Sunday, April 30, 2023

Zappa's SUP session - nice waves and no wind & Aspendale Fliteboard #FB18

I finally got back on my standup paddleboard after a long period of resting both sore elbows - and it was a good one.

Surfers at The Pines, Shoreham, 7:30am

I paddled across to Zappas slowly testing out my arms.  There was a little discomfort but I felt OK. 

The waves at Zappas were small to medium size and surprisingly easy to catch.  There was no wind so the takeoffs were smooth.

I logged 10 waves with a total of 1,461 wave ride distance.  The longest ride was 60 seconds and 273m, almost to the beach.

It was so good to be surfing again!

Aspendale Fliteboard (#FB18)

I had my Fliteboard with me but decided to dodge the reefs at low tide and instead stopped at Aspendale on the way home for a 30 minute session on the Flow 1300 wing.  I did a tour up to Parkdale Sailing Club then back to the Gnotuk Ave beach houses. 

I covered 12.73km in 35 minutes and only used 50% of the battery. The Flow wing is more efficient that the Cruiser 1100.


Sunday, April 16, 2023

Wingan inlet exploring, walking and fishing

Matt, Brendan and I had a enjoyable camping trip and fishing trip to Wingan Inlet in East Gippsland in March. Brendan did most of the organising and booking a campsite with Parks Victoria.

Matt and I spent a relaxing night at Walkerville en route. I was hoping to have a Fliteboard session but an easterly put paid to that.

We stop at Yarram for a coffee and snack at Cafe Aga. The town has some great murals and some good cafes.




The Cann River Hotel is an historic building. The town has two good bakeries that also serve good coffee and meals and there is a cafe too.

We met Brendan at Marlo for lunch then drove onto Cape Conran to camp for the first night.  


Some of the cabins at the Banksia Bluff near Cape Conran were burnt there in recent bushfires, none are currently open while repairs are in progress. However, the Banskia Bluff campground is open and was a nice place to stay.

We went for a nice walk along the beach to the Yeering River.




We arrived at the Wingan Inlet camping areas after a longish drive on the dirt access road and set up our camp.  Brendan's camping trailer provided most of the facilities we used.  Matt and I slept in a roomy tent. The location is very popular with keen fishers who have a variety of boats (under 20 hp) and fishing kayaks. We fished from kayaks and the bank and caught some good Tailor and Flathead.













Matt I walked along the track to beach and around to the inlet. There are great views to the Skerries with many seals lazing on the rocks.  The inlet is fast flowing and difficult to cross, as I remember from a bushwalk on the Wilderness Coast Track back in the 80s.





















We walked along the track up to the high point on Rame Head for excellent views north and south along the coast.










We saw bandicoots, bush rats and goannas around the camp.







I had a session on my Fliteboard in the inlet sticking to 400 meters of the deep channel close to the boat launching site.  I hit a sand bank once so it wasn't really the best location for an electric foilboard.


On the last day walked into Elusive Lake, which we failed to find during the bushwalk back in the 80s. The "perched" freshwater lake is good for swimming.



We stopped at Cann River again on our way home.



In summary, Wingan Inlet is a great place for camping, walking and fishing.