Paddling around Palm Island group

[Jim]

I thought folks might like seeing these photos from a recent paddling trip I lead through the Palm group north of Townsville. I'd never been out there before and it was pretty magnificent. Crystal clear water, heaps of sea life and very few people. In fact the only people we ran into in four days was a school group from Palm visiting Orpheus National Park.

This is Mundy Bay on Great Palm Island:


Paddling from Great Palm to Fantome Island:


My view for most of the trip:


Our last night in Pioneer Bay on Orpheus Island:


Orpheus Island was an absolute stand out. It's also a national park. It had a few camp sites with tables, BBQ's and biotoilets but no freshwater as far as we found. You can fish on most of the beaches there and the island had as good coral reefs as I've ever seen.

I wish I had brought my bowfishing rig, there was ample opportunity. Next time!

Jim

[Mick Smith]

It does look very tranquil Jim. Maybe you could have trolled a lure behind your kayak. You might have picked up a Spanish mackerel or something.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

[UPTHETOP]

Jim great trip by the looks of it. How did the back and shoulder muscles handle the daily routine on the paddle. We have some great paddling water up here in the north just have to find the time to use it. Some good photos to mate.

Cheers Wayno

[bigbob]

told myself when I sold my tinny I would get a kayak, and that was about 4 year ago.Still hope it will happen.Nice shots too, thanks.

[Gringa Bows]

looked like a lot of fun Jim

[Jim]

told myself when I sold my tinny I would get a kayak, and that was about 4 year ago.Still hope it will happen.Nice shots too, thanks.

Bob, the kayak I paddled for that was one of the cheap plastic exped Seadbird's from Anaconda like this one:

http://www.anaconda.com.au/Product/Wate ... vAodFmoAiQ

I don't know about the rest of the country but up here in Townsville they seem to have them on 50% off sales every year to make way for next years model. For $1000 brand new they are one hell of a kayak. I've paddled some top of the line Rosco's and Canadian kayaks (both of which were excellent) but for about 20% of the cost you're getting about 80% of the kayak with these things. With two provisos. The first is they're only rated to 150kg, so if you're a really BIG Bob it might not leave a lot of packing space. The second is they have a crappy plastic rudder. They still work fine in calm conditions, but leave a bit to be desired.

I think I'll buy one for myself before long

[Mick Smith]

I've been a keen kayaker for many years. I've owned sea kayaks, touring kayaks, Canadian canoes, sit on tops, you name it.

This is what I'm currently paddling. It's a Stealth kayak. They're made of fiberglass in South Africa and they weigh around 20kg. Basically, they're a ski. They have a bit or storage in them, enough for a camping trip. I use mine for fishing mainly. They're very much like a sit on top sea kayak. They do have a rudder. It's in line with the keel, so you can beach the kayak without having to worry about it. The rudder works well.

[indie]

Looks like a very enjoyable trip Jim. I've wanted to paddle Hinchinbrook for ages but never even thought of the Palm Group, it does look nice. How long was the trip? And did you get a barge over and back? I see it's around 14km to do the crossing to the mainland.

Mick, I've also had several kayaks and now on my fourth Stealth. They are very seaworthy craft and I've done up to a 5 day trip in one of mine so they can certainly do the longer stuff. On one trip we got passed by a guy in a Seabird sea kayak who was absolutely motoring. They seem like good value for money, probably more suited to calmer waters but that's where most of us go.

Cheers, Indie.

[Jim]

Indie, we did it in 4 days, pretty much from Townsville to Lucinda. We left from Saunders Beach just northwest of Townsville. First night we stayed on Rattlesnake Island (it's Defence property). Day 2 we paddled straight north to the south coast of Palm. I had wanted to keep going n/w through Havana and stay on Brisk but circumstances dictated otherwise. Day 3 we went up through Fantome and up to the north end of Orpheus. Day 4 was the paddle across to Lucinda. All up we did about 100km. It was pretty hard yakka and if I did it again I'd go the opposite direction to have the wind at our backs, I had just wanted to spend my last night on Orpheus.


I've paddled up the east coast of Hinchinbrook (again in 4 days) and reckon that's an absolutely beautiful trip. We left from Lucinda and stayed at Zoe's bay night 1. Zoe's waterfall is a short walk (less than 1km) from the bay and a great swimming hole/water resup point. Day 2 we paddled all the way up to the top of Shepherd Bay. Day 3 we paddled across to Goold Island, which has a council rainwater tank that we resupped from, then Day 4 paddled across to Cardwell. Did not see a single croc. I'd like to do that one again but over about 10 days and spend more time exploring the island.

Jim

PS
Just after I posted this I found the following article at Aussie Geographic about their top 12 paddles in oz and Hinchinbrook is one of them..

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/ ... ing-spots/

[indie]

Hi Jim, thanks for the info. Sounds like you were moving, avg of 25km/day leaves not much time for exploring the islands once you take out time for packing up and setting up camp. Plus that's some pretty open water. I did a 3 night/4 day trip coming up from the Gold Coast to Brisbane and with some slightly challenging conditions and inexperienced paddlers in the group the biggest day we did of 27km was enough of a challenge.

I walked Hinchinbrook about 10 years ago and loved it. The only hassle with paddling it is you don't really see what the island has to offer so you'd need to take it slow and do a few short walks to get the full experience. Even walking it we took 5 nights with 2 at Zoe Bay. Hinch' is an amazing place.

Strange what you say about going north to south as predominant breeze is usually from the SE. This time of year does see a lot of northerlies though. I discovered northerlies suck when trying to paddle up the inside of Fraser. Weather is just something that we can't control.

Indie.

[Jim]

I don't know what it is about Townsville Indie, but the whole time I've lived here it's pretty much always nor-easters. The only time we seem to get southerlies is in the winter, which can actually give us some cool days