Wednesday February 26, 2014
1) Boat tour #2 Franklin Port to Refuge Cove return
Leader: Connie
Oh dear! Drizzling rain! Not what the second boat group had bargained for. We (Ron, Pam, Andrew, Connie and Jeannie ) left Waratah Bay feeling just a little worried. Yesterday's group had advised us to dress warmly, use our goggles and ride the bumps. However, the best advice for the Wednesday group turned out to be the change of clothes that most of us packed. We arrived back at Port Franklin wet, cold and bedraggled - not from rain but from the spray created by the strong westerly. However, we too had thoroughly enjoyed our stopover and walk across the headland at the stunningly serene Refuge Cove. On the trip over we had been fortunate to see black-faced cormorants, pacific gulls and a small pod of Australian Fur Seals bobbing around quite lazily. On the return journey we were followed briefly by three Common Dolphins- just the bonus we needed to make this a total experience.
Jeannie
Andrew, Connie, Jeannie, Pam and Ron still in high spirits on return after a wild and wet ride
Jeannie, Ron, Pam, Connie (still dry!)
Refuge Cove, an idyllic vista
Sealers Cove with Mt Latrobe (the highest mountain in Wilsons prom) at the upper right
Entrance to a cave on Rabbit Island
Roosting Black-faced Cormorants. Rarely seen on mainland coast when feeding
The only boat tour who saw seals, a compensation for a wet & bumpy ride!
2) Exploratory Walk: Vereker Track Redhill Track to Derby River (7 members) 10.5 Km, Easy
Leader: Michael
A first for the club so far as we know, this Northern Prom Walk starts at the same point as the Millers landing walk but follows below Mount Vereker across the sand plain covered in heath to meet the Red Hill Track and thence to Derby River just north of the cattle grid near the river. The walk follows a slashed firebreak across the plain with extensive views towards the west coast sandhills and south to the Latrobe Range and Mount Leonard. It is any easy 10.5km walk and can be combined with the derby river walk to the beach and back. Michael, Pat, Denys, Dianne, Marianne, Marie and Karen were the trail blazers. The walk was repeated the following day by Andrew, Faye and Jeannie using Karen’s elegant carshuffle to get them to the start and meet them at the finish.
Michael
Map reading lesson with Michael
3) Cotter's Lake to Derby River 7kms
Leaders: Jenny & Bill
Walkers: Jenny and Bill, Faye, Janie
Before beginning the walk we left Janie's car in the Derby River parking area then all drove back to Cotter's Lake. The first section of the walk took us down a 4x4 track towards the beach. Morning tea was enjoyed in a sheltered spot tucked down in the dunes. The beach was clean and wide with beautiful small white capped waves rolling in and backed by sand dunes and sometimes eroded cliffs. Halfway along we met up with a group from LaTrobe University who were studying the environment. Further along we stopped to examine two dead Shy Albatrosses which appeared to have died from starvation. When we arrived at the carpark at Derby River we were eating a well deserved lunch at a table beside the river when the Vereker Track walkers turned up and joined us. A lovely walk along a not very often visited part of the coast.
Jenny
Shy Albatross died from starvation?
No comments:
Post a Comment