Day 5 @ Killarney

What began as a lovely sunny and beautiful day ended in absolute tragedy for us ... will explain at the end!

We slept until 8am, not sure why we slept for 11 hours last night - maybe the hard kayaking yesterday.  After complaining to Neil about the lack of sun yesterday today we woke to blue skies and sun so out came all the solar panels to charge up the battery packs!

Looking forward to kayaking in the sun today and when we got to Port Fairy every man, his mate and boats where out - I tell you if everyone that was parked at Port Fairy sold their boat that would solve Austrailias financial problems.  There were 4WDs' and trailers parked everywhere .... unfortunately there is only 1 place to launch the boats and even we had trouble finding a place to launch the kayaks - everything is up high above the causeway walls so we did manage to find a spot, a little rocky when the tide is out but okay.

The tide was coming in when we left and before we launched we decided that we might go out to the ocean as we stopped to have a look at East beach and it was relatively calm and okay to kayak.  As we were loading the kayaks a local was chatting and said yes that it is a good day to go out to the ocean ... and so we did!

On our way down the causeway we spot a sea lion and all I could do was point and shoot when I heard it taking a breath and this is all I could manage ...

 The causeway is about 500m long and it is where all the boats come and go.  At the entrance we come across a fishing boat returning ...

 and then you are out in the ocean!

 as you can see it is relatively calm and there is a little swell but okay to paddle through ... It was Neils idea to go out to the ocean and as soon as we get out there he says "oh I'm a bit apprehensive out here in the ocean" yeah good one Neil it was your idea so pull yourself together and paddle!

 It wasn't bad at all and I felt okay out there, it is very deep and the water is crystal clear, there is a very light wind (I would not have done this on previous days when the southerly winds have been really blowing!)  Just to the left of the mouth it is quite calm so we cut across and came back along the outer wall of the causeway ....

 here I am looking relaxed out in the ocean!

 we then decided to go on the other side of the causeway so we crossed over the mouth and it wasn't necessarily rough but I thought the swell was a little bigger as there was a few swells where I felt a little sea sick ... memories of the Claymore came flooding back!  This is the lighthouse on the island that has all the shearwater birds ... Dad you may remember it?

 see the swell is a little bigger in this photo ...

 so we turn around and come back up through the causeway back to where we launched ...

 nice houses along here - most are holiday apartments ...

 we decide to continue on pass our launching place to see how far we can go, we can see the water level is higher so we may be able to make it to the water inlet that is opposite the golf course (coming in by car we could hardly see any water in there!)  So under the bridge that the cars all go over ...

and clearly the tide is in ...

 the water level is still low and we do have to do a bit of navigating, we continue for another 30mins and then it became too shallow and we managed to get just before it enters the inlet opposite the golf course.
Coming back was in the wind and the arms were beginning to feel it - very relieved to see this pedestrian bridge as on the other side of it to the left is where we launched ...

So coming in to dock and Neil takes the area by the rails going into the water and directs me to his left, well you remember at the start of this post I mentioned the tragedy?  well this is it ...
I stepped out of my kayak with my left leg, as you take the right leg out and into the water the left leg is suppose to move and pivot to enable you to spin and place the right leg in the water ... well what did MY left leg do ... nothing, nadda, absolutely bugger all so as a result the stupid right leg continues to place itself in the water and so does the bum, my back and boobs - all under water! and here is the tragedy ... everything is under water and so is my camera that is harnessed to my life jacket!  I am livid with the fact that the camera case is soaking and we desperately try to dry it off but later on when it is all dry the camera isn't working - the memory card is okay just not the camera.
Neil is still trying to figure out how I managed to fall, all I can say is my left foot refused to move as it had sunk in the sand and so I couldn't pivot.  Soaking we load the kayaks on the car and I wrap Koutas smelly dog towel around me and we drive back to camp!  Still annoyed at myself with the camera - we have been racking our brains as to come up with a solution with the camera scenario - a waterproof camera doesn't have a zoom lens on it so I really don't want one of those, having it somewhere on the kayak is difficult as I put it in a plastic container and it is a hard and lengthy process to retrieve it from there when you need to take photos, thinking along the lines of Phil/Dad and putting it in a plasic bag might be an okay idea but to wrap, unwrap and take a photo is a bit like putting it in a container, I do like the idea of a container but its' own small container with a clip clap lid (the other style of lid is very difficult to open as I have tried that!) lucky we still have Neils old camera so we will look into getting another cheapie one as you can get quite good cameras for under $150 as we all know this IS going to happen again so dropping a cheap camera or submerging it is no big deal compared to doing it to an expensive one!
Tomorrow of to Peterborough.