Paddling from the Spit Bridge to Scott Creek via Middle Harbour on Sydney Harbour, Australia.
Back in 2003, my dad came all the way from England to pay a visit, and if there’s one thing that stuck with him, it was the sheer green-ness of Sydney. “Gosh,” he said. “There’s jungle right in the middle of the city.”
Many Sydney residents – and visitors – manage to forget this, but not Conal. Originally from South Africa, he now leads guided kayaking tours around Sydney’s waterways. And his favourite spot is one that hardly anybody knows about.
Scott Creek is one of the many craggy branches off Middle Harbour, and you could be forgiven for thinking you were in a wilderness area. It’s our reward for a bit of hard paddling in iffy conditions, and I’m inclined to agree with him. Forget Bondi Beach and the Opera house, it’s places like this that give Sydney its charm.
It’s also in marked contrast to the start of the journey, which shows the other side. After being kitted up and being given brief instructions on how to use the paddle and rudder, we slowly forage our way through the boats parked up in the marina.
It’s something of an obstacle course, but it’s a fabulous way of seeing the harbour at work from a duck’s eye view. Make no mistake about it; the kayak is at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to the vessels on the harbour, and we stick as close to the shoreline as possible. The ferries and speedboats can have all the space they need around the Spit Bridge – conquering the wash that emerges as they chug past is enough of a challenge in itself.
Kayaking is one of those things that takes a bit of time to warm to. There’s a temptation to go too hard too early or sluggishly turn the paddle in the water. But once the technique clicks, a rhythm develops and you get a genuine joy from pushing hard and clean through the water.
Every now and then, Conal decides it’s time for a history or geography lesson, and we huddle round a buoy. Up until this point, I had no idea that Sydney Harbour was a flooded valley. In the distant past, this would have all been land, following the course of a river. Then the sea levels rose, and the water came flooding in. Well, if global warming continues, then there will probably be more Sydney Harbours all over the world, so let’s hope it stays unique.
For a form of transport so ancient, there’s something wonderfully gentle and civilised about kayaking. It’s possible to branch off from the group a little and steam ahead, but much of the pleasure comes from sidling up alongside a fellow adventurer for a chat about travel, life or world affairs. For some reason, it doesn’t lend itself to small talk about trivialities or TV soaps – there’s a karmic feeling of being opened up to the bigger picture. Probably something to do with powering something very small through a landscape so big.
The further we go, the prettier it gets. The cliffs seem to get higher, the houses with water views more obviously expensive, and the colours more vivid. The crumbling rocks are often layered in intermingling stripes of yellow, orange, red and brown; the rust-coloured trunks of the trees stand out amongst the sea of green canopy and blue water.
Eventually we pull over in a bay for a bite to eat. Conal has a dig around in the hollowed out areas in the backs of the kayaks and emerges with fruit, biscuits, cheeses and jelly snakes. They all get slowly demolished with a flask of hot coffee as we look out over the harbour.
It’s a genuinely astonishing place, one that’s often taken for granted by Australians (and, especially Sydneysiders). There are so many little beaches with barely a soul on, and around every corner is a new headland better than the last.
But Scott Creek is truly special, having a gentle beauty completely out of place with its more overpowering surroundings. At the entrance, it has looming green slopes on either side, but it soon turns into the sort of downriver expedition you’d more closely associate with the deltas and tributaries of South-East Asia.
It takes a little deft steering and attention to what’s below – there are some shallow channels which see the paddle clunk into mud the moment it pierces the surface – but it’s worth it. We’re happily lost, well away from the city hubbub, navigating an increasingly narrow trickle through the trees.
As we get to a large overhanging rock, it is, alas, time to turn back. And this is what separates the men from the boys; the pros from the amateurs. Conal manages to back his kayak up to the bank, spin round and head back out. He turns back to witness me bumbling through a nineteen point turn and grins. He’s clearly at home out on the water, and it’s quite easy to see why.
Details
Sydney Harbour Kayaks offers half day guided kayaking tours of Middle Harbour for from $99. The tours leave from Mosman, near the Spit Bridge. Kayak rental is also available for those confident enough to branch out on their own.
This article was originally written for Ninemsn. Copyright David Whitley.
