This walk was organised and led by Mike B as a private Tuesday 'walk':

Tuesday 11 November 2008 - Googong Canoe Trip. Launch from boat ramp at northern end, paddle across to the eastern side and generally follow the shoreline south exploring the bays and inlets and bays.  After lunch return to the boat ramp via the western shoreline.  The exact distance and duration will depend on the weather conditions and ability of the paddlers. Swimming is not allowed. BYO canoe or kayak.  Map: Googong Foreshores, Leader: Mike B. Transport: ~$16 per car.

9 paddlers met in various places to load various kayaks and drove to Googong Dam boat ramp.

Walk

Mike supplied a double kayak and all the necessary gear for Karen and myself. I thought I'd arranged the paddle for her and the life-jacket for me, but there was one for each of us. Two doubles and 5 self-reliant paddlers launched and set off with varying degrees of elegance (see pic 1). A perfect day for it. We paddled NE into Bradleys Inlet and went up as far as we could go with the current water level. Mike told us the story of his paddling through ice in the same area on a cold winter's morning.

Turning about, we paddled to an island in the dam not appearing on the map (see pic 2) - was it recent volcanic action or the lower water level? A well appreciated morning tea stop for parts of my body rarely used. I began to appreciate new folk walking with me!

Away again and we encouraged Terence to set his sail - added assistance as he paddled down wind. He even towed another boat for a while. At some stage we said "toodaloo" to 3 of the singles and the remainder of us continued S up the Queanbeyan River. Another brief stop on shore as Karen and Mike swapped boats till the lunch stop. I was whisked along by powerful strokes (Mike, not mine). Around 12.30pm we were opposite the Tin Hut area and fast running out of water, so we pulled ashore for lunch in the shade (see pic 3).

Our return was a little more direct, a tiny ruffle of breeze to paddle into making my tired arms even tireder!

At last the turn into the boat ramp, pack up and home for a shower to bring out the best in sunburnt legs.

An excellent 'walk', thanks Mike. Recommend you organise this as an annual event and choose a similar perfect day each time. Kudos to my paddling partner (but at least I can steer a bit better). You others are pretty good paddlers too!

Distance: 24.4km  Climb: 0m.  Time: 9.05am - 4pm (call it 7hrs), with 50mins of stops.
Grading: ?

KMZ file for Google Earth/Maps: Googong Paddling