Tim Porritt

In September 2025, a bunch of us went and crammed two trips into one day, including an impromptu Rock Skills 1, and trying out the (then) new club packrafts. Here’s an account of that day!

The Climbing

We weren’t planning on running Rock Skills 1 (teaching beginner rock climbing) that weekend, but after a different session that day got massively overbooked and would’ve swamped a crag, we stepped in to take on the overflow.

Leaders: Salomé and Ehren
Assistants: Tim, Thomas, Kieran and Seb

I’ve never attended an RS1 day before – I collected all the different skills from various training evenings – so it was good to get to see how the day runs. We arrived early at Berowra crag to set up a couple of ropes before the participants arrived. I got to pfaff around setting up a static anchor off a tree to rig a pitch, while Kieran and Thomas got in some lead climbing practice.

Kieran and Thomas practicing their lead climbing

Once everyone arrived, we kicked off with a talk about cliff safety at the cars, then headed down the short walk to the crag. Once there we went through all the teaching stuff – climbing gear, tying in, how to belay, buddy checks etc.

Teaching how to tie a rethreaded figure-8

It progressed as I expected an RS1 would once the teaching session was done, with everyone swapping around and climbing each rigged wall throughout the day.

As the day of climbing wound to a close, us leaders cleaned each climb (I did it by ascending the anchor line after doing the climb because why not…) and we got participants to help out and carry all the gear back up to the cars.

Everyone parted ways, with those of us going packrafting heading to the nearby Coles for some snacks before heading down to Berowra Waters.

The Packrafting

Leaders: Tim, Salomé
Participants: Kieran, Thomas and Seb

Seb was using a packraft he’d borrowed from a mate, and the rest of us were using the 4 new club packrafts.

The plan was to paddle down a few ks to where a track crossed a creek that we were pretty sure we could paddle up. We’d then parcel up the packrafts into our packs and walk back to the carpark on a track. I knew it would take a while, so we were prepared with head torches and warm layers.

We grabbed the rafts from my car and lugged them across to the jetty where we could get them inflated and launched. I was determined to read and follow the instructions, which came in handy with the slightly finicky valves, while others got stuck into inflating their rafts. The pump sacks are pretty good, but take some practice to fill and squeeze properly.

We got most of our boats inflated eventually, but Thomas’s boat didn’t seem to be holding air properly. After a lot of faffing about, we gave up and I grabbed the battery air pump from my car. Still not sure why it held air this time, but it inflated it in about 10 seconds flat. I also learned about cold shock – having to top up the raft after putting it in the water since the air inside shrinks. Finally we strapped our packs to the back and were ready to go.

The struggle of inflating packrafts on a small pontoon

Kieran and Seb floating around

 

Off we went, with it taking a while to get used to how a packraft handles. Since it just has a flat hull without a keel, they spin quite a bit if you don’t get the rhythm of paddling down. The packrafts are also self-bailing – meaning they let water out the bottom… and let water in – so you have to sit right or you get a soggy butt.

Paddling down Berowra Creek was super pleasant, with the houses on the bank slowing fading into the trees of Berowra Valley National Park. We experimented with different paddling positions as we went; leaning forward, leaning back, feet up, feet down, using the knee straps, butt forward, butt back… so on and so forth.

We only had one mishap as we went, which was the top pouch of Salomé’s pack falling into the water and as we discovered later, killing her head torch (that’s why we take spares folks).

As we continued, the light started to dim and some people got their head torches out while others soldiered on in the twilight. We occasionally checked the map to make sure we were on the right track (which we were). Eventually we reached the end of the tributary and found a spot to pull out the rafts. I managed to keep my feet pretty dry but others weren’t so lucky.

Deflating the packrafts and getting them rolled up for transport without getting too muddy in the dark was definitely an experience. I had a big enough pack to fit the entire packraft inside it, but everyone else had to carry theirs across the top or bottom of their pack. Salomé’s misfortune continued as she had a pack with only one central top strap, so the packraft had a tendency to slip sideways and throw off her balance.

Kieran and Thomas ready to go!

Finally starting the walk back

 

The walk back to Berowra Waters was roughly 3km, and we ended up divided into two groups. Tom, Seb and I were up front, with Salomé and Kieran following behind, with us occasionally stopping for them to catch up. Another difficulty that Salomé discovered is that you’re substantially wider with the packraft sitting atop your pack, so she kept hitting trees and rocks on either side of the track, which doesn’t help with keeping your balance.

Seconds from disaster

The walk itself was pretty uneventful, with us getting back to the cars at a bit past 8pm. Everyone dumped the packrafts in my car, said farewell and headed off home in various directions.

A GPS track of the trip