MYALL LAKES KAYAK WEEKEND – dolphins, forests, easy car camp, logfire BBQ's

Do NOT miss this rare, unique and exciting weekend of kayaking and close-up dolphin encounters in the paradise of Myall Lakes and the surrounding coastal wilderness.

• The trip runs Friday evening 14 Nov to Sunday afternoon 16 Nov.
• 2 days kayaking to explore the utterly beautiful Myall waterways and forests, with 2 nights super easy car camping at our base right by the water.
• Wildlife, OMG! highly probable close encounters with dolphins (no promises, but we’ve had 100% success on every previous trip here in the past 10 years).
• Lots of raptors, waterbirds, leaping fish. And prowling dingoes ... no they are not scary.
• Paddle through stunning scenery of dark palm jungles, pristine mangrove channels, huge coastal sand dunes, perfect white beaches, sapphire waters, vivid sunsets and intense starry nights.
• There will be spare time for special activities: night paddle, jungle & dune walks.
• Just 2.5 hours easy drive north of Sydney at Port Stephens.
• Check out last year's trip photos !
• Cost is $200 per person for the weekend, covering two days hire of stable and fast touring kayaks, 2 nights stay at an idyllic commercial camp site, wood for log fire BBQs. BYO food.

The trip is now confirmed to proceed with a core group of paddlers, and there are limited places left, so RSVP without delay and before the closing date of 5 November.
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HOW TO BOOK

• If you are genuinely committed, RSVP on this page now. (Do NOT NOT NOT RSVP if you are just a "maybe" as it really wastes everyone's time and messes up trip organisation).
• After you RSVP I will email you via Meetup to ask you to forward your $200 payment by secure PayID transfer.
• Once I receive your $200 and make a booking for a hire kayak for you, I will message to let you know that your place on the trip is confirmed.
• Deadline to RSVP and pay is Wednesday 5 Nov by 5pm.
• Booking conditions: If you decide to drop out, your payment is non-refundable. The trip proceeds in all weathers, except where the provider of the kayak hire service may cancel due to dangerous conditions (ie. severe bushfire, storm, flood). In that case, any refund for that service is solely at the discretion of the commercial provider, and the meetup organiser makes no guarantees on their behalf.

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THE PLAN FOR THE WEEKEND

FRIDAY

• Meet by the river's edge at Myall River Camp, 341 Mungo Brush Rd, Hawks Nest. It is 2.5 hrs drive north from Sydney via Pacific Highway.
• Arrive any time from midday onwards. The leader will be there from mid afternoon, and will have the camp fire going from dinner time so we can cook and relax.
• Cook your dinner on the fire, or we will also bring a gas stove for you to use if you wish.
• BYO food for the weekend, or drive 5 minutes from camp to Hawks Nest village supermarket, bakery and burger shop for supplies.
• Set up your tent. The eco campground has clean toilets, drinking water supply, but no showers.
• If you don't have a tent you can use to your car to sleep in (if it is spacious enough with the back seats folded down, you can just bring a mat and your bedding for a comfortable sleep).

SATURDAY

• 7am-9am - relaxed breakfast at camp
• 9am - kayaks are delivered by supplier to our camp
• 10am - kayak tour going upstream along Myall River, looping back via a secret creek, back at camp by 3pm-4pm, total distance 10km at a slow pace and lots of breaks across the day
• Possible dolphin encounters, many eagles and other raptors, gorgeous paperbark forests and mysterious dark palm jungles
• Lunch break on a nice beach - bring your packed lunch, snacks, and a towel to sit on
• 4pm-6pm - free time at camp, if you wish before dinner we can visit the sand dunes with epic coastal views (there's a brilliant spot to sit with a gin & tonic and jawdropping views), or take an easy short rainforest walk
• 6pm - light the fire, cook dinner
• After-dinner option: a short easy night paddle (huge numbers of leaping fish, maybe dolphins on the hunt) or an easy short flat night walk in the palm jungle for an hour.

SUNDAY

• 7am-8am - breakfast at camp, pack up tents.
• 8am-9am - move our cars to the end point of today's paddle
• 9am - kayak tour going downstream along Myall River, different types of forests, more raptors and waterbirds foraging on sand bars, explore quiet channels through mangroves with crystal clear water, sand dunes and coastal salt bush, probable dolphin encounters.
• After 7km paddling land at Tea Gardens port area for lunch on the beach (BYO or grab seafood from the takeaway on the beach)
• After lunch - option to do 3-5km more paddling, looping further around the end of the estuary where there is best chance of dolphins as they love to forage here, often they also have babies with them.
• 4.30pm - finish at our cars, hand kayaks back to the hire company.
• Drive home to Sydney in daylight.

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IS THIS ACTIVITY OK FOR ME?

This activity is OK for beginner paddlers - you don't need to have special skills, very high fitness, or alot of upper body strength. We will coach you in paddling technique if you need it and make sure you are coping.

