Sevens Creeking in March

Returning to Victoria after the 2010 Kimberley expedition, fate put me within striking distance of Seven's Creek while the rains of the weekend's storms were still draining off the granite highlands near Euroa...

Sam boofing one of the last little drops

Sam Tregenza and I put on the creek around 10am on the low side of good (0.79) and were greeted with scrapy class two interspersed with entertaining drops and slides. It was a strange environment to be on a creek - I've done no creeking in Vic. Green pasture and gum trees bordered the creek as we paddled across meandering flatlands in reeds and blackberries to the crass chorus of sulphur crested cockatoos.

Sam on an early slide which marks the entry into the first gorge

Sam and a crew of 6 others had run the creek the day prior getting prime levels - 0.92 on arrival. I wouldn't go in there much lower than our level, but it was stull great fun and a good day out. A good introduction for new creekers or tentative paddlers.

Boz on a nice sliding slot rapid below Eagle Falls - a portage today

There was a fair bit of portaging to be had around sieves and some manky falls, but nothing too exertive or requiring ropes. Eagle falls (above) has been run on the right side, a slide down into a shelfy twenty footer with a tight landing to avoid rock, and the left line is ugly. Might go at a different level but most of the water falls directly into the wall off a thirty footer...

Emphysema Falls, no longer unrun.

Somewhere nearing the end of the run lurks Emphysema falls, a bony cascading fall that looks just as violent as it was. I saw a line that looked good and fired it up, bouncing my way down the first descent and managing to avoid whiplash.

Boz muffing a sweet little boof early on

I remembered the final rapids at Goorum Falls from a little video from a while back called Granite Rush. The main attraction is a tight lined twelve footer that was sadly too low for us. Sam fired it up the day before but with less water the line really wasn't viable. All the water dropped right into a pocket against the right wall, ugly.

Sam nails his boof midway down a long sliding rapid - Fish Ladder

An enjoyable day out creeking in Victoria - highly recommended although I'd suggest not bothering much lower than 0.78... pretty bony. Plenty of wood in some sections so be very careful bombing around corners - this creek is very much in flood when it's running at a paddleable level.

Summer Survival

Kayak 4 Play once again supported local kayaking by sponsoring the Summer Survival Race in Tasmania. The Summer Survival is a multi discipline race incorporating kayaking, mountain biking, road biking and running. The event took place on the 24th of February, at Kingston Beach, south of Hobart, but in typical Tassie fashion was by no means summery. Mount Wellington provided a wintery backdrop with a dusting of snow and the weather was windy and rainy for most of the day. The wind created trying conditions for the kayakers with a number of capsizes early in the race.

Race Start

Kayak 4 Play team member, Ben Maynard, competing in a 2 person team with brother Andrew, was pipped at the finish line of the kayak leg after having to try and exit his Downriver boat quicker than his opponent. Bens wet exit from the cockpit was effective, if not unconventional, but not as quick as stepping off a ski and running straight up the beach.

Ben (middle) at the finish of the paddle leg.

Ben's strong result in the paddle leg meant he and Andrew were able to continue on to convincingly win the 2 person team section of the race, and an impressive 2nd place overall.

The trusty Kayak 4 Play tent kept the rain out and even managed to stay up in the wind.

Full race results are available at http://www.endorfun.com.au/