Calendar


Trip Diary

08-2012 Peel Island (An Ekka tradition)
08-2012 Moreton Island
07-2012 Rocky Point
06-2012 Blakesleys
06-2012 The Bedroom
05-2012 Breakfast on Karragarra
05-2012 St Helena
05-2012 Perigee Bedroom
02-2012 Queen Mary II
02-2012 Mud Island
11-2011 St Helena
11-2011 Shorncliffe to Redcliffe
10-2011 Weinam Ck to Dunwich
10-2011 Peel Island
10-2011 Breakfast on Karragarra
10-2011 St Helena and Green Island
09-2011 Wivenhoe Dam
08-2011 Fraser Island
08-2011 Canaipa Passage
08-2011 Karragarra
08-2011 Stradbroke Island
07-2011 St Helena
07-2011 So long, and thanks for all the fish.
05-2011 Green Island
05-2011 Wivenhoe Dam
04-2011 Upper Noosa River Weekend
04-2011 Easter at Woodgate
04-2011 Mud Island
04-2011 Karragarra for Breakfast
02-2011 Bongaree
02-2011 St Helena
01-2011 Weinam Ck to Blakesleys
10-2010 Moore to Blackbutt Rail Trail
10-2010 Whitsundays
09-2010 Mud Island
09-2010 Redcliffe
09-2010 Girraween
08-2010 Upper Noosa River
08-2010 Potts Point
08-2010 Peel Island
08-2010 Gateway to City Bike Ride
08-2010 Mud Island
07-2010 Blakesleys Afternoon Paddle
07-2010 Kedron Brook to Scaborough (and return)
04-2010 Colmslie Beach
04-2010 Brighton Park
01-2010 Nundah Creek
01-2010 Blakesleys
01-2010 Upper Noosa River (with a difference)
01-2010 New Year Paddle
12-2009 Potts Point
08-2009 Raby Bay to Peel Island
08-2009 Wynnum Creek to King Island
07-2009 Sandgate to Redcliffe
05-2009 St Helena
04-2009 Wellington Point to Peel
04-2009 Breakfast on Karragarra
03-2009 King Island
03-2009 Mission Point
03-2009 Mud Island
01-2009 Morning Tea at The Pin
01-2009 Circumnavigate Macleay Island
01-2009 New Year Recovery Paddle
12-2008 Caniapa
12-2008 Pine Rivers
11-2008 Coochie Night Paddle
10-2008 Breakfast at Karragarra
10-2008 Girraween
10-2008 Coomera Falls Circuit
09-2008 Hinchinbrook Island
09-2008 Manly Harbour Festival
09-2008 Linville to Blackbutt Rail Trail
08-2008 Weekend at Blakesleys
08-2008 Old Woman Island
08-2008 Circumnavigate Macleay Island
07-2008 Upper Noosa River
07-2008 Weinam Creek to Dunwich
06-2008 Scarborough to Bongaree
06-2008 Wellington Pt to St Helena
06-2008 North Stradbroke Jazz Weekend
05-2008 Point O'Halloran to Blakesleys
04-2008 Upper Noosa River
04-2008 Aquatic Paradise to St Helena Is
04-2008 Eprapah Creek
03-2008 Paradise Point to Moreton Island
03-2008 Wynnum Ck to Tangalooma Point
03-2008 Amity Point weekend
03-2008 Bremer River
03-2008 Brisbane River - Gregors Ck to Barneys Rocks
02-2008 Play Day - Coochie Mudlo
02-2008 World Wetlands Day Paddle
02-2008 Brisbane River night paddle
01-2008 Australia Day Week
01-2008 Blakesleys 3/4 Moon Paddle
01-2008 Shorncliffe to Nudgee
01-2008 Brisbane River - Barneys Rocks to O'Sheas Crossing
12-2007 Raby Bay to One Mile via Blakesleys and Potts Point
12-2007 Diamond Head to Tipplers
12-2007 Wynnum Ck to Green and St Helena Islands
11-2007 Bike Ride Bay Islands
11-2007 Tingalpa Creek
10-2007 Potts Point Night Paddle
10-2007 Return to Gilligans Island
10-2007 Salt Water Creek and Coomera River
09-2007 Elimbah Creek
09-2007 Scarborough to Caboolture River
09-2007 Fraser Island Whale Watching
09-2007 Circumnavigate Russell Island
08-2007 Pine Rivers Night Paddle
08-2007 Linville to Blackbutt Rail Trail
08-2007 Brisbane River City Reach
08-2007 Peel Island
08-2007 Brisbane River
08-2007 Green Island Day Trip
07-2007 Pine Rivers Night Paddle
07-2007 Mooloolah River
07-2007 USS Kitty Hawk in Brisbane River
06-2007 Black Tie on Peel Island
05-2007 Harrys Hut Camping Weekend
04-2007 Theodolite Creek
04-2007 Upper Burrum River
04-2007 Circumnavigate Big Woody
04-2007 Walkers Point to Toogum
03-2007 Boat Passage to Big Sandhills
12-2006 Woodgate to Mon Repos
10-2006 Fraser Island Whale Watching
04-2005 Keppel Islands
12-2004 Fraser Island
10-2004 Munna Point Camping Weekend
10-2004 Mooloolaba to Maroochydore
09-2004 Coochie Mudlo Island
08-2004 Karragarra Island
07-2004 Wellington Point to St Helena Island
06-2004 Noosa River Camping Weekend
05-2004 Brisbane River Night Paddle
04-2004 Budds Beach to Moreton Island
10-2003 Bulwer to Tangalooma
05-2003 Eatonsville to Harwood Island

