# Camping/ fishing upper Noosa River



## tomtre (Sep 27, 2007)

Some time ago I posted about a trip I planned in the National park of the Upper Noosa river for early April. I thought I would let those of you who were kind enough to reply how I went. I will make another post in the camping section about the gear I took and what I will do differently next time I camp from the boat.
I launched from the National Park site at Elamba Point. This has a track for launching almost at waters edge, with the carpark a short distance away, close to the ranger station. My plan was to paddle(sorry, peddle) across the lake to the entrance of the river, then go up to a campsite I had booked in the park and explore from there. My launching time was slower than usual, I didnt want to drag the boat on its wheels through the soft sand to the water with the load put in at the car, so I launched, caried the 40kg or so of gear I was taking to the boat and loaded at waters edge








The lake is very shallow in that area, I was over 50 m offshore before my fins could go full stroke. The water is not clear lots of tannin but it was a beautiful still morning. The launchsite is actually on the southern side of Elamba Point, and I had been warned by locals about rocks off the tip of the point. In the old days there was a timber loading jetty at Elamba Point (the whole National Park, as well as nearby Fraser Island has been logged) and the boats carrying the timber out used to heave their ballast over the side before loading. With this in mind I headed well out towardsthe first red marker and still bumped something that wasnt sand about 500 m off the point, outside of the sigh warning of shallows. I was only a few hundred metres off the beaon when I was game enough to cut the corner and head for the inner chanell markers.
The chanell leads into the Kinaba visitors center among the islands at the river mouth
The visitors center is about centre of this crappy photo.








The visitors center is on stilts with a jetty but nowhere to nose a kayak onto a bank or shallows to step into. It was a sign of things to come
I had only been on the water an hour, so I peddled on.








About 15 minutes later I came to Fig Tree Point, another jetty, banks not too steep but I landed on a sandbank opposite and made a cuppa. I had been looking at my bow wave in the calm conditions and felt that I was a bit stern down, so I took the opportunity to move some of the stuff around, shifting drinking water forward mainly. Forgot the photos
I ignored Kin Kin creek and a little forther up decided to have a look at Lake Como, which is up its own chanell and Parallel to the river








The lake is much larger than this picture shows, seems to be bullrushes and tea tree allround. It would be worth spending some time there but I had the go goes so I went back to the river and headed upstream.
This whole part of the river up to Harrys Hut is a no Landing zone. There are no approved camping places or vehicle access between Elamba Point and Harrys Hut (4WD only) so for a pure fishing trip it is not really accessible unless you are prepared to paddle for a while. The lower parts are all bullrushes and tea tree but about a km up from lake como channel the definite banks of the river with larger timber appear and the banks become steep, nothing resembling a beach.
I was glad when Harrys came in site, I needed a stretch and a cuppa. I had spent about 3 hours on the boat at this stage.
Harrys is not an easy place to get in and out of a kayak. There are jetties for boats and 2 person canadian hire canoes, one person hangs on, the other unloads but not an easy place alone. The canoe area has overlapped logs for stepping onto, but is barricaded off for revegetation. Not suprising really when probably half the people coming to the place have to use the same 5 meter wide area to unload.
I was able sneak behind a jetty and step into knee deep water a foot from the bank and unload my cooker, make a cuppa and have a snack and have a short walk. I noticed some tents had been red tagged by rangers for not having permits displayed.
I continued on my way. A little further up I saw a little stream running in and some snags a little way down and it looked like a good place to lose a lure. I had no luck for a while, mostly due to poor casting, then finally something took it, went straight into the timber and untied the knot. Clever fish up there.
I continued upstream. I passed camp 1 and got to campsite 2 about an hour after leaving Harrys hut.








