Southwest Arm
Mar. 21st, 2015 02:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranToday was the day of our long-planned expedition up the Southwest Arm and into the Royal National Park. The weather wasn't great, but at least we were well prepared...
We set off from the little beach near the picnic area we had reconnoitred earlier. At least it was a beach, when my friends Chris and James left their kayaks there. When they came back, they found it was rapidly becoming a little bay...
Setting out onto the Hacking. The Southwest Arm lies off to the right. The dark patch of water ahead shows the effects of the strong southerly, that was touching twenty knots earlier in the morning.
At first the Southwest Arm was quite wide and we had to do a bit of work against the wind. Fortunately, the tide was with us, pushing us rapidly upstream into the wind.
As we went on, the waterway narrowed and the wind was masked by the land.
Paddling became a lot easier, and we even had time to throw in a line so Liem could fish.
No catches this time, but we did get this photo of a little fish chasing Liem's lure. There was a whole school of them, and bigger fish around too, but none went as far as taking the bait...
Getting deeper into the Royal National Park. Here we spotted a Nankeen Night Heron, common, but very shy and rarely sighted. We didn't manage to get a photo though (see "very shy")...
Deeper still, and the river, now almost a creek, was lined by steep sandstone cliffs. You can't see it in the photo, but the water was also crystal clear and quite shallow. You could see the bottom most of the time. Lots of big fish swimming past too.
A close up of some of the rocks.
At the tidal limit was a deep, deep pool. There was no seeing the bottom here. An amazingly tranquil place to sit on the water, waiting to come ashore.
For the next phase of our adventure, we followed the creek uphill on foot...
Until at last we reached Winifred Falls...
Exploring the falls form all angles...
Heading back again. This time Liem found a new use for the black "dry bag" behind his seat...
Seen on the way back. This rock was almost a perfect cube.
We saw a huge white-bellied sea eagle both heading out and coming in. We didn't get close enough for a good picture though.
Nearly back at the picnic ground. One of the white dots on the right is my car.
Back at the launching site, looking out across Port Hacking. The end of a wonderful expedition. We also tried, and failed, to locate Saddle Creek, which is supposed to lead to another, smaller, set of falls. At least that still leaves something for next time. Another adventure, for another day...
We set off from the little beach near the picnic area we had reconnoitred earlier. At least it was a beach, when my friends Chris and James left their kayaks there. When they came back, they found it was rapidly becoming a little bay...
Setting out onto the Hacking. The Southwest Arm lies off to the right. The dark patch of water ahead shows the effects of the strong southerly, that was touching twenty knots earlier in the morning.
At first the Southwest Arm was quite wide and we had to do a bit of work against the wind. Fortunately, the tide was with us, pushing us rapidly upstream into the wind.
As we went on, the waterway narrowed and the wind was masked by the land.
Paddling became a lot easier, and we even had time to throw in a line so Liem could fish.
No catches this time, but we did get this photo of a little fish chasing Liem's lure. There was a whole school of them, and bigger fish around too, but none went as far as taking the bait...
Getting deeper into the Royal National Park. Here we spotted a Nankeen Night Heron, common, but very shy and rarely sighted. We didn't manage to get a photo though (see "very shy")...
Deeper still, and the river, now almost a creek, was lined by steep sandstone cliffs. You can't see it in the photo, but the water was also crystal clear and quite shallow. You could see the bottom most of the time. Lots of big fish swimming past too.
A close up of some of the rocks.
At the tidal limit was a deep, deep pool. There was no seeing the bottom here. An amazingly tranquil place to sit on the water, waiting to come ashore.
For the next phase of our adventure, we followed the creek uphill on foot...
Until at last we reached Winifred Falls...
Exploring the falls form all angles...
Heading back again. This time Liem found a new use for the black "dry bag" behind his seat...
Seen on the way back. This rock was almost a perfect cube.
We saw a huge white-bellied sea eagle both heading out and coming in. We didn't get close enough for a good picture though.
Nearly back at the picnic ground. One of the white dots on the right is my car.
Back at the launching site, looking out across Port Hacking. The end of a wonderful expedition. We also tried, and failed, to locate Saddle Creek, which is supposed to lead to another, smaller, set of falls. At least that still leaves something for next time. Another adventure, for another day...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2015-03-21 06:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-21 08:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-21 05:15 pm (UTC)And I love the name of the Nankeen Night Heron, even if he is too shy to appear in photos...
no subject
Date: 2015-03-21 07:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-22 01:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-22 07:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-24 08:59 pm (UTC)What are the trees that stick out, aslant and with delicate-seeming foliage, from on top of the sandstone cliffs?
no subject
Date: 2015-03-25 07:54 am (UTC)