Edges of Australia

February 21, 2024 1 Comment

We love our TRAK paddling community, and recently received some really stellar photography of John Mainwaring's TRAK in action. We couldn't pass up the chance to hear more about his trips to accompany the photos, and here is what he had to share.

Hey TRAK! It's just sweltering here as I am camped out by a river in South Australia and it is about 38 degrees C so a little bit warmer than what I’d call comfortable. I'm doing a work job in a nice part of the country so cramming a few kayak excursions into the mix as well. That is the beauty of the TRAK... slip it into the camper and off you go.

 

 

Just like the trip in Tasmania where we were able to tuck it into a light aircraft and go down to the bottom left corner of Tasmania which is a complete wilderness and about as close to sub Antarctic islands as you can get without going a lot further south. You can get there via a boat if you want to brave the Southern Ocean but you’d better be competent and there’s no companies dropping people off... you need a good mate with a big boat. We preferred a drop off at a gravel airfield at a place called Melaleuca, more commonly frequented by trail walkers and a local air taxi charges Australian $600 for a return trip with 20kg included and $5.50 for every kilogram above that. I call that a bargain. It is about a 1 hour flight from Hobart and easily organized from an airfield very close to Hobart Airport.

 

 

The area is Bathurst Harbour and Port Davey, an expanse of protected waters with bays and inlets and rivers you can paddle up for miles into the very remote wilderness. Port Davey opens onto the Southern Ocean where you have an unbroken run down to Antarctica, about 3500kms due south if you’re up for it.  For 8 or 9 months of the year you’d be brave to head down here as it is a rugged spot with harsh weather, but we took a punt in Dec and Jan (early summer) for 2 weeks and got pretty lucky with the weather with mid 20’s temperatures and generally calm sea conditions. The TRAK coped with windy and wavy conditions pretty well and it covers distances with ease. Mornings were calm and the beach camping was nice.

We met an Alaskan lady tripping about solo in an Advanced Elements Expedition which she loved but I have to say the TRAK was faster and so much more capable, and in rough conditions I’d not be thrilled to be in an inflatable. We also had an Oru Coast XT and that was pretty good too, but I have two TRAK kayaks and I’ll be a TRAK bloke for life. Just perfect for this sort of outing. I also met a lady on a small group commercial trip (Roaring 40’s Kayaking . . . good mob) who ordered her TRAK a while back but decided to get out with a group to get her in the mindset for exploring in her TRAK when she gets it.

 

 

Port Davey and Bathurst Harbour are linked by the Bathurst Channel which is about 12kms long. We were playing around at either end checking out islands and camping at remote spots with climbs up nearby mountains. There are excursions of around 20-40kms in both Bathurst Harbour and Port Davey and this one is the more exposed being a bay that is open to the Southern Ocean that often has a swell that would scare any sane person. But the entire area is fabulous with some terrific wildlife (Tasmanian Devils, Spotted Quolls, Potoroos, Pademelons which are a small wallaby, Red Necked Wallabies) but nothing dangerous unless you like to go and peck the Tiger Snakes on the cheek. They are fairly docile so if you leave them they will leave you. The enemy is the weather so keep an eye on it, but with such a labyrinth of bays and coves there is always a protected area to muck about.

 

 

We flew into Melaleuca, paddled via the Melaleuca Lagoon into Bathurst Harbour, explored a few islands before heading down Bathurst Channel to a set of islands called the Breaksea Islands as they protect the western end of Bathurst channel from the ocean swells, camped at a place called Bramble Cove which was an old whaling station back in the day but was perfect for sitting and watching glorious sunsets. The head of Port Davey has the Davey River which can be paddled quite a way and this is a seriously remote and awesome spot. If the ocean is misbehaving there is always something to see back in Bathurst Harbour which is fed by 2 nice rivers and tends to be immune to ocean impacts.

A great trip. We are heading back in there again in January 2025 and this time maybe the wifey will bring her TRAK as well. My two TRAK kayaks are both about 11 years old and it shows just how good they are that they keep on going with no problems.

 

It's awesome to see all of the places you paddle the TRAK around the world. If you'd like to submit your own photos or video for the TRAK community, please use our File Submission Dropbox. Be sure to catch up on any of the TRAKings in the Wild you may have missed!

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