26/01/2021
32 Ticks.
Bec Bailey is always a very incredible outdoors lady. Words and photographs by Andrew Barnes.
We were planning a one day adventure the next day; paddle across the Bottom Lake at Mallacoota, walk to Lake Barracoota and return. It had been a little while since I paddled a sea kayak, and going for a long walk the next day. Bec Bailey, my adventure companion, suggested it would be a good idea to make a list of essential equipment then tick it off when I was packed and ready to go. First aid kit: tick! Sunhat: tick! Waterbottles: tick!
The next morning as everything got hauled out of the car I re-checked the tick list: Food: tick! Gaiters to protect from snake bite: tick! Personal floatation device: tick!
We started paddling from Stingray Point and the wind was blowing hard from the north west, the water was choppy and dark clouds filled the horizon. The weather forecast predicted increasing wind speed and possible thunderstorms. To our surprise, as we paddled over the deepest section of the lake, the water calmed down and Howe Bight, our ‘first destination’, became obvious. The lake became shallow and flathead shot away from under our boats.
Looking at our maps we decided to land at the north west end of the Bight, so we could easily access Howe Flat Track. On the lake bank, we changed into bushwalking clothes and again I checked the tick list. Raincoat, overpants, beanie, emergency bivvy bag: tick! We stowed the sea kayaks in the bush, bashed through a bit of scrub and emerged onto the track. Instantly, the walk was impressive. Squiggly limbed, Rough Barked Apples and Red Bloodwood’s reared over us while bright pink Common Heath wildflowers created a natural boundary.
More quickly than anticipated, we arrived at the south turn onto a boardwalk track, but were surprised to find it only covered 50 metres then abruptly ended in marshland water. To keep our walking boots dry, we zig zagged through dense Melaleuca coastal bush and emerged into low sand dunes surrounded by stunted wattles and banksias.
We passed a Parks Victoria sign that stated, “No Lifesaving” and while laughing about this modern age of suing for slipping on a grape, we got smacked in the eyes by a sudden view of perfect eight foot waves lining the ocean all the way to the horizon. The dark clouds had cleared and we had a crystal clear view of Tullaberga Island, and further east, famous Gabo Island.
Looking at the map, it we obviously had a four kilometre sand slog to the Lake Barracoota track. But the views of the islands were so impressive, opposite the southern most tip of Tullaberga Island we took a break and sat down on the sand, watching perfect, endless sets of waves.
Bec was eating an apple, and suddenly let out a little shriek, “I’ve got a tick on my hand!” and flicked it off. I laughed and said, “What happens if you eat a tick?” and realised there was one crawling up my hand toward the chocolate bar I was eating. Bec said, “Well, we have now ticked the safety list!” And then said, “I’ve got two on my leg!” And so, on the beach, opposite Tulleberga Island, we found a total of 12 ticks, three of which had to be disembodied.
After ‘de-ticking’ we were surprised to find a brand new signpost that marked the track into Lake Barracoota. The track meandered through an impressive ‘desert’ of sand dunes and we gradually gained elevation until a superb view of Barracoota reared up in front of us. “Crikey!” I said. “That’s as impressive a view as anything I have seen in the world!”
Lake Barracoota is a beautiful destination: its north eastern edge is dominated by the Howe Range, there is not a vehicle track to be seen, the water looks clear as a bell and if it wasn’t in a National Park billionaires would pay millions to buy the view.
Because of the weather forecast we didn’t stay for long. We refilled our water bottles, ticked hydration off the list and headed back to the ocean. The waves were still perfect and we talked about how our surfing friends would have been jumping out of their skin if they had been with us. When we arrived back at the boardwalk track we walked straight through the water, because we were sure we had picked up the 12 ticks when we bashed through the coastal scrub.
As we walked along the Howe Track, I took some photos, looked down at my gaiters and said “Another two ticks, Bec” and she said, ‘That’s 14!” And then she said, “Oh, I’ve got three on me, that’s 17!”
After another kilometre, I saw a little native rodent hop across the track and dodge under a dead Banksia serrata branch. Hoping to find out what the animal was and get a photo of it, I nudged the branch with my left leg. No hoppy rodent popped out, but four ticks popped onto my knee.
We had ‘hidden’ our paddles behind a log, Bec went in to pick them up and picked up another tick. At the kayaks, as we changed into paddling gear, there were three more trapped in our gaiters and I said to Bec, “Can you pull that one out of the back of my neck?”
As we got into our sea kayaks and started paddling, we felt incredibly fortunate. It had been a beautiful day and there was now a warm northerly breeze, no wind chop and glowing sunset hovering over our heads.
Because she was guiding a mountain biking trip the next day, Bec had to drive home to Marlo. Later in the evening she texted me: ‘found another three ticks’. And I texted back, ‘found another two’. Total: 32 ticks. Proof that Bec was correct: when going on an adventure it is important to have a tick list of essential equipment!
