In late 2009 Phil Doddridge organised for a group of paddlers from the Adelaide Canoe Club to do a 2 day trip form Victor to Cape Jervis.
Preparations were underway weeks beforehand with rolling & rescue practice sessions in Encounter Lakes, then a paddle around the Bluff to land at Petrel Cove to test out surf landing and launching skills, with more wet exit rescue practice near the Bluff jetty.
An unseasonably burst of hot weather for the weekend in mid November was forecast with temperatures in Adelaide over 40 degrees and with the south coast forecast of mid 30’s, with low winds and low swell predicted, which made a 2-day trip from Victor Harbour to Cape Jervis a real possibility.
Ten members of the Adelaide Canoe Club met at Geoff Neale’s house early Saturday morning and took a mini bus towing 10 kayaks, arrived at the Encounter Bay boat ramp to setup.
The group paddled in warm calm conditions around the Bluff towards West Island for the first rest break. Continuing down the Waitpinga Cliffs a moderate SE wind blew up for about 2 hours, which abated as the group neared Parsons Beach.
With the calm surf conditions the group landed at Ballaparudda Beach for lunch and a brief rest, and then paddled west, past Tunk Head in glassy conditions towards Tunkalilla Beach for the first camp.
Arriving at Tunkalilla Beach the wave height was akin to a metro coast beach with tiny waves breaking near the shore which made for an easy landing.
A quick swim was had in crystal clear waters that looked more like a swimming pool rather than a surf beach, and then dinner was eaten and tents were setup and weary paddlers rested for the evening after doing just over 30km.
Just after sunrise the next day the group departed Tunkalilla, launching through a small surf break and then continued to head west towards Deep Creek.
On the approach to the Deep Creek Conservation Park, tongues of fog formed in the valleys between the hills, then slid down the hills and then spread across the ocean like a blanket, also leaving a 2m gap above the waves to peer through– it was an amazing sight.
Within an hour the whole area was blanketed in fog until the group reached Blowhole Beach, where a landing was made through a small surf break, for a lunch stop.
After lunch the group continued the last leg of the journey to Cape Jervis where another refreshing swim was taken, before loading the kayaks onto the trailer behind the minibus and then headed back to Adelaide.
Photos at http://users.adam.com.au/mikedunn/09Nov_Victor2Jervis.pdf
Mike Dunn
An outdoor blog 