Canoe Trip to Herring Island

On the weekend, as part of Little B’s advent calendar we took a canoe trip down the Yarra River to Herring Island.

There were so many things and people to see as we canoed along. I loved looking at all the old boat houses, and cactus walls. Little B loved all the baby ducklings and saying hello to everyone we “met”.

Sometimes, you need to just lie down for a little rest (hmmm mainly I would think only if you actually did the paddling rather than socialising LOL).

Originally created with silt dredged from the river, Herring Island passed through many hands (including the Scouts) until it became part of Parks Victoria in 1994, and is now an Environmental Sculpture Park. It’s also the home of a Summer Arts festival from January to April each year.

After a picnic lunch from our trusty esky, we did a walk around the island and checked out all the sculptures. Little B loved the “giant pinecone” and a falling fence to nowhere :-)

We’ve found a good travelling picnic lunch for canoeing is tombolas for Mr B and Little B and a sandwich for me, some fruit and a nutrient dense home-made slice or biscuit. Mr B’s current fave is bring along some home-made ginger beer (since he’s the muscles in our paddling).

On a side note, Mr B and I could not get over how dirty the Yarra River was. We canoed it a looong time ago (about 7 years ago) and it was dirty then but the level of pollution in it and the smell was disgusting. It dismayed us both over how much rubbish was floating in there. We always pick up rubbish from wherever we canoe following the Take 3 Clean Beach Principle (though in our case it is generally lakes and rivers). Little B does it naturally now though he is still saddened and doesnt understand why people leave it there in the first place.

Neither do I love, neither do I. All we can do is make the best difference we can. I wish more people did it though.