Placid with limpid waters, the northern bay was at its Spring best. By 7:45 there was only one other kayaker at the boat passage car park. It was Janice, here for her regular early morning sojourn amongst the mangroves. Without time to come to
Mud we saw her off with two of the day's cache of mulberry muffins. With no other takers we took our time for a successful trial of the new set up for the amphibious wheels then doddled
off at an appropriately serene pace.
The turtles were bobbing, mullet jumping, birds of prey soaring, a bevy of swans mulling and the solitary paddler drifting. We headed for and paddled amongst the mangroves at South Point to come out to find that it was so calm, that even from this distance we could see Mud Island's entire profile. Turtles
continued to break the surface and as we approached the southern creek two birds of prey cartwheeled in a spectacular dog fight.
The first clue to the day's hunt was a trail of tarsal bones. I called out to Mark asking about the direction of the creek and while distracted he almost did what we know as an Anthony. He just missed running up and onto what we then discovered looked like part of a cranium. Our suspicions were backed by the
fragrance. Out of the mangroves, emanating from a massive macerated carcass was a putrid stench. If anyone wants to acquire a piece of whale bone to adorn their purist paddle, by the state of the remains they are deserved of what they get. Maybe wait another couple of years, although given where the carcass is
located they are hardly going to be sun bleached. We were not interested in getting any closer to figure out whether this was one or more of the three carcasses brought to Mud to decompose. Instead we followed the creek until it widened to a shallow
lagoon. There were some beautiful small loggerhead turtles swimming amongst the mangroves which were in a foot or more of water half an hour off the top of the tide.
Heading back out we continued our whale watching tour in an
anticlockwise direction thinking about how difficult it would be
the haul such a massive carcass into a small creek, especially if it was starting to disintegrate as suggested by the trail of tarsals, neck vertebrae and cranium. At the top of the tide the inner lagoon that skirts the SE corner of Mud Islands is a great place to paddle. Today the water was transparent, turtles a
plenty. As we left the three kayaks each sporting a seal club were passing through one of the breaks into the outer lagoon, it looked like Damiano et al.
If you paddle next to the mangroves at the top of the tide, you do not have to port over the coral rubble. When you can go no further turn left and go bush as this will take you to the longest creek on the island. Emerging from the shrubbery we
surprised a fisherman who looked like he thought he had the place to himself at the mouth of the creek. This creek widens out and it is unclear which is the most likely direction to take you further into the island's interior. With a falling tide it all became a bit academic and the symphony of mossies were amongst
the most aggressive and plentiful I have ever seen. The concert was bought to an abrupt close with the fragrance Rid or Bushmans.
Next stop was the NW Lagoon for mulberry muffins. The northern
coral bank was covered with commerants and as usual they left a
pressie on departure. Charming. Eau de guano. Tiny submerged mangroves are starting to fringe the inner ring of this beautiful place. It will be interesting to see how they fare in the years to come. We watched Damiano et al paddle by their share of these
scrummy muffins with freshly picked mulberries courtesy of BCC.
We didn't check the perimeter of the lagoon for whales, although being sheltered from the SE and with a wide creek mouth on the high I thought it might have been place to haul a hulk. A couple of hundred metres west of the lagoon looks like a brilliant place for snorkelling 101. Leaving earlier to avoid the heat and aiming
for a 10am high could be a great way to spend a relaxed summer's morning. Here there is a coral rubble bank to secure the boats, a beginners area amongst the mangroves then out to a quick drop off with clear jade water.
Onwards we waved by Damiano et al perched on a coral bank on the northern side of the island. The limpid waters were exquisite, too bad all you had to look at was mainly coral rubble. We did see a graceful baby eagle ray with a measle of spots and an incredibly long fine tail. Someone has nailed what looks like
pieces of white corrugated sheet iron to trees in about four places. Cheap GPS possibly - one small boat had taken it as a clue as to where to fish. The next fragrance to waft by was that of tobacco brought in by a gentle northerly that was starting to
come in as predicted.
Close to shore the water was an opaque turquoise suggestive of a
disturbed sandy bottom - don't be fooled, this beautiful colour obscures rock or coral waiting for a hull sample. A pied oyster catcher remained unperturbed as we moseyed around his neck of the woods. We plodded past a fascinating lagoon locked away on the NW corner and a suggestion of a stream, but didn't see or smell any suggestion of another humpback carcass. We called into the western lagoon for lunch on a falling tide, the moment to try out
the Cooper nylon anchor Mark had been given as a birthday present having seen it demonstrated on the New Inventors. After looking at it in the picture it is now called Yip. Mark had to explain why because as kids we were limited to Basil Brush on Sunday or the nightly News. Needless to say we were big fans of Basil.
We enjoyed lunch in ergonomic comfort, felt the northerly pick up
and watched Damiano et al pass by another muffin break. To my surprise someone with a seal club had a sail - I thought the two items were mutually exclusive and that sails were only used by flagrant heathens like ourselves. Ali worked well although the deck rope also entangled coral snags as the Raider bossed the Marlin around in the fickle breeze.
The trip back was placid, the breeze slight and the swell tiddly. At 2 1/2 hours before the low the shovel sign was well exposed. However, there appeared to be a reasonable amount of
water and the channel marker seemed awfully close compared to the Darcy Light. At a stick we made a right turn and chanced it. Of course we didn't make it and we ended up walking the boats across firm sand with some seagrass through ankle deep water. A jet skier later thanked us saying that if it was too shallow for us then he wasn't going to even contemplate it. I got back in the
boat not a moment too soon, one paddle stroke had the water boil as a large ray shot through. The mangrove mud around the boat passage had us get out next to the ramp and do a reverse amphibian with the Marlin. The wheels worked a treat, I only hope
that they perform as well with a laden boat.
As the last paddle before a much anticipated first sojourn to the
Whitsundays in kayaks, today was a success for whale watching, the new gear and a test for recent repairs. It will be a trip of a lifetime if
we score on the weather and visibility like we did today.
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