“It’s been a long dry winter here in Melbourne, but while the rivers have been dry the lack of rain and generally mild weather made beach missions hospitable even in July.  There’s been a steady decline in rainfall over the last decade and it seems it will only get worse; this was the driest winter on record in many regions of Victoria. Most of our rivers never once rose enough to paddle and I’m pointing my finger at CO2 emissions.  The only worse drought on record occurred in 1914!

Plenty of surf missions were the order of the colder months - keep your eyes on www.seanboz.com  for the impending release of a film from Erin Rayton showcasing the best of the winter’s footage. 

Russ and Sean packing up the boats after running the Lea.... very cold

Early October Russ Boza, Erin and I packed my brother’s Hiace full of boats and headed for the Port.  After a windy yet disappointingly smooth trip over Bass Strait we arrived in the home of Australia’s rednecks in search of some water.  Despite also being Tasmania’s driest winter on record we managed to get a fair bit of boating done. 

 

Clifton Beach, southwest of Hobart, put on some clean 6 foot closeout beachies for our first paddle of the trip.  The Project took some sketchy reverse takeoffs without hassle – the novelty of being able to surf backwards without fear of eating it still hasn’t worn off!

 

 

From interior, checking in at the Gretna wave for an arvo session.  We arrived partly by chance and partly due to Russ’ wave homing skills at Brady’s Lake later that evening to find Camp Wave pumping at high flow. 

 

 

 

 

 

The following morning Tassie turned on the summer weather thawing numb hands from the icy water. The fickle Camp Wave was good for working on technical blunts and backstabs while the rest of the course provided a fun distraction.

Next stop was Arm Falls, where again the lack of water was apparent.  Fortunately it’s a go even low; however the pool’s a rough landing…As Russ found out with a broken paddle.

Rusty sitting on top of the Leven Canyon, this was taken just
Looking a little pensive ...
This and the next 2, Russ on Arm Falls.

We were greeted upon arrival at the Lea camp by Charles, a backpacking French paddler who ended up racing with Russ.  The local who has the gate key also dropped in on our camp – have a chat to him if you get the chance and he’s pretty happy to leave the gate unlocked for you.  Respect the privilege and leave him a few beers and we should have continued access.

Sitting at a car park at Cradle Mountain, drying out the gear before
Rusty throwing a big blunt on camp wave at Bradys lake

The Lea was sitting just below the bottom of the gauge which translates to a slightly bony but completely runnable 3+/4 creek. Just have to be careful of the ankle breaker at low lake levels! Lots of fun boofs, a couple of tight slots and a few fun drops and slides combine for a wicked little 30 minute (12 minutes racing) run.

Saturday’s Teva Lea Xstream race saw Andrew Maynard and Stewart Bennet take a controversial first place overall, while Team Wavesport’s Tanya Faux in the brand spanking Habitat 75 and Sean Bozkewycz in a Diesel 75 took out the mixed event.

A big thanks to all the event sponsors and Leigh from Kayak4play especially for organising the weekend.

 

Typical Boz in action, grasping for the throw-line!

Frosty nights and a little rain brought the Leven river up to a perfect level so Monday was decided on for a mission.  Big thanks to Swarz for helping with the recon and shuttle only to discover a split in his creeker.

A few more surf pics below to finish.

Grant took over the lead as the only person familiar with the river and did a great job of taking us down – Angus, Jimbo, Charles, Russ and I joined him for the committing gorge with sequential 3, 7 and 13 metre falls. They even made the ferry back to Melbourne with a few minutes to spare!

 

A hearty breakfast at the Pencil Pine Lodge was followed by a few runs of the main falls and a second drop, Knyvet Falls. Low water sucks – convert to green power so we can go kayak more waterfalls please!

 

 

Did a bit of sightseeing for the rest of the week – despite the loony locals, Tassie’s well worth a visit for the amazing scenery.

We even got upgraded on the sail home, cheers Spirit of Tasmania!". Boz.