Tuchekoi to Traveston, A trip down a river saved.

[hairymick]

G'day guys.

Its been a while since I posted uch in the way of trip reports. In fact, I have done very little paddling in the last 12 onths.

I while ago, I posted a story on "Dala" our Lungfish and her last reaining habitat, The ary River here. Both were under threat of a proposed mega dam at Traveston that many believed would stop the river's flow. Story is here :-

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=5596

The proposal was stopped earlier this year. Earlier this week, my lady, Evie and I had the opportunity to camp in and paddle through the section of valley that would have been inundated by this damn dam.

In times past, i have bleated long and loud about the lack of outfitters here. The problem is no more. At a little town called Imbil, an English gentleman has has the foresight to set up a business doing just that. he has a few plastic sit on tops that he hires to clients and offers transport to put ins and take outs along much of the upper Mary River. He has also created a rustic cabin on his property where he offers guests the opportunity to pretty much experience life as one would imagine our earliest settlers had. I will start my report with some images of the accommodation offered by my new mate, Ian, who by the way is a bloody nice bloke and all round good sport.

The cabin

View from the verandah

Outdoor bath

 

[hairymick]

We arrived at Ian's place on Tuesday Afternoon, settled in and made plans with him about our proposed put in and take out the following day. the plan was to put in at around 0900 at Tuchekoi crossing and paddle the 20 - 25 klms down stream to Traveston, near where the proposed dam was to be built. Ian estimated that the paddle should take around 6 hours (with stops) at geezer warp speed but the river level was well down and he hadn't paddled that section since the wet season floods earlier this year. (Cadeppa and I paddled the tail end of those floods further up stream.) There was a likleyhood of strainers and many very shallow sections. I managed to ttalk him into not expecting us before 1600 and he was fine with that.

We got to the put in at around 0915 and slid my boat down the steep grassy bank to the water and set off into a cloudy and cool winter day with light sprinkles of rain.

it was Evie's first time in a canoe

It wasn't long before the river narrowed and the first of many logs and other flood debris made the trip interesting.

A couple of Evie's piccies.

 

[hairymick]

We were forced to walk the boat through many very shallow sections

with many stops along the way for cups of tea and snacks to warm our thoroughly chilling bones

And we even saw a wild deer, running with a mob of cattle at one point. (a first for me)

 

[hairymick]

As the day wore on, we occassionally saw a platypus here and there and by the end of the day, we had seen a total of 8. I have seen 16 platypii before in my life. 15 of them were in the Mary River. Evie and never seen one. We are still trying to get a piccie of one of these very shy little beggers.

A few more piccies.

 

[hairymick]

The agreed upon 1600 came and went and we were still a long way from the take out with little idea on how far we had left to paddle so we had to improve our pace a bit. there are way too many strainers in this section of river at the moment to even think about paddling after dark. The temperature was dropping rapidly and we were ill equipped to spend a night on the riverbank in these conditions. At about 1730, the Traveston bridge came into sight and my mate Ian was waiting patiently for us. We had just enough light on the river left to navigate through the very many obsticles under the bridge to the take out. We was not fazed at all by our late arrival and accepted my profuse apologies with a good grace.

Back to the cabin, cold and wet to a lovely glass of sweet Aussie red

thanks for taking the time to read our little story.

Evie.

and mick

 

[oldsparkey]

Mick....

Thanks for the trip report and those blow downs and strainers will slow down a paddling trip. It did look like you guys were having some fun and that cabin is interesting.

You were having hot tea to warm up and over here we are having ice tea to cool down and sitting in front of the fan or the A/C .

Chuck.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Nice job. Mick. Congrats in getting back out on the water, and on Evie. (She looks like a rational lady who has all her wits about her. WTH is she doing with a bloke like you??!!)

Water level makes a whole world of difference in a river's character, doesn't it. Entirely new set of problems to solve with a few inches more or less in a river corridor.

 

[tx river rat]

Mick
Great report.
I am always amazed at how much your area is like Texas and the places I paddle.
Ron

 

[BEARS BUDDY]

Good trip and report, Mick.

 

[a Bald Cypress]

Nice pics and report.

I tend to forget that Summer here is Winter there.

 

[caddepa]

Welcome back to the world, Mick! It's been a while since we have heard anything from the Land Down Under. But you certainly came back in style: Great pics, lots of wildlife, good looking Sheila , nice camp and an excellent narration. Has all of the elements of a documentary film. :idea:

I tried to locate that section of the Mary River in my Road Atlas but neither town is listed, which is probably why the river is still so pristine. It looks very similar to the section you and I paddled, when the water was higher upstream. It IS a beautiful river. Great Report, and keep them coming because that means you are paddling more often. You have to stay in shape for your visit to the USA. :!:

 

[mike]

Great report, Mick! Thanks for sharing with us. 8)

MIke

 

[a Bald Cypress]

I tried to locate that section of the Mary River in my Road Atlas but neither town is listed, which is probably why the river is still so pristine. It looks very similar to the section you and I paddled, when the water was higher upstream. It IS a beautiful river. Great Report, and keep them coming because that means you are paddling more often. You have to stay in shape for your visit to the USA. :!:

Any time Mick talks about a river or town, I get on Google Earth and type it in.

So far I always find the location. Fortunatly, there always seam to be quite a few picts so I get to see a bit more than the GREAT pics Mick always posts.

 

[Wannabe]

I sure do enjoy your pictures Mick. You sure have some pretty water to paddle in.
Thank you
Bob

 

[catfish]

great report & pics mick. looks like a pretty river & countyside. by the way the cabin is my kind of motel. :wink: :lol: