Little moments of magic in the middle of the city
One of the best things about paddling is that there’s so many different ways to do it. You can head out into the surf, bump and grind through rock gardens, ride a canoe down a river, play out in the ocean swell or go for a lake cruise with friends. You don’t need to stereotype yourself as any particular type of paddler – you’re totally free to enjoy the water any way you like.
Bunyip Cave, somewhere near East Killara
On a grey rainy summer’s day recently I caught up with an old friend, a paddler who spends most of his time out at sea. I hadn’t seen him for a while and was open to whatever paddle he was up for. The tide that morning was particularly high and to my surprise he suggested a cruise up Middle Harbour to intercept the coffee boat.
Such serenity hidden away from the heavier boat traffic of the Harbour
We didn’t find it until we reached the Roseville Bridge, and after a relaxing coffee floating on the calm waters by the Roseville marina, we decided to head further up into Middle Harbour Creek. So far up in fact we passed the rocks of upper East Killara and only got stopped by the weir near St Ives!
Paddling amongst the mangroves at high tide
Both he and I can usually be found looking for more exciting water, but on this day we just felt like a different type of paddle. This beautiful and peaceful part of the world gave two old mates a chance to catch up and chat whilst having a relaxing cruise. We ended up kayaking a touch over 25 kms over a very leisurely 6 hours – slow, relaxed, and a heap of fun. And that’s just fine, because as a paddler you can paddle any way you want to. Cheers – FP
What can I say. Paddling is simply awesome.
Hi,
I’m recently into Kayaking and am quite inspired by your website. Can I ask, how did you mount the camera to your boat? I’ve seen this camera before but wasnt sure if it came with a mount specifically for this?
Also, what did you do with your coffee cup? :p
G’day Kevin,
Glad you like the site! As for cameras…. my standard photo platform is a Panasonic Lumix FT2 held in the hand. It takes some getting used to, but it works perfectly well. For video I have a GoProHD with a range of mounts – the two I prefer are head mount over a baseball cap (a strap that goes around the head with the camera sitting against your forehead), and I also use the surf-board mount gaffa-taped to half a split Greenland paddle – the latter is great because I don’t like to run the video all the time, so I can pull it in to turn it on/off whilst still maintaining the right distance. Also I can set the mount to face in different directions – face on to the paddler, or facing forward, etc. For both head and “stick” mounts, I also have the camera tethered to either my PDF or boat. Hope this helps! Cheers – FP
Oh, and for the coffee cup I often create a little well between my paddle float and spare Greenland paddle on the front deck that fits the cup perfectly! I can paddle around without risk of spillage. Then when I finish, I rinse out the cup and then store it in my day hatch until I return to shore and find a suitable rubbish bin. 🙂
Excellent tips, FP. I would have never thought of the paddle as camera platform, but it’s a stroke of genius. But, then again, wouldn’t expect anything else from you!