. I am sure come tomorrow I will have withdrawal symptoms. 

My bird list for our stay has notched 68 species, with hours spent in the mangroves  trying to decide if the honeyeaters were white cheeked or white throated or both. Every bend of the river is dotted with whistling kite and sea eagle nests. There is also a large nest in the Norfolk Island Pine above our van and this has been our pre dawn alarm clock, a sound that will always remind me of our holiday here.

Shacks, the old beach shacks at Sandon have a charm all of their own. Their owners fought with the National Parks to retain possession and won the case. Although, they now must remain within the title holders family or relinquished. 

In the photo below I am returning from my daily ride to the rubbish bins.

Mr P is always on the look out for someone to have a chat with, here he is with Sandon local identity Bobby. 

Tomorrow we will drive south calling into Red Rock and Mylestrom on our way to Crowdy Bay NP. We have eaten fish every day for 2 weeks, I am thinking a pizza might be on tomorrow night's menu.

Sandon River Time

We arrived back at the Sandon River camp in the Yurigar NP on Monday, after a great time with family in Yandina and Mount Tamborine.

Our decision to get here before the school holiday travellers has paid off and we have secured a great camp site on the river and 100 metres from the surf beach. This is probably one of the best camps that we have stayed in, it ticks all the boxes, camp fires, warm water to swim in and the fish are biting, not to mention that there are flush toilets and tank water on site. The only downside is the 9 km of coregations on the way in or out.

Internet connection is non existent so I am posting this  from Maclean, this morning. We have come into town to get some supplies for the next week and to charge the batteries in the van. Weather permitting our plan is to stay here for another week or 10 days. Today's temperature is 29 degrees and the water must be about 21'so life is good. My bird list is averaging around 35 species each day with 5 new birds on my life list.

The Great Sandy National Park

A visit to the renowned RANSAR listed birding site of Inskip Point was high on my list of priorities for this trip. There were still some migratory birds in residence all showing lots of breeding plumage, feeding at low tide. I have to wonder why these frequent flyers return annually for a stop overin this area. The Great Sandy NP, is all about the 4WD, the beaches a far from being safe habitats but busy access roads.We stayed at the camp ground at Inskip point and I was surprised that nearly everyone had bought their dogs along with them. Hardly ideal for nesting sites for endangered birds species.

How not to exit a camp site.

Dusty took a wrong turn on our way out of the campsite and ended stuck in the sand. Fellow campers stood around and offered advice so we unhitched the venter took the bikes off. Then "Tiney" arrived and hitched up his 4bee with some slick knots on a borrowed rope of help and we soon back on the road. 

We have headed back south to Boreen Point looking for some paddling and fishing. The water hasn't cleared after the heavy rain at the weekend. We will call into Noosaville tomorrow to collect our new shade screen and then off to Eumundi Markets.

Road trip planning

Mr P is back from his fishing trip to the coast and Dusty is in need of an overhaul inside and out before next setting of on our road trip, north to Queensland.

First things first, curtains and seat covers were stripped out and put in the wash, this was a long overdue chore.  We will need to go out to Fyshwick tomorrow to get the shower tent and pump. I think Anaconda will be out best bet for these. Monday it's new tyres and a trip to Bitch'n stitch' for the privacy screen for the Fiama awning.

We are hoping to get down to Narooma next Saturday for the school reunion and a catch up with friends before hitting the road north on Sunday. Our first stop will be the popular birding spot at Capertee Valley, driving up through Goulburn to Bathurst will also by pass Sydney.

Stay tuned for more reports.

Congo Camping Weekend

After a week of temperatures in the high 30s it was no wonder that we were joined by a steady stream of traffic down the Clyde on Friday afternoon. Our 5 o'clock departure meant that there were the usual number of idiots on the road, breaking their necks to get to the Bay in under 2 hours. Safely arrived at sea level it was a relief to smell the salt air again and and feel the sea breeze.

Over the next few trips we are going to paddle some of the lesser known waterways of the  south coast. This weekend our destination is Congo Creek, a small waterway accessed via South Head Road south of Moruya Heads. We camped at the very popular National Parks campground, and were lucky to get the last site on the foreshore.

The paddle up the creek from the beach takes about 50 minutes, with a few stops to look at the wide variety of bird-life. 36 species were counted for the weekend, with the highlight being a Lewin's Honeyeater and a Spotted Pardalote, birds that I have not encountered in this area before. As well as a Lyrebird scuttling off the Kings Highway at the top of the Clyde on Sunday afternoon.

In February 2013 Congo Creek was the site of a large fish kill http://www.naroomanewsonline.com.au/story/1345208/fish-kill-at-congo-creek-due-to-low-oxygen-gallery/  The creek is on the way to recovering, with a few lucky fishermen (not us) bagging a nice flathead and bream.

On Saturday afternoon we were joined by a delightful couple from the UK driving a Bocklet Expedition Camper. They had driven overland through Europe to Asia via Pakestan and down through Indonesia via Timor Leste to Darwin. There was a gathering of campervan nuts like me queueing for a peek inside and to hear their stories.

The Bocklet was a late arrival and had to park at the boat ramp on Congo Creek.

Congo Creek Mouth

Fairy Terns on the beach at the mouth of the creek

Mr P trying his luck with lures

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?