Myponga Beach — 12 May 2024

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Charlie, Mark   B, Abelardo, Mark L and Warwick joined Anne and Simon for a paddle. We launched at Myponga Beach and headied south towards Carrickalinga. The sea conditions were perfect – clear water to observe the variety of sea weeds, virtually no wind and flat seas. We had a casual paddle along the rocky cliffs with Charlie leading some rock gardening along the way. There were a few new scratches seen on his boat as he loaded it back onto his car. That must have been from the time he was left high and dry as the very slight swell retreated. Conditions were so calm that we all ventured into caves. Some big enough to turn around in and others very tight, narrow and funnelling the swell to surge your kayak in or out of the gap.

We spotted a couple of dolphins and about three seals that seemed to be following us at a small distance. Each time the seals surfaced they looked as if they were checking on us.

The sea was so calm and clear that we could see into the water to the patchwork of sea weeds below.

We had lunch on a small beach just north of Carrickalinga before returning to Myponga Beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Distance: 13.54 Km

Myponga Beach to Carrickalinga Point Sunday — 3 Dec 2023

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Perfecrt Day for a Paddle

Perfect weather, a beautiful place to paddle, great company and dolphins; could you ask for more?

Mark, Berny, Marius and Terry joined Anne and Simon at Myponga Beach to paddle south along the coast towards Carrickalinga. With almost zero swell and beautifully clear water we had fun playing in the rock gardens and visiting a couple of caves along the way. Some rocks were ‘touched’ and one Mark found himself stuck on until the next swell lifted him off, but all that just added to the fun of the paddle.

After practicing a few rolls we landed on the little beach below Carrickalinga Point for lunch. On our return paddle we spotted a large pod of dolphins that seemed to be in a feeding frenzy, circling around and coming to the surface often.

The tide had dropped significantly by the time we landed back at Myponga Beach so there was a longer carry getting the kayaks back to the cars. Rinsed off, changed and packed up, we headed to the Myponga Bakery for a well-earned afternoon coffee.

Statistics (Links to GPX file)

Sunday 3 Dec 2023 — 15km return over 5.15 Hrs

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy paddlers at Myponga Reservoir

Exploring Myponga Reservoir and Pizza at Smiling Samoyed — 3 December 2022

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Quiet water in Myponga Reservoir

Quiet water in Myponga Reservoir

Judging by this paddle at Myponga Reservoir, summer has finally arrived and we couldn’t have asked for a better day. The Reservoir is looking stunning at the moment. Good growth of duckweed in the shallows and a dark colouration of the water due to the level of tannin in the water – providing an interesting contrast for photographs.

Paddlers were Julie Rohde, Kim Wooning, Mark Loram, Julie Keast, Matt Eldred, Berny Lohmann and Terry Holder. Well done to Julie Keast (“Keasty”) on giving up her Canoe Polo Bat and trying out a Sea Kayak – see you at Semaphore South paddles hopefully!

The 7 knot northerly wind put in a brief appearance but had minimal impact for most of our paddle. A few fishing kayaks out but generally pretty quiet – must be lots of people attending the VALO Adelaide 500.

On the water

Traversing the Myponga Reservoir

Traversing the Myponga Reservoir

We were on water by the civilised time of 10.00am. We set off for a leisurely paddle exploring the accessible boundaries of the Reservoir in a clockwise direction. Had our lunch stop just past the line of buoys looking up to South Road before getting back on water and making a beeline for the dam wall.

The buoys and underwater structure act as a containment barrier in case of a road tanker crash, isolating this part of the Reservoir from the main body of water.

Took the opportunity for a group photo while in sheltered waters – well done Julie for demonstrating good kayak balance. We even managed another pic at the dam wall.

After passing along the dam wall exclusion buoys we headed to the northern shoreline, taking the opportunity to explore some of the interesting little inlets. The smell of the pine forest was very noticeable and made us feel like were paddling in amongst the forest.

We were soon back at the boat ramp and rolled the kayak trollies back to the almost empty carpark.

Final Stop

Next stop was The Smiling Samoyed Brewery with plenty of time to enjoy our pre-ordered pizza – what a great way to finish off a paddle around Myponga Reservoir. Next Reservoir excursion will hopefully be Warren Reservoir up near the Barossa.

GPS Image

GPS Myponga Sat 3 Dec 2022

Exploring Myponga Reservoir 4 February 2022

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Going around Myponga Reservoir

Seven Adelaide Canoe Club members spent the morning kayaking around the perimeter of Myponga Reservoir on Friday, a great day exploring this stunning part of South Australia which we then topped off by a visit to The Smiling Samoyed Brewery. A perfect opportunity for some of our new members to build on their kayaking experience with the club.

It was great to be back paddling Myponga Reservoir today – and on a Friday! Thought we might try some weekday paddles to see how they went, particularity with our recent influx of new members. Ended up being a great day on water and the Reservoir is looking stunning at the moment with a good growth of duckweed in the shallows providing an interesting contrast for photographs.

A nice sunny day, and wind wasn’t too bad at 11kn from ESE.  We managed to seek out the protected south easterly shoreline, at least until we headed down to the dam wall – no group photos in front of the wall this time!

Paddlers were Julie Rohde, Courtney Kirkwood, Lisa Kerley, Liz Graham, Kaye and Stephen Parnell and Mark Loram. This was a Myponga first for most of our paddlers and I think they went away impressed with the setting.

We almost had the Reservoir to ourselves, hardly a fishing kayak in sight. A very friendly SA Water Ranger came over for a chat just after I arrived and again at the end of the paddle. Very keen to learn about our experience and I picked up a couple of bits of information such as the deepest part of the Reservoir is around 42metres – wow!

Paddlers in Myponga

We were on water by the civilised time of 10.30am and set off for a leisurely paddle exploring the accessible boundaries of the Reservoir in a clockwise direction. Had our lunch stop just past the line of buoys looking up to South Road before getting back on water and making a beeline for the dam wall. How I wish I could use my sail! Another thing I found out from the Ranger is that the buoys and underwater structure act as a containment barrier in case of a road tanker crash, isolating this part of the Reservoir from the main body of water.

We kept well clear of the dam wall this time to avoid any chance of the wind pushing us onto the exclusion zone buoys, and headed to the northern shoreline. Bit more effort required paddling into the wind on our return, but all good experience for the group.

We were soon back at the boat ramp and rolled the kayak trollies back to the almost empty carpark.

Next stop was The Smiling Samoyed Brewery, no pre-ordered pizza this time but the home brew was a very filling alternative – what a great way to finish off a paddle around Myponga Reservoir.