We woke to a damp grey morning, the wind is still blowing but not as strong as yesterday. During the night there was a little rain but I think we all slept through alot of it so we have no idea how much rain fell!
Despite the grey clouds the sun did pop out now and then and it was considerably warmer than yesterday!
We looked at the map of the lake last night and we realised that where we tried to cut through yesterday where it was shallow would have taken us through to the other side of the lake. Looking at the view of the lake from the lookout we could see that too.
We started out around 10.15am and since the wind is still blowing from the same direction - south we had a good tail wind going up the lake ....
before I forget - we are using your 'hoko' Ray
there is plenty of birdlife on this lake - no ducks at the moment (I suspect they may have been scared off or shot during hunting season the other weekend!)
Neil is trying out a few fashionable designs for his head gear on this trip!
it is a bandana under a cap look - Kouta looks away in disgust and embarassment!
Here is Neil scaring off a flock of birds ...
We wanted to find the mouth of the Eumeralla river and go up it a bit but weren't sure how far it was but it was easy to find if we stuck to the left side of the lake when going north ...
it is a lovely narrow river and once on it it was considerably calmer than the lake. When it came time to having a cuppa we couldn't find anywhere to land so we did the next best thing and that was launch ourselves into the long reeds that are either side of the river ...
my kayak wouldn't stay put so Neil had to hold it while I made the cuppas ...
not long after this photo was taken my kayak moves, knocks my thermos onto my cup of coffee which in turn spilt all in the kayak and to make matters worse I went to rinse my sponge out to clean the mess up and I loose it while squeezing it out in the water and it gets stuck under the kayaks, so Neil prepares to get his sponge and eventually my kayak moves and up pops my sponge ... I set about cleaning up the mess and I end up drifting up stream!
at this point it has taken us around 55mins to get to our cuppa point, knowing that we have a solid headwind getting back we decide to go back. It was easy going to the mouth of the river...
once in the lake it is another matter, water is going everywhere - poor kouta is wet from the spray from the paddles and is not enjoying himself at all! The going is hard but the arms are remarkably strong and we find it easier than what we had anticipated. We get back and it has only taken us 70mins to get back following the same route we took up.
Tomorrow we pack up and make our way to Nelson. As this week progresses the wind is suppose to get lighter!
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