Day 4 Denman to Jerrys Plains

The case of the missing day! Well we have been having a few technical difficulties and it seems that Day 4 has gone walkabout.
Day 4 was a big one the first of the over 30km days. I thought it was 31 but it turned out to be actually 36km. I did the same thing in training and thought that I had adjusted the itinerary but apparently not so i got a little more paddling for my money on this day. It was a long day with lots of river obstructions and rapids to keep me on my toes and in and out of the Kayak. On a positive note I managed to avoid the places that caught me off guard and eject me from the kayak in the training run so that is good.
A special thanks should go to the two gentlemen that snatched my bogged 4wd that my wife was driving out of the soft sand below Jerrys Plains Bridge before I got there. You are champions and I wouldn't have been too keen to dig out and push a bogged 4wd after a 36km paddle! You are legends and I definitely owe you a brown cordial or two.

Day 6 Arriving at Rose Point Park Singleton

Gday
Happy to announce that we are back on track for Brook2Beaches! The Necky is paddling straight and true and even though I was a little more sore today than previously we were back in the saddle and covering some Km's today again. It was another tough day with plenty of sore muscles/bits combined with a headwind the whole way.
That said I passed the halfway mark to Newcastle today which was a real highlight for me!
You can really start to see the river changing over these 169 km were it was all rocks and overgrown the river is more sandy and even has some width and water about it now (most of the time). The paddle today consisted of long open stretches of water with a howling headwind joined by tight water with lots of obstructions and small rapids. Only small ones that posed little danger- which was nice after yesterdays effort.
We move the van again tomorrow so it will be another full on morning!
On the money side we have now cracked the $5000 - I know it only says $600 on the camp quality site but that is only the tally of donations made in that way so thanks to all who have donated and dug deep. If you wish to donate there is still plenty of time and you can be assured that all the money goes to kids and families dealing with cancer in the Hunter Valley. If you have been thinking of donating but haven't yet let me encourage you to do so - It would be great to make it $10,000 to help bring some cheer to sick kids that is for sure!!
We have sorted our Internet problems so we should be blogging every night from now on if all goes well. Gotta get some sleep another 33Km to do tomorrow
Phil

Day 5 Jerrys to Maison Dieu

Heartbreak Hotel
What a tough day today turned out to be. We had to pack up the camper so Sue could move it to Singleton before I could paddle so I felt like I had done a day’s work before I started. I was making reasonable Headway, although paddling into a strong headwind till I got to the Power Station.
It was here that things took a turn for the worse. As I headed in I had intended to get out and carry the Yak down over the wall that has been constructed to provide a head for the river pumps but as I approached it looked pretty straight forward. Sure the water was flowing strongly and it was deep but it looked like it was a clear path around the wall. What I couldn’t see was just around a turn was some large boulders directly in the path of any kayaker silly enough to be still be there! I knew I was in serious trouble and jumped out but the water was too deep and flowing too hard to make any real difference to the inevitable. The yak hit broadside on a large rock in the middle of the river, closely followed by me. The Yak filled with water quickly and began folding around the rock. I had my own problems with a wedged ankle in the rocks but at least I had my head above water. After some scary moments I managed to get my ankle free and tried to budge the Yak. I managed to lift (not sure how – probably adrenalin) and once started the water started assisting in the lift of the nose of the Yak. I was devastated that it appeared that I had destroyed the Yak only a third of the way into my paddle but I persisted to free the Yak (after an hour of grunting groaning and being tossed down the rapids a few times.
The paddle (the leash broke the bungy straps it was attached to), my lunch and my drinks were gone but I managed to get the yak free.
Eventually I decided I would push on and walk (dragging the now empty yak) to the next causeway which I thought was about another 6-7 Km – I had some new cuts, bruises and had managed to twist an knee but I was still in one piece. While dragging the yak I found my lunch, 1 small water bottle and eventually the paddle also.
The Yak has sustained a couple of creases on its side but to the necky’s credit she has proved herself to be tough and is still tracking true. I am so sorry to those that expected a nice newish Kayak. I am not sure whether people want raffle ticket money back but in the Yaks defence I went on to paddle another 30Km today in her and she never missed a beat. Please let me know what you think as I really wanted to hand this thing over in pristine condition.
Anyway the next 30 km continued to test my mental and physical abilities as I paddled into a relentless headwind to reach my destination at Maison Dieu (just shy of Singleton). When I arrived at my pick up point, which was a challenge in itself, I was stoked to find that the Milling family had come to help me disembark and load the yak onto the roof. You guys are absolute legends I don’t think I could have loaded it without you and Dad today. P.S. The hot chocky was an absolute godsend too! I have now managed about 140Km and will be past half way by tomorrow afternoon.
Bruised and dented the Yak and myself will push on towards the sea.