Looks easy doesnt it. Trouble was when the bow was against the logs, the cockpit is still outside of the closest logs on the left, leaving me to step out into chest deep water. Then I would have to stretch to get the stuff which was literally stuffed right up to the bow and put it ashore while holding the boat. Not to mention the stuff inside the stern hatch. I decided to try further up, it was only about 1 oclock and plenty of time to find a good spot.
I arrived at campsite 3 and saw a ranger boat with a crew doing work on the jetty. Another jetty with a steeper bank than site 2. For some stupid reason I decided to ask the ranger how the site access compared to sites further up, only to be told in no uncertain terms that I couldnt camp further up if I didnt have a permit booked previously to go up there and it wasnt his job to know how many people were already up there and if I didnt camp where I was booked I couldnt.
I had made a severe error of judgement. I had asked a responsible person for advice. The fact that canoe facilities are designed for 2 person hire fleet canadians is my problem. Obviously my canoe is not a suitable canoe for the area. I decided to head back downstream 
And so I became a criminal. I got back to Harrys Hut, snuck in behind the jetty, unloaded my gear on the wrong side of the fence, lifted it over and set up camp without a permit. I wasnt exhausted, but had spent about six hours on the boat (and done about 25 km, according to Google earth later) and wasnt prepared to peddle back to Elamba in a southerly breeze knowing I would arrive in the dark. Criminal but not suicidal.
I had a moderately peaceful night. There is a school excursion area at one end of The Harrys Hut area and the camping area at the other seems to be BackpackerPlace. The Backpacker Choral Society entertained all present with renditions of many well known tunes, Beatles, John Denver, assorted rugby songs and other classics in an assortment of harmonies.
I still woke early, my airbed let me down but I fixed it. With a stanley knife.
As I planned my journey in the pre dawn I realised I had used 7+half of my 20 liters of water the previous day. The river was fresh but I didnt want to rely on it and I didnt really want to remain a criminal, playing hide and seek with rangers. I was still pissed of with the blokes attitude. And the wind was meant to come in earlier.
I decided to head back to Elamba and Home.
I have just discovered that I cant add anymore pictures to this post, which is a good thing because there arent too many more, and the post is getting long.
I was taking shots of reflections when I pulled the camera out again to take another and noticed a red blob on the screen. I didnt have my glasses so couldnt read the detail but I thought I had filled the card by forgeting to empty it last time I downloaded. So I put the camera back in the hatch. When I got home I discovered I had bumped the rotor switch to movie mode...
When I got back to the lake the wind was in my face, not that strong but bringing the odd white cap on that very shallow water. A long hour peddling back to the launch spot.
In summary, a very beautiful spot, and a fishy looking place but access is not easy. Im glad I went, it didnt go to plan but lifes like that. 

Tom

BTW 
Before I left Elamba I drove into the Elamba Canoe Company camping ground, next to the National Park area, to ask about staying there next time. I had heard some stories about the place. I was told by the gentleman at the counter that you cant drive in and launch, but you can camp and do what you like while you are camped there. They have a big business with school excursions so noise restrictions apply and they lock the gates at night. They have heaps of hire canoes( 2 person canadians) They have cabins, but only hired to groups and they cater for them in a messhall. The backpackers camp at the far end but I dont think the choral society performs there.
And that is definitly THE END


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## Red Herring (Dec 18, 2006)

> my airbed let me down but I fixed it. With a stanley knife.


Classic .

Thanks for posting Tom, great to get some insight into a place I'd heard some positive feedback on.

Cheers,
RH


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Tom your pics show a scene much as I would have expected and was one of the future plans of things to do, but those landing spots are not for this old feller, so have removed that camp idea and will regard the sections as only a day paddle.

As a bushwalker I have found the NP rangers are in the main to very helpful, and its a shame you copped the treatment dished out on this trip.

A really enjoyable read mate


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## wongus (Feb 12, 2006)

Hi,

Great report.. I would like to add a few comments. My first ever trip on my yak was launching from Harry's Hut after picking it up from Billybob. I agree with the launching access being difficult. The other word of caution is the overly friendly goannas at Harry's hut. It certainly made me nervous for my kids having up to a dozen large goannas with absolutely no fear of humans taking over your campsite.

The river itself is beautiful and I would love to revisit it one day. I also found the fishing tough but the scenery more than makes up for it.


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

I like the report. I'm still needing to paddle around some estuary channels like that. I'm not against managed land, but it burns me when you try to do it right and you're told you're not walking a tight enough line.

Thanks for sharing.


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## Sunhobie (Jun 22, 2006)

Beaut spot eh Tom? We spend quite a bit of time up there. 
At the information centre, the water in front of the steps is only a foot or so deep at the sthn end. That is a good place to dismount.
I think campsite 5 has a beaut little sandy beach.
The reflections on the dark water late afternoon are spectacular anywhere up from Kinaba info centre.


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## hairymick (Oct 18, 2005)

G;day Tom,
Great post ad piccies mate.

Agree completely that the lower section of the area around harries is not suitable for a yak.

Further up-stream, some of the camp-sites have little sandy beaches and are fine to pull out of. But they are a long slog from Elanda Point. will post a piccie or two when I can find them. I meant to reply to your original post and thought that I had. sorry mate. Must have been having another "Poppy" moment.

What many do up there, is just turn up, find a vacant camp site and do the criminal  Seems the rangers rarely visit much further upstream especially so, mid - week. 8) The scenery and piccie opportunities only improve, the further up you go.

You interested in doing a run down your Mary sometime soon?


