This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Of all the places that I’ve been told to kayak in Western Australia, the name that comes up time and again is the Blackwood River. “You must kayak on the Blackwood”, people kept saying. So I did and most times I had the river to myself: what a privilege. The Blackwood River is south Western Australia’s longest river with a catchment area similar in size to Belgium. The majority of the river is seasonal but below Nannup two aquifers feed the river and maintain a year round flow. Upstream of Nannup the catchment is 60% cleared, salinity is present and, apparently, very little riparian vegetation remains. After kayaking the beautifully vegetated lower reaches, I’m not sure I could bear to go further upstream and see the difference. I kayaked around Hardy’s Inlet, Augusta and Molloy Island where the vegetation includes a melaleuca (I think!) that shines brightly in the early morning and late afternoon sun and you where you can find yourself kayaking with dolphins. Further upstream the thickness of the vegetation remains though the trees gradually become taller. My favourite stretch was upstream from Chapman Pool where the river narrows such that you can hear the woodland bird’s call and eventually you start to meet an increasing number of small rapids. I dragged Kermit through two rapids and at the third decided that my Blackwood kayaking had run its course.