Links

SEQSK Discussion Group
SEQSK Newsletters
Adventurer Anthony Malloch

Perigee Bedroom
Date: 06-05-2012
"Mark and I are considering an afternoon paddle tomorrow leaving from Cabbage Tree Point around 1pm to have a late lunch on Kangaroo Island. We would be going with the outgoing tide to vicinity of The Bedroom (low tide 3:30 Brisbane Bar). The winds look light on the BOM so it could make for a beautiful paddle back in the late afternoon. Let us know if you are interested."



They were out of there. The number of boats crowding the Cabbage Tree Point boat ramp commensurate with the Km of trailer parking we have driven by. With no expressions of interest from other paddlers and the departure stampede at the ramp you could be forgiven for thinking that maybe there was something we were not privy too.

I was delighted by the exodus, as the more the boats off the water, the safer it would be for two solitary kayaks in search of a perigee moon. We went via Kangaroo Island with the plan to have a late lunch at the place we think has potential for a camp when you want to leave on a Friday afternoon/evening. Around 40 minutes later and dodging shoals emerging with the ebb to a 1 foot low, we pulled up at the eastern edge of the camping area. Others also like this place. There was already a tent in residence and three cruisers and a solitary houseboat anchored up for the night.

As we munched our rolls the houseboat swung around giving us the heads up that the tide had indeed reached its nadir. Bummer, nothing quite like plugging against the tide in this neck of the mangroves. However, being the first hour it remained a leisurely stroll around to Tiger Mullet Channel. Here the long weekend had bought out the gin palaces with the three tiered varieties tying up with their mates of equally garish dimensions. Graced by Gold Coast leathery tans adorned with bling, it was not them but the sole yacht under sail who gave a friendly wave.

The weekend had bought out the usual crop of speed freaks, although the numbers seemed to be fewer compared with long weekends of yester year. We opted for the good old sand bar strategy (the sand bar most likely to get them before they got us) leaving our six inches of protection to make a dash across the channel to the sand hills just south of Jumpinpin. Here the channel was crowded with cruisers parked up for the weekend. Over a coffee we sat bemused by the noise of the crowd and thought of the solitude of other places like the Keppel Islands.

The lower the sun sank, the edgier Mark became. It was not until we had crossed the idiot zone and were in the entrance to Whalleys Gutter that he was happy. Tranquillity at last with a beautiful sunset bringing forward a quiet silhouette. As we left Whalleys we saw it rise. Coming over the mangroves, against a pink blush, the perigee moon. Magnificent. The sunset continued to stain the waters as we drifted at 5Kph on the incoming tide. With an occasional paddle we made an easy 11Kph. It does pay to get it right in this neck of the mangroves.

While Mark was enjoying navigating via the lit beacons, it was my turn to became anxious. Every buzz on the water was scanned for any red or green, preferably both not seen at the same time. As one pair came closer and closer, the throttle started to wind back, the boat came off the plane, changed direction and pointed right at us, then and at 300m "what the hell is that", a bit closer, then "two kayaks", the throttle wound back up, the boat veered away and back up on the plane. At least we had been seen from a distance.

The paddle back was really more of a fast drift. Even with the accelerating tide the mud bar ensures you need to make a wide arc coming into Cabbage Tree Point boat ramp. When we were washing off the kayaks, a tinny driver came over and asked whether we were the ones he had seen at Jumpinpin, not that he didn't think we were not, but because he was surprised how quickly we had got back.

While mudbanks and mangroves may not be all that great during the day, they can become quite magical, almost eerie with their inkiness on a still night. This paddle was made that much more memorable by the volume of tidal movement and the spectre of a perigee moon following a beautiful sunset. Yet few were there to see it.
Mass exodus
Gentle sailing
Wishful thinking
The locals
Beach on Kangaroo Island
One of the places to camp
Arrival on Straddie - north of The Bedroom
Survival mode
Leaving the crowds
Escape to Whalleys Gutter
Looking back to The Bedroom
Comorant in Whalleys Gutter
The perigee moon
Feel the tranquility
Sunset
Adrift
Evening star
What we left behind