THE SCROLL Newsletter of the Manning River Canoe and Bushwalking Club Web:- manningcanoebushwalk.wordpress.com email:- [email protected] P.O. Box, 243 Wingham 2429 ISSUE: March 2015 STATION CREEK – Geoff Songberg Annual General Meeting: 6:00pm 2 July 2015, Ireland’s home - Taree President: Greg Stewart Treasurer: Dennis Mitchell 6552 3338 Secretary: Mick O’Brien 6551 2531 [email protected] Editor/ Publicity: Stuart Ireland 6552 6574 [email protected] Minutes from General Meeting 6 /3/2015 Meeting opened at 6:00pm. Attendance: Mick O’Brien, Stuart Ireland, Jenny Ireland, Chris Dennis, Geoff Songberg, Greg Stewart, Pam Finlay, Bob Finlay, Geoff Martin, Apologies: Murray Bourke, Chris Marriott, Annelie Johansson-Riley, Grahame Enright, Louise Enright, Chris Stewart, General Meeting Business: * Activities calendar complied for the next 3 months. * The next meeting (Annual General Meeting) to be held at Ireland’s home on 2 July. * Discussion of future trips in 2016 and 2017. TRIP REPORTS KHAPPINGAT CREEK - December 7 2014 Seven of us set off along Old Soldiers Road to reach Magpie Creek. We paddled down into the Khappinghat Creek which is the upper reaches of Saltwater Lagoon. The entrance to the lagoon was closed so the creek level was very high with the road to the boat ramp being under water. We set off paddling down the roadway. The weather was great which helped to make it a very pleasant day. We travelled down as far as Duckhole Gully and we had a break and a walk around as well as a snack. We then returned up Khappinghat Creek and then paddled up the other direction from where Magpie Creek joins the Khappinghat. We went as far as our canoes and kayaks could reach. The creek closed in and the trees were overhanging the water. This made for a very sheltered and pleasant paddle. Some kingfishers were seen along the way. A great day was spent exploring the waterways. ALWORTH TO BORAL PADDLE - December 14 2014 Janusz, Greg & Wendy started out from Alworth Village approx. 8.30am paddling upstream on an outward tide ……. yes, way up there is still tide affected! Finding our way through to paddling depth water was a bit of a challenge in a few spots but we managed O.K. The 10a.m wee stop found us at a beautiful lagoon right beside the river with a water level higher than the river! Here-on in meandering through farmlands, not a lot of bird life but an interesting rock wall over-looked by Wendy as “an interestingly even, natural rock bank” until Greg took more interest!! Large stone steps partially hidden by lantana took us to the top where a plaque bore the fact it had been a wharf (nice bit of rock work though!) built in 1831 by ‘The Australian Agricultural Company’. Obviously the river had been deep enough for boat services to the area. Greg & Janusz managed against the tide, up a few rugged rapids, while Wendy stumbled through on foot! A nice paddle in a quiet backwater area bought to a lunch spot just west of the Boral Bridge before paddling back to the starting point & out of the river by approx. 3.30pm. A good day which possibly could have been better on an incoming tide before riding it back out. Wendy MURRUMBIDGEE KAYAK TRAIL - February 9 - 15, 2015 The original plan was to undertake the paddle in 8 days with two short days of about 15km each. The first short day being after the car shuffle to Wagga as it took until a late lunch to return. With only a few hours left in the day it was not wise to try for the 40 kilometre first stretch in what remained of the day. The river was flowing so fast that it was difficult to slow the paddle rate down. As we reached the end point of day 5 for lunch and with the heat of the day plus the camp site not being all that pleasant we drifted for the afternoon to the next site, thus reducing the paddle by one day. In reality the river was flowing so fast that we could have done the trip in 4 days by camping at convenient places along the bank of which there were many. 2 Day 1: Jugiong to Mick’s mate mate’s place. It was a happy band of seven that sat around at breakfast by the river at Jugiong recreation reserve. The camping ground was pleasant and we had all enjoyed a thoroughly delicious meal at the Jugiong Motor Inn the night before. River levels were a good height with a nice flow of about 8km/h. We had been warned by the owner of the Motor Inn that a lone kayaker had come to grief on the section below Jugiong 2 days earlier, lost his boat and all valuables and had to get a lift into town with the local farmer. However the mood was good and we were keen to get on the river. Mick was still in Gundagai with his long time mate Mick. The boys arranged the car shuffle to Wagga and Vera, Jen, Dennis and I wandered around Jugiong and had a delicious morning coffee at the renowned Long Track Café up the road….highly recommended! The boys came back a little later than anticipated, but after a quick lunch we were on the river and ready to roll. The water was swift and with all the warnings given to us the previous night I admit I was a little apprehensive whenever the flow went close to the long trailing willow branches on a bend. At one point I was concentrating on my stroke in swirling water when a platypus hunched and dove just near my paddle. It was a wonderful experience and there many more platypus sightings on the trip indicating that the river is relatively healthy. The river was scenic at this higher point in its travels and the need to negotiate flows and choose the route resulted in an interesting and enjoyable paddle. Vera very capably went ahead to choose the route all afternoon and there were no mishaps. The first night was spent at Mick’s mate mate’s place. Chris Day 2 Mick’s mate mate’s place to Sandy Falls Day two had us with a leisurely start at 9:30am. We moved along at a pretty fast pace as the river was flowing at about 7km per hour. After an hour and a half we stopped for morning tea as the pace was so fast. As the day was warming up we paddled until we came to a nice natural harbour where we stopped for lunch. There was plenty of dead timber washed up. There was good shade to relax under. After lunch the following wide died and we had to work a little harder through hotter longer pools. There were a few interesting small races to make the day more interesting. Some water did come in over the front of the canoe. The river banks had plenty of river red gums and they all seemed to be full of 3 cockatoos and corellas. We paddled under the Adjungbilly Bridge and took a short break to stretch legs and backs. The river split around a small island and we followed the right hand channel keeping an eye out for the reserve as the GPS told us we were getting close. It was a lovely camp spot right next to the river on a gravelly beach with lots of shade from willow trees. Everyone enjoyed swimming and reading before dinner. Day 3 Sandy Falls to Gundagai. Stuart’s early morning exploration found some fig trees loaded with fruit and untouched by the birds. Vera picked a good supply to take with us for the day. Later that morning we came upon a very large wedgetail sitting in a tree and it was quite undisturbed by us paddling by. We took our first morning tea at the junction of the Tumut and Murrumbidgee Rivers. Very clear water was coming out of the Tumut River. Stuart had a quick fish and had a cod follow the lure up but it was not interested in getting on the line. At the lunch break three kayakers paddled past on a day trip to Gundagai. We continued on to Mick’s mate’s place where he had mown the grass on the river bank for us. This was agreed by all to be the best campsite that we stayed at on this trip. Most of us lazed around swimming, reading, fishing and drinking cups of tea while Mick and Greg walked into town to visit the local watering hole. They arrived later in a taxi bearing beer for all. It was very nice too! We sat on the bank and watched a platypus frolicking in the water in front of us. Day 4 Gundagai to Limekilns Sunday the 8th. The Dam Gods were smiling, and they continued to let heaps of water into to river, we had 30 KLM (our longest day so far) ahead of us. We had less tricky bits of the river as it headed into the wide floodplains of the valley. As we paddled under the two old historic bridges at Gundagai we waved to two people having a cuppa in front of their caravan. They looked suitably unimpressed with our massive adventure. With a little scouting we found a spot for first morning tea and another at elevenz,s for Stuart. On our paddle we were greeted with curious cattle and sheep and the occasional farmer working on their pumps.