NORTH ROAD TRIP - BUCCARUMBI - 7 TO 9 NOVEMBER 2021

We left Lawrence and stopped at Grafton for food and petrol.

Our journey took us along the Old Glen Innes Road. It started as a bitumen road but changed to dirt. It remained dirt/gravel most of the way with bitumen in small sections. We drove at a leisurely pace enjoying the farm and bush scenery.

We crossed the new bridge over the Nymboida River at Buccarumbi and set up a free camp.  We were on a hillside overlooking the river between stands of casuarinas. The river flowed under the bridge and cascaded through the remains of the old bridge and into the wilds.

The swimming was good – walking down a track to the river bank, slipping into the cool water and lazily drifting with the current towards the bridge.

The area was surrounded by farms or difficult to walk through vegetation. There were a number of tracks leading around to the Boyd River but not quite. Overall, it seemed a bit snaky.

I had two kayaks.

The first was up the Nymboida River. There were a few rapids which I portered around. The return journey was fun – down the rapids (grade2), manoeuvring around rocky areas, passing clumps of tall spindly reeds and drifting with the current.

The second kayak was up the Boyd River. The junction with the Nymboida River was piled high and wide with river pebbles. There were some small birds that blended in with the greyish rock. I did a lot of portering as the water was shallow. The scenery was wild and stark. The trees were still recovering from the bushfires of two years ago. The return was great – drifting, shallow rapids and lots of rock obstacles.

The weather was generally sunny but we did have a lot of off and on showers especially, in the late afternoon and night.

In the afternoon, we lit a campfire and sat around it eating dinner, having a couple of drinks and watching the day come to a close.

COOKS RIVER CYCLE - 'BRIDGES' - 16 DECEMBER 2019

Down to Sydney today for a short while. I was taking my daughter to a medical appointment. While she was there I had a cycle along Cooks River.

It was a fun cycle with heaps of bridges to cross, a very narrow path under a bridge and some short tracks through the bush. There were a few diversions along the way.

TERRIGAL LAGOON KAYAK - 27 NOVEMBER 2018

A kayak at Terrigal Lagoon

For a long time the water level has been very low. Too low for a decent kayak. But today it was fine.

I paddled under the western bridge and up to the backwaters of the lagoon. It was pleasant and adventurous paddling around the narrow waterways at the western end.

I paddled back and towards Terrigal Beach. I landed on the beach side and walked over the sand to the ocean shore. There were small waves breaking in glassy conditions … very pretty.

FAGANS BAY KAYAK - MUNMORAH MTB - SHELLEY BEACH SURF - 12 APRIL 2018

11 april 2018

A kayak around Fagans Bay in Brisbane Water National Park.

I started at East Gosford and paddled towards and under restaurant, under a pier, under the supports of the old railway bridge and under the railway bridge.

From there, I was in Fagans Bay where I paddled the circumference of the bay passing the mangroves and paddling through mangroves.

There were a number of birds including the Royal Spoonbill.

The water was very glassy in most parts of the bay but when I disturbed the fish and stingrays the water churned up noticeably.

Afterwards, I had coffee at Tommy's at East Gosford.

Later in the afternoon, a swim at The Haven was nice despite the strong NE wind.

12 April 2018

Up to Munmorah SCA for a mountain bike ride.



I rode The Quarry tracks. It started off on a very steep and narrow track to the far base of the old quarry.

I rode out of the quarry and bush bashed over a bit of track blockage then rode a long downhill track till it ended near the thick vegetation of a creek. Of course, it was an uphill grind back.

The second track was a turn off at the end of the Quarry Trail. This was a new track for me. It was downhill, rough and fun. As with the first track it ended near a creek and it was a grind back to the top.

I decided on checking out Snapper Point  and was rewarded with great views north over Ghosties Beach, Flat Rock Point and Frazer Park.

On the way home, I stopped at Shelley Beach. I had a fun surf in strong offshore winds. There were some good waves but a bit of a lull at times.

SYDNEY, COOKS RIVER KAYAK - 11 OCTOBER 2017

At Sydney again so I decided on a kayak along a part of Cooks River and Wolli Creek.

It was a bit difficult finding a place to launch. The place I had picked was actually fenced off from the water. I drove about a kilometre along the river before I came to a parking area near the water. I had to carry the kayak a short distance and launch down some slippery stairs .

I was on the water and paddled along Cooks River which was fringed with river mangroves. There were a number of birds in spots and heaps of bridges to go under.  The traffic carried by the bridges varied from trains, pedestrians, cars to oil pipelines.

Eventually, I reached the convergence of Wolli Creek and paddled along it. 

It was fringed by mangroves in parts and weeds in others but it was surprisingly pretty. 

There were a lot of fish jumping about and a lot of cormorants looking for a feed.

There were a number of industrial and highrise buildings on the eastern shore. On the western shore, there were mangroves and other trees, parklands and a rocky hillside.

The creek ended at a concrete weir.

It was an unusual kayak and worth the effort.

SYDNEY, COOKS RIVER MTB - 10 OCTOBER 2017

A  trip to Sydney for Kara's medical treatment.  It started at 10 am and finished approximately 3:30pm. There wasn't much for me to do there but wait so I used the time to do some nearby activities.

Today, I decided on a bike ride along the Cooks River cycle path. 

I started going to the west but found it a bit boring after awhile as it was too urbanized.

I backtracked and headed towards the east.

This was much better. Highlights included: low hanging tree branches, low bridges, narrow bridges to cross, roads with traffic to cross, groups of birds, a blue tongue lizard, a chat with an old Scottish guy, some regenerated wetlands, lots of paths and a few tracks.

I rode as far as the Princess Highway bridge at Tempe. This brought to mind a lot of very old and fun memories. My very first friends and I use to ride our bikes from Newtown to Tempe and wander around Tempe Tip (gone now), crawl along the length of the Princess Highway bridge underneath it, walk along the top of the oil pipes on the bridge and even floated out to Fatima Island on old bedding mattresses. The latter sank on us and it took ages before a fisherman would give us a lift back to shore.

So it was a very good day, remembering and riding.