| From The Sea Canoeist, March, 1981
East Coast Tasmania - Easter 1981 Scribe Vicki Rust Paddlers: Laurie Ford (Trip leader), Geoff Davis, Phillip Reynolds, Vicki and Andrew Rust, Ron Rainbow. The paddlers of this trip congregated at Little Swanport on Saturday afternoon in preparation for the next day's 35km paddle. On the way up, Geoff had deposited his car at Louisville to provide return transport to Little Swanport. Andrew, Vicki, Phillip and Geoff checked out the surf on arrival and were not pleased to hear our trip leader's report. Strong winds and big swells had produced big 'dumper' waves that made passage out of the river mouth impossible. The remainder of the afternoon was spent exploring the ruins of the saltmines, abandoned earlier this century. The group whiled away the evening around the campfire, with Laurie and his family, plus other Easter holiday-makers. We all rose early (sixish) the next morning to find the wind had turned overnight from NW to SW, just exactly what we didn't want. Ron arrived from Hobart to find Laurie tucking into a breakfast of a jaffa-filled Easter egg. Having no further excuses to delay departure, we packed up and were on the water by 8.15am. Laurie was paddling his new Longboat, complete with sail, electric pump and compass. Phillip and Geoff were in North Sea Tourers, Ron and Andrew in Greenlanders, and Vicki in Laurie's 'Bullfrog', the modified Splinter. Ron had a short play in the surf at the mouth of Little Swanport River while the group got organised and we set off with a following westerly wind. Laurie took advantage of this by erecting his sail and smugly skimmed past us. The next 8km from Seaford Point to Beckles Hill was an easy paddle with sections of glassy water. This area looked very tempting for skin-diving with clear green-blue water, so typical of the East Coast and plenty of heavy kelp with rocky flat ledges. The countryside was mainly flat, with some small hills, covered in dried grass and lightly dotted with eucalypts. This relatively deserted area displayed many suitable possible campsites for those who wanted to get away from the crowds. Continuing south, we arrived at Boltons Beach, a rather spectacular 3km stretch of white sand. The serenity of the beach was interrupted by a cluster of new stereo-typed buildings, commonly called Boltons Estate, We rendezvoused with Laurie's family here and took the chance to increase fuel reserves in the form of Mars bars etc. There was a small surf breaking, which managed to claim Vicki as she was beaching. At this point, having covered one third of our trip, we were informed that this was our last chance to disembark, as there were no further access roads south. The group was confident and the party of six left Boltons Beach at 11am. On rounding Boltons Bluff, Vicki found cause to 'attention seek', by complaining of chafed underarms. This excuse for a rest lasted only five minutes, as Laurie 'The Slasher' corrected the problem with one fell swoop of his razor blade. Boltons Bluff merged into Grindstone Bay and Grindstone Point, which was marked by quite high, steep, rock cliffs with iron stains. At this point we began to see more spectacular views of northern and north-eastern faces of Maria Island. The sight of Cape Bougainville had now cleared from a grey-blue haze to something more distinct and reachable. The passage along Plain Bay Beach was hindered a little by slight west-south-westerly winds. Laurie had headed off to start the lunch site fire, but the group was delayed a little in tying up the snapped rudder wire of Vicki's Splinter. We eventually landed on Plain Place Beach at 1.30pm, complete with a few baptized heads, due to the 2 to 3' surf breaking on shore. Next item, lunch! The tired canoeists flaked around the fire Laurie had built and tucked into glorious food. Laurie contented himself with a chocolate Easter Bunny and persuaded us to collect up and move out at 2pm. The short paddle around Cape Bougainville revealed magnificent views of Maria Island and Mercury Passage, including Lachlan Island. We hugged the steep cliffed coastline to ensure protection from strengthening south-westerly winds. This area again suggested good diving possibilities. After rounding Lords Bluff we confronted the head-on wind we had been expecting and dreading. The 4km paddle into the 15 knot wind wasn't exactly pleasant, but we took the shortest, and hopefully, quickest route by aiming straight for the lighthouse on Point Home Lookout. Geoff and Phillip veered slightly inland of this route, getting a better view of Oakhampton, while Ron took a more direct, but possibly less protected route further out to sea. Point Home Lookout provided a short reprieve from the winds and an opportunity to talk to some amateur fishermen, refuel, and discuss the possibility of much-earned liquid refreshments at Louisville. The final 3km attack across Spring Bay wasn't easy, with the persistent head-on winds. Fortunately, 'homing instinct' came to the fore with a new charge of energy and we arrived in the quiet cove of the man-made beach of Louisville resort at 4.30pm. Our presence attracted much interest and enquiry from the tourists staying in the aluminium jungle. We were grateful for the unlocked, clean bathrooms with hot showers, and the bar serving cold beer. We quickly packed up, travelled back to camp and thawed out around the fire. We agreed that it was a worthwhile trip, which could have easily been leisurely extended over two days.
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