Paddle For Peace

A fundraiser/recreational paddle from Byron Bay to Newcastle. It will be used to raise money for VOCAL (Victims of Crime Assistance League) based in Newcastle.
We will be camping along the way and just enjoying the scenery of the east coast of NSW.

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Comment by Sarah Johnston on November 7, 2009 at 1:11pm

Day 5

Another early morning start for our paddlers. They had thunderstorms overnight and battled through head on winds again today. They camped north of Minnie Waters last night and made it through to Wooli today. A big thanks goes out to the members of the Volunteer Marine Rescue (Coastal Patrol) with special mention to the wonderful people at Wooli VRA who not only provided support for our paddlers but hot showers and hot drinks. Simon and Adrian were also keen to report on there rolling skills. Simon and Adrian both had waves break on them yesterday and successfully rolled back up. It seems that all there practice has paid off!!! To date our paddlers have travelled approx 166km.

Comment by Sarah Johnston on November 6, 2009 at 5:15pm

Day 4

Our paddlers started there day at around 6am. With the weather conditions looking ominous there plan was to reach Broom’s Head approx 9km from there camp. This would enable them to camp in a town instead of remote beaches. However after contacting the Volunteer Coastal Patrol they decided to aim for Minnie Waters. Due to there location phone contact for this afternoon is not possible, however they are in contact with Coastal Patrol, so there will be more details tomorrow. If they reach there destination it will have made it another 30ish km day. Go boys!!!!!

Comment by Sarah Johnston on November 5, 2009 at 1:14pm

Day 3

Day three sees our paddlers on the water at 5am. They paddled about 30km through strong southerly winds, past cliffs with a ruff rebounding sea. Not a lot of wildlife, however there was a spectacular bird display. A hawk was attacking another sea bird mid air. They have camped at Shelly’s Beach Headland, approximately 9km north of Brooms Head. They are exploring the local area and think they may have found a camping ground, much to there relief. It seems they have sand in everything. They are feeling great and really enjoying the adventure thus far.

Comment by Sarah Johnston on November 5, 2009 at 10:06am

Day 2

The second day was another early start, they watched the sunrise and then they were on there way. They had good paddling conditions, with a southerly blowing up in the afternoon. They saw more dolphins and a sting ray, but no mention of sharks. Thank goodness!!! They are having hourly breaks on the water, mainly due to saw bums but also to snack and rehydrate. They landed for lunch and found themselves a little to close to the RAF exclusion zone for there liking, so they made sure they gave it a wide birth on the water, this meant that to get back onto the beach later to set up camp took them around 45mins. There beach landing was easy and they camped about 5-7kms north of Woody Head. Day 2 was another solid 40ish km.

Comment by Sarah Johnston on November 5, 2009 at 7:48am

Day 1

The first day started early, with breakfast on Clarke’s beach. The paddlers loaded up there kayaks on the sand and they launched by 7.30am. The wind was slightly up, but they faced no real dramas. Mark and I caught site of them at Lennox Head and Boulder Beach. The wind was stronger by then and Simon was using his sail. They stopped for an hour for lunch and then continued. The dolphins at Ballina, guided them past the inlet and then put on a real show, jumping out of waves and swimming under there kayaks. They camped about half way to Evan Head. All in all there first day’s paddle took them approximately 40km down the coast.

Comment by Sarah Johnston on November 4, 2009 at 3:03pm

Pre Paddle Preparation
We arrived in Byron Bay around 3pm the day before the big event. After settling into our accommodation and unloading gear, a healthy pre paddle dinner was being considered. With the 600km adventure stretching out before them, the paddlers (Simon and Adrian) felt that having one celebratory beer before dinner would be a great idea. Well one turned into several and dinner turned into kebabs. I’m not sure if beer and kebabs are the ideal way to prepare for a big trip but they were smiling and laughing and feeling positive about the adventure ahead. I have uploaded photos.

Comment by Simon McGuire on November 1, 2009 at 4:14pm

We leave tomorrow for Byron Bay! The accommodation is booked, the supplies are bought. It looks like we will have a nice north-east wind when we launch on Tuesday. Although it won't take long for the southerlies to hit us, hopefully they are not that strong and we can make some decent headway in the mean-time.
The kayak is heavy when loaded up as I have packed enough food for two weeks (well at least I think I have), at least it will get lighter as we go.
I am just hoping I haven't forgotten something!
Thanks to all our supporters. Next stop Byron.
Talk to you soon.

Comment by Simon McGuire on October 26, 2009 at 9:40pm

7 days to go. The trivia night has come and gone. I think we raised about $800 which was ok. I was a little disappointed in the turn out but it's a good start. The Hakesbury Classic has come and gone. I have pulled up pretty well and ready to paddle again. Anne and I finished in about 13 hours which I was pretty happy with.
At the Classic Bob of Rafta Kayaks donated a heap of stuff for us to sell to go towards the cause for VOCAL. Thanks Bob!

Comment by Simon McGuire on October 22, 2009 at 6:50pm

12 days to go. The trivia night fundraiser is tomorrow night. Hopefully some good money will be raised through that. The night after is the Hawkesbury Classic! 111km of night-time paddling bliss/pain.

Comment by Simon McGuire on October 20, 2009 at 11:46am

Two weeks to go! I am getting tired of preparing and looking forward to setting off. Adrian and I seem to have most of what we need equipment wise. The packing has started and hopefully it will all fit in the kayaks. I have some mixed emotions about the trip, whilst I can't wait to get away for a few weeks I will be leaving behind my partner Sarah who is expecting our first child in February. I really appreciate Sarah's patience and support.

We have a trivia night this Friday in Charlestown which will hopefully raise some much needed money for VOCAL.

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