We stick together and paddle at a relaxed pace - we take lots of breaks to enjoy the scenery and chat, and we keep in a group for safety and sociability. We never ever leave anyone behind (unlike some other crappy meetup groups), and nobody gets to take off ahead without the group.

Experience - It is better if you have had at least one previous paddle somewhere involving 5-10km distance and 3-4 hours of paddling, but this is not mandatory. If you have not paddled before, we recommend you also first come to our easy kayak day close to home at Narrabeen lagoon on Saturday 8 November, see details HERE.

Life jackets - are provided with your hire kayak, and must be worn on the water.

The paddling distance and effort will be managed - We will do 10km per day, which is very manageable at a relaxed pace across 4-6 hours on the water each day. Note that most of the waterways are within wilderness, so there are no easy outpoints to roads or towns - once you start on the water each day, you must paddle all the way to the finish.

Water conditions - The river is fully enclosed from the ocean, so it is mostly glassy flat (sometimes if there is a breeze there is small chop in the wider parts of the estuary, but never big waves). If necessary, we'll adapt our route to be protected from any strong wind (there are many hidden corners in the lake system to explore). We will use the daily tidal currents as much as possible to assist us.

There will be single kayaks and double kayaks available - we'll get the less experienced people to pair up in the doubles, and more experienced people can take the singles. We'll swap around boats over the two days of paddling for best variety and fun.

Very easy walk options - if we do the dune walk and/or forest walk these are short and pretty flat, so totally fine for beginners.

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TRANSPORT

• Myall River Camp is at Hawk Nest, 2.5 hours drive from Sydney, located on the north side of Port Stephens.
• Driving directions: take the M1 Pacific Highway to Newcastle and Hexham. Then after another 52km on the M1, turn right onto Myall Way/Tea Gardens Rd/Myall Street to Tea Gardens, and cross the bridge over the Myall River to Hawks Nest village. At Hawks Nest, turn left onto Mungo Brush Rd, and in 3km look for the sign on the left for the driveway into Myall River Camp. Proceed through the property all the way to the river where will be camped.
• There is public transport to Hawks Nest, but it involves many changes of train and bus via Newcastle, takes many hours, and there is no final bus connection from Hawks Nest village to Myall River camp on the edge of the national park.
• Use the Comments section below if you want to offer a ride, or to ask if anyone can give you a ride.

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COSTS

• Total cost for the weekend is $200 - this covers our kayak hire, camp site fee, purchase of wood fuel for our log fires, gas stove, etc.
• Food and drinks are not included - please BYO.
• If you get a ride with anyone, it is polite to split transport costs (total fuel, motorway tolls from the drivers home and back) evenly amongst everyone in the car.
• There is no gratuity due for this event.

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BRING

• tent (or sleep in your car), mat, bedding, pillow
• food supplies for your meals (Friday dinner, Sat breakfast/packed lunch/dinner, Sun breakfast/packed lunch), and any snacks you like to keep you going through the day
• any soft drinks or alcohol you like (drinking water is supplied at the camp) ... keep the alcohol consumption moderate, and zero when paddling or doing walks
• cooking and eating utensils, or bring cold food so you don't have to cook (each night you are welcome to cook on the log fire or use the group's gas stove)
• light clothes to paddle in (same as for bushwalking)
• hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, and insect repellent are essential
• head net - this optional, but can save your sanity if the flies are bad (can buy them for about $5 at camping shops)
• generally we paddle barefoot in the boats, but if you want to wear shoes bring some that you don't mind getting wet as you step in and out of the boat
• sanitiser, wet wipes, toiletries, toilet paper
• wet weather gear (be prepared even on sunny days, just the same as for bushwalking)
• sturdy walking shoes if you come on any of the walks
• warm clothes for evenings (long pants, long sleeved tops, warm fleece)
• head torch or hand torch (your phone light can be used in your tent and around camp, but is not enough if you come for the night paddle or night walk)
• swimmers, towel
• dry bag to keep things safe from water in your boat
• folding chair, stool or box to sit on at camp
• optional - folding table to make your meals
• optional - spare battery to charge your phone (there is no power supply at camp).

KEEPING YOUR STUFF SAFE ON THE WATER

• It is very inadvisable to take sensitive objects like car keys, credit cards, phones and jewellery unprotected onto the water - keep your electronics, valuables, and spare clothes safe in your dry bag or in a sealable plastic food box aboard your boat.
• If you want to take pictures with your phone whilst paddling, put it inside a waterproof sleeve and have it attached to you with a strong cord.
• Sunglasses are safer if you have them fitted with a rubber strap or tied with cord around your neck so you can't drop them in the water.

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LIABILITY DISCLAIMER
By your RSVP to this event you agree to the conditions of membership and participation which you can read in the "WHAT WE'RE ABOUT" section HERE.