We've just spent ten glorious days in the Fleurieu Group. This was our fourth visit to the area but we still had plenty to explore and even after this trip we still do. In the past we have put in at the boat ramp in Smithton itself, this time we launched at Montagu. We knew there was a campground there but weren't quite expecting such an extensive area with dozens of standing camps. 4WDs and boat trailers all set up for summer fishing trips.
Starting a kayak trip on April Fools Day didn't seem a bit inauspicious, but with falling tide and extensive areas of sand flats in Robbins Passage and around Kangaroo Island what could possibly go wrong? We were headed for the tip of Woolnorth Point to camp that night and with a reasonable north easterly breeze the sails went up and it looked like we would get there. It wasn't to be though, the wind dropped and it seemed a long way west to Woolnorth so we landed on the western shore of Robbins Is, resigned to the long carry from the water's edge across the sand flats to dry land and a campsite. But no bother we had our new hip flask and whisky to test.
The next day after a quick walk along the beach and inland to look, unsuccessfully, for water we tackled the 15-20kn Easterly around to Cape Rochon and into the shelter of Mermaid Bay for lunch. We had hoped to explore the north coast of Three Hummock but the conditions were a bit wild for pootling so with one sail up we shot westwards towards North West Cape and into the shelter of Rangers Retreat. We hadn't landed here before, and the granite boulders weathered into all sorts of strange shapes reminded us of Spike Bay on Clarke Is. There was nice camping just behind the beach and an old fire site surrounded by a midden of empty beer bottles.
West Telegraph Beach is yet another spectacular spot on Three Hummock, nearly 4kms of beach. There were a couple of small runabouts anchored in the sheltered northern end and much mutton birding activity ashore as the two week season had opened today. We eventually found a campsite at Spiers Beach with its amazing granite features - The Five Sisters.
The next morning at Chimney Corner the jetty and boathouse for the 'settlement' on Three Hummock was humming with people. John and Beverly O'Brien the island caretakers, Casey and his family cleaning their daily allowance of 25 mutton birds and the owners and crew of 'Storm Bay' a lovingly restored 90yr old Huon pine yacht originally built for couta fishing out of Hobart. As is usual for Tasmania, we knew one of the crew from 'Storm Bay'. No sooner had introductions been made all round we were all invited up to the O'Brien's house for a cuppa and stories of living on and caring for Three Hummock.
Casey had given us a mutton bird. Lynne had eaten them before but I hadn't. Not only had I never had the opportunity but had alway been wary of the usual comments about them being an 'acquired' taste!
With only an MSR and small billies we had no way of cooking it but on the coals of a small fire and delicious it was too!
The sound of an outboard heading straight for us from 'Storm Bay' stirred us from a lazy book reading morning and once the dinghy reached the shallows, we readily accepted the friendly invitation for breakfast aboard.
Mid morning 'Storm Bay' sailed off towards Stanley and eventually a Bass Strait crossing to Melbourne. We were in no hurry as the stiff Southerly wind would make it hard going down to Cave Bay; it might drop, and anyway the later we left the higher the tide and so less distance to drag the kayak to the water. The tide of course came in but the wind didn't drop so it was still a bit of a plod into the wind to Cave Bay.
As we rounded the point and got a view of the beach at Cave Bay, it too seemed full of people. Five to be exact, the McGuire family; Hugh, Sue and their three children. They with other members of the family hold the lease to the island and graze about 200 breeding cattle. Lynne had caught a big couta just as we rounded the point into Cave Bay so we were sorted for that night's dinner.
The next day was another really windy one so again we cruised the beaches and followed the tracks inland past the homestead and over to the western side of the island where we were hoping to paddle - if the wind dropped. Luckily whenever we had line of sight to the mainland, we had reasonable phone reception as this was our only source of weather forecasts, the handheld VHF having decided to stop working.
The wind the next day was still a healthy 15kn or more so we pootled on foot along what seemed to be endless beaches south of Cave Bay to Boat River, and back for some lunch. By this time the wind had dropped a bit and the tide was flooding rapidly so we launched for another plod south into the wind to Weber Point, the southernmost point of Hunter Is. The mutton birders' huts there were occupied by a rough but friendly bunch of blokes, some of whom had been on night shift in the mine at Rosebery the previous night. This didn't seem to have slowed their beer intake at all though!
We poked around for a spot for the tent, eventually finding a patch just level enough and just big enough for the tent. There wasn't much freeboard above the high tide mark but as the high tide during the night was the lower of the two today, we reckoned we would be ok. And we were.
At 9 o'clock the next morning we set a record for this trip for the earliest time on the water! The forecast was perfect for heading around to the western side of Hunter Is. The tide was flowing quite strongly against us to the East but by keeping close inshore we escaped the flow, moving quite fast in fact with both sails up. The moderate southerly blew us out past Delius Islet and on to Steep Is. Ever since seeing a few of Jeff Jenning's pictures I had been waiting for the opportunity to check out what looked like a spectacular little island.
The mutton birders' huts on the sheltered North Eastern side of the island looked in a sorry state, long abandoned. It would have been easy to land on the steep shingle beach adjacent to the huts and explore on foot but with a long way to go and short daylight hours, we continued around to the northwest side of the island and the huge cove eroded into the cliffs. It was just so good to be out on the West Coast again; the swells although quite low, about 2m, loomed massively against the sky as they rolled inexorably towards us to crash in sprays of white water against the cliffs and reefs off Steep Is.
Now we know that the landing is straight forward, next time we'll be back with a bit more time and maybe even camp out there.
The cliffs on the northern side of Steep Is. Can you see the face with a finger, "shhhhhhhhh", to its lips?
The southerly blew us steadily north and we turned into the lee of Wallaby Point and landed on a beach where the water's edge was hardly moving. What a contrast from only a few hundred metres away where the massive Southern Ocean swells exploded onto the rocks in a spray of white water.
The southerly had picked up to 15kn by the time we left the beach at Wallaby Point so it didn't take us long to round Cuvier Point and paddle into Cuvier Bay for lunch. We then shot northwards to Cape Keraudren, the northern tip of Hunter Is, 12 kms in an hour! We paid for this treat though, as we plodded for an hour and half into the same wind, 8 kms back to our familiar campsite in Shepherds Bay.
Friday's forecast was the calmest we'd had on the whole trip so it seemed like a good opportunity to cross back to the Petrel Islands at the northern tip of Walker Island and start working our way back to Montagu and home. The 16km crossing on a windless and flat calm morning went fast until we were within a kilometre or so of the Petrel Islands where the north easterly flowing tide slowed us to a crawl until we turned with it around the outside of the Big Sandy Islet and into Love Bay. It was more or less exactly low tide so we'd hit probably the strongest current of that tide, as the tidal streams do funny things in the Hunter Group, flowing east for three hours before and after low tide then flowing west three hours before and after high tide.
A quick break to check out the campsites in Love Bay and still on mirror calm water we continued south past the entrance to Mosquito Inlet and a little run in with some small but very powerful surf off the entrance, to have lunch somewhere along what seems like the endless beach of Ransonnet Bay.
We had been thinking of camping somewhere around Guyton Point or Cape Elie and having another lazy afternoon reading and exploring, but realising quite how close we were to our put in point at Montagu, we decided to continue on, arriving at the slipway just on sunset. Perfect timing!
