6th February 2026         CDU Newsletter 920

Terry 0417977330
terry@canoeingdownunder.com.au (email)
https://terrybolland.wordpress.com/ (trips & achievements)
https://canoeingdownunder.wordpress.com (website)
https://www.facebook.com/terry.bolland.1

Despite being back in my kayak and canoe I still managed to be on the top of the SUP leader board in January having paddled 500kms.

Although my kayak paddling speed has deteriorated a little, possibly due to too much SUP paddling or more likely I’m just getting too old, it’s good to be racing even if I don't beat the paddlers I used to beat.

I even spent the weekend paddling canoe & kayak at the WA Sprint Championships which was very much wind effected with the 1000 metres being cancelled on Sunday. I was the oldest there (now in the 75 plus age group) so I came home with a few medals.   

The Rainbow Bee-eaters were in a bit of a frenzy this morning.

Just watch guys - this is how you catch a bee!

A power boat races passed Karen Hemsley on Tuesday evening at the Progressive Racing Groups time trial.

So much for a 5 knot speed limit.

WA Sprint Championships

It was certainly a testing time for some paddlers as the wind especially on Sunday was raging that hard it was virtually impossible to carry a kayak, let alone paddle one.

The 1000 metre races were cancelled because of the strong wind and safety concerns.

I was paddling my K1 as well as my C1 and as I have only paddled the C1 less than 3 kms in the last year the conditions were pretty testing, but thankfully I kept dry.

For results go to WA Sprint Kayaking facebook page.

The juniors did well to paddle against the strong wind.

It was so windy I couldn't wear my cap.

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The open paddlers.

Luke Egger - winner.

Off to paddle my first C1 race for a year.

1000m, 500 metres and 3 x 200 metre races. I didn't win.

The ladies are off.

Mixed K2. I was paddling with Isable Maddison.

A couple of Olympians Steve Bird and Jesse Phillips in the K4 with Mitchell Tamblin and Luke Egger.

Camilla Barbi, pictured and Gen Stanley beat me in my C1.

I won the kayak races as I was the only one there in the 75 category.

Summer Series Wild Water Training

This morning we had the last Summer Series Wild Water Training around the buoys.

We have two evening races coming up.

 First one is this Monday evening the 9th of February at Sandy Beach

 and 

Monday 23rd February at Ascot Kayak Club.

Time 5.15pm-5.30pm start.

There will be a practice run and two timed runs.

All welcome

Waiting to hear the times.

This mornings results here:-

Overall | 2026 WildWater WA Summer Training #5 | Series results | Webscorer

Debbie Robinson and Kate Crossing doing a timed run.

After 45 minutes practice we have two timed runs.

Back in 2002 there were 54 individual paddlers who entered the 

WA Wild Water Championships at Bridgetown.

Why don't you give it a shot.

Celebrating 50 Years of Paddling

Year 1987

Kimberley Kayak Expedition #4 cont.....

From Kuri Bay we only had a couple of days of paddling before reaching Walker’s Valley, near Prince Regent River and the main focus of our trip, to retrace the footsteps of George Grey’s 1838 journey. We had faced crocodiles, been hit by sharks and pushed around by tides and tidal rapids, but it was all worth it when we rounded High Bluff and recognised the land features that Grey described in his diary.

Kuri Bay where we picked up supplies that we sent there.

Waiting for the tide to come a little closer. It didn't usually take too long.

Paddling into Walkers Valley, and within 30 minutes of our destination we passed a small pocket of tropical rainforest that was being fed by a cascading stream of water from the cliff top. It was quite a beautiful surprise.

Huge cliffs narrowed our passage where a welcoming crocodile leapt off a nearby ledge. To escape the narrow channel it swam under our kayaks to a forest of mangroves that we had just passed further downstream. The water then became wildly alive with dozens of large mullet milling around the shallows not far from where we were getting out in Walkers Valley. Within minutes of landing the tide had receded, leaving our landing spot devoid of water, for another 6 hours at least.

Landing at Walker's Valley. 

The start of retracing George Greys 1838 overland expedition.

A school of mullet fish.

The light soon faded, and as we prepared dinner a thunderstorm struck, sending us scurrying for cover. I threw my tent fly over our gear and squatted in a small cavity of the cliff as streams of water drenched me as it ran down the rock face. It was pitch black, except when spectacular streaks of lightning exploded above the gully. My left leg became entangled in a thick spider’s web as I tried to squeeze further into the crevice. Luckily I wasn’t afraid of spiders but I soon became very cold which encouraged me to retreat under my tent fly for extra warmth.

