Kayaking the Yarra

While it's not exactly known for it wild white water, the Yarra River does provide for some very nice canoeing/kayaking within easy reach of Melbourne. You can hire canoes at Warrandyte if you don't have your own and try some 'interesting' stretches of river in the area. The pics on this page utilise the latest time lapse photography techniques (cheating in Photoshop) to show you some of the fun you can have.

OK, here's the crew for the day's paddling, skilfully winding their way through a little grade 3 rapid. Our fearless leader, Doug, can even paddle through such rapids without taking his eyes off the camera. Andrew's a little too preoccupied watching the rock he's getting pushed towards and Bill and I had learnt to hang back from the camera after the previous grade 3 rapid.

This page is a little out of order, but the sun was out for the last rapid so that pic goes first. But back to the previous rapid... Since getting his new kayak Andrew has not yet managed to fall in.  Note the excellent technique as he comes through the rapid waving his paddle in the air for extra balance.

Bill and I decided to try a slightly different approach.  Since I'm writing this page, I can say that the events that followed are his fault, even if I was the one in charge of steering.  Without warning he gave a few quick strokes of his paddle, propelling us into the rapid just before I was about to change our angle of approach.  I quickly tossed up whether to keep going or to back off and try again...  and figured "What the hell, what could possibly go wrong?"

Well to answer that...  Plenty! Firstly we got stuck on a rock, pointing into the rapid at an awkward angle.  Getting off it was easy since we were pointing down at a reasonable angle...  but whether we'd slide of fast enough before getting swamped was another matter altogether.  The short answer was no, and in we went for a brief swim.

If you're wondering what I  was saying in the pic above, I was explaining to Douglas that the thermal properties of the water had had a profound effect on certain aspects of my anatomy, causing a considerable level of discomfort.... or words to that effect.

Needless to say it's better to go kayaking on the river in the warmer summer months, but it's enjoyable any time of the year.