Cirque 2 Sea Day 17 : 17-08-2016

Before Jason returned me to the road to continue walking we went to a water sampling site at Wayatinah to see how it's done. The Derwent Estuary Program have a series of sites along the river and each month they are testing the water to see if there are changes over time. As well as measuring temperature, pH, and turbidity, they are measuring for nutrients, salinity and dissolved oxygen. These can be important in understanding the river health. The important part is to get lots of measurements using the same methods over months and years so comparisons can be made. Real science in action, thanks Jason. If you have any questions you can ask him directly in the experts page.

Back alone again, I lurched up a forestry road to go and find the river again. I passed through pine and eucalyptus plantations between the highway and the river until I came to the end of the dirt road. Using my phone as a GPS I pointed towards the river and plunged into the bush. It was a horrible thicket of dogwood to begin with but further into the old forest the trees became bigger and the floor clearer. Some must have been three meters in diameter and at least 50 meters tall.

The hill steepened down to the riverbed with loose mossy rocks and lots of old fallen and rotting trees. I'd taken the paddle ends off the pack and was using them as walking sticks. At the river I've found an unlikely tent site perched on the rocks right beside a raging rapid. The noise is incredible. Tomorrow I just need to sneak around the river for a kilometre to reach Wayatinah. There's a mystery bird in the photos today that has been mentioned in an earlier post. Can you identify it? Sqwark!

T-shirt winner: Emily 

Royal Life Saving Society winner: Woody1011

Cirque 2 Sea is a partnership project between the Bookend Trust, the Derwent Estuary Program and our supporters.