Fleurieu Group

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.

We knew from the forecast that we probably wouldn't be on the water the next day and sure enough the gale force southerlies had us lazing about reading and exploring the coast of Robbins Is. It was just what both us needed after a busy few weeks - an enforced day of laziness.

Friday dawned with moderate southerlies which once we were on the water at an hour or so before high tide blew us smoothly up to the tip of Walker Is for a quick stop to explore. By the time we were crossing to Three Hummock Is the wind had dropped but the crossing still only took us 90mins or so. On to East Telegraph Beach and a fantastic campsite in amongst the tea tree with views out over the spectacular granite boulders at the end of the beach.

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. 

A lazy afternoon followed, with just a short hop across Hope Channel to Shepherds Bay, Hunter Is. 'Storm Bay' anchored in the bay under a rainbow a short time later.
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!

It's Happening!

It's on. It's happening, the string of tickets is now complete to get us from Hobart to Reykjavik and back. 

And A Wild Time Was Had By All Part I.

As soon as I saw that Fi was running a trip around Maria in November Lynne and I were in, she even planned to have the wind follow us all the way around. How could we not take up an offer of easy downwind paddling, good company and the magnificent Maria Island. 

During the week before the trip there were an ever increasing number of emails zipping backward and forward between the ever dwindling number of paddlers interested in the trip. The forecast was for wind, lots of it and it was putting people off. A circumnavigation seemed unlikely but so too did the crossing of Mercury Passage on Saturday morning. 

Despite the forecast of 25+knots increasing as the day went on, six paddlers arrived on the beach at Rheban all peering hopefully out to sea to determine whether the conditions were ok. They were! 

The philosophy of having an optimistic view of the forecast and turning up on the beach to check it out in real time rather than just believing the forecast and turning over and going back to sleep paid off - again. 

In addition to Fi's plans of a tailwind all the way around the island, she had hatched other entertainment, which I thought particularly unfair as she has more hair than all the other paddlers on the trip put together!

The kayaks were barely afloat and with all sails up we zipped easily across Mercury Passage with the promised tailwind.

After pootling along the coast south from Return Point we turned into Shoal Bay for lunch at Encampment Cove. With perfect timing just as we were changing out of wet kayaking gear a Maria Island Walks group arrived at the same spot for the same reason. I'm still pondering whether the sight of half a dozen semi naked kayakers added or detracted from their lunch or even their holiday of a lifetime.

We all agreed it would be nice to camp a few kilometers away on neck between North and South Maria so we had plenty of time not only for lunch but a nice long walk over to the convict ruins and around the coast of Point Lesueur.

With perfect timing again, just we were all in a state of semi undress putting on our wet gear a family arrived on their bikes to watch.

By this time the wind had really picked up so it was a very fast sail over the neck.....

....where all present were initiated into the Mallaig Sea Kayak club's tradition of a wee dram before the drudgery of carrying gear and boats up the beach.

The tradition was met with hearty approval by all members of the expedition and yes I know, I must get a proper hip flask.

Sunday dawned and so did 40+knots of wind, it was obvious that we were not going anywhere on the water today. Not daunted, but for the seas around us which seemed to have turned white and very lumpy, we set off to walk to Haunted Cove.

Looking SSW towards Vischer Island and The Forestier Peninsular.

Monday's forecast was still quite windy but dropping, which gave us the opportunity to continue with the original circumnavigation plans, after all why waste the day heading straight back to Rheban it's not as if anyone had to go to work or anything.

Launching into Reidle Bay through the small surf went smoothly, mostly, then the sails went up and we shot at increasing speed across the bay, bows pointing straight at Little Raggedy Head. The SW wind then followed us around the impressive granite cliffs and boulders of the south east coast to past Mistaken Cape, all in glorious sunshine. The seas were big and bouncy, today's sea, the swell from yesterday and all the rebound from the cliffs creating messy uncomfortable conditions for a few kilometres.

Once around Mistaken Cape the sea was mirror calm and very summery all of sudden in the hot sun. Bishop and Clarke looms large over this interesting piece of coastline where the granite suddenly gives way to dolerite and above both is a layer of sandstone. There are also many sea caves and hollows in the cliffs, beaten out by the North Easterly seas and swells. We cruised along chatting and exploring until the need for lunch and a rest at Darlington upped the pace a bit.

