blogs

After two days of howling Sou-Westerlies, the wind finally subsided today,  but with another front due tomorrow, I've decided to stay put in Malacoota.  A clean 4 foot swell breaking on the back beach at Malllacoota had nothing to do with it of course, and I caught the tail-end of an epic surf-session with the local crew.  The waves here certainly have more power than up north, and barrel with far less provocation - yeehah 

I'm also on a roll with the "serious" side of the campaign, and have spent the last two days writing to people who are in a postion to replace the currently proposed pulp mill with more sensible, sustainable alternatives.

I'm in Mallacoota, safe and sound, and had the most fantastic journey getting here.  Not that it was all easy. In fact those who are sick of hearing about how wonderful the weather has been, and how Mother Nature has been serving up weeks of tailwinds will be very pleased to hear that most of the last three days paddling has been into a howling headwind.

‘Cos I’ve got so much to talk about, I’ve gone back and entered separate blogs for each day (isn’t that conscientious?), so you’ll find tall tales from the last 3 days in the last 3 blogs.    As for today, its howling Sou-West at 30-40 knots, utterly ridiculous weather for paddling, so I’m staying with Tim Fraser from the Surfrider Foundation, who have been incredible in their support of the trip.

After a massive sleep I woke up at dawn, determined to beat the Southerly. Paddled off into the rising sun, close under spectacular cliffs in still, sapphire waters.  Within the hour I’d passed Nadgee Point and the dunes of Cape Howe appeared backed by the Gabo Island lightlhouse. 

This is among the most dramatic coastlines anywhere - the “corner” of Australia where the East Coast becomes the South.  Immediately, the coastal cliffs are replaced by sand dunes.  In one way its good, because if I run into trouble I can land anywhere. On the other hand, those sand dunes used to be cliffs, pulverised by the extreme wind and swell that affects this coast, testament to the conditions I might face over the coing weeks. A mountain range extends down towards Cape Howe like a spine, accentuating the divide.  Once again a group of seals were hanging out on the corner to wave me on, and since they didn’t seem too concerned about the Great White Shark attack at Cape Howe last week, I went for a quick swim out of the kayak to celebrate the landmark.

Well you would have thought that I learnt from yesterday, and once again it was a still morning with a Southerly forecast later in the day. Until now Emi has been meeting me with the car every evening, so I’ve just been carrying lunch.  This time, with a long stretch of Wilderness coast to cross, I had to be self-sufficient, and by the time I had organised all my food and camping gear, packed it into dry-bags and got it done to the kayak it was midday again!  So there I went, off into a blasting Southerly again.

With a Southerly blow forecast for midday, I would have liked an early start, but by the time I had finished following up on my conversation with Gary Nairn MP and a few other things to do with the mill, it was already 11am and the wind was ruffling the surface of Twofold Bay.  Tucked in behind the headland, I got especially good protection behind the massive bulk of the Eden Woodchip pile (see, there's a positive side to everything) before tracking onto open ocean 

Today I leave Eden for the Nadgee Wilderness.  You won't be hearing from me for the next couple of days because I'll be way out of range.   The Nadgee is the longest stretch of the East coast inaccesible by vehicle, and it will take me three days to get around to Malacoota . Its meant to be  utterly spectacular!  I've never been to this part of the coast before (not many kayakers have) and its very exciting.  I'm also looking forward to loading the kayak up with food and camping gear and spending a couple of days out there all on my own.  I'm sure I'll have lots to report when I get to Malacoota.

Today I paddled from Merimbula to Eden.  Along the way I saw a seal jumping and diving up ahead ahead of me, moving fast.  It surfaced again right next to me and just then I paddled over the top of a flashing, spiralling school of salmon which the seal was herding together and feasting from. It gave me a real thrill to see it in action and up so close.

As I approached Eden I got a view of Green Cape. Its a significant moment in the trip becuase once I go "around the corner" I leave the familiar, relatively protected waters of East Coast NSW for the South Coast of Victoria.  I must admit that for the first time I felt some trepidatipon at what lies ahead (mixed with excitment of course).  There was a slightly ominous feeling in the air too, which at first I put down to Green Cape.  Later I heard that a Great White Shark had attacked a local abalone diver in Eden. The shark swallowed him head first but his lead-lined diving vest protected him and then the fought the shark off with an abalone chisel.  Hopefully none like that come my way.

This morning, Frank invited Emi and I to the "recovery" breakfast for the stars of Sapphire Rock, including Frank's delightful wife Michelle, Jim Keays from Masters Apprecntices, Freddy Strauks from the Skyhooks, and Ross "the Boss" Wilson from Daddy Cool and Mondo rock.  Everyone I spoke to had a story to share about business and government ver-riding common sense and the public good.  Elvis (Dean Vegas) told me about a desalination plant that the Queensland government are pushing through despite residents concerns.  Right on point, Dave Crowden from Gone Fishin' actually grew up in the Tamar Valley, and told us all about the loss of jobs and destruction of habitat that has been happening down in Tassie ever since they started industrialised woodchipping.   I have "Gone Fishin's" blessing to urge all Australians to think of better ideas than the Gunns Pulp Mill.  Those who were left at the end of Brekkie piled out of the cafe into the bright sunshine.....

Today  - what a treat.  After a morning of trip preparations and writing letters about the mill, we went to the Sapphire Rock Festival.  Local band Gone Fishin' backed a "sing-off" between Frankie J Holden doing Johhny O'Keefe and Dean Vegas doing Elvis, followed by a who's who of Australian Rock legends.  It was such an incredibly good-natired event, pure fun, and the occasional shower did nothing to dampen the spirits of the big crowd.  The clouds did clear just before sunset, rewarding us with freshly washed skies. Driving home, it was those skies which gave us the most incredible sunset and views of the McNaught Comet.  Holy Moley.  I remember struggling to stay awake to see Haley's comet and being highly unimpressed by a tiny speck in the sky.  McNaught is anything but! If you haven't made the effort to see it yet, do it TONIGHT. 

Still in Merimbula and planning out the the rest of the trip, especially the event in Melbourne in mid February.  Without paddling to report on,  I thought I'd share a great little article written by Glenn Ellard in Jervis Bay on the 6th January

South Coast Register Article  (you may have to zoom in to read it)

I really liked what Glenn wrote because he related the pulp mill to Jervis Bay's experience of fighting off industrial proposals and developing sustainably instead.  What the article doesn't mention is that the exact site where locals fought off the steel mill has now been chosen by the Shao Lin Monastery for a new International Headquarters.  This will bring over 3000 jobs to the area in its construction phase, and thereafter become a huge boon for Jervis Bay's already-thriving nature-based economy.  So there you go, one more reason for the people of the Tamar Valley to take courage, protect their natural resources, and plan a sustainable future.