Kayak Schmiak (D22)

The sky was clear and Iron Cove was calm. A day for Kayaking for sure. So off we went, Rob and me. Iron bay is an extension of Darling Harbour, and in fact if you go under the Iron Cove bridge that's where you end up. In the middle of the bay is Rodd Island pictured left. We kayaked across the bay and between the moored boats.

We weren't to know the wind would get up and the rain would come down. Still, as a very amateur kayaker I think I did pretty well. Warm rain is fine. Wind is not. I managed to stay upright, just. I got completely soaked of course, but there you go. At the end of our time we had a race back to shore. You'd have thought Rob might have at least pretended to be out of breath. It was great fun, and if I'm good we might go up the Parramatta river later in the week, weather permitting.

The Parramatta River is the main tributary of Port Jackson, along with the smaller Lane Cove and Duck Rivers. Port Jackson is the place discovered by Captain Cook and named after Sir George Jackson, one of the Lord Commissioners of the British Admiralty, and Judge Advocate of the Fleet at the time. Sydney harbour is one of it's bays. The river begins at the confluence of Toongabbie Creek and Darling Mills Creek west of Parramatta city and flows into Port Jackson, still about 21 km from the ocean. It is tidal all the way to Parramatta, approximately 30 km from Sydney. It'll take all day and I doubt we'll get very far, but it'll be fun.

The Darug Aboriginal people called the area Baramada or Burramatta ('Parramatta') which means "the place where the eels lie down". The waters are rich in nutrients created by the saltwater of Port Jackson meeting the freshwater of the Parramatta River.

After kayaking we went off to Abbotsford Wharf. It is a peninsular jutting into the Parramatta river. From here harbour ferries join various stops along Port Jackson. People commute to Sydney this way.

Talking of Abbotts, at the end of a turbulent few days in Aussie politics, the new Liberal Party leader, Tony Abbott is ready and prepared to lead the Coalition to victory at the next federal election, according to former prime minister John Howard today. The Coalition is a right wing affair between the Liberal Party and the (rural) National Party. In a shock result this morning, declares ABC news, Mr Abbott wrestled the leadership from Malcolm Turnbull by just one vote and promptly announced the Coalition would oppose the Government's emissions trading scheme (ETS).

If the ETS doesn't go through, it may trigger a 'double dissolution' and a general election for both the Senate and the House of Representatives. No-one wants that. Mr Abbott has fundamentalist Christian views, anti-abortion, anti-stemcell research and is vociferously against letting in more scrounging refugees. He is likely to send his party further to the right. Sounds like a nutter to me, but he's popular in red-neck country. An election now is likely to be a close fought thing. The ETS is going to be a key issue and already the right wing press, like Murdoch's Daily Telegraph, is frightening people off by saying it will cost each household over $2,000 each year. I reckon you can save at least that by using energy better, eating less beef, driving less, and more recycling. They are swimming against the tide of public opinion here, 66% being in favour of the ETS.

Come to think of it, I wonder if paddling down the Parramatta river after high tide might be a better idea. I wouldn't want ot be left higher up the river without a paddle.