Oops. Ray and Carol were waiting patiently at the Sandgate boat ramp when we finally turned up. A night paddle up the Brisbane River City reaches in forecast rain held limited appeal so we put an invitation out for a day paddle. When the phone rang
in the back of the car, we had only got as far as Fortitude Valley. Just before Boondall Wetlands the traffic came to a crawl. A pile up on the other side of the median strip had a 4WD at 90 degrees to the direction of flow. Wearing a half ripped off bull bar it was in proximity to a car-less caravan and a melee of other vehicles scattered amongst broasdcast glass. The speed camera 150m to the north was not going to make much money on the first day of the school holidays.
A parade of cars streaming out of Sandgate were sporting high velocity K1s, many in shrouds. Clearly all done and dusted. There was a throng of more speedsters at the boat wash off area. We found Ray and Carol kicking back with a cup of tea - they had decided to wait rather than set out as suggested.
Leaving just before the low we paddled into a millpond. It reminded us of the conditions off Fraser Island with the whale song. We drew up with Ray and Carol as they waited for a paddling silhouette honing in on us. It had a boat profile that made Mark's Marlin look buoyant, the hat of a Patrick, the paddling style of a Patrick and indeed was Patrick in his Sea Bear. He had recently returned from Fraser which after 25 knot nasties had put on a day like this. He had gone 10Km offshore and also felt and heard the whale song. It is truly transcendent and so easy to be mesmerised by the glassy calm and the song. Little wonder we just about pooped ourselves in fright when a couple of whales surfaced about 20m behind the boats. Sounds like some other paddlers had memorable whale watching this year -
maybe getting together checking out each other's pics and stories would make for a evening around a BBQ.
After seeing Patrick off the NE started to ruffle in and robbed us of what had been excellent visibility. We went ashore at Margate Beach and were treasured to, yes, get this, a quarter of Carol's banana and chocolate loaf each. It was most welcome and not a skerrick left. I particularly enjoyed all of my quarter as keeping pace with Ray and Carol had devoured the bananas I bought at the markets that morning.
By now the tide had receded and made
for interesting paddling through and around the rocky outcrops off Margate and Redcliffe. We headed for the far end of a beach north of Redcliffe for lunch. Coming in required care as it
was a rocky shore with sand only at the foot of the beach.
Lunch tasted good too - hard work this paddling when you are not so paddle fit. It was too much effort to retrieve the camera from the boat to capture the two biplanes flying overhead. After an hour of a relaxed lunch, taking in the warmth of the sun and watch the biplanes putter back, it was out to capture the
NE with a sail. It was a bit disappointing and needed another 10
knots for a sailing fest. You had to work to catch and keep the little swell it had shoved. Going north all I had seen was a crab, on the way back a couple of turtles.
The day pace had been most welcome, especially seeing this part of the bay fuse into a glassy expanse with the turning of the tide and wind. We cruised back to find the boat ramp
deserted, there were no other paddlers in sight. Thank you Ray
and Carol - I doubt the speedsters would have been in it for a long wait with a cup of tea.
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