Bulimba Creek, Brisbane

This was the first adventure for Pete in about 10 years and it was decided that the meandering stillwater of Bulimba Creek was the place to start. The creek dumps into the Brisbane River about 2 km away from the selected launch point at Morris Marina in Hemmant. Whether it be by complete fluke or clever planning (Glenn will claim the latter), the tide was reaching its peak about an hour after launch ensuring the we would have the current going with us for the duration of the 3 hour round trip.

The boat ramp was busy with other groups of kayakers looking for a similar trip. This is a popular spot for families to go on a little jaunt.

We hit the water enroute at just after 08:00 - Glen and Jim in their newly-acquired (however used) boats, and Pete in his rental barge. Pete was pushing around an extra 10 kg of plastic over the others but still managed to outsprint the fibre-glass boats. When Pete's carbon-fibre bilge-pump equipped super boat arrives in a couple of weeks he will be a force to be contended with.

The trip too us past a lot of fishing boats, a bat colony and a few buildings in the industrial motif before we were immersed in the mangrove-lined meanderings of the creek.

After about 20 minutes we came to the entrance of a couple of inland lands. Talking to one of the regulars, it appears that after a short traverse over a small weir you can gain access to an area good for fishing mullet. (Mental note - bring the rod next time).

At the 6.5 km mark, we came upon a well marked Canoe and Kayak launch area which was an extension of Flemming Rd Wynnum. This would be an ideal launch area for those looking to adventure further upstream.

We took our mid-way break at the Gateway Sports Complex, 7.7 km into the trip. After sambos, coffee and cake we followed the same route home (with the 2 km/hr current).

A great trip all the way around.