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

Diamond Head to Tipplers
Date: 09-12-2007
Launch: Diamond Head Boat Ramp
Tide: 09:15 HT
Brisbane Bar
Distance: 25km
Conditions: Wind NE 10kn
It was a beautiful summer's day and Evelyn couldn't wait to get out the car. Amazingly she did not split asunder when her considerable mass tumbled out and smashed onto the ground. To this day Diamond Head remains a ramp for true boaties. Maybe it is a lack of opportunity to flash around, the muddy mangrove lined channels, or, as we found out later, people simply don't know where it is.

Already it was warm so we decided swimming beaches were preferable to the mud banks of the Coomera River. Five boats headed north near the top of the tide and took the chance to explore a creek on the western side of Woogoompah Island. You could hear the Polar Bears negotiating the windy passage which meandered for 1.5Km. We turned around when the water level thinned amongst a sparse copse of mangroves to avoid a soft mud stranding.

Cheryl and Bruce went to Jacobs Well while Tom, Mark, Evelyn and I continued on towards Tipplers. Morning tea was in the welcome but meagre shade of an information sign about the little tern and other wading birds resident on the island. As we were readying to leave, Andrew (Queensland Sea Kayakers) and a group of friends pulled in at the next beach on their way to the The Bedroom. It looked like a welcome break for some as the tide was running out strongly.

Evelyn was restless and started rolling around in the back hatch on the chop stirred up by the launches and wind against tide. We slipped in on the beach next to some hire kayaks and got told to get lost by 20m, which we promptly did sharing some sand with jet skis instead. Weighing in at 6Kg, Evelyn was not a melon you could discretely place on the table and think no one would notice. So we settled for a comfortable log in the shade just outside the food importation quarantine zone.

Evelyn was delicious, albeit fractured internally and exceedingly juicy necessitating a postprandial swim. The water was tainted by two stroke. It coated Mark's moustache making sure that the distinctive flavour hung around for a couple of hours. With just three consumers it was time to offer some of Evelyn to the chap who had been sitting on the beach and watched over the boats. His eighth share went down well. There was the usual 'where have you come from ?' Despite living in the area 'Diamond Head' was met by a blank stare. It was equally meaningless to the jet skier whose verbatim response cracked the boat watcher up completely.

After lunch we headed south with a favourable tide run and a firm NE breeze filling the sails to the mouth of the Pimpama River. Tipplers and The Bedroom were wall to wall boats with many more cruising. The sheer numbers of powered craft raised the question as to how many the Broadwater and Moreton Bay can take. Maybe there is merit in a permit system for powered boats as for 4WD access to beaches. Two boats had a potentially expensive weekend as the VMR towed them back to port. A sandbank sported an Australian flag in a fishing rod holder and a set of stumps - Tom mused whether it was a part of an ABC photo competition for the picture which embraced the spirit of cricket.

At Diamond Head there was enough water to continue up McCoy's Creek. This protected fish habitat is very shallow at the entrance where the signs says 'end of navigable water'. The creek soon narrows into a muddy mangrove lined channel. There was no variation for 2Km and not wanting to have to get out and squish through the mud for the last 100m we returned with a couple of inches to clear.

When we pulled the boats up there had been a complete changing of the guard. All the cars that had been parked up the top had gone and a new set of 4WD and cars with trailers were near the ramp. A foray into Coomera Waters for a coffee and icecream revealed a master planned community with gated enclaves and attractive street landscaping. While it was pretty, there were no kids hairing around, no unkempt lawns, and there was not a patch of pink or yellow. I prefer the unregulated space of Diamond Head where you can take your heeler collie cross and chuck a stick into a muddy creek. With the amount of houses being built along Coleman Road it maybe hoping against hope that it will stay as it is.

There are no pictures from today's paddle - for some reason the camera did not save any of the intended photos.
 
Diamond Head to Tipplers Map
GPS Trackfile (OziExplorer .plt)