Caddepa and Hairies First Paddle

[hairymick]

G'day guys,

John (Caddepa) is out here on holliday from the US and is touring the country. To this end, he had bought an old Falcon that I think is better than my car. :shock:

He called in yesterday, had a look at my boats and we went for a drive around the area to show him around. We made tentative plans to paddle and fish today but the weather gods are against us. After decades of seemingly endless drought, we are experiencing our first "proper" wet season with rain squalls every day and strong winds.

Instead, we decided for a more leasurely trip up our local river which is in miner flood. He turned up here at the gentlemanly hour of 10.00 and after a cuppa and a chat, we loaded up between reain squalls.

Put in was at the usual spot near the first dam wall.

and we headed off up stream

being the intrepid canoer that I am, i obligingly supplied raincoats that I then left in the car and after a couple of miles, sure enough, another rain squall hit so we pulled in to a bank and had another "cuppa. (the man drinks more tea than I do.

I thought about cursing Chuck Bearridge style cause I am sure the rain is all his fault but it wasn't cold so I forgave him

 

[hairymick]

John took my boat for a walk solo and I watched closely as he did miraculous things with the paddle :shock: I learnt a lot from him today. Thanks mate.

I had never before seen a "J" stroke done in real life, let alone some of the other things he showed me.

A few shots of my boat with a true Master in charge.

Then is was my feeble attempt at copying what I saw him doing.

 

[hairymick]

We headed off again towards the wall of the second dam through remnant, old growth rain forest lining the banks

and all too soon the wall came in site.

A quick walk around there and a piccie or two

and we headed home. All up, only about 6 or 7 miles paddled but considering the conditions, it was about all we could do on this day.

John has moved on to another little town camping but will be back in a few days and weather permitting, we hope to do a much more serious trip.

I had a great time with John today. I enjoy his company and his stories a lot and is is one loke that I would love to do an expedition paddle with.

 

[oldsparkey]

Mick....

I am glad to see you and John got on the water. As I have said in the past , he can make a canoe do anything he wants it to. One good reason (I feel safe in saying this ) he has paddled one a couple thousand miles , if not further and further would be a good bet.
As far as the tea , he has that in the morning , then makes another pot and fills a thermos with it to have while paddling, in camp out comes that tea pot. I think he wears out tea pots faster then canoe paddles. :wink:
Judging from that grin on his face I would say he is having a grand time , Heck he always does.

Chuck.

 

[caddepa]

Mick is being MUCH too kind. It is he that should be commended for his Aussie hospitality and the great job he has done building the various boats. The GEM model we paddled is truely well made and is an ideal all-round canoe. You can tell by the photo's that it is equally suitable as a tamdem, or solo. Only regret I have about this trip is that it was too short and I didn't bother to bring a fishing rod - we paddled through some IDEAL bas country.

I am spending this week camping at a National Park, Rainbow Beach, and visiting nearby Frazer Island. After that I hope to get back with Mick for a longer paddle/camping trip. I recommend that all Southernpaddlers put Australia in their Bucket List of places to visit.

 

[hairymick]

G'day John,
Thanks mate. I know the trouble you are having accessing the internet with your laptop here, so I hope you get this.

If you are still up for that trip to coincide with my days off, I have a plan. Anything short of a cyclone or howling northerly winds and it should be fine. Check it out.

http://www.1770campinggrounds.com/site/gallery/

It is about 3 hours drive from here. The fish should be biting and it should be well worth the trip.

There be serious fish here (hopefully)

and the view from the campsite aint half bad either

 

[Kayak Jack]

Dunno, Mick. I looked at the ad for that campground. Saw lots of pelicans, but no gals. Sure you wanna go there?

 

[dawallace45]

If the rain stops now it should be dry enough to get into Middle creek or Eurimbula creek in about a week , but seeing as how 1770 is only a 1/2 hour from my place how about letting me know when your going to be there and I'll come and bring my laker

David

 

[dawallace45]

Or I could bring my boat as well and we can put some crab pots out

David

 

[michstripcanoe]

Mick-John: Good trip report. One of the most interesting ('cept for Bear's when he's cussing out Chuck for one thing or another), and nice pictures too. Hopefully John's visit will give Mick the spark to return the visit to the U. S. soon. I still dream of a trip with all the Geezer's , including Mick and Art, going down one of Ontario's finest rivers for at least a week. We're not getting any younger guys---let's do it. Dapper Al.

 

[hairymick]

Jack, there be plenty of gals there mate

Dave,

if this cyclone keeps away, i think the trip is on. i think the fishing potential is probably better at 1770 as opposed to middle creek. We both know the commercial guys flog it and the track in even in good weather is a S.O.B. for a conventional vehicle.

If I hear from John in the meantime will post if the trip is on or not. you are of course, very welcome to join us mate.

Al,

Thanks mate. i am definately coming over there mate but will not be able to make it this year. Life has got in the way a bit.
John has spoken to me of Quetico, I have since looked at the place on Google maps and am stunned by the countryside and water there. There are now two must do things left in this life for me. One is to come over and meet as many of you guys as I can, and the second is to paddle and camp in the wilderness in North America.

 

[catfish]

thanks john & mick for sharing report & pics. hope you guys have a great time.

 

[caddepa]

G'day Mates,

I just returned from a 2 day trip over to Fraser Island; What a unique place!! Thanks for the recommendation, Mick.

As for a paddle early next week, I am PSYCHED for it: Just give me a time and place. Hope Dave can make it as well.

Keeping an eye on the track of this cyclone, so will remain here at Rainbow Beach for a few more days, where the sea is already getting a bit sloppy. So far this week a fishing trawler and large sailing yacht have grounded on the local sandbars - fortunately no loss of life.

