Friday 17th October
The tide was coming in, the day was warm, in fact it was perfect for paddling as I set off from Smithtown. Belmore River was just upstream and that rises towards Crescent Head.
There was a lot of salvinia on the Belmore River and some guys were spraying it from a boat. I had thought it was duckweed so I am glad they set me straight.
About halfway there was a wall and a set of flap gates so the water was a lot lower on the other side. I would guess that the water quality was lower too.
We were called to do a radio interview for the news just before lunch. The bank was overgrown and steep but John W threw me a rope and I climbed up to oblige.
The walk from the Belmore River to Crescent Head is only 11km and mainly flat so that was fine.
At Crescent there was a 12-16 knot easterly. We know that because that is the window for the paraglider soaring above. The swell was low so with such good conditions it was ideal to paddle down to Point Plommer.
The 15km section down the coast had lots of life. Dolphins swam underneath. They were traveling near the bottom and quickly surfacing so they looked like they were on a mission.
In many places fish thrashed the surface and in one place I went close enough to photograph the birds. It is one thing for birds to chase fish but quite another for major predators so I did not hang around for long.
The trip into Point Plommer was well timed so the kayak did not fill with water, even though the wind and waves had come up a bit.
In all it was a pretty good 41km allowing a quick dash down to Port tomorrow to arrive at 11.00am at the end of the main street.
Day 14 Photos
Belmore River
Belmore River Salvinia
Salvinia
Didn't expect this
Urgent radio interview ahead
Thanks John
Crescent Head
This is close enough
Finishing at Pt Plommer
Doing it tough at Port Macquarie