Tassie is arguably the whitewater playground of Australia. We have a fantastic range of rivers, all within a few minutes or a few hours of home. Degree of difficulty ranges from Grade 1 (gently flowing, suitable for novices) to Grade 5 (the hardest paddleable by anyone).
River Trips
Information on suitable local river trips and river levels is here.
Members organise trips among themselves, using our Facebook page, messenger group(s), phone calls and SMS’s.
In Tassie most rivers are naturally fed by rainfall while others are controlled by Hydro Tasmania. Hydro usually give us notice when they will be discharging paddleable flows into our favourite rivers, but more often, trips are organised with less than 24hrs notice (“SoAndSo is on, let’s go.”).
So fitting paddling in with our other commitments is a challenge, often overcome by avoiding other commitments 🙂 .
Most paddling opportunities arise in winter, with the higher rainfalls. As with hiking in Tassie, “there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing”. Water temperatures can be close to zero, especially as the snow melts in August. Staying warm and relatively dry is important (and relatively easy with today’s gear).
In summer, local paddling opportunities shrink to the Hydro controlled rivers (the Mersey, the Forth and the South Esk at Longford and Hadspen.) But it is still not uncommon to get in two or three Grade 2 or Grade 3 trips a month.
Participation
Age and gender offer few limitations to participating. Adolescents are welcome on club trips (with their parents or with their parents’ permission). Girls and women are well represented in the paddling ranks at all skill levels. The main challenge is finding a way to change into and out of paddling gear on the side of the river or beside a car, that works for you (Google ‘change poncho’ for some options).
Boats and Gear
The Club has boats and associated gear for use by members. Try out the boats before you buy. After a few trips you will know better what suits you.
Getting Started
Beginner trips are posted on our Facebook page a few days in advance. Once you get to know a few other paddlers and build some skills it’s generally not too hard to get yourself on to less well advertised trips.
Consider taking up Canoe Polo with the club. As well as helping to build your kayak skills, you will have the opportunity to learn kayak rolling in a pool, and meet many other keen white water kayakers.
Also highly recommended are the skills courses offered by Paddle Tasmania on their Canoe Education weekends twice a year.