On Sunday 30th January at 8.30am, 12 very keen paddlers got together for the first Mullet paddle of 2022. It was an exciting morning as the November and December clean ups were cancelled due to heavy rains. The 12 who came together were extremely enthusiastic about cleaning the Cooks River. It had been so long and everyone was super keen to do some rubbish removal.
The weather was perfect, it was a partly cloudy day, with no wind. We paddled up the river to Wave Rock, a significant aboriginal site which is about 30 minutes from the club house. From there we collected over 30 kgs of plastic bottles, straws, chip packets etc. stuck in the mangroves along the river.
We had quite a number of newbies on this trip and they were all quite astounded by the amount of rubbish collected. All were also adamant they would join us again. Not only because they enjoyed canoeing the river (we are so lucky to have this beautiful waterway meandering through the inner west of Sydney) but they felt they were doing something so positive for it.
What I love about the Mullets is the wonderful friendships formed through cleaning the river. A number of us also discussed forming a gentle kayak group for paddlers interested in paddling in the morning but who aren’t necessarily very fit or wanting to go go at a cracking pace – maybe take our cameras, take photos and go for a coffee afterwards. Another lovely additional group to an already very busy club.
The next Mullet paddle is on Saturday 26th February at 9am. If you would like to join us, please book through the club’s website.