Monday 24 February 2020
Photos provided by Karen and Rodney
The group launched at Durras Lake boat ramp (South Durras) early in the morning when the busy Lake was still calm and winds were almost absent. Nearly all the margins of the Lake have been fire affected and recent rains have seen the water level rise dramatically. However, the Lake is still closed to the Ocean.
Fortunately, the Lake is in the Marine Park and is therefore not closed. It was possible to skirt the northern burned shore and paddle quite far up the flooded creek at the back of North Durras where we could hear rangers with chain saws working to reopen the Discovery Trail on the northern shore.
The group crossed the Lake to see one of the few areas where the fire crossed the Lake to the West of Punt Arm. Burrawangs were sprouting in the fire zone; it was obvious the forest was beginning its recovery.
The final paddle back to the ramp included exploring the flooded wetlands near to Durras village, before an increasingly strenuous paddle into a rising headwind took the paddlers back to the ramp.
Rodney