After meeting on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry and then driving to Lake St Clair we enjoyed a quiet afternoon setting up camp and organising gear for tomorrow’s paddle. The camping area was a short walk to the boat launching spot, so some people took advantage of the time for a short paddle around the bay. Dinner time had half the group enjoy the restaurant at the Lake St Clair lodge while the other half cooked at the camp site.

Wednesday 26^th March

We set off at about 10am in perfect conditions, a slight breeze and blue sky. The tree covered hills of old growth forest and mountains in the distance provided stunning scenery as we paddled up to Echo Point for an early lunch stop. There was a tiger snake on the beach as we pulled in but it quickly disappeared into the scrub. Then it was on to Narcissus Hut, which is a short paddle up a small creek from the end of the lake. The landing spot at the hut was very steep so we paddled further up the creek and found a large, flat, grass-covered area and quickly had kayaks landed and tents up. A few people took advantage of the afternoon to go for a hike.

Thursday 27^th March

The glassy water was covered in mist as we paddled out from our creek and into the main lake. With the sun shining, we had amazing reflections of the trees lining the bank and the mountains. We paddled down the eastern side looking for a creek that came out from Lake Laura. The plan was to walk up the creek to see the lake. The attempt looked quite funny for those who opted not to try. The intrepid explorers were still visible, giving up after only a short distance, because the scrub was impenetrable and the creek rocks were difficult to negotiate.

As we started down the lake again we stopped to watch a platypus that surfaced several times near our kayaks. Seeing one of these shy animals in the wild was definitely a highlight of the day. Further on we found another creek which looked like a lovely spot to camp (another time perhaps). The eastern side of Lake St Clair had far more beaches than the western side and we easily found a good spot for a lunch stop.

We returned to the boat ramp via the old pump house, then headed back to the camping area and enjoyed the evening cooking dinner and chatting.

Overall statistics (Links point to GPX track files)