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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QlpoOTFBWSZTWa0Qcv0AAArXgAAQQAMAhBQALu/eICAAVFR5qT1MZQMmNCKfpNJ6jJ6h6mTajSDnE2KP0ZChzrqr0TgToshYgYHlurr9pdoTY4qGywOIgQc3s+F4SYKDkvrRWnNtwndEE5fHoXckU4UJCtEHL9A=


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## murd (Jan 27, 2008)

This might be a little off the subject, but on one of my yak adventures through the tropics I dropped in to Katherine Gorge, NT for a bit of a paddle. There's a sign at the launch that says something where if you want to use your own boat in the gorge, then you have to pay some silly fee for the privilege... Naturally I became a criminal by 'not seeing the sign' and spent an amazing day on the water, which involved some portage to access the upper gorges beyond where the tourist barges go. Luckily the SPRITE is lightweight and I was able to manage it okay, but those poor foreigners following me with their heavy hire canoes had one helluva task!


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## Biggera Yakker (Jan 25, 2007)

Great report, a very enjoyable read!


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## mentally-unsound (Apr 17, 2007)

Great report Tom,
I remember doing a trip in Ventures (next age group / level up from Scouts) years ago (about 15yrs).
we went for 5 days, in about 4 canoes and 2 kayaks. We paddled all the way up to camp site 7 (I think)
Had a ball and I have always wanted to do it again since for fishing reasons. 
Pitty about the Ranger incident.....

Cheers - Dave


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## tomtre (Sep 27, 2007)

Hi everyone
Thanks for your replies.
I have a few more piccies and obviously know more about my camera now (Ive only had it 2 years, but never tried movies. I wish I had known before I left but I know next time)








I really like this one








This is from the jetty at Harrys hut early in the morning

















Mal Sunhobie, 
I remember thinking while I was up there that I should have contacted you to pick your brain for local knowledge! Yes it is a beautiful spot

Mick,
How soon were you thinking for the Mary? I drove into the Traveston crossing Bridge while I was up there because I wanted to take a look before the Plug goes in, the river was flowing nicely at the bridge but it is pool and shallow there, not really mirage drive country. I do have a paddle and a stream like that would probably be a nice paddle. 
I really must try wetting the paddle ends some day, I reckon I have paddled a maximum 200 meters, and half of that backwards  I havent tried to fit the mirage drive down the hatch, must try. From what I have seen of the Mary I definitely want to get there before construction of Annas Blight is started. How does sometime in Sept or Oct for 2 or 3 days sound to you? Or as a crazy thought a cruise from Traveston (or above, while it can be done) to Fraser? Gra sounded interested too.

To get back on topic, thanks once again to everyone for your interest and responses. I hope to get the promised thread in the camping section written in the next few days. 
Bye for now, 
Tom


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## Drewboy (Mar 18, 2008)

Hey Tom 
great pics mate .... very soothing and visually well balanced. You have a good eye... keep it up


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## hairymick (Oct 18, 2005)

G'day Tom,

A couple of us are doing the stretch from Gundyah (SP?) tomorrow for a bit of a reccie. (about 20 klms)

The river is paddle-able from Connomndale (behind Mapleton) to Tiaro with only a couple of fairly short portages. The Mary needs to be running at allmost 2 metres at Miva to be able to get through. It is a journey of the soul mate and well worth the effort. just for the trip alone, but there are animal bass up in there too. 

I am up for it, anytime the river is high enough  Actuallly, I have been busting to do it at least once more before bloody anna's plug goes in. There are a few short gentle rapids along the way with lots of long, slow flowing stretches that hardly ever get fished. Will check my roster for Sept & Oct and start a thread with some possible dates that would work for me 

Back on topic, Just love those piccies mate. best reflections i have ever seen ar up in the everglades. I was keen to do that trip with you but my roster didn't suit. Bloody EEverglaes are set up for canoes but there are some real nice camping spots well up - above Harries Hut with sandy beaches to pull out on.  Still looking for the piccies.


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## Gigantor (Jun 27, 2006)

Tom,

Informative report mate. Well done.

Like a few others, I too have considered that area for a camping trip for a number of years - but haven't got there yet. I had heard that the launching spot at Harry's was tricky though. How did you fair at nite with the insects? Have heard they can be really blood-thirsty (I guess in Summer really).

I'm with Gra...Mary River trip before they dam the place has to be on the cards.

Cheers,

Pete


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## dunebuggy (Dec 21, 2008)

Great report Tom. I want to head up there myself some time and I was searching for another report by a guy in a canoe with home made outriggers when I found this thread. Definitely a worthwhile read, thanks.


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