Day 12 Wellington to Point Sturt via Narrung and Raukkan 35 km

Wellington Ferry as we set off

Simon turned on the light at 5:10 am 20 minutes earlier than our agreement. I knew getting on the water early was important today but I felt like I had only just fallen asleep.

We finished breakfast and packed the kayaks at 1st light. We dragged the kayaks down to the water and paddled past the ferry. There was mist rising from the river.

Further along the river cormorants in their thousands perched in the taller trees over the river. as we approached there was a stampede as the birds were flying off the perches over the river. It was amazing to watch.

As the river widened into the lake I had to pee. Should not have had the big coffee this morning! We headed to the eastern side of the river.

Much relieved we paddled on - we chose a point on the far distant Narrung Peninsula and paddled towards it for 2 hours.  After being bounced around by the following sea caused by the northerly breeze we landed on an inlet near some farm buildings. I almost collided with Simon landing my kayak on the lee shore. We both gto water in the cockpit and have to use the pumps to clear it out. I also broke the bow handle of my kayak. In future I will have to tow the kayak backward.

Narrung Jetty

We landed 5 km east of Narrung and then paddled along the shore until we entered the Narrung Inlet where there is a ferry. We landed in some grungy water and pulled the kayaks up. We chat with a guy camping there and researched the General Store situation. No store here. Our lunch is Cup-a-soup - there is nothing else left.

Point Malcolm Lighthouse opposite Narrung - Not operational

After lunch we paddled 6 km around the coast to Raukkan. We are paddled along when we were overflown by a mass of cormorants streaming from the shore. There are tens of thousands of cormorants escorted by a few pelicans. After the cormorants there are more pelicans gliding just above the water. Later we pass a mob of approx 300 pelicans on shore.

The General Store at Ruakkan is closed for a meeting - it is not our day. Simon chats with a local and we hang around for 20 minutes before giving up. Raukkan is an historic village set up by the Aboriginal Friends Society as a settlement in the early 20th century and is the home of the Nrranjeri Nation group. It is strange to call buildings built by Europeans a century ago historic in relation to a culture that existed for 60,000 years. The settlement was originally called Port Macleay and was home to David Uniapon the aboriginal polymath whose picture is on the $50 note.

From here we had another open water crossing to Point Sturt. There was a South-West wind and waves in our face. It took 2 hours to make the crossing of 5 km. Finally we arrive at Point Sturt and camp the night. We chat to some other campers - Wayne an interesting guy is excited by a seal lion he had been watching. We had passed a dead seal rolling in the waves an hour earlier - we think it is the same one.

Later when we are cooking dinner my phone rings. It is Prashad ringing to tell me of a contract job offer coming my way. It sounds good so I tentatively agree to let him put my name forward. I am not looking for work but the dollars sound very tempting.