Kayaking
One of my favourite things to do in life is kayaking.
For many years I owned a kayak, but I had little time to use it. You can’t easily carry a kayak around while you’re travelling, especially when you are travelling (fairly) light, and are keeping your options open for public transport and simple storage when you leave the (borrowed) car somewhere. So, when I started this house-sitting tour of Australia, I sold my kayak along with our house and car – now I have the time for kayaking, and I certainly visit the places to use one, but I don’t have a kayak!
Fortunately, I occasionally cross paths with a kayak, either by borrowing one, being taken out in one, or by hiring one.
While I have some very definite ideas about what sort of kayak I will get next time I’m in a position to own one, I don’t care too much what I’m in when I get the opportunity to get out on the water to see all the wonderful sights that you can see when out at sea!
House-sitting and kayaking at Beaupre Point
We’ve been house sitting at Beaupre Point, at the end of the Huon Valley, south of Hobart. Beaupre Point is at the confluence of the Huon River and Port Cygnet, so there is plenty of water around. As with our house-sits in Cazorla, Spain, and Marcoola, Queensland, this property is an accommodation business The property has kayaks for the guests to use, and the owners are letting me use one while I’m here, so I’ve taken one out to check out the local waterways.
A surprise find: HMAS Curlew
I’ve been kayaking all around Snug while staying in a caravan and cabin park on the foreshore during a short break from house-sitting. The waterways around Snug range in use from relatively wild areas, through agricultural, aquacultural, residential and commercial areas, to industrial areas; so there is a wide range of things to see when out on the water.
Just north of Snug, near Margate, at a marina development, I came across a small and old ex-naval ship tied up at a jetty. At about fifty metres long, while this is a small ship, it is easily the biggest vessel around here, and it was quite a surprise to find it.
Paddling to the Coningham NRA
I had a marvellous few days staying at Snug Beach recently, and I was lucky enough to be able to borrow a kayak while I was there. Kayaking is one of my favourite things to do, and my favourite and most adventurous kayak trip while staying at Snug was out to the end of Coningham peninsula, along the Coningham Nature Recreation Area (NRA) – it was also particularly memorable for another reason that I’ll come to. The Coningham Nature Recreation Area is wild and very beautiful – it’s all eroding sandstone cliffs, sandy bays, and bush along the sea edge.
Kayaking at Snug Beach
One of my favourite things to do in life is kayaking. I owned a kayak for over twenty years, but when I started this house-sitting tour of Australia I sold it along with our house and car. For many years I had that kayak but little time to use it – now I have the time, and I certainly have the place here in Tasmania, which is a kayaker’s paradise, but I have no kayak! This is why I was excited to find that I was able to borrow a kayak while staying at Snug Beach. Using it was the highlight of my stay, and I thoroughly enjoyed it as I explored the local waterways.