Thirsty Loop - Eddie and Silvio’s Exciting Kayaking Adventure.

The Islands of Stanage Bay

Well the time has come, we have been talking about doing a trip together for quite some time now. My Last big trip was Bass Strait and Eddie's was the epic Capricornia Cays trip so our next trip had to be something special. It had to be something we could get our teeth into, have some reasonable size crossings, nice island destinations and have heaps of photographic opportunities. We also liked the idea of throwing in a bit spear fishing, snorkelling and even try our luck at some angling.

Stanage Bay - 3 hours from Rocky

Yes! It all fits in the Explorer.

Now don’t worry, we did pack heaps of dried foods and even some not so dry, like oat cakes, pre-caught fish and something which has become one of my favourites on trips, a collapsible bottle filled with Bailey’s Irish Cream. Just as well I am taking the Explorer this time as it does have a little more volume than the Nordkapp which will also allow me to take a wet suit, flippers, fishing gear, a solar charger, a fly and an extra 10 litres of water. Eddie will be taking his very own shiny and brand new Nordkapp, hopefully for him we’ll find some nice sandy patches amongst the coral beaches.

Kayak camping, Island style.

Our first stop is Rockhampton for the night at Eddie’s cousin’s place before setting off for Stanage Bay in the morning. Skubi’s cousin Merhyl has kindly lent us her holiday house where we will be staying in Stanage; she warned me about the 75km dirt road which has no less than 27 cattle grids. Apparently this road is now covered in pot holes & is a very desirable spot for the cattle and wildlife to sleep on at night so we thought we’d better tackle it with plenty a daylight ahead.

So where to from Stanage? Well there are plenty of beautiful Islands to chose from and we’ll worry about which ones we paddle to when we get there and get the latest forecast. Thirsty Sound is noted to have the biggest tides on the East Coast, I have been told they even rival those of Broome on the West Coast. So as long as we get the wind and the tides right, it should be plain paddling from there.

Stand by for more...

Silvio in training.

Eddie and Silvio negotiating the Shipping Lane