Canoeing: Where did all our water go? When the kids were young we used to be able to canoe the Macalister or Wonnangatta pretty much all summer. We used to love the trip from Basin Flat to Cheyne’s Bridge on the Macalister, and Kingwell Bridge to Scorpion Creek on the Wonnangatta. The last (ten!) years there hasn’t been enough water. Today for example, the Macalister has 1.54 @ Licola (min 1.63); the Wonnangatta 1.65 @ Waterford (min 1.8); the Thomson has .25 @ Coopers Creek (.3 is best, but I have canoed it down to .19!)…
Trouble is, Della won’t ‘do’ the Gorge any more because of her eyesight – and that she always falls out (Warning: last time I canoed it there was a dangerous log-jam near the end of the Gorge: it would kill you in high water eg above .5 @ Coopers if you were unable to portage!). I Will cut a walking track from the Mitchell Creek Track so those with packrafts (us!) can have a day trip from below the Gorge and above the Triple Stager (walk around on true right bank – walk around Boulder rapid on true left bank; take care to be lined up for the Chute). I did clear (and create a walking track to the river) the T9 (off the Stoney Creek Rd) for single day trips a few years ago but it needs more work now (and as it is above the Gorge, this may be someone else’s job!)
So that’s why I am looking to making some canoeing opportunities on the Tyers (below Moondarra ‘environmental flows’ keep it canoeable though some bottom scraping – and it will need reclearing) and on the upper Latrobe: I’ll keep you posted on that! River heights here: http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/wrap_fwo.pl?IDV60154.html
See Also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-macalister/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-macalister/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-macalister-river/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-macalister-2/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/silver-river-endless-sky/
