Breakfast Creek Wharf to Enoggera Creek

27 January 2008

We started this paddle from the small boat ramp beside the Breakfast Creek Wharf complex. Popular with power boat users it does require some patience and good manners as all parties must wait their turns both coming and going. Once launched we headed upstream on the last of the rising tide at around 11.30 AM. Beautiful clear day and the first part of the paddle goes past the Tripcony Slipway. We were the only paddlers on the water and the power boats headed out into the river so we had the creek to ourselves.

The creek skirts the end of Sandgate Road and is hardly scenic, passing the back of the Brisbane City Council bus depot and the businesses build along the creek. We passed two of the most ugly houseboats we have ever seen, as the photo attests. The usual suspects – liveupon boaties – greeted us as they worked on their boats – and after a short paddle we came to the bridge over Hudson Road. A large sign warned “mariners” to be cautious as they passed near the Transapex works over the creek. Whether we qualify as “mariners” in a sea kayak I am unsure but we took the warning. Fifty metres on you pass under a rail bridge and enter into a stretch bounded on both sides by high mangroves. Although the creek passes by the extremely busy Mayne railway yards, you would never have an inkling it is so well hidden from view. We passed under another pair of bridges and then came to a lovely stretch before rounding the bend and seeing the first of the Transapex Tunnel works. From the Inner City Bypass the work looks impressive but from the water it is positively intimidating. The two waste towers are massive and the conveyor belts carrying their burden of waste look massive from the creek.

It is only at this level that you learn how much is being done. As you pass under the conveyor belts you find pylons driven into the creek, widening of Bowen Bridge Road being undertaken and huge steel barriers built to protect the works from the creek flow. Around the Bowen Bridge Road section the Royal Brisbane Hospital comes into view and the creek wends its way eastwards. After all the recent rains the surface was covered in bubbles and a lot of floating debris brought down from Enoggera Creek. Kayakers and canoeists are uniquely placed to appreciate how much benefit the flush of the rains bring. The stagnant flows are revitalised and the waterways take on new life. We were constantly seeing shoals of small bait fish jumping and larger predatory fish chasing their meal. Birdlife was restricted to a bittern (we see one every time we go out), a black duck and little else.

About an hour into the paddle we reached Downey Park where baseball is played and a little later the back of Ballymore Park. From our low position on the creek, Ballymore is a massive structure reaching up with enormous light pylons stretching up into the heavens. Approximately at this point Breakfast Creek merges with Enoggera Creek and the paddle takes you up into Ashgrove. The problem was that we were seriously hungry by now and decided to return to the boat ramp. Had the water been a little cleaner we would have continued and readers of this blog should consider this trip now we have received some extra rain. The extra will have flushed the creek and I think it would be a better paddle. It was still quite enjoyable.

The return trip put us alongside some boaties with a tinnie hauling up crab pots near the bridge off the Inner City Bypass. These guys had a complete disregard for other water users and blasted off past us churning up the creek. Like a champ or kayak just rode the waves hitting us at an oblique angle, never looking like being unsettled. Every trip we take is a revelation of how stable this kayak is, particularly as I removed about 80 mm from the beam when I was building it. Good design, David Payne.

The return trip was uneventful except for the usual crowd at the ramp and a second chance to marvel at bad taste. We loaded the kayak, changed our clothes and went off to have a well-deserved Subway for lunch. Definitely a paddle I will do again, probably after the rains have cleaned out the creek and we can have another look at the progress of the Transapex Tunnel works.

Kayaking in the Boondall Wetlands

Boondall Wetlands 16 December 2007

This tract of wetlands is on the north side of Brisbane bordering the suburb of Shornecliffe. It is accessed from the carpark beside the Queensland Yacht Club in Sinbad Street where there is a small marina. Launching is from a boat ramp and Cabbage Tree Creek and Nundah Creek converge here. The trip is up Nundah Creek. The paddle is popular so expect to see other paddlers.

We timed our launch to coincide with the last of the rising tide to take advantage of the flow. This was around midday and the prevailing breeze was in our face at around 5 – 10 knots – pleasant and no impediment. We stayed on the south side of the river going up and were carried by a 3 knot tidal inflow. We were immediately joined by a curious Brahimy Kite which circled above us but decided we were too big to eat and too small to land on. The creek is around 100 metres wide and lined both sides with mangroves. It takes you all to way to the bicycle path bridge and the Gateway Arterial Motorway is nearby. The traffic noise is audible all the way along. This is a designated canoe trail and the Brisbane City Council publishes an information leaflet on the area.

Our initial impression was of little birdlife. The mangroves offer good protection for birds and apart from the Brahminy Kites we only saw a single bittern lurking in the undergrowth of the mangroves and one magnificent Great Egret fishing in the drowned roots of the mangroves. A couple of black ducks also made an appearance, but nothing else. We also passed a number of tinnies fishing and were passed by several day trippers with more horsepower than brains – the area in signed up at regular intervals for 6 KPH but some folk just never learn. Ah well! Our kayak rode the chop with nary a shake and felt very stable.

The area is habitat for black shouldered kites, plovers, ducks, sandpipers and the whimsically named godwits and whimbrels but we missed them all. It was a gusty day with a 15 - 20 knot breeze stirring up the water so possibly the wildlife kept to the shelter of the mangroves.

The return journey was a pain. We had a stiff breeze in our face which must have approached 20 knots and we kept to the north bank to shelter behind the mangroves. This worked until we rounded a bend and copped the breeze full in the face. This trip convinced me of the need to install a rudder, which I did immediately after this trip. We were turned around a full 180 degrees on two occasions and it took plain hard work to return the last two kilometres tot the marina.

However our labours were rewarded near the end. Coming back clinging to the northern shore we surprised a pair of Brahminy Kites which launched out of the mangroves less than five metres from where we were paddling. Up close these are magnificent birds and their appearance made the struggle back worthwhile.

This kayak is an excellent touring craft and since installing the rudder it is a whole new craft. It turns easily, still tracks perfectly straight but is now so much easier to turn and park against a pontoon or bank. My friends at Rosco Canoes at Windsor supplied the hardware and gave good support. All the staff is lovely and very helpful. http://www.roscocanoes.com.au/ There is a World Wetlands Day being organised for the 2^nd and 3^rd of February 2008 which Rosco is advertising on their website so hop on and register.

All in all I would rate this as on OK paddle. Nothing like the birdlife as we saw on our previous paddles but an interesting area and worth a day out. Definitely pick the top of the tide or the end of the rising tide and return on the top of the tide or a dropping tide. The wind picks up later in the day and blows up the river so the return journey is very hard work without having to fight the tide. My rating would be 3 out of a possible 5. I would like to paddle up Cabbage Tree Creek for an explore one day but it borders some busy roads so it might not be that attractive. Time will tell.

We have just completed two outings on Pumicestone Passage so keep an eye out for our next posting.