Black CC Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 (edited) A few weeks back I went on my annual crazy kayak trip. Last year 5 of us kayaked 150km from Coral Bay to Exmouth in our Hobie Outbacks and this year we thought we would tackle the fresh water of the Kimberley. We flew to Broome and then chartered a light plane, which took us to the Mornington Wilderness Camp. We then put all out gear in a large all terrain vehicle, which drove for 3 hours before dropping us off at The Traine River, in the King Leopold Rangers. The next morning we inflated our Alpacka Rafts, prepared the fishing gear and took off on our 100km journey back to Mornington. We could only carry a very small amount of food so catching a fish was pretty important and fortunately there were plenty of Sooty Grunter around. We spent 3 days going down the Traine River and there were parts where there was very little water, so dragging the rafts over the very slippery rocks was not great fun. We reached the mouth of the Traine on the 4th morning and this flows into the Hann River. The water flow in the Hann was much greater than we expected and encountering some pretty serious rapids was a challenge. We only spent a few hours going down the Hann as we reached the Fitzroy River in no time, due to the very rapid water flow. We spent the 5th day going down Sir John Gorge. Absolutely amazing part of the world and very challenging to negotiate the water falls (sometimes having to drag the rafts around the larger falls). We caught a couple of nice Barra around the 70cm mark in the gorge, which made for a nice upgrade from curried Sooty Grunter. Downstream from Sir John Gorge there was a very challenging stretch where a lot of trees had fallen across the river and there was a plague of spiders. The spiders are pretty difficult to avoid when their web runs from one side of the river to the other and 10cm above the water. Fortunately none were poisonous but still not much fun pulling them out of your hair, eyes and ears. There were a lot more Barra in the Fitzroy so we ate like kings for the next couple of days. We then headed up the Adcock River and I managed to lose a Barra that would have been over a metre. It took me under a snag and snapped my 80 pound leader. Trying to catch a big Barra in a blow up raft is not an easy task and this big girl towed me around all over the river before snapping me off. We packed up our gear on the morning of the 8th day of our crazy adventure and hiked 6km back to the Mornington Wilderness Camp. We all lost a bit of weight but had the most amazing experience. There were plenty of Fresh Water crocs but fortunately the Salties don't venture that far from the coast. There was a huge amount of planning and preparation that went into this trip which helped ensure there were no injuries, apart from the nasty blisters on my hands. Edited July 14, 2017 by Black CC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Insane! I remember your last trip you did, this one sounds like a cracker too! A couple of pics would paint the picture if you've got any??? Cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corro Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Amazing report, echo the call for some photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black CC Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 I will try and work out how to post the photos during the next couple of days. The go-pro footage going down the rapids is pretty amazing, so I will hopefully be able to include that as well. I have been too lazy to work out how to do it but I'm sure it's not that hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Squidy Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Some seriously impressive adventures there mate, top stuff and thanks for the reports. Cheers, R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Short Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Yeah great read! Need more of this sort of stuff on the forums IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HenryR Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Nice! Total awesome sounding trip. Were the packrafts just for that trip or do you do other stuff in them. They are pretty super small water and backcountry fishing vehicles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernando Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Amazing report! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellzy94 Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 17 hours ago, Black CC said: I will try and work out how to post the photos during the next couple of days. The go-pro footage going down the rapids is pretty amazing, so I will hopefully be able to include that as well. I have been too lazy to work out how to do it but I'm sure it's not that hard. Hey mate, With the Go-Pro footage it may be easier to upload the video/s to Youtube and then link the videos here! Looking forward to seeing pics and vids of your trip, it sounds amazing! Cheers, Wellzy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black CC Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share Posted July 14, 2017 12 hours ago, HenryR said: Nice! Total awesome sounding trip. Were the packrafts just for that trip or do you do other stuff in them. They are pretty super small water and backcountry fishing vehicles. I bought my raft specifically for that trip but we are planning to do more trips in the Kimberley in the future. We imported them from the USA and they are pretty expensive but after dragging them across some very sharp rocks they are worth every cent we paid for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black CC Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share Posted July 14, 2017 19 hours ago, Scratchie said: Insane! I remember your last trip you did, this one sounds like a cracker too! A couple of pics would paint the picture if you've got any??? Cheers scratchie!!! Some photos below. It will be a few days before I have the go-pro footage. We found the dead croc just sitting in the water. One of the guys is a vet and he was pretty sure it had just died of old age. It was pretty big for a freshy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 What an amazing adventure. Great photos. EPIC! Thanks for sharing it. BN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffb5.8 Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 You had me with jealousy until you mentions the spiders, sorry but i cannot do that many spiders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRED-ATOR Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 this is so cool! love your work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farvos Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 That sounds like an amazing time. I long for a trip like that. They are few and far between Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HenryR Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 (edited) On 14/07/2017 at 10:01 AM, Black CC said: I bought my raft specifically for that trip but we are planning to do more trips in the Kimberley in the future. We imported them from the USA and they are pretty expensive but after dragging them across some very sharp rocks they are worth every cent we paid for them. 'my other boat is a packraft', I bought mine years ago when the exchange rate was good. I did a couple of years of white water rafting before making the move to fishing. You know - I'm sure you do! - if you don't mind a bit of a walk, once you get the hang of them, you don't need to leave the state, you barely need to leave town, to go truly amazing places with them. Love the photos. Looks like totally great country you traveled though. That's one very cool holiday you had! Edited July 15, 2017 by HenryR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regan Posted July 15, 2017 Share Posted July 15, 2017 great report mate, those rapids look pretty cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reel' em in Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 What an amazing adventure sounds & looks like a trip of a life time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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