Kayaking through Shoalhaven Gorge

What a wonderful weekend with lovely people including Elna, Srini, Zante, Samira, Howard and Rob. 

Chris very kindly lent me his kayak and I spent the money instead on a roof rack that will hold me in very good stead for paddle skiing and future kayaking trips.  

We did a 15 km paddle deep into the gorge with some stops along the way.  There, we found a camp site and overnighted.  The next day, we did an epic paddle back out of the gorge, without any stops.  A very good workout!

Highlights of the weekend included:

• The beautiful scenery, with the sculptured walls of the gorge and lush greenery, including trees tenaciously hanging onto cliffs.
• The first day, overcast and cool, perfect for kayaking.  It started to rain at one point which was a wonderful excuse for a swim.  There's nothing like that alive feeling of swimming in the rain!
• The camp site where we stayed, plenty of space and nice and secluded back from the river.
• A smorgasbord of delicious shared eats on Saturday night.
• Samira bringing a huge tarp and the fun all the guys had in erecting it from the trees.  It came in very handy, as the rain fell pretty hard on Saturday evening but we were perfectly sheltered.
• The blue skies and sunny weather on Sunday.
• Discovering how meditative paddling is.  On Sunday, we kayaked back without a stop and there were several long spans when my mind closed right down and all I was aware of was each paddle stroke.  It was extremely calming.
• Delicious pies in Kangaroo Valley and a drink at the pub.

A great weekend.  I can definitely get into kayaking.  A big thank you to Chris!

Me on my kayak, lent to me by Chris.  It may not have been the Ferrari of the kayaks there, but I was able to keep up fine and got quite attached to it.

Samira, who did an fantastic job of organising the weekend.  

Rudy kayaking with a fishing rod attached to the back of his kayak. He caught a fish but it wasn't big enough to feed more than a kitten!

Samira, Elna and Howard.  Sharing a kayak is always a brave thing to do for a friendship.  But Elna and Howard were still great mates at the end of the weekend!!  

Paddling into a little enclose for lunch.

I loved the dead trees.  Always so photogenic.

It started to rain and we used this as an excuse for a  swim. The water was lovely and fresh.  Or so we thought, until a kilometer or so up the river we found two bloated kangaroos rotting in the river.  A good lesson.  Never swallow the water!

A wonderful smorgasbord of food to share. Thanks especially to Samira and Elna.

Samira brought a large tarp and we all managed to erect it using the surrounding trees.  So great we had it, because the rain came down hard in the evening.

My beloved tent.  Might not be big, but its compact and lightweight, perfect for this kind of weekend.

The next day dawned nice and sunny. Here is everyone preparing to embark on the paddle back to Kangaroo valley.

The 15 km paddle back was pretty gruelling as we didn't stop once but I managed to take some snaps of the reflections in the water.  Beautiful.

This is my favourite photo of the weekend. Beautiful gorge on both sides, lush trees, blue skies and a lone fluffy cloud.  What more could you ask for?

Just me and the river.

Once we got back to Kangaroo Valley, we stopped for a delicious lamb pie, followed by an even more delicious cherry pie.  Yum!  Then a drink at the pub before the drive home.

Another wonderful video production from Srini.  He's making such fantastic use of his GoPro! 

Hike through Shoalhaven Gorge

I spent a lovely weekend spent with South Coast Campers, hiking along the Shoalhaven Gorge.  I love hiking along rivers where you can swim anytime and this was an absolute beauty.


Highlights of the weekend included ...

• Lovely people as always on South Coast camping trips including the wonderful regulars; Kim, Chris, JC, Anne Marie.
• My first delicious swim in the river after our hot descent into the gorge from Longpoint Look Out.
• The amazing place where we had our first group swim - a huge expanse of water, so deep we couldn't touch the bottom.  The only drawback of this perfect spot was the boiling hot sand that scalded our feet!
• Doing several exciting river crossings. On the first day, many of us did it bare foot (ouch, the rocks hurt!) but on the second day, we wizened up and kept our boots on (much better!!)
• Our great camp site in the trees on soft grass by the river.
• Launching ourselves down a little stretch of rapid on Jimmy's lilo; a lot of fun!
• The relief of sitting my burning posterior in the river after sitting on the top of an ant nest and being bitten to smitherines!
• Great French movie recommendations from Rahima.
• A great night's sleep - I don't usually sleep so soundly in my coffin of a tent!
• Very wisely getting up early (6 am) to get an early start on Sunday morning to try to avoid the coming heat (35 degrees by noon!)
• The beautiful reflections in the river as we hiked.
• A last dunk in the river to cool ourselves down for the mega climb ahead.
• The elation at the end of the steep and exhausting 90 minute climb out of the gorge in the sweltering heat. 
• The stupendous view from Badgery Lookout, looking down on the big climb we'd done.
• A delicious (and very good value) meal at the pub in Marulan and feeling so dehydrated that I forsook delicious cider for copious glasses of orange juice.
• Laid back Ben, who looked like Ryan Gosling's younger brother.  Sorry, Jo, he's taken!
• Some great philosophical discussions with Howard.

All in all, another fantastic weekend.

The hike into the valley from Lonpoint Look Out

Arriving at the Shoalhaven River.  I was the first in!

Enjoying the river, eating our lunch.

The Spring flowers, still out in abundance

Our first group swim at a perfect swimming spot.

 

Hiking on to our camping spot.

Our first two river crossings, sore on the feet!!

What a great spot to camp!  Just don't sit on the ant nest!

Local wildlife. The blue dragon flies were exquisite, but I didn't manage to get a great photo of it unfortunately.

The section of river where we camped was fast flowing ..

... perfect for some fun in the rapids

Beautiful reflections in the river.

Crossing the river on the second day, wearing my boots this time.  

Kim wearing her yellow socks, Rahima crossing the river

The hot, steep climb out of the gorge.

The beautiful view from the top (Badgery Lookout)

Rahima, me, Sara