Kayaks are sensible transport

Looking down at the Karbeethong Jetty this morning, just about 7am I was reminded that there was a fishing competition on this weekend.  I had expected it to be a powerboat event but it was actually run by Hobie Kayaks.  They headed off in 2 bunches, with one lot heading up the Narrows and the others across Bottom Lake.
 Here is a close up of the Narrows fleet.
 It was also a Marshmead visiting weekend.  This is a campus of Methodist  Ladies  College - anexpensive private school in Melbourne - located on the remote side of the Inlet.  On one weekend per term the parents get to visit.  We had been told it was easy to work out when this is on, as the quality of clothes worn around the streets rises dramatically.  That wasn't very apparent in town this morning!

What was apparent was that all the parents were wearing life jackets on the boats coming back across the Inlet.  It was a bit choppy: my weather station recorded gusts over 45kph for most of the morning, and BoM reported a gust of 72kph on Gabo Island.
 I took my bike for a wander in that direction about 1300 hrs   hrs and found that the olds would have  got their feet wet getting out on the jetty!
Some of the kayakers were around the place.
I haven't obfuscated this guy's face - he was wearing a black balaclava because:
  • he was concerned about sunburn; and/or
  • his face would be visible to the fish; and/or
  • he'd just done a number on the Bendigo Bank in town.
Most of the kayaks were pretty well kitted out.  Note the fish holding esky (with pump to oxygenate the water), depth gauge, deluxe chair etc etc.  The bare boat would cost about $5,000!
 I decided that I'd go up into the National Park  to see what was there.  As I entered the Park there were warning about the track being flooded in parts.  This was not a false alarm.  As we found out on Christmas Day 2002 Kiswahili has a useful phrase "barabara kufuta" which translates directly as "the road has been erased.
 The original track is marked in red, with the dry route in yellow.
There were also a few fallen trees across the path so after 4 blockages I gave up and returned.  Here are some morew kayaks with the Howe Range in the background.


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