Our big trip for this year was to kayak the flat-water portion of the Murray River in Western Australia. This is something of a classic journey, but we decided to add our own little touch to it. Rather than finish at the mouth of the Murray, in South Yunderup, we decided to finish in Mandurah itself, and cross the Peel Inlet as well.
Now to put this in perspective, we did not cross the Inlet at its widest point, or even close to it. We took a slice off one edge, and crossed there, following a route similar to the major passage, but a bit closer to shore. This decision would come back to haunt us later.
Being friendly sorts, we made various invites to people to join us in the tamer parts of our adventure. In the end, two of our friends joined in, and decided to accompany us for the entire Murray River portion.
This is the route we took: Now the Murray River portion covered Friday Nov 6 to Sunday Nov 8, we crossed the Peel Inlet on the 9th, and then spent two and a half days around Mandurah and Erskine.
The banks of the Murray are very muddy, with a sticky black sucking mud that eats shoes, feet, and unwary kayakers.
The food at the Ravenswood Hotel is better than it should be. And allergen aware.
Ravenswood Adventures (the kayak hire place) will gladly help you out with odd transport arrangements
Rainstorms will hit at the least convenient moment
Weather forecasts can change - sometimes for bad, sometimes for good. Keep checking them. (Which we did.)
For normal kayaks, figure on about 4kph over distance. For mirage driven ones, figure on 4nmph (about twice the speed), although over short distances the conventional kayaks can get a higher speed.
Falling tides are not your friend over shallow water. They are under bridges.
Plan your trip. Really plan your trip. Make sure your food is split into meals, and make sure you have alternatives.
Carry spare batteries for everything. Carry spare memory cards for cameras.
A mobile 3G/Wifi access point is worth it. As are laptops with no moving parts.
There is no such thing as too many dry bags.
The restaurant at Mandurah Quays Resort is allergen aware and stunning good.
The mozzies in Yunderup need to request low-level flight clearances from CASA. But Rid keeps them off.
Sails really help. So do outriggers. Except when you're docking at a jetty.
Budgies make good raptor food.
Any hotel that will let you check in whilst wearing wetsuit booties and a skinsuit is good value (Ravenswood, Tathams, Forte Mandurah Quays Resort)
Lympago Forums › Blogs, etc › Rob's Burblings › Pinjarra to Mandurah by Kayak - an adventure (Moderators: rdm)
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Pinjarra to Mandurah by Kayak - an adventure
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