On Friday we went out to Bents Basin west of Sydney to paddle the Nepean River, it’s a lot of fun below the Wallacia Weir, we had about three hours on the river and got hit by the afternoon thunderstorm that had been predicted. We sheltered under an sandstone overhang until it had passed, there was lots of wind and thunder for about ten minutes with some small hail falling.
Wendy and Merinda had not packrafted before so they were learning as they went.
To get there you park at Bents Basin and then walk up the fire trail for about three and a half k’s to the power lines and then scrub bash down to the river. Put in and paddle to the upper left side of the weir where you can land and portage down the fish ladder to the river below. Then the fun begins, you may have to portage one rapid as there are two large boulders the water squeezes through where a raft won’t fit.
The Wallacia Weir was running at 0.23 metres but 0.3 would be even better.
Nice one! Was hoping to do this today but the young fellow (& me) is a bit sick. Frustrating with the rivers finally up a bit. Looks like a lovely run- maybe next week
Cheer
Lizzy
Lizzy, I have done it twice now and I enjoy it every time, I was on a Li Lo as I lent my two rafts to the others, it was so slow, but handled the rapids nicely but hard to change direction quickly.
The first time down we did it in the company of about eight kayaks all with skilled paddlers. They were having fun eddying out and surfing the standing waves, I’ve yet to edit that movie.
This is an ideal run for a few packrafts, a short walk in and lots of different rapids to do. If you start early enough you can easily get back to the cars to have lunch beside the river.
I’m hoping people start to do it, it’s a hidden jewel so close to Sydney, and with these current thunderstorms it remains at a good level, no bumping on rocks.
The first grade 3 with the boulders can be tricky river left. I ran it at .23 and .34 down the left side (not the tight chute) and found it a little marginal and probably should have portaged as you guys did. It really is a fun little trip.
Big thanks to Duncan, Darren & Jeremy for their trip reports on Bents Basin. Did this trip yesterday with the hubby. Was a great little trip- water level was 0.27m and we ran everything (often multiple times) except for the dodgy grade 3 half way down. No spills but a couple of close calls
Will try & get a little video together.
Cheers
Lizzy
Had another run at Bents Basin today - level about 0.26m at Wallacia Weir. There were 2 canoes wrapped/pinned in Rapids. the first one was right at the top of the first main rapid. You can avoid it by heading to the left a bit. The 2nd was in the Grade 3 rapid that most portage. We also picked up a bit of debris from the group who lost their canoes- presumably the scout group who got rescued last week.
Was a lovely day out on a cool little section of river
oh and btw if someone is keen other than Jeremy who like me doesn’t drive I would love to tag along on an after work trip this week if someone is keen. this rain is awesome
Had another run out at Bents Basin today- river was 0.35m at Wallacia weir so bit up on our previous trips. Lovely day out as usual Hubby had a swim- surprisingly I did not!! Packing up we met 2 other packrafters just heading out- hope they had a good paddle…
Yes Lizzy - that was Max and I that you met heading out as you came in last Sunday - thanks for the navigation tips.
We found the put-in spot ok and had great fun despite a little swim on the last section.
Having a micro adventure like that available as an easy day trip from the city really is fantastic!