Ken was nowhere to be seen. He had disappeared along the valley when the storm started. In between the noise of thunder, the spectacular streaks of lightening, a weird and mysterious howling cry echoed from the cliff top which carried on most of the night. When the rain stopped Ken appeared and we settled in for the night.

By the time we were fully packed for the overland trek the morning sun was beating down and the fresh smell of the evening storm had faded with the heat. Our packs were heavy. As well as having backpacks we also had heavy day packs strapped to our front, which made seeing very difficult. We calculated them weighing around 40 kilograms and I only weighed 60 kilograms. Leaving the mullet to advance with the rising tide we stumbled away from camp and along the valley of huge paperbarks trees, lush vegetation, big boulders, and vines and spinifex hiding potholes full of water that we trampled in.

On reaching Grey’s main camp site we found the landscape being exactly as he described it in his diary, except the vegetation was really overgrown and we had little hope of finding any discarded equipment so we moved on.

Grey’s Diary

On the 29th January we began in the afternoon to load our horses. Mr Walker’s pathway was completed by means of a number of circuitous and sharp turnings; it led directly up the face of the cliffs which were almost precipitous and 180 feet in height.

To commemorate the completion of this really laborious undertaking I named the valley “Walkers Valley”

Already weary from our ¾ kilometre trek, we were faced with the difficult task of spiralling our way up the rocky slopes of the cliff. Rests were frequent. On top of the ridge Ken wheeled his machete around, trying to slash the tangling vines, but with little effect. We had achieved little by nightfall, the terrain, heavy packs and the heat made us stop regularly.

We rose early in the morning but the terrain still forced us to stop every 200 metres. Ken had his first brush with green ants which gave him an insight to what was to come. Their attack was deadly, as their nippers pieced into his skin, causing severe jabs of pain. He angrily threw his pack to the ground and we rested again, our packs were just too heavy.

We turned on the Flying Doctor Radio for the morning schedule to hear some distressing news. An American women, Ginger Meadows had been taken by a crocodile only a few kilometres away from us in the Prince Regent River. A search was on to find her body, but no other details were released. We wondered how the news would affect our wives. The police wanted us to return as they said it was too dangerous for us to be out there. I don’t know if they realised how far we were away from civilisation.

Ken looking down into Walker's Valley.

After struggling a few more kilometres we decided that something drastic had to be done with our heavy packs. The radio, battery, solar panel and safety gear had to stay. So we decided to half our 22 days of food to lighten our packs and to help us keep on schedule. We each hid 11kgs of rations under a big boulder hoping it would still be there and not taken by animals when we returned. 

Losing so much weight helped us to walk faster. By 2.15pm we were in the Lushington Valley at a spot where three small streams merged. Beneath my shadow I noticed a rusty, worn axe head blending in with the coppery coloured rock. It was difficult to believe that we could find a piece of civilisation in this vast wilderness where very few people have ever trod. Did it belong to Grey’s expedition or was it used by Aboriginals that could have once been in this area? It was a mystery.

Following Grey’s route we ascended out of Lushington Valley moving through some large sandstone pillars and Liverstonia palms. The top of the pillars gave us a magnificent view of the Prince Regent River, Mount Trafalgar and Mount Waterloo. By the time we had reached another gully we were totally exhausted, so we camped close to a small cascade. In 8 ½ hours we had only walked 8 kilometres. We were getting to know what problems Grey had experienced and he had unbroken ponies with him to attend to.

Grey’s Diary

I have been severely wounded in the hip; another spear had just cut my right arm and a third had deeply indented my powder-flask, whilst lying in a haversack, immediately over my stomach. My wound began, by degrees, to get very stiff and painful and I was, moreover, excessively weak and faint from loss of blood; indeed, I grew so dizzy that I could scarcely see and neither of the others were capable of leading the party back to the tents. I still pushed on until we were within two miles of the tents, when as I tried to cross a stream, I strained my wounded hip severely, just reached the other shore and fell utterly unable to rise again….

As we headed towards the Glenelg River we descended the McDonald Ranges leaving the sandstone country for the plain below. With the plains came the long grass that towered over our heads, scrub cattle, donkeys and millions of flies that annoyed us every minute of the daylight hours. We couldn’t eat, write or relax unless we were locked inside our mosquito net.

I found a rusty, worn axe head in Lushington Valley. 

