Innes National Park, November - 4th and 5th November 2023

I first visited Innes National Park-Dhilba Guuranda more that 40 years ago as a surfer, then scuba diver and now as a sea kayaker. Although the inland nature of the park is more manicured to pamper the modern camper the coastline is unchanged, wild, visually stunning, partly inaccessible from land and challenging to sea kayak. The rolling swells, ocean winds and currents are ever present factors to be considered in planning and when paddling.

As the weekend approached the weather and swell forecasts looked ideal for a sailing and sea kayaking adventure of great proportions. Winds up to 15 knots and low swell for this region. The plan was to camp at a favourite site called Shell Beach over Friday and Saturday nights and to paddle Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday

On Saturday morning all the group members had arrived at Shell Beach. Karl, Chris, Charlie and myself on Friday and Abelardo on Saturday.

Saturday’s paddle plan was to explore from Cable Bay around the very exposed Cape Spencer then northwards to Pondalowie Bay having a look at an amazing feature called The Gap and nearby Howling Cave Beach on the way. Given the forecast of ideal winds we decided that paddling all the way back to Shell Beach was also achievable. The total distance being a bit over 20 kilometres. Great plan.

On arrival at Cable Bay the wind was gusting over 20Knts from the south east and the promise of a sunny day was just that…a promise. It was heavily overcast and quite cold. Not deterred all paddlers were keen to give it a go and quickly prepared their craft and kit.

The launch was easy with no waves breaking on the beach. I had selected each launch and landing site carefully to minimise the chance of breaking waves.

Karl had paddled the day’s route several times and was elected to lead out through the small reefs and bombies. There was quite a bit of apprehension in the group calling for a cautious approach to this section and a tight group structure. A capsize could have occurred at any moment in the confused seas which reached their most challenging rounding Cape Spencer. The swell was coming from several directions and rebounding from the rocky shoreline. Charlie rated this section a BLACK ZONE on the new ACC rating system! We were all relieved to get around to the western side of the Cape and into less demanding conditions. It was a downwind run to The Gap and Howling Cave Beach but with the wind gusting over 20Knts it was decided not to hoist the sails just yet…we were travelling plenty fast enough!

The Gap

The Gap is an interesting coastal formation where erosion has carved a huge “amphitheatre” into the high cliff line. Begin in a more sheltered area we were able to explore inside the feature. Stunning high vertical sandstone/limestone cliffs all around!

Howling Cave Beach sounds like a place you just have to visit if you have an adventurous spirit. The small bay was very sheltered with only a tiny wave breaking on the beach, so we landed for an enjoyable lunch.

After lunch it was a fast paddle with sail up past Ethel Beach and West Cape to find another sheltered beach just inside West Cape to land and stretch the legs. From here we could look towards Pondalowie Heads and the numerous breakers between us and the next sheltered bay. We cautiously picked our way through these keeping an eye to seaward for “sneakers” at all times.

Crossing Pondalowie Bay to Royston Head was a real slog with side winds to 20Knt. It was such a relief to find a perfect and sheltered sandy beach on arrival. We landed for an extended rest and photo opportunity producing some awesome pics!

The final leg back to Shell Beach was something I had been dreading as it would be a slog straight into the wind. It turned out to be the best part of the day! The coast was littered with rock gardens covered with stunning growth. By staying in amongst the rocks we could avoid the wind and enjoy the challenge of manoeuvring through the gaps and riding the surging waves.

Upon reaching Shell Beach two big challenges awaited…getting the kayaks up the steep steps to the campground and retrieving the cars from the launch site. These were achieved with a minimum of fuss and a well-earned meal and wine finished off the day.

Sunday

Sunday morning brought sunshine but persistent strong ESE winds. We agreed that the original plan of another 20Km day was a bit optimistic and would not lead to a fun day’s paddling. With the winds further to the east there would also be no sailing. We opted to go search around Corny Point for some nice coastline to explore.

After another leisurely breakfast we headed to Berry Bay where a large number of school students were enjoying a surf lesson in the beautiful small waves and offshore winds. Quite ideal really apart from the steep and long set of stairs from the carpark to the beach. We’d done enough hoisting kayaks yesterday so needed another option. Karl had noticed and other beach with access on the way and went to check it out.

He arrived back with good news. Gravel Bay looked ideal with a 4WD track down to a sandy beach and no breakers. Our plan became to launch from Corny Point township, head west and downwind around Corny Point, south along Berry Bay to exit at Gravel Bay. All up about 9 Km which would lead to a reasonable landing time to begin the drive back to Adelaide. Perfect for how we were feeling.

Once at Corny Point township it was close enough to lunchtime to get some pies, sandwiches and iced coffee’s from the general store and then it was off to the beach boat ramp.

Launching

The beach launch was quite stunning with pure white sand, crystal blue sea and a huge sandbar that required some walking before paddling. Corny Point was one of the highlights (amongst many) for the trip.

Paddling down along spectacular Berry Bay with it’s pure white sands we encountered dolphins and seals. It wasn’t long before we had paddled and drifted down to Gravel Bay surrounded by rock gardens with plenty of growth clinging to the outcrops. This brought the end to paddling for the day. We piled into Chris’ minivan and back to the launch site to retrieve other vehicles, load up and began the trip back to Adelaide. A very satisfying weekend of adventurous sea kayaking and camping.

Report by Phil Doddridge, photos by Karl Meyer