From Port Welshpool we followed the channel out past Snake Island and into Bass Strait passing stretch after stretch of sandy beaches with rolling mountains of Wilson’s Promontory behind. On our lunch beach, sat atop some lovely granite boulders we saw three other kayaks approach and pull in. They had had a similar trip planned to us but the wind forecast for the following day had led them to change their mind and head into Corner Inlet that afternoon. We pushed on the last South to Five Mile Beach, capsizing in the surf on the way in but finding fresh water further up a tidal creek to desalt ourselves in.

The promised Easterlies picked up in the evening and whipped up swell and surf sufficient to keep us at Five Mile Beach for two nights. The small campsite filled up with a several bush-walkers, most of which spent a couple of nights and walked out the same way – the track over to Tin Mine Cove being overgrown after closures from fires and floods. Almost everyone, spent their rest day walking the length of Five Mile Beach and watching fish caught at the mouth of the tidal creek at low tide.

Early Saturday morning we got up and peeked at the waves. They seemed tame enough to get off the beach and although there was still a light breeze, the swell didn’t seem to be breaking except on the beach. We packed up and headed out passing Rabbit Rocks. As we approached the beach at Rabbit Island a lone seal hopped off its rock and came to say hello to the kayak. The beach on Rabbit Island was smooth except for thousands of tiny penguin footprints leading from the shore to the rooks. We pushed on across the swell on a seemingly never ending paddle to the North-Eastern tip. We surveyed every cove that we passed for possible campsites, but none were sheltered from the wind. Despite the promise of morning North-Easterlies we pushed on around to Tin Mine Cove.

Tine Mine Cove turned out to be pretty popular with boats, and several fishing boats and yachts were anchored by sunset with drinks and chairs and dinner brought onto the beach, at least until the mosquitoes came out in force. Along with our little tent was one other pair that had made the walk over from the Eastern Shore and were going on out via Chinaman’s beach the next day.

We considered the updated weather report of Nor-easterlies strengthening to 15knots by midday and weighed it against the current that wouldn’t flow our way until after midday and would pick up to 8 knots in mid-flow.. In the end we decided that the tidal current would be preferable as we could cut across some of it and decided on another early start.

Despite a slight headwind and the current we crossed the 10km stretch to the North of the channel in little more than an hour and knocked off the last 6km fast enough to be back at the dock by mid-morning. After unpacking and desalting in the strengthening sun, we were more than happy to enjoy flathead and chips from the Welshpool General Store.

]]> http://nicolaoutdoors.com/entries/2010/08/22/mount-stirling-3/feed/ 0 http://nicolaoutdoors.com/entries/2008/07/13/mount-stirling-2/ http://nicolaoutdoors.com/entries/2008/07/13/mount-stirling-2/#comments Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:20:29 +0000 nicola http://nicolaoutdoors.com/entries/?p=331 This weekend was a SNOW weekend. And also my birthday-trip weekend (my birthday is on Monday).

We snowshoed overnight packs and snow toys 5km (and 0.5km of elevation) up Mount Stirling on Saturday afternoon. My pack was almost intolerably heavy… but It was gorgeously white and fluffy everywhere we looked :) We set up camp close to Bluff Spur Hut, which had a deliciously warm pot-bellied stove burning ferociously inside. I got a surprise when I opened my pack and found that my regular, tiny, summer sleeping pad had been replaced with my birthday present; a beefy four season pad! And so, after a cosy (well as cosy as a tent at -3C can be) night, we walked up to the summit to play on the slopes. Unfortunately, the cloud was fairly low and we didn’t take many pics up there, but the snow was deep and dry (if heavy) and we wore ourselves out having fun. We came back to the hut for lunch, packed up the tent and then, somewhat incredulously, I rode my board the whole 5km down the winding, narrow tracks with my weekend pack on! My thigh muscles were rock hard and my ankles were burning by the time we were back at the car. But it was worth it :)

We decided on Lake Eildon National park since I have not been there and Ross hadn’t been there since a school camp (of which is strongest memory was breaking his nose by running into a classmate playing some-kind of running game in the woods near the lakeside).

Lake Eildon National Park is only a couple of hours from Melbourne (just beyond Cathedral ranges where we walked last spring). It is not a natural lake but was created, first as ‘Sugarloaf’ lake in the early 1920s when the Delatite river was dammed. Before that, the Delatite valley was inhabited by Yauung Illam Baluk aborigines who were driven out in the 1830s by European squatters who set up a few homesteads. In the 1850s gold was found and several mines operated until the 1880s when the land was farmed. To ensure water for irrigation and the small town the river was dammed and the ensuing lake became a popular boating and vacation spot. A much higher dam was constructed in the 1950s, flooding a huge area and covering several homesteads. It seems that year was particularly wet and the lake filled rapidly to a high level. Since then, though with a few fluctuations in wetter years, the water levels have been going down due to drought and the privatization of the state water supplies. Today, the lake is less than 10% full and the boating and tourist industries that thrived at the lake edge have been left high and dry. Literally. The current state government thinks it can solve Melbourne’s water problems by building a pipeline from the Goldburn, which feeds Lake Eildon, to this side of the dividing range. I think they must be hoping that nobody from here will go to look at how very little there is to that promise …

We drove up Saturday morning, had lunch and walked up a steep track to one of the ridges. The forest is nice and open to walk through, though thick enough to prevent any spectacular views. We set up camp and a campfire and read books until night fall when we cooked a spectacular curry to eat with roti, heated on the fire grate.

