Egg Island Circumnavigation

Saturday, 13 July 2013

After a week of next to no movement I decided it would be good to plan something for the weekend which would ensure I actually did some exercise.  And at about 4.30 yesterday afternoon I had a brilliant idea...to paddle all around Egg Island in the Huon.  Egg Island is pretty long -  maybe around 10k - and normally I cut through the canal and either paddle the northern half, or less frequently (once in fact) the southern half.   My eggcellent plan was to do the whole thing.  

Of course every good adventure needs an adventure buddy - and Dr Evil was available so my plan was coming together nicely..

So at 8am this morning we headed off from Franklin paddling the north towards Huonville.  The weather was perfect - not cold and completely calm. The reflections on the water were as clear as the real things.  

The first 5 k was into the sun and I guess into a very light current. At the top of the island we turned and the camera was able to cope a bit better with the light..

Look at that.. how nice are the views!

So calm..

The stretch on the backside of the island was around 10k but with conversation and the current it felt like we reached the southern tip in no time at all. 

 Which just left the last 5k or so back to up to Franklin. Along the way we discussed where we'd live if we couldn't live in Hobart but still had to live in Tasmania.  After I dissuaded John that Launceston wasn't the right answer we both agreed that St Helens would be pretty good - big enough for major services, by the beach and the bush and with good weather. 

Happily though we all get to live in Hobart - which means we get the mountain (and the walking and riding trails), the beach, the Derwent and everything else around.  Franklin is only a 30 minute drive from home and look how fantastic a place it is to come for a paddle.  We're so lucky. 

After arriving back at Franklin we did a quick tour through the canal - it's always nice to paddle through it when it's not a race and to just enjoy the atmosphere. Out of interest it was built in 1838 to give direct access to the other river bank when boats were the best form of transport in these parts.

So all up it was a 22.4k paddle - which much to John's surprise just happens to be the longest paddle I've ever done. I guess because I'm in a ski and often by myself I don't really do long distances - probably the next longest things I've done are the Bruny Island races. Today might have been the longest but with the weather and the views and the company it felt like it was all over in about 20 minutes (I think it actually took close to 3 hours including lots of photo stops and a couple of side trips).