Dartmouth Dam Kayak

Lake Dartmouth with the morning mist rising.

Sunday morning 1 March 2015 was cool and showery.  The Dartmouth Dam was enticing us for a paddle so we slowly prepared hoping the weather would improve.

By the time we were ready the sun was shining and we were eager to explore the Dam.

The Dartmouth Dam was built between 1973 and 1979.  It’s the highest wall dam in Victoria at 180m.  When it is full it holds four million gigalitres of water, the largest capacity in Victoria.

There was a slight breeze and not many boats on the water.  It was peaceful and beautiful paddling.

I didn’t hear any bird life at all while we were at the dam.

When the valley was flooded the trees were left.  This means when the water level is low the tree trunks and some of their branches are exposed.

Lake Dartmouth morning panorama.
View includes car, kayaks, tandem bike and caravan.

When paddling close to the shore we have to make sure we miss these trees.

After exploring the shore we stopped to get out for a look around.

I held onto a tree while Roy got out.  The edge was muddy.  Oh!  Sloshy mud up to my knees.

Getting back into our kayaks was tricky as the shore was very slippery and steep.

We had lots of fun spinning our kayaks, racing and edging to see how far we could tip before capsizing.

We had to paddle into the wind on the return journey.  As there were no other boats in sight I could go where I liked in my kayak and have fun.

Bronwyn battling into a stiff headwind on Dartmouth Dam.

Shortly the wind rose to about 20 knots and it was a hard job to keep my bow turned into the wind for the homeward journey.

Landing on the boat ramp after a strong paddle home against the wind is always a relief.