Next day, we thought we would check out the boating area close to where we camped since, in season, houseboating and fishing is very popular, though not as popular as when the lake was actually full. The road down to the area is actually the old boat ramp. But now there are a few hundred metres of dry mud slope before the useable boat ramp… The high-water edge was visible high above us.

We then headed north into another part of the park, where Ross had had his school camp. The visitor centre is not open at this time of year so we picked an area and hoped to pick up a track to the lakeside. We found a track but after a few metres we decided it wasn’t heading in the right direction. The vegetation was pretty light (kind of) so we decided to walk straight through it to the lake. We walked and walked, pushing branches and small trees aside. Eventually we came to a dry creek and jumped down into it, thinking that it would open up to the lake. It did, kind of. the lake here must have been shallow because the water has receded a long, long way since Ross’s junior camp.

We walked for quite a while across the old lake bed, disturbing groups of lazy grey kangaroos. Eventually we came to some large dead trees, fences and building remains. Without a map or guide (and without having followed a track) it is hard to be certain but we think that we were in the old Merlo (or Coller) Homestead. This was covered by the lake when the 1950s dam became operational but is now dry again, revealed by years and years of drought …

The largest of the area’s goldmines was the Solferino Mine operated by John Merlo and Co. between 1868 and 1881. He stayed in the area and built a homestead called Glen Hope. In 1924 this was sold to the Coller family who farmed there until the land was claimed for the reservoir in 1952. The arm that covered the homestead is known as Coller Bay. The homestead was covered until a dry spell in 1968 uncovered some of the roofs. Again in 1983 there are reports of boats and jet-skis touring the flooded and fragile buildings. The farm was covered again for a couple of years but since 2002 they have been visible with the lake receding further and further from them. Now they stand on dry land with small trees growing through them and grey kangaroos lazing in the mussel shell strewn paddocks and sheep pens …

The original plan was to leave Melbourne Thursday night, after fixing two (hired) double sea kayaks on the roof of Rod’s car, drive to Port Welshpool and make an early morning crossing (catching the tide-change and low winds) across to Wilson’s Promontory.

The first hitch in the plan was the kayaks not fitting the roof and having to also rent a trailer. The second hitch was the weather forecast. From a relatively good forecast on Wednesday evening the 4pm Thursday forecast was decidedly less auspicious with two fronts coming through and 30-35knot NW winds forecast for Saturday and possibly extending on to Sunday morning, when we would be crossing the channel, against the tide, back to Port Welshpool. After a bit of dithering and wavering, some pressure from the kayak rental guy and a few other good points (we hadn’t paddled together before; we hadn’t paddled these particular kayaks before; I wasn’t 100% certain that my shoulder would not fatigue by the third day; if the forecast was too conservative we’d be screwed; we were not familiar with how much swell would be coming through that particular channel, how swift the tidal current was or how much a wind would chop up against a tide and ocean swell; it’s a relatively remote place to be stuck) we changed plans to paddle the length of the Nooramunga Coastal Park.

Nooramunga is a series of low sandy islands just East of Wilson’s Promontory. Ross and I did an overnight paddle lastOctober in Eggy Bread. The kayak rental guy gave us the name and number of a man that he uses for car shuffles and Friday morning we got in touch with him and he confirmed that he would be able to pick us up at the eastern-most landing (McLaughlin’s beach) of the park around midday on Sunday.

So, late Friday morning we paddled out of Port Welshpool in ‘Banjo’ and Wobbegong’ stuffed to capacity with 10L of water per person and a huge amount of (very yummy :) food. Given the forecast, I was anticipating cold and wet.  But, Friday was warm, sunny, blue skies as far as we could see and even the evening barely required more than one extra layer. This may also have been because we were too onvolved in the great meals that we had all made to share (Thai green curry with chicken, turkey madras, sag aloo and basmati rice. Yum). Saturday the winds didn’t kick up until fairly late in the day but we were cold and wet on arrival at our second campsite. After a lull that was almost perfectly timed for dinner (just the last mouthfuls of some excellent gnocchi and chorizo rigatoni and, of course, the clean up remained), the second front arrived with rain and strong winds.

The winds had dropped by Sunday morning and we decided that our original route plan would not have been too awful. However, heading across the final stretch, a weld fatigued and broke on our rudder system. Not too much trouble in this shallow water with only a short distance remaining but a more serious problem out in the channel.

