Snake Island

Here we are Sunday morning and here is our brunch cooking on the stove after a great couple of days kayaking in the Channel.

Dave, Nicole, Kevin and the two of us kayaked across to Snake Island on Friday. We had been talking about the trip for some months and finally we were all free and the weather was suitable. Dave borrowed a kayak for Kevin, who is very keen on buying one; Nicole paddled a kayak we had borrowed for Kevin to try out which turned out to be too small for him.

We left Trial Bay in lovely winter sunshine, with a very light SE breeze.

Kevin wasn't comfortable in his kayak as the rudder pedals were too far away but it didn't take us very long before we were setting up camp at the usual spot. I hadn't been to Snake Island for a long time - certainly not since Craig and all the volunteers had completed removing all the erica. There also had been a number of bushfires in recent years but despite this the island was looking good.

You can tell it was a pretty cruisey trip as Dave brought along a camp table and chairs, lashed down on his back deck. We settled in around the fire and drank mulled wine (well what else do you drink on a winter kayaking trip?) and chatted and laughed into the evening.


The next day wasn't exactly an early start as we didn't get on the water until nearly midday! We still had plenty of time to get back to Trial Bay so decided to head south for a detour to Green Island and the fish farms en route. Saturday had started with a little drizzle and very low cloud but by the time we reached Green Island the cloud was breaking up. It was so calm though as you can see in the picture of Nicole above looking back towards Snake Island.

I thought I had discovered a dead seal on the rocks of Green Island until it woke with a roar; I am not sure which of us was most frightened as I bolted away from it in one direction and it headed in the opposite direction into the water.