It was meant to be a windy day. It started with a shower of rain too. I thought to myself, “That’s it, I won’t be able to (or be keen to) go kayaking today”. Then I saw this wonderful double rainbow outside my home: –
The rain had stopped and there was no wind at all. “That’s it,” I thought, “I have to give it a go”. I wanted to visit the Ships’ Graveyard in the North Arm of the Port River. I had tried two days earlier, but had found it difficult to get there at the time. My plan was to paddle across from Snowden’s Beach to the North Arm, and on to the Ships’ Graveyard. That’s no mean feat, however, especially in any kind of windy conditions.
There was a slight breeze by the time that I got started on the water. It wasn’t easy going crossing the river to the North Arm. It wasn’t too bad, but it took me a while longer that what I had hoped for. I could relax more once that I was within the North Arm. I paddled on towards the Ships’ Graveyard and was glad to pass through the Garden Island bridge and reach the Graveyard.
It was much calmer there and the water was quite clear as I worked my way through the numerous wrecks there.
I didn’t see any dolphins or pelicans this time, but there was still a bit of birdlife around. I also spotted a toadfish a couple of times. The area is surrounded by mangroves.
I thought that I had better not spend too much time there due to the forecast winds. That was good thinking on my part because it was hard paddling out of the North Arm and back across the river to the boat ramp at Snowden’s Beach. I was relieved when I was able to gently drift back towards the ramp.
Back at the ramp, I was pleased to see that SARDI had named one of their boats “Congolli”, after a ‘native fish’ they told me. “Yes, I know”, I told them, “There are some out there in the North Arm.”, referring to a discovery of mine a year or so ago – see Further Discoveries at the Ships Graveyard .
Visit NatureMaps to view the location of the Ships’ Graveyard and the area for my paddling trip.
(All photos taken at the Ships’ Graveyard by Steve Reynolds)