We left Melbourne on the Spirit of Tasmania and sailed overnight to Devonport, Tasmania. Arriving, tired but not (too) sick we picked up the groceries that customs disallows and headed to Cradle Mountain. Starting from Lake Dove we climbed Marion’s Peak and approached Cradle Mountain via the Overland Track. Spending only a shirt time at the very windy summit we returned via the Wombat Pools.

That night we camped at the Cosy Cabins Campground and in the morning headed south over the Highland Lakes Highway all the way to the Tasman Peninsula in the south-east. We checked in with the EagleHawk Dive Centre and went to explore. The next two days were spent doing four dives, two from Port Arthur (including one under the cliff of the Island used for juvenile prisoners), one under the famous Totem Pole and one in the giant kelp forests of Fortescue Bay.

We were lucky enough to have a friend in Hobart to visit en route to our walking point in the South West. After a feed, warm bed and rest we headed to the South West to make an assault on Mount Anne, the highest peak in the area. We climbed over 1km vertical from the trail head, passing over Mount Eliza and all the way to shelf camp for spectacular views of Mount Anne and Lot. With a diversion to the Mount Anne saddle in the morning, and bad weather approaching we returned and drove back through Hobart, stooping briefly at Russell Falls, to visit another old friend.

The last stop was Freycinet National Park. We found wonderful camping on the Friendly beaches and the next day paddled south down the west coast of the peninsula from Coles’s Bay to Hazard’s Beach. The last day we walked up to the classic WineglassBay lookout in amazing sunshine and along Wineglass Bay beach in a heavy downpour. Returning via the circuit track it was time to drive to Devonport for a motel-stop to catch the day sailing back to Melbourne.

Saturday morning (see our route in the map) we set out from Port Albert, fully laden with 12L of fresh water and camping things. The weather was windy and morning clouds that held a few showers soon gave way to beautiful blue skies. These stayed with us though the day and we had a beautiful evening under the stars with a nice fire and plenty of food, out of the wind behind a tiny dune. We also walked around the end of the sandy spit to see the waves breaking on the ocean-side.
The next morning was fine and warm but the wind picks up quickly bringing bands of showers and cooler temperatures. The shallow waters on the sandbars increased the wave heights and it took some effort to paddle back to Port Albert (we decided to head in before lunch incase the weather got any worse – especially after our experience in the Gippsland lakes, last year!). The new rudder that I recently purchased for Eggy Bread performed perfectly and back on shore we shunned our packed, flat-breads and tuna for (a very good) steak and ships at the local “Customs House Cafe”.
Since we arrived back on the mainland earlier than expected, we took the scenic route back to Melbourne visiting some very pretty waterfalls in the temperate rain forests of the Tarra Bulga State Park.

Luckily, the hut was packed with firewood and we had a pretty cosy night in the hut with only a couple of dads and four cute, energetic, little boys (fuelled by a continuous supply of instant noodles) to share with. The wind and rain were relentless through the night, pounding at the hut. I thoughts the entire 140cm snow-base would be gone by morning.

But the morning was sunny and the snow, if heavy and wet, was still deep and soft. We tried out the slopes close to the hut to make sure ot was worth carrying out our boards and skis along the ridge. After a very rusty start (it’s been two years!!!), I almost abandoned the idea of lugging out my board and walking in snowboard boots. But after a few runs, and many I managed to link turns convincingly and gain confidence again..

A quick lunch by the fireside, squeezed in between damp little boys who had been tubing all morning, and we packed up, strapped on our board and skis and set out along the ridge. It was pretty tough going in snowboard boots and snowshoes, AND carrying a pack AND carrying a board AND carrying my new SLR! I still think the new snowshoes are awesome, though not quite as easy in my stiff-ankled snowboard boots…

As soon as we came to some promising slopes for playing on and a good, deep drift of snow, we dumped our stuff and started digging. Ross did nost of the digging (the shovel made my hands go numb!) and in a couple of hours we had a snow cave!!!

Oh, my goodness, it was so lucky we slept in a cave not a tent! The wind picked up changed direction entirely and it started to snow hard after sun down. The wind pelted against the slope, hard, all night. But we were toasty in our cave and couldn’t even hear it!!!

In the morning there was a big drift in the entrance and we had dig out the stove and cook and eat breakfast inside. But, eventually it dropped. Unfortunately the dropping temperature had frozen the snow, wet by Saturday’s rain into ice and, although the lovely powder from Sunday night lay fluffy on the top, we decided that playing on the slopes would be injurous. So we slogged back along the ridge, enjoying the sunshine and beautiful views.

Overnight trip to Mount Stirling aided by my Birthday Present!!!

Special Thanks to Audrey for shipping these out to us from the U.S. … and boo for things costing so much here =/ Unbeleiveable but it cost the same amount to buy two pairs and pay shipping from the U.S. as it did to buy just one pair here!