Bengalla Bridge to Denman

Today started out cool and overcast so I thought it prudent to put my cag (wet weather paddling jacket) on straight away. I only got a few spots and then the sun came out which was pretty exciting – so exciting that I took a photo of the blue skies!
Yet again I forgot to turn the GPS on straight away so I was guessing a little as to how far I had travelled but it was a rough enough estimate to gauge how I was going. I was happy to settle into some paddling early with a mixture of rapids and tree obstructions. It never ceases to amaze me that a river can gain speed over rapids and then make a 90 degree turn but this was to be the order of the day. I was pumped at one point with my progress and confidence in the rapids so much so that I was singing the “Fully Loaded “ advertisement to myself when all at once I rounded a bend and saw that a new set of rapids head off in another direction straight for an undercut bank! I remember capsizing at this point in training once before and promptly ejected myself from the kayak in time to avert imminent crashing sounds!! From fully loaded to fully ejected in about half a verse – never mind no good busting myself or the new Yak and I am sure that whoever wins the kayak expects it to be in one piece not in two like the ad!
That said I managed a nice steady 6km/h average that allowed me to enjoy the journey while still making progress. I keep reminding myself to do this as I probably will not get the chance to paddle the river in its entirety again in my lifetime.
The leg turned more difficult as time went on with rapid after rapid and fallen tree after fallen tree for the last 5km or so meaning that I was constantly in and out of the Yak to drag it around/ over obstacles.
Mental note – It’s not just about the destination but the journey too
Looking forward to some more challenges with over 30Km to cover to get to Jerry’s Plains tomorrow afternoon. From memory more rapids (some biggins too) and even some wire ropes to avoid so should be fun
Phil

Day 2 Dartbrook to Bengalla

It is amazing what 20 odd k's can make to a river. Today's leg was from Dartbook to Bengalla which is about 21Km. Although we haven't travelled that far from the mouth of the Hunter it was enough to spend more time in the kayak and less time walking. It was nice to spend more time paddling and getting to know the new Yak. There were still plenty of rapids and trees but there was also enough water to generally stay in the Yak.
Without the need to get in and out as much meant that I could get the average speed up a little more so today's paddle only took about 3 hours which was more like it!
The next couple of days will ramp up a bit with lots of rapids and bigger km stretches (over 30Km each day now for a while)
looking forward to getting some more K's under my belt and watching the river change. Thanks for the comments and support
Phil

Day1 - Nice day for a walk

Well today was the day that all the planning and training came together. I laid awake most of the night listening to the rain on the campers roof and thought this is gonna be nice.
It all started with a quick shower to feel human but soon went pear shaped when I dropped my glasses while undressing. Those that know me will know that I never do anything without my glasses and this is for good reason. I am as blind as a bat. Well the tiles on the floor were brown with dark brown grout so I had no chance of seeing my glasses. Here I am stark naked on my hands and knees feeling around for my specs but do you think I could find them!! Nope – so still naked I check the other two stalls – lucky there was no one else up and using the showers!!! Imagine what they would have thought of a scrawny little nude bloke on hands and knees in the bottom of a shower cubicle!! Eventually I found them hard up against the wall in my cubicle. This was not a good start I am thinking – Lucky I don’t believe in omens otherwise I would have just gone back to bed and pretended that it was only the third of October.
Anyway despite my novel approach to the start of the day the sun actually peeked out from behind the clouds over Glenbawn for the start of Brook to Beaches. Ya!! To my surprise There were a group of family and close friends who turned up (even in ordinary weather) to cheer me off and show their support. Thank you so much to Team Nev, The Bidstrup's and the Boardman’s. You will never know how much it meant to me to see a group of people turn out for the start of my big adventure.
The river was pretty much what I expected for the upper reaches – I did allot of walking and carrying (probably more than paddling for the first 1 or 2 hours ) and there were lots of fences (4 electric and 2 barbed wire) ,fallen trees and general obstructions in those first couple of hours!
The shiny new yak has a couple of new battle scars (sorry to whoever wins it but I will try not to scratch it too much) but I made it to Dartbrook in about 5 Hours so all is well and I am primed for another big day to get through to Bengalla Mine tomorrow afternoon.
Talk tomorrow
Phil

Wish me luck!

Well after 12 months of planning it is finally time to start Brook 2 Beaches. I head off tomorrow morning at 9:00.
Not sure of the forecast for the weather but it has rained here for a couple of days and looks pretty set in.
Check in tomorrow night
Phil