Afternoon paddle

The weather has been very wet and unpredictable lately so it was nice to be able to get out on the bay for a late afternoon paddle in perfect conditions.

Mudfest

The 6hr Enduro at Kuwongbah was held on the weekend and as always happens when a race is held there ... it rained the days before so the track was a mudfest. Glad I wasn't racing but good to catch up with people who were.

Launch of the Guillemot

It has taken over 12 months to build and today was the launch of Guillemot kayak built by Laurie and John. Using plans bought of the web, the pair of new kayak builders sourced and cut their own wooden strips before painstakingly building the kayak up each strip at a time. Laurie had not worked with wood like this before but was happy to work with John who some would say is a master craftsman with building wooden creations, although this was the first time he had attempted a boat.

Rather than break a bottle of champagne over the bow and risk damaging the boat ;-( ... the bottle was duly opened then poured over the bow (testing the front hatch at the same time).

With a shake of hands, the newly built kayak was ready for the water. :-)

There was some questions like "Will it float?"

Of course it did, and Laurie took it for a short paddle without showing us the hull .... he could finally savour the work put in.

Equally, John enjoyed his first paddle. :-)

With smiles all round, the crowd of onlookers enjoyed the remains of the champange.

What's in a blade?

What's in a blade? ... quite a lot really. Although the differences are subtle, the way they feel and perform can be quite different. Try before you buy is the best thing that can be done when deciding on which blade is right for you.

Which one? .... still deciding.    :-)

King Island

Another beautiful morning as we headed out from Wellington Pt to "discover" the remote King Island (not in Bass Straight ... that's Silvio's blog).  Ok, well it felt remote as we were the only people on it. After a short break, we headed across to Tingalpa Ck with its very interesting(?) house boats.

On the way back to Wellington Pt we saw what seemed to be people walking across the water. Was this some mass religious experience on Sunday morning???

As we got closer, thoughts of remote islands disappeared as we realised the low tide sandbar allowed everyone with legs and/or a walking frame could also "discover" King Island.   :-(

Did this lot get caught out by the incoming tide?  Maybe...   ;-)

Gap Creek mid-week

Normally on the weekends all the tracks are busy with mountain bikers going every which way. Mid-week at Gap Ck is another world. Nobody about, tracks to yourselves .... excellent.  

And the bush is looking incredibly green and lush

Hit by car .... and it didn't stop!!!!

(click on image to enlarge)

The red car in the Google Earth image is not the car in question but is in about the same position as the silver WRX was when it decided to turn left without indicating (the red line in the image is my track as recorded by my GPS) As I happened to be going straight across the roundabout we collided ... me into his passenger side. It knocked me off the bike but I was able to land on my feet, realise there was another car coming my way locking its brakes up as I dragged the bike and myself off the road.

.... and the silver WRX didn't stop!!!! After I checked for obvious injuries and bike damage I headed down the hill looking for the WRX which had driven up a side street then when the driver saw me coming down the hill, they sped off. I got close enough to get most of their number plate and have reported to the police who will have a chat with the driver in the first instance.

The Edge 305 gps recorded the whole event including my speed and heart rate. Understandably, as my speed abruptly stopped my heart rate went up.

Dawn patrol to Green Island

Although the forecast was for wind up to 20kts, the launch seemed perfect for a paddle across to Green Island.



The beach with a mix of sand and broken coral could be miles from civilisation ... except that you can still see BrisVegas 5.5km to the west.



Perhaps this is why they call it Green Island?



The calm before the storm? ... not quite, just smooth paddling out of the wind before the 6.5km run home when the wind did get up to around 20kts.

3 in a row.

An easy paddle around Coochie this morning with light winds. Before a break at the beach I thought I would try a few rolls in the kayak. After completing three in a row I was very happy. This was only my 5th day trying and the first without anyone spotting me.   :-)

3 years of Wed mornings

Wednesday the 11th of February was the third anniversary of the Daisy Hill Wednesday morning ride. Much of the group has changed over that time but there are a core of regulars who are generally there each week.

Some say that we are all similar in some way :-O If you look at the photo closely you may notice something odd ;-) (click on the image for a larger view)

Sunset over the Eastern Escarpement

A different view of the Eastern Escarpement (EE). This was taken from our campsite at Blakeley's Anchorage on North Stradbroke Island which is only accessible by boat. We paddled our sea kayaks from Redland Bay via Karragarra Island to Blakeley's to spend a very pleasant evening there.

The spacious campsite with a great water view.

Beware - the Karragarra Ninja are following.

"Will you guys stop talking and help me get my head out of here ... its stuck!!"

Damiano in an interesting seascape.

Dawn Patrol to the EE

It was time for another dawn patrol out to the eastern escapement (EE). As you climb up onto the EE, the early morning sun can be seen lighting up the city of Brisbane a short distance away. Today the weather was great, the company excellent and all in all another great way to start the day.








... and we found this on the way back ;-)

Bushwalking in the blood

This is a photograph of my grandfather bushwalking on the Baw Baw plateau near Melbourne about 80 years ago.  

This was me about to go bushwalking in the Bunya mtns in the 1960's. There is a distinct similarity about the socks and walking stick. Bushwalking in the blood?

Surfing in kayaks

Taking to the surf for the first time in the sea kayak was great fun. Bribie was the venue with Damiano giving paddling tips and taking the photos of me enjoying the waves.

Wednesday Morning air time.

A great morning for a mtb ride out in the Daisy Hill forest. 18 of us took to the singletrack with our usual skill and constant chatter ;-) There was a bit of air to be had, with Kylie being the winner of most air time and most style.


Flyboy gets a lot of air at work and also got some through the rock garden on TOL today. Here he is keeping it solid.


ABQ took to the air on Koala but landed softly. Here ABQ shows his RR attack style so as not to get any more air over Stonehenge

50k ... its been a while.

Original photo by FPK (this one highly edited)

Its been a while since I rode 50km on the mountain bike ... so it was time to get out and join the Dirt Dogs Glasshouse Mountains tour. A very enjoyable ride of 50km over the best trails that the area had to offer.

... and there was only one patch of mud :-)

A dual suspension single speed ... not something you see everyday.

Turtle, stingray ... SHARK :-0

The plan was a short paddle from Victoria Pt to the northern end of Macleay Island via Coochie .... but with the arrival of a strong southerly change, Kev's inaugural voyage of the "White Knight" was to be some what shortened.

With 20 knots of wind gusting 25 and forecast to get stronger, some of us managed to paddle part of the way to Macleay. On the way, a small turtle surfaced near us, there was also a stingray taking to the air as it flew out of the water. I also noticed the dorsal fin of a shark ..... a SHARK!!!  :-0 .... not more than 7 metres away. I'd estimate it to be about 1.5 - 2m long ... so not that big, and it wasn't interested in us (that we knew of) .... maybe that is why the stingray took to the air ???

An enjoyable and somewhat challenging paddle at times.

Kev making final adjustments on the "White Knight"

Karen gets the jump on Kev and is first out of the starting gates.

Extreme Vespa washing

While most of us go to great lengths to save water, someone went to extreme lengths the other morning to wash their Vespa.

Summer at Byron

Summer means surfing at Byron. After 2 months without a decent swell, it was on for young and old when it did arrive.

Conditions ranged from 35knots southerlies to off shore winds on corderoy lines of swell to glassy mornings of waves to yourself.