Day 1 @ Yambuk

Today we woke to a very grey dull day in Colac and it had been raining last night and this morning it was a very light misty rain from Colac to Camperdown and then the showery weather stopped for the rest of the way to Yambuk.

We left around 9.30am and stopped off at Warrnambool for some bread and a few bits and pieces as well as a top up for fuel.  

A few caravaners going in the opposite direction to us but otherwise the traffic wasn't heavy.  There was a very strong southerly wind (tending from the west) today and when we got to Yambuk just on lunch it was blowing a gale!  It was still grey and cold.

Set up the tent in the unpowered section which is on a slope but the tent is pretty flat!  We have a sensational view of Yambuk lake and are a little closer to the water compared to where the powered sites are ...

 our view looking northwards ...

 had a late lunch and then decided to go for a paddle despite the raging winds - probably around 25km per hour.  So we set up the trolleys for the kayaks, chucked Kouta in Neils and walked down to the lake ... that Kouta he really has the life!

there are quite a few spots to launch from and if you look at the kayaks you can see they are angling to the right - we didn't put them in like that - the wind is blowing left to right (of the photo) and is pushing them that way and so the waves on the lake are also flowing left to right.

 we head out and decide to go to the mouth of the river as it is more sheltered compared to the rest of the lake ... the sand dunes shelter the water from the howling winds coming off the ocean.

 as you can see it looks pretty calm here ...

it is  not far to the river mouth and the tide is out as there is sand between us and the ocean!

on the way back you get a good view of the look out and giant slide - this slide is quite popular and every now and then you get a disturbance of the peace and tranquility when someone goes down it!

 so around the corner from the slide we pass by where we launched the boats and if you look at the water you can see it is a little rough - but when this photo is taken the wind is behind us ...

 and it is really pushing us along - no need to paddle.
We can see the giant windmills from the campsite but you are even closer to them when you pass by them on the lake ...

 We are heading north of the lake and we are  not sure where the Shaw and Eumeralla rivers are will have to google them.  We thought we came to some turn off and could see water and birds ahead ... alas when I tried to go through it was very shallow and the rudder had to come up and the wind was so strong I couldn't control the kayak let alone paddle through the shallow water!  So we turned around to come back and boy was that hard!  It is a very strong head wind and we didn't do that bad coming back - figured out it is best to tackle the waves head on (rather than at an angle) and have the kayak perpendicular or bisecting the wave - I found I went alot faster and didn't drift towards the short much!  I did manage to get a photo out in the middle of the lake of our tent spot!

 relieved to get back we decided to beach the kayaks just below where the tent is and off course Kouta gets a free ride back ... this time in my kayak!

tomorrow we are here and will try to make it to Eumeralla river - I think the wind is here for the rest of the week!