Monday, January 7, 2013

Swim The Cotter, ACT

When the weather turns hot in Canberra - 40 degrees celcius hot - one must find some water in which to cool down. This weekend we chose to visit The Cotter, an estuary near the newly completed Cotter Dam, to the West of the city past Mt Stromlo.

Our family and numerous other Canberra-ites had the same idea - to swim in the beautiful surrounds of the Casuarina Sands recreation area, and a picnic lunch on the shady riverbank.

The Cotter appears to be partially dammed or is a very slow moving river. The water is brownish, but not unpleasant to swim in, as it has no odour. The banks are steep, but if the kids are decked out in PFDs or confident swimmers or tall (or a combination of the three) you will find it a fairly safe environment (closely supervise children at all times in the water).

The Kids Too Numerous To Mention (KTNTM) had an absolute ball. Taking a ride on their father's back to the other side, borrowing a kindly person's blow-up kayak, and making friends with a little boy named Jasper, they loved every minute. Lunch was simple sandwiches and fruit, but boy did it taste awesome down by the river.

I strongly considered not sharing this oasis on the interwebz. The Cotter is THAT good. But it would be downright mean not to share. Anyway Canberrans are just so nice to share with.

No comments:

Post a Comment