Redland BushwalkersA group of friendly, like minded people who enjoy a variety of activities in the great outdoors.
Redland Bushwalkers
4 Day Paddle from Kangaroo Valley into Morton National Park (NSW)
16-19 September
Kangaroo Valley is located approximately 2 hrs south of Sydney and 2hrs 20 mins northeast of Canberra, and one of the main activities run from here are kayak tours on the Kangaroo and Shoalhaven Rivers in Morton National Park.
The idea is to hire kayaks from Kangaroo Valley Safaris (single person sea kayaks) for 4 days @$320/4 days (tbc) and create our own adventure, i.e. this is not a commercially organised/guided tour. Paddle, PFD and transfers included, BYO everything else. All gear to be packed in waterproof bags. Storage space in the boats is limited so pack light! You will need to bring water purification tablets, a filter, or other means to treat water from the river for drinking water.
On Monday morning 16/9 we will meet in the town of Kangaroo Valley. From here we will get transfers to Bendeela Recreation Reserve where we will start our adventure. We will paddle approx. 3 hrs to Acacia Flat or, perhaps more likely, Beehive Point where we will set up camp. Whichever campsite we end up staying at on this section should have a toilet. From Beehive Point we can explore Yarrunga Creek, in much lighter boats this time as we won’t have to take all our camping gear. Alternatively, anyone who prefers to chill at camp is welcome to do so.
Tuesday 17/9: We pack up camp and paddle on, past Tallowa Dam, and continue up the Shoalhaven River towards Shoalhaven Gorge. We are likely to paddle about 20km today, give or take. There are quite a number of campsites on the Shoalhaven River, the system works on a first come first serve basis, so we will pick a campsite that’s free and ideally one that we like the look of as well. Please be advised that only about half of the campsites on the Shoalhaven River have toilets, so depending on where we end up camping you may just have to dig a hole…
Wednesday 18/9: Today we have the option to stay at the same campsite for another night and explore the Shoalhaven River further upstream as far as we feel like, and/or check out some of the creeks that flow into the river. We’re here to enjoy this beautiful river system as much as we can. Alternatively, we can pack up camp and move to another site depending on how far we paddled up the Shoalhaven River on Tuesday, but not packing up camp certainly has its appeal. Besides, we will have to paddle it all back tomorrow…
Thursday 19/9. We pack up camp and paddle back to Tallowa Dam, from where we will get picked up by Kangaroo Valley Safaris by midday, or early afternoon, and transferred back to Kangaroo Valley. We have the option to extend our adventure a little longer with a different type of kayaking to what we’ll have been doing so far: a 1.5hr/5km paddle that starts off with a section of 6 small/grade 1 rapids (Yay!), followed by a longer stretch of flat water, similar to what we’ve paddled on the other days. This little adventure would take us from Hampden Bridge in Kangaroo Valley to Bendeela Recreation Reserve, i.e. it’s the stretch of river that we bypassed on our first day when we got transfers to Bendeela. We will do this section in different kayaks that are more suitable for use in the rapids, i.e. not in the sea kayaks we used during the rest of the trip. And we would be doing this white-water section without our camping gear. I have been told that if we book kayaks for 4 days, the white-water section can be an add-on at no extra cost, but this was verbal over the phone, I don’t have it in writing so I can’t guarantee that this won’t be charged extra.
Maximum group size is 6 (due to campsite permit/capacity limited to 6 people).
I am going to be in the area already and plan to meet you in Kangaroo Valley on Monday morning. You’d have to organise your own transport down, e.g. fly into Sydney or Canberra and organise transfers to Kangaroo Valley, or hire a car with multiple people, or drive down from Brisbane (approx..1060 km) and make it into a road trip.
Experienced and confident paddlers only. A spot high up on the waitlist does not guarantee a spot on the trip. If you haven’t paddled with me before, please contact me to discuss your experience and skills.
This Event is Limited to 6 participants
Further advice will be given when you are accepted to this activity
Travel to Kangaroo Valley is each members own responsibility