At times large sandstone pillars and Liverstona palms clustered together stood in our way.

At last Grey’s first major discovery, the Glenelg River was reached. Climbing a hill gave us a terrific view of the extensive mangroves, sand flats and the wide Glenelg River that meandered its way to Doubtful Sound and the open ocean.

It was below our present position on the mudflats of the Glenelg River that Kingsford Smith had to make a forced landing in his Southern Cross aircraft. On March 31st, 1929 he and three other aviators were on their way to Wyndham and their ultimate goal England. Extremely bad weather and a misunderstanding forced them to fly miles in the wrong direction and finally run out of fuel. They landed on the mudflats below us. A search was mounted and on 12th April 1929 the Southern Cross was found by Les Holden in the plane Canberra.

Climbing a hill gave us a terrific view of the extensive mangroves, sand flats and the wide Glenelg River that meandered its way to Doubtful Sound and the open ocean.

Following donkey tracks we marched on to some tidal rapids 15-20 kilometres upstream of the Glenelg River. Below the cascades thick mud, steep banks and mangroves lined the river. Due to the low marshy country, Grey had to make a diversion to a hill named Mt Stewart, to prevent his ponies from bogging down.

As we ploughed past Mt Stewart through the long grass, with hidden boulders to trip us over, the heat was unbearable and I was beginning to feel sick and dizzy. The humid heat and with being couped up inside a kayak I had developed boils on my legs so I was taking antibiotics. My energy level eventually faded so I let Ken lead and push down the long grass and I followed him in a daze. I finally had to stop as the blistering heat was intense and I was feeling faint. A large boulder cast a short midday shadow. I tried to hide from the heat behind it without much success.

We had been on half rations for several days and although we had hunger pains we still felt healthy well up until now. I soon began to vomit, until my stomach was completely empty. Minutes later with slightly improved health we continued at a crawling pace through taller and thicker grass until we reached another boggy creek. My stomach wanted to explode so I sank to my knees. The tall grass towered over me and a stagnant pool of water lay beside. I vomited again. No breeze could get to me in the stockade of tall grass and the fiery sun only increased my discomfort. We were locked in, the heated grass prison barred all routes out except for the narrow path we had come. This route was retraced and a campsite found on an uneven rocky outcrop with Mt Lyell looking down on us.

The following morning I felt fit enough to make tracks towards the Glenelg River where giant paperbark trees grew prolifically on the southern side. The shallow water glistened as it flowed over the sandy river bed. Downstream a deep pool gave us our first opportunity to fish. Within minutes eleven black bream were being prepared for our evening meal. For 8 days we have been on half rations so this would be our first substantial meal in that time.

The Glenelg River. 

Andrew McAuley's 

fateful journey across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand

In January 2007, Vicki McAuley's beloved husband Andrew, set off on an adventure to become the first person to kayak from Tasmania to New Zealand, across the treacherous Tasman Sea.

He was making good progress and Vicki and their little son Finn were waiting at Milford Sound for Andrew to make landfall.

Then she got the devastating news that authorities had found Andrew's kayak in the ocean, but there was no sign of Andrew.

Click here to hear Vicki's story on the ABC's Conversations:-

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/conversations/vicki-mcauley-on-her-husbands-dream-to-solo-kayak-tasman-sea/106276602?fbclid=IwY2xjawPtcLJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeLXfxvokFr0SnXNHWPuMvhg5Dky3QBqVOpU6edR_nI4hEKA9ZScIAqGS_eA0_aem_dWek4oYCmcYyJDIGpcfNgg

Andrew McAuley heading to New Zealand.

This is said to be the last photo of Andrew before he went missing.

Birds Along The Way

It was good to see 4 dolphins up river this week.

It's been several months since I have seen them around Ascot.

The dolphins were on a mission travelling a little faster than they usually do.

Great Egret

Common Sandpiper

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Black-winged Stilts

Great Egrets

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Canning Classic is coming - Save the Date. 
Sunday 22nd February Kent Street Weir Wilson 
Lots of prizes
Race Distance 
Long course 12 km - 6km downstream and back, portage around the weir, 6km upstream and back. 5 boat grid starts.
Short course ~6 km

City Lights

Its time to challenge yourself again with the annual CITY LIGHTS paddle race!

We will once again be running a long and short course, with the short course being moved to make conditions less challenging in the open Perth waters.

Entries will open soon - come join in as a competitor or just come to the finish line to enjoy the live band and great food!