Category Archives: General

Kayak Enemy #45: Man

This is going to be an odd post, since the Fat Paddler is, in fact, also a man.  But you’ll understand shortly. I was paddling on the Lane Cove River…

Rare Animal Sightings on the Lane Cove River

It was an absolutely stunning winter’s day in Sydney. Warm, sunny, no wind. Perfect paddling weather. So I decided to revisit the Lane Cove River off Sydney Harbour. Now, I’m…

One great reason why kayaking is better than swimming

Sometimes it’s only whilst sitting in a boat that you realise what else is inhabiting the water. Whilst on a great paddle from The Spit to Roseville, it became very…

Kayak Enemy #23: Semi-submerged logs

Paddling in pre-dawn darkness, the last thing you want to come across at full speed is a submerged log.  For a motorboat, such a thing can be catastrophic. So when…

The Coffee Boat gets better – now with muffins!

Who’d have thought the famous coffee boat could get better?? Well, after chasing him for about 2km today and having worked up an appetite to go with my coffee cravings,…

Kayak Enemy #74: Stealthy Coxless Quad Sculls

Ordinarily I wouldn’t class another paddler in the enemy category, however an incident this morning changed all that. You see, I’d put the kayak in the water at about 6am…

Paddling Hungover – Sydney Harbour

What a night. Three big international rugby games (France vs New Zealand, Wallabies v Italy, Lions v Sth Africa), a lamb roast, an old friend and several hundred rums. After…

Berowra Creek – Beauty and the Beasts

I’ve had the flu over the last week so had to keep the paddling to an easy cruise. After seeking suggestions, @NoReinsGirl suggested a leisurely cruise on Berowra Waters. Now…

Amber Sunrise over the Sydney Skyline

I put the question out to Twitter on where to paddle and got the answer “Lavender Bay” from @andrawatkins.  This had great appeal, since the bay overlooks the Sydney Harbour…

What do you mean it’s Winter? Paddling beautiful Sydney Harbour

Sometimes it’s hard to believe it’s the middle of winter in Sydney.  After paddling in cold, wet and windy conditions for the past few weeks (the things you do when…

Balmoral Blast, or Egg and Bacon?

As I was gearing up for an early morning paddle on Sydney Harbour, a passing paddle-colleague stopped to say gday and let me know he was about to take part…

Solo Man – The Great Kayak Adventurer

A recent entry from @kiryn in my FatPaddler tshirt competition reminded me of the brilliant tv ads of the 80s for “Solo Man”, the tough adventurer with a huge thirst…

Peaceful Paddles – Berowra Waters

Hoping to capture another purple sunrise I got up at 5am and hit the water by 6am. The great thing about this time of the day is that there is…

The FP view of the sunrise. Breath-takingly beautiful.

Paddling Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park (Sydney Australia)

Today I spent a magnificent 3.5hrs on the beautiful waters of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Other than bloody sea-planes this was an invigorating 24km trek through pristine Australian bushland,…