Paddling the Barwon - Part 2

In the first part of this post, I gave brief descriptions of the sections of the river which I have paddled up to this point in time.

On the Barwon, January, 2013

Below is a table giving details of the various points along the river from which it is possible to launch small water craft such as kayaks and the type of access involved. I have also included links to a photo of each location.

Access Points	Approximate GPS Co-ordinates	Distance to next access	Comments
Inverleigh Bell’s Bridge, Inverleigh-Winchelsea Rd, Inverleigh	S38 º 6.792’ E144 º 3.787’	16.2km	Access from the north bank via dirt track about 200m downstream of Bell’s Bridge
Murgheboluc Hamilton Hwy, Murgheboluc	S38 º 6.654’ E144 º 8.459’	8.2km	Steep bank access. Entry via 400m grassed laneway to the north bank behind “please shut the gate” sign opposite Murgheboluc Public Reserve, Hamilton Hwy, Murgheboluc
Pollocksford Bridge Pollocksford Rd, Gnarwarre	S38 º 8.627’ E144 º 11.206’	1.8km	Access from the east bank via a rutted track to a small weir about 150m north of the bridge
Stonehaven Dear’s Lane, Stonehaven	S38 º 8.427’ E144 º 14.713’	9.9km	Steep bank access via dirt track from the end of Dear’s Lane, Stonehaven
Merrawarp Rd Bridge Merrawarp Rd, Barrabool (Ceres)	S38 º 8.496’ E144 º 15.750’	5.7km	Steep access to the south bank adjacent to the west side of the bridge via rough access track (approx. 200m)
Ceres Track off Gully Rd, Ceres	S38 º 8.749’ E144 º 16.081’	640m	Access via shallow bank. Entry via 550m gravel track from Gully Rd, however permission is required
Baum’s Weir Cnr Cyril Synot Dve and Degoldi’s Rd, Fyansford.	S38 º 8.946’ E144 º 17.995’	5.1km	Access via 200m gravel track to parking area. River entry from concrete-paved slipway or timber deck
Fyansford Common Moorabool River west bank, Fyansford Common, Fyansford	S38 º 8.672’ E144 º 18.691’	2.4km	Access to the Moorabool about 450m upstream from the confluence with the Barwon via a paved slipway. Portage of around 150m required from nearest parking
Fyans Park Fyans Park boat ramp, Cnr Gairloch and West Fyans St	S38 º 9.389’ E144 º 19.280’	2.6km	Concrete ramp access adjacent to parking
Newtown Marnockvale Rd, Newtown	S38 º 9.893’ E144 º 19.970’	2km	Access via timber deck adjacent to the Geelong Canoe Club facilities
South Geelong Rowing sheds, Barwon Tce, South Geelong Or Boat ramp, Barrabool Rd, Belmont	S38 º 9.930’ E144 º 21.261’	1.9km	Access either from the deck at the rowing sheds (north bank) or ramp access from opposite bank (access via Barrabool Rd)
Breakwater Gun Dog Lane, Breakwater Upstream Downstream	S38 º 10.906’ E144 º 21.861’	1.9km*	Upstream access from timber deck adjacent to road bridge (west bank). Downstream access from the west bank below the bridge
St Alban’s Park Wilson’s Rd, St Alban’s Park	S38 º 12.076’ E144 º 23.140’	3.7km	Access from the bank adjacent to the Geelong Water Ski Club at the end of Wilson’s Rd
Lake Connewarre Tait’s Point, Stacey’s Rd, Connewarre Or Brinsmead’s Lane, Leopold	S38 º 14.217’ E144 º 25.776’ S38 º 12.927’ E144 º 28.922’	7.4km (5.2km from Tait’s Point)	Access via concrete-paved boat ramp or pontoon, end of Stacey’s Rd Shallow bank access via steep track from the end of Brinsmead’s Lane
Barwon Heads River Parade, Barwon Heads Or Ocean Grove Jetty, cnr Peer’s Cres and Guthridge St, Ocean Grove Or Barwon Heads/Ocean Grove foreshore	S38 º 15.922’ E144 º 29.795’ S38 º 15.774’ E144 º 30.475’ S38 º 16.884’ E144 º 29.682’	11.2km	Access via boat ramp, River Parade on the west bank  Boat ramp access from carpark Beach access from either side of the river at Barwon Heads/Ocean Grove

Of course, there are other locations from which it is possible to launch small craft, however they either do not have close enough vehicle access, are on private property or there is another suitable access point with better facilities nearby. For example, it is possible to launch from the decks near the bridge at Queen's Park, but the boat ramp at Fyans Park is within 1km of the bridge and provides easier access to the river.

River access points plotted o Google Earth. Click to enlarge

The first part of this post can be found at Paddling the Barwon - Part 1. Happy paddling everyone!

Many drops make a flood...

Once again the river is up and as usual the Google searches have begun. That being the case, I thought I'd better get some photos up of the latest flood event - such as it is. Over Friday night and into Saturday, in the vicinity of 70mm of rain fell in the upper reaches of the Barwon catchment. In other circumstances this may not have had much of an impact, but after a wet winter and with the ground already saturated, any rain was going to raise the river height.
And rise it did. Rickett's Marsh on the upper Barwon quickly reached moderate flood level, the Batesford gauge on the Moorabool peaked at the minor flood level and by Sunday night the usual sections of the path around Barwon through Geelong were going under.

Barwon through Geelong, 5:30pm Sunday, 19th August, 2012

Barwon through Geelong, 9am Monday, 20th August, 2012

Matters continued to develop overnight. The Rickett's Marsh gauge fell but Geelong continued to rise and is currently (8:30pm Monday) at a peak around the minor flood level.
As usual when the river floods, I didn't have time today to do more than whip around the same old inner-suburban locations, so below are a few shots from various points:

Old Breakwater Bridge, 9am Monday

Hmmm...perhaps they'll wash away and solve the problem..., 1pm Monday

Looking at Queen's Park from Windmill Reserve, 1:30pm

Bunyip Pool or Whirlpool?

Rock detail at the Bunyip Pool

Next time I will hopefully make it further afield.

I did also attempt to upload a video or two of the water flow to give some idea of the volume and the noise, however Blogger didn't want to oblige. Another aspect it can't convey is the smell of a flood. At the Bunyip Pool where the water is aerated, the smell of muddy water is quite marked. When the water recedes, I know from experience that the paths will all smell of mud...but that is something for next week...