Sea Kayaking Bundeena to Wattamolla

I took a call from Scott during the week and plans were made to go Kayaking. I always look forward to paddling no matter what the craft or destination, for the pure and simple feeling of working the body while the mind drifts aimlessly from thought to thought.

Sea kayaking doesn't produce the raw, intense adrenaline fueled highs that paddling whitewater does, instead a steady flow of contentment and constant awareness that the ocean is a special place. Much like the mountains..... go forth with respect and you shall receive.

The plan was to paddle from Bonnie Vale in Bundeena to Wattamolla for lunch, and then back again. The forecast was almost perfect with a tailwind and following swell down, and a light southerly blowing in for the return journey.

The ocean was glassy early on with a low 1-2m swell, which allowed for plenty reminiscing of past trips and a few photos along the way. It's an amazing stretch of coastline and one best viewed from the water if you have the opportunity, otherwise the popular "Coast Track" follows the clifftop through the Royal National Park for those on foot.

The beautiful colours in the sandstone ranged from bleached white to deep red in places and held our gaze for quite some time until we pulled in to check out Marley Beach. I'd visited previously with Dana to explore the fresh water lagoon behind the beach with a packraft, and despite dealing with sharp Pampas grass managed to paddle to the other side.

As usual, Marley Beach never disappoints and after a short visit we continued south towards Wattamolla Beach.

Not too long after leaving Marley we arrived at Wattamolla which is quite the little paradise if you don't mind the crowds. Lunch was devoured while relaxing and enjoying the view. The southerly wind shift arrived on time and after watching the rolling cloud sweep through and disappear to the north, a new wind swell arrived clashing with that from the north. The trip home would be a little busier than the one we had just completed.

After rounding Providential Head the conditions changed immediately and with two swells clashing there was no time for photos until we arrived back in Bundeena. It was great day out and around 27klm paddled in total. How lucky we are....


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BOOLAMBAYTE LAKE KAYAKING

Craig hatched a plan to paddle his kayaks around a section of Myall lakes for the weekend so I got the call to start packing. Despite proposing to my wife in a sea kayak, I haven't done a great deal of it so I was excited to get out and do something different. The kayaks are a "sit on top" type which had plenty of room for two days worth of gear, fishing rods, camp stools and a small esky containing essential fluids.

Craig fully loaded.

My esky not fully loaded

The plan was to start from Korsmans landing, which was quite busy with families filling most of the available campsites. With no set destination we had planned to end up at one of the many boat only designated camp areas scattered throughout the lake system. As we headed north the first camp site passed was Mackaway Bay which had a few tents up, and a boat moored.

We pulled into Sunnyside camping area and had a look around before moving on past Boolambayte Creek and on to Bungaree Bay. This spot was great and although it only had 7 or 8 designated campsites, was worth a look.

                       The amenities in all the campsites were well maintained and clean.

We had a quick snack and pushed on to Violet hill campground which was a lot bigger and had plenty of people well setup. A boat ramp and a larger amenities block made this a popular spot, with kids paddling about on surf skis, larger boats moored near by and lots of people kicking back enjoying the beautiful weather.

We paddled on from Violet hill in the hope of having lunch at Shelly beach campground but decided to stop for lunch before hand as the wind picked up a little so we pulled in to a nice spot and fired up the stoves for lunch. We decided to head for Johnsons beach for the night, so with the wind now at our backs we paddled off moving at a good speed trying to make use of the small wind chop on the way.

We paddled back past Violet hill and south towards Johnsons beach. As we paddled around the last bend, there were quite a few people water skiing from the small beaches scattered along a 500m stretch of the lake. We weren't sure if there were any spots left for us to camp and figured we might head back to Bungaree bay if need be but as it turned out, all the boats except one or two left not long after we arrived. Apparently it's a popular spot for day trippers and there were plenty of spots to camp.

This was a beautiful spot to camp and only 2 other groups of people were staying at either end of the 25 or so designated sites.

After setting up, we followed a trail up to a lookout on Johnsons Hill which was a little overgrown but still worth the half hour walk up. We discovered earlier in the day that there is plenty of wildlife in the area and found Goannas strolling about the camp.

After checking the lookout it was time to kick back with a couple of cold beverages and enjoy watching the sun disappear over the back of the lake. It was just what was needed after so many other trips being physically demanding. Good company, cold beer, amazing scenery and dehydrated dinners.
Next time it will be a kilo of steak and camp oven potatoes.

While dinner was cooking, we noticed small eels along the edges of the lake. They were quite shy when we shone the head torch on them but otherwise not bothered by our presence.

After a great night planning a few more trips to the area we returned to Korsmans landing the following day.

With another fun trip in the bag and a few more in the pipe line we headed back home relaxed and happy.