After all the indecision about the weather in the week leading up to the trip, our day around North Maria continued perfectly in the afternoon with a gentle South Easterly breeze whisking us back across Mercury Passage to Rheban and the very last of the whisky.

What a brilliant (long) weekend, thanks to Fi for arranging the weather and everyone else for the great company.

Homer to Seward

Arriving in Homer, we wheeled the kayak a few hundred metres to the campsite below.

It was an expensive campsite for a patch of gravel but handy for our departure the next day even at low tide. 

The bush and trees behind the beaches were often too thick and uneven to pitch a tent so many nights were spend on the level areas of beach above the high tide mark. 

One of the very few days we were blown off the water, the wind didn't drop so we ended up camping here. 

Using the extension antenna for the VHF handheld, this enabled us to receive the weather broadcasts in areas with poor reception. 

Lunch spot looking back at the Chugach Islands. The day had started overcast and cold but cleared slowly through the morning to hot sun and clear skies. 

Just some of the 2000x50x20metre high pile of driftwood at Isthmus Beach, Gore Point, Kenai Fjords. Enough timber to keep Hobart warm for a winter or two!

Baby sea otters cannot dive so they are left bobbing about on the surface while their Mothers are feeding. 

The black patch on the snow drift in the far left of the picture is a Black Bear. It was a hot day so what does a hot bear do? Roll around on a snow patch.

Our first 'iceberg', well bergy bit. 

Tough paddling conditions in Northwestern Fjord, Kenai Fjord National Park. 

Approaching the tidewater glaciers at the head of Northwestern Fjord.

This tidewater face is slightly left of centre in the picture above, the tourist boat gives you some idea of the scale.

Thick ice and hot sun. 

Leaving our campsite at the head of Northwestern Fjord. The surging waves from ice falling from the glaciers had washed all these bergy bits up on the beach blocking our exit. Lynne is pushing them out of the way.

In the more popular areas of the Kenai Fjord National Park the campsites were equipped with bear proof food lockers making food storage so much easier as we didn't have to fiddle about hanging it all up in a tree. 

'Mt Perry' Perry Is, Prince William Sound.

Sitka to Juneau

Packing a couple of weeks food the morning we left Sitka.

We had a great sail north from Sitka as the rain became heavier. Sheltering in bushes at lunchtime at the mouth of Neva Strait.

It was still pouring with rain at the end of day so this Forestry Service Emergency Shelter was a wonderful find. 

Someone had fixed a big tarp across the open wall making it very cosy inside. 

It didn't take long to get the billy on and make ourselves at home. Thanks to Louisa for crocheting the warmest hats in the world. 

We had the stove glowing red in no time at all. 

The next day along the Khaz Peninsular was the wildest of the whole trip, the swell and wind were up and provided a bit of excitement getting in behind Klokachef Island for some shelter.

In the shelter of Klokachef Island we met the first kayakers of the trip. The fella in the green jacket who came down to meet us when we landed was from Darwin. They were paddling from Sitka to Juneau too but having a day off due to the weather. 

Humpback whale a boat length ahead of us. 

Every day we saw dozens and dozens of sea otters. They were very wary though so it was hard to get close enough to get a decent picture. 

White Sulphur Hot Springs. Lynne in the tub rinsing all her kayaking gear.

Fantastic newly built cabin for the hot springs.

An outside hot pool too. 

Lisianski Strait. Repairing our mast steps in the hot sun. The resin was going off too quickly.



Wet mornings we got up and put our drysuits on straight away, dry, warm and cosy for breakfast.

Cross Sound the next day, it was hard to believe we had been baking in the sun the day before. 

A quick cuppa having stopped to put on another layer of thermals under my drysuit. It was a cold wet day, all day. 

Icy Strait campsite near Point Adolphus. We sat under the tarp through the evening as whales, dolphins, otters and seals paraded past only a few hundred meters offshore. 

The evening light looking across Icy Strait towards Glacier Bay.

Stellar Sea Lions hanging out in Saginaw Channel near Point Retreat on the day we reached Auke Bay, Juneau.

Another wet lunch stop, it wasn't all blue skies and sun.

Paddling into the Auke Bay ferry terminal for our ferry to Homer.