It started as a silver day spitting slits of rain as we left Wellington Point. There are few places in Moreton Bay we have not paddled, this was one of them. Huey blew an ESE into our faces and ruffled a small chop on the flooding tide. Squalls smudged the horizon as we paddled in the shelter of the mangroves towards Hilliards Creek. The vibrant colours of the kayaks and rain jackets were picked up by a magnificent rainbow whose gold had it anchored at the entrance of Hilliards Creek.
With time and curiosity with us we went right at the first fork to explore a circuit. Open mudflats abundant with calls of birdlife morphed into an arching embrace of mangroves. A dirt road came right down to the waters’ edge but it was difficult to know where we were in relation to the mainland. Small sprigs of the next generation of mangroves signalled it was time to turn around to avoid a muddy trap. Jewels of rain showered the creek as we ventured back to explore the left arm where we found ourselves a mere 60m short of completing the circuit on a 1.86m tide.
Near the mouth Hilliards Creek is a surprisingly large body of water. Thereafter it narrows quickly and appears to retain good depth up the main arm. It was a tree which had fallen into the creek that prompted the decision to turn around. Upstream the mangroves were starting to close in making for a potentially tricky turnaround in such long kayaks. Time and tide were no longer with us and it was time to paddle out before we had to get to get up close and personal with some unappealing mud. As it was we just managed to scrape over the tree.
The ESE continued to blow as we headed down to Mast Head Drive for an early lunch and some of Carol’s magical orange cake. We sat under a picnic shelter spared by the network of barriers marking government works in progress. We were back on the water at about 1300 for an easy sail back to Wellington Point, staying wide of the sometimes exposed rocky outcrops. No turtles, dolphins or dugong were seen while on the water.
On the way back Mark and I decided to find the road which had come down to the edge of the circuit, then look for Hilliards Creek. Just as we were about to drive down Bligh Rd the oncoming car waved us down and were most concerned that we were about to paddle the creek. Seemed hard to imagine, but they were right to be concerned, we might have been too had we seen what obstacles we had somehow missed. The area next to the creek was marked as Skinners Reserve and Bligh Road was busy with birdies and rubberneckers like us.
On the way to find the creek we passed Ormiston House which turned out to be as aged as the place Mark thought might have been Orimston House was eminent when viewed from the water. At the end of Hilliard Street a driveway entered a quiet shady park with a small playground and a sewerage pumping station. At the foot of the steep bank was the fallen tree which had been suspended by the tide. A large school of strange fat fish circled quietly. Small birds abounded.
Curiosity took us down another crescent which ended at the foreshore. Council signs stated that the foreshore planting was under surveillance as trees had been damaged. A thicket of Acacia fimbriata and native hibiscus were flourishing. The wide estate footpath ended in a trail which took us out to Empire Point. Surrounded by mudflats and low mangroves it this muddie habitat brought to a close another day of enjoyable quiet exploration.