The local library has Internet access (when a computer is available) so I will check back with you on Friday.

I was thinking how our meeting was made possible by Chuck launching Southernpaddler.com. I wonder if he had any idea how far SOUTH the influence would actually extend! Now Chuck, do your weather thing and get this cyclone off our backs :roll:

John

 

[dawallace45]

If the weather is good I'm on but so far it isn't looking good , most of the forecasts I've seen are forecasting NE , NNE and N winds of about 30 knots with gusts much higher , rain and thunder storms at the very least , some of the charts seem to suggest that by monday the cyclone will be pretty much on top of us and I really don't know who is right but 1770 is not good in a easterly to northerly wind but neither is Middle and a Pancake isn't good on a northerly but I hear the telegraph track into the causeway is closed even to 4x4 traffic , I have a 4x4 but from what I hear all the interesting places are closed off

As far as I know the track into Middle is closed at the moment and probably will be for several weeks , needs at least a couple of weeks with out rain for it to dry up to any degree and we're just not getting it ,

Have talked to some of the pros and the tackle shop people and they all say the same thing , the pro's don't worry about Middle creek any more , the best shot for them was the mouth and they hit it hard but now that is a yellow zone and they can't net or trawl there any more so they leave it alone , too many snags and rock bars up further , seems there was a pro crabber working the area a few years back but no one I've talked to has heard of one working there in the last few years

Talked to a mate down at Bundaberg yesterday and he was saying he spent a few days last week out at Cania Dam [ Cania gorge is another area I'd been thinking about as a nice area for John to check out ] and he had some good paddling for a few days , it was wet but the last morning the wind come up and it turned to crap , wind seems to be a bit erratic through the ranges and can really churn up the surface of the dam

Just phoned the EPA office at 1770 and got a recorded message ,Middle is definitely closed but they didn't say any thing about Eurimbula creek and it's probably the most protected place as long as you don't try and get up at high tide , at low tide the sand bars give a fair bit of protection from the winds up around the mouth , so as long as the weather isn't total crap we could probably paddle there if the wind is wrong for 1770 , it would be no trouble to take us in in my car , but so far from what I can gather it's still all of a toss up

David

 

[hairymick]

G'day John,

I have been speaking with a lady friend who lives in Rainbow Beach. if the cyclone looks like crossing down there, she has offered you shelter at her home.

Failing that, you know that you are welcome at my place any time mate. Take care.

will PM you her phone number.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/weather/

 

[dawallace45]

The weather forecast for Monday is looking a lot better now , with much lighter winds from the SE

David

 

[hairymick]

g'day Dave,

I just got off the phone with John and if the weather continues to improve, we will be heading up there on Moday. ETA. some time, mid afternoon.

I think Round Hill Creeek will probable be the best option in the current easterly winds because it is more shelered than Eurimbula. Perhaps, if the "road" is passable we could drive in there for a day's fishing too. The way the swell is continueing to build, the Bar will be impassable, so I think road is the only option.

 

[Kayak Jack]

<snip> the Bar will be impassable, so I think road is the only option.

I didn't think you guys would ever go past a bar anyway. :wink:

 

[dawallace45]

Mick / John

Well it's Sunday morning here , it's been raining steady except for bouts of very heavy rain since yesterday afternoon , but we haven't had a day in the last two weeks with out some rain , much of the rain we had in the last two weeks didn't go in the rain gauge because it come in so hard it was side ways , it was hitting the wall of the house and coming in through the open windows which is a good trick since we have a 10 ft veranda all around ,

Any way it's still raining , wind is gusty and I'd estimate it's running at up to about 35 knots and higher at times followed by lulls of gentle breezes , it's erratic , coming from ENE to N ,

My schedule is now stuffed up severely due to a little problem with my tyres , had a slow leak in my passenger side front so took it into the tyre place I use in Gladstone yesterday , it was starting to separate badly and had a slow leak that couldn't be fixed , all the other 3 tyres have separation problems as well , ordered 4 new tyres , they didn't have enough of my size in stock , will be there on Tuesday , booked in to have them replaced Tuesday , problem is so serious I can't put it off , on the way home my passenger front tyre picked up another hole and now I'm running on the spare , which is the same age and batch as the other tyres that are separating , so I won't be surprised if it starts separating too

If your still going to be there Tuesday night and Wednesday I can get down for some paddling , if not I'll just chance it with the dodgy tyres and no spare come down on Monday afternoon to say g'day ,

If the rain keeps up , depending on the way your coming make sure that the road is okay , the Tableland road from Bundaberg to Agnes has been cut several time in the last several weeks but was open wednesday when went down to Bundaberg , few potholes and wash outs and areas with out bitumen any more but all in all not too bad , the highway is fine but just a series of potholes from Gin Gin to Miriam Vale unless they have been fixed in the last week , was down that way about 10 days ago and it was just littered with truck tyres all the way , guy in town with a landcruiser buggered 2 tyres and rims coming through in day light another guy in a Holden did all 4 coming through at night , when we went through it was like a slalom course , the Fingerboard road from Miriam Vale to Agnes has been cut several times in a few places in the last several weeks

Mick / John

Do either of you guys have a mobile phone where you can be contacted ?

David

 

[dawallace45]

Forgot to mention , if your checking RACQ for road conditions they son't seem to realize that Tableland road and Fingerboard exist , they had no notification any of the times they were closed ,

Also there seems to be several hours lag time from when the road becomes impassable to when the council or main roads puts the signs up at the turn offs , more so from the Bundaberg end from what I hear , people tend to get rather annoyed after traveling 60 km just to find the road is blocked and has been for some time

David