Kayak tour of the Derwent River reveals a popular platypus hangout
Keep your eyes peeled for these curious creatures on a kayaking adventure in Tasmania.
I’m not nervous about embarking on my first river kayaking adventure until our guide explains what to do in the event of a capsize. The thought of plunging into Tasmania’s chilly Derwent in early October sends a shiver down my spine, and we’ve just been told about the grade two rapids that are our first hurdle. Rule No 1, steer straight with the current.
Taking a collective deep breath, our quartet of single kayaks pushes off into the fast-running stream. Like well-disciplined ducklings, we follow guide Liam Weaver as he leads us towards what suddenly looks like a rock-lined cascade of corrugated iron. I hit the rapids with a whump and a wave rises up over the prow of my kayak and lands in my lap. I’ll be soaked for the next three hours but any discomfort soon fades thanks to the many distractions of our surroundings.
I’ve joined Tassie Bound Adventure Tours for its Paddle with the Platypus outing, a mostly gentle late-afternoon drift down the Derwent River. Owners Fiona and Liam Weaver went into kayaking tourism about nine years ago and discovered, quite by accident, that the monotremes’ are abundant in this stretch of the waterway. Four years ago, on a hot summer evening, Fiona and a friend floated down the river on a blow-up raft.
“I forgot to remind them to check for punctures before they took off and when I arrived to pick them up they were swimming with an almost deflated raft,” recalls Liam.
The pair were wearing life jackets, so weren’t bothered by that sinking feeling. More importantly, they were ecstatic to have spotted about 20 platypus along the way. Paddle with the Platypus is now the couple’s most popular tour.
Liam says this 4km section of the river is an ideal habitat for the creatures. The gravel riverbed is home to plenty of invertebrates, the platypus’s favourite food; there’s no public access to the river, creating a quiet environment for feeding and breeding; and the water is regularly flushed by the hydro-electric dams upstream.
Our eyes are peeled as we paddle along, looking for a telltale brown bump on the water’s surface and willing Liam to signal a sighting (thumb to helmet, fingers wiggling in the air). At this time of year, the females are mostly in their dens, minding eggs or feeding young, but the males are out and about, popping up for air every 90 seconds or so and keeping watch for sea eagles and wedge tails. Sure enough, after about 20 minutes we spot our first one, floating in the shallows.
In total, we see only three platypus on our outing but Liam tells us his most bountiful paddle, after a super full moon, racked up a tally of 26. It’s the luck of the draw and it almost doesn’t matter. To drift down this peaceful river is a meditative experience.
Where the Derwent meets the Styx River, we haul our kayaks ashore and wander past hops trellises, empty for the winter. Liam produces a platter of Mersey Valley cheddar, King Island triple cream brie, crackers, homemade hummus and a flask of herbal tea.
Refreshed, we paddle on to our pick-up point on a bend in the river. The sun is sinking low and there are virtually no ripples to disturb the twilight reflections. Near the bank, a male platypus is flipping and flopping about then submerging again, on repeat. We sit silently in our kayaks watching the show and willing him to surface just one more time.
Penny Hunter was a guest of Tassie Bound Adventure Tours and Tourism Tasmania.
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IN THE KNOW
Tassie Bound Adventure Tours’ Paddle with the Platypus runs from October to April, 5pm-8pm, and September and May, 3pm-6pm; adult $150, child $100, family of four $450. Tassie Bound has teamed up with the Woodbridge heritage hotel in New Norfolk to create the Derwent Descent package, which includes two nights’ accommodation at riverside glamping property Truffle Lodge plus two nights at the Woodbridge, a guided kayak tour downstream from Truffle Lodge to the hotel, luggage transfers, daily breakfast and two-course dinner each night. Book through the Woodbridge; from $1310 a person, twin-share.