When we first started looking at what there is to see when you visit the Macquarie Marshes we came across the fact that you could go on a kayak tour. That sounded rather lovely, so we decided to book. Now, keep in mind, I have not been in a kayak ever and only once in a canoe - at Sport and Recreation Camp in sixth class in 1976…….. fifty years ago. No worries, it says you just need moderate fitness and have to be over the age of 10. Yes, I can do that.
We made sure we had our crocs for getting our feet wet getting into the kayak and had older clothes to wear.
Then, while at the camp site the previous day we were chatting to some people who had done the tour the previous day and they were talking about how they stayed an extra day to wash their clothes after they got quite muddy while wading through the mud dragging their kayaks!!!!! Say what??? There was nothing about that in the FAQ section.
We then had a chat to the organiser. It turned out that there was a section on what to wear on the payment receipt. It was in rather small print down the bottom and I had missed it. It said to wear old sandshoes or reef shoes….. and not to wear crocs. Well, Mick only had his crocs and his good walking boots. I did have some sandshoes, but they were slip in ones. Anyway, Mick’s crocs are not genuine crocs and do have a very tight heel strap, so he said he would muddle with them and to make sure mine didn’t get sucked off, Mick would wrap gaffer tape tightly around them. It would have to do.
The previous day had been quite cool and windy and the people we spoke to said how cold they all were by the end of the tour.
As a result of this I was extremely anxious and seriously considered pulling out. However, Mick encouraged me to still give it a go.
The tour has a maximum of four people and there were another lovely couple with us. As it turned out, she too was rather anxious about the tour.
Fortunately for us, the day dawned still, so we hoped for warmer weather.
We arrived at our starting point in the early morning, just beside the Monkeygar Bird Hide and were kitted up with our life jacket and kayak.
We all managed to get ourselves in and started to paddle out into a lovely lagoon.
There were lots of pelicans and ducks.
We ended up having perfect weather and felt very lucky to have chosen this particular day for the tour.
There was a whistling kite nest in one of the trees.
We were in private property at this stage and started to leave the lagoon and head into the reed beds. There was actually quite a current in places and we all ended up crashing into the reeds at times. We learned to just stop paddling and the current would take us backwards and we could have another go at going in the right direction.
Eventually, we came to a barbed wire fence where we had to hop out of out kayaks and climb through the fence. We were then in the Nature Reserve.
This is where we had to start walking through knee deep water and mud, dragging our kayaks, for about 100 metres. There was one spot where there was a definite step down. It was all very slippery, so we took it quite slowly.
Once we reached the other end we hopped back into our kayaks and were paddling upstream in the creek itself, among the trees, rather than the reeds.
This was the prettiest part of the trip.
We went so far, and then turned around and went back downstream the way we had come. It was quicker and easier. Before we turned around, we were able to see an eagle nest in a tree.
Then we had to drag our kayaks back to the fence. When we reached that area with the step in the water, I didn’t quite step far enough and slipped over. Oh dear! There has to be one. It was only water and mud and my phone didn’t get wet, as it was in the top pocket of the life jacket. At least I was still smiling and laughed it off.
We then had to negotiate the reed beds again, this time with the current behind us, so a bit more tricky to disentangle ourselves when we invariably got stuck.
We had a group photo taken of us.
Finally, we were back to the lagoon, which was much easier paddling.
All up, we were on the water for about three hours. It was quite an experience and I felt rather proud to have done it, as it was very much out of my comfort zone, not being a lover of water at the best of times.
So, this is how I looked at the end of it. As I said, it was just mud.
Obviously, we had to do a load of washing when we returned to camp.
We then had a nice lazy afternoon. Mick cooked a camp oven roast, after which we spent a pleasant evening sitting around the camp fire chatting to the other couple who were with us on the tour.
Would I do it again? Probably not, but am very glad we did it this time.
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