Kayaking the (Swollen) Mulgrave - Aussie Day Paddle 2010

Kayaking the Swollen Mulgrave - Australia Day 2010

As Cyclone Olga fizzled out and travelled westward over the Cape, and Cyclone Neville made the outstanding manouvre of a Statue of Liberty Play to head towards Mackay, the decision was made to continue with a planned paddle of the Little Mulgrave River on Australia Day 2010.

However, the heavens opened up and gave the Cairns Area a drenching to change plans of many a family. But the kayaking crew of Flounder, TimMe, Tarzan, Adro, Bonnet Boy, and the irrepressible Freckles made the plan to press on but change it to the lower Mulgrave River.

The height of the water was a telling factor being 1.25m above the telltale Fisheries Bridge. It was planned to enter at Roos Road near the Little Mulgrave Pub and extract at Greenpatch at Gordonvale (a distance of 10-11 kms).

Once unloaded it was time to check the river from the familiar Roos Road bridge . Familiar in the fact that we usually see the underside of this bridge. It was planned to enter with a seal launch.

The intrepid crew of Adro, Freckles, Flounder, TimMe, and Bonnet Boy....with Tarzan taking the photo snap

The photo looks good but Flounder, unsure of where the water was going (possibly back under the bridge), decided to launch closer to River Right and taking Freckles with him for a safer launch.

Once in the main channel, the intrepid crew found the going easy as to sit back and enjoy the ride as not much paddling was required.

We passed the Little Mulgrave exit into the Mulgrave and found that the Little Mulgrave width was also swollen 6 fold.

The first portage was over the upriver Ross and Locke Rail Bridge. We found that we really only needed just 30cm more of water, where we could have easily floated over the bridge.

It was a different story at the Ross and Locke Picnic Area. Here you can see the faint ripple line just behind TimMe's RPM. The crew were in some indecision prior to this as to what entry we would need to make. The water was flowing, and a choice of paddling down through the riverside carpark was not decided upon, and the correct decision of the main channel was chosen.

The river made it very easy on the Flatwater as the crew had just to float with the river debris. This gave Freckles her chance to remind everyone of her patriotism and her tatoo on her cheek. Of course , we all had tatoos generously supplied by Freckles and wore them in various places....on the faces....or on the helmets (to stay with us for a little while at least).



Since the catchment had received enormous amounts of rainwater, it made the trip fairly hard to recognise familiar features that we have come to love through this part of the river. Fallen trees that appear in normal levels now sit below us by 1 or 2 metres. Of course, on a safety note, it is better to stay in the boat than explore any depths in a swollen river.

The time had quickly passed and the intrepid crew had found themselves at the Peetes Bridge Portage. Peetes Bridge, we learned later, had gone underwater later in the day by only about 10cm. At this stage, there was no other option other than portaging.





The Peetes portage gave us another different experience of launching in an actual carpark and picnic area.

Just downriver from the Peetes Bridge area, the river pans out into a couple of large flatwater areas. There were rumours that horses had been spooked by the riverside, so the crew was thus placed on guard for any seemingly unshapely logs.

A lot of these flatwater paddles were conducted in the middle of the flotsam and debris travelling down the main river flow. This made it easy for us to identify so as to reduce our paddling, and to still sit back and enjoy the ride. However, when paddling amongst the debris, please be aware that the area could be a haven of any unsightly creatures such as snakes.

On travelling down this part of the river, there is a rail bridge further down, which is located just downriver of a junction of two branches. The unwary paddler choosing the right branches of the river, will find that the situation may turn dangerous as the two branches joining create a turbulent mass of water ready to unseat the kayaker. Hence the decision was made to always travel close to the Northern Bank (or on Extreme River Left), and paddle through a part of the National Park. This gives a safety pillow if anyone does come adrift of their kayak, they can easily get to the bank and sort out their boat and gear. At this stage , the river now flows through a lot of foliage and was estimated at probably about 500 metres wide.

This part of the paddle laced the kayaker with a ghostly feel and always be on the lookout for any hidden tree branches ready to flip the unwary kayaker.

After an unestimated amount of paddling time, the adventurous crew broke clear of the vegetation and once again found the main channel. It was surprising to note, that where the crew broke from the treeline, was the location of the Blackwells Swimming Hole. Of course, due to the current weather conditions, there was no serene sandbank to be had. It was just another sea of water.

At this point , travelling through the main channel and dodging the edges of the canopy, Freckles had unwarily seemed to have wanted to go for a swim. I'd say with the aid of a tree branch....but the story has not yet come to light. Being the gentleman that he was, Tarzan quickly lept to the rescue, and the rest of the group soon were aiding Freckles to finally get to some stable ground and jump back into the cockpit of the diesel. Unfortunately, having done the initial rescue, Tarzan waiting downriver seemed to have a mixup with a tree and headed for a swim himself. Unfortunately, Tarzan's paddle seemed to have broken free of his grasp, and is most probably currently bypassing the Frankland Islands by now, and heading to Sydney with that lovable little Clownfish, Nemo !

The crew now faced a decision of how to aid Tarzan to paddle the distance to the extraction point. The hardship of navigating a flooded river established the fact that we could not exactly determine our location on the river. We estimated that we had about 15-20 minutes of paddling left.

The decision was made to closely shadow Tarzan to aid him in any required turns that he would need to make. Teamwork is alive and well in the group.

It was lucky however, when we had broken out of the treeline, that the adventurous crew had found themselves only about 500 metres to the Bruce Highway Bridge at Greenpatch, our extraction point.

Also unfortunately, Tarzan has now found that the crew, no matter how polite they are....are very adept at the art of sledging . Thus, photos and videos of the yellow helmeted legend had been taken of Tarzan's damaged pride,where he had actually hand paddled the last 500m of river to the extraction point.

Good Natured Sledging is alive and well within the group.

The extraction point was a welcome sight for the crew and made for an easy exit. The shuttle car was only at the other side of the bridge and contained our desired lunch and dry clothes.

Any kayaking trip in this part of the river, at this time of the year, is not to go without the obligatory photo opportunity with the sign for a most dangerous hazard.

Although none were seen, these hazards should command a healthy respect and a determination in keeping a keen eye on the lookout for moving objects in the water.

Pic : from left - Tarzan, Adro, Flounder, Bonnet Boy, Freckles , and TimMe (kneeling).

Once the shuttle crew was organised with Bonnet Boy and Freckles left to guard our most precious transport vehicles, it was time to head back to Roos Road Bridge.

What we found was that the river had indeed risen most probably about 50cm, and the seal launch that was to be had earlier in the day....would no longer be an option. Lucky for us.

Thus ends the patriotic paddle, and the journey to have a cold ale at a nearby Gordonvale Watering hole was underway. Happy Australia Day 2010.

Flounder