Photos: Southern Inlets Paddling

Irwin Inlet-Bow River, Wilson Inlet from Denmark and Torbay Inlet-Elleker Channel, March 2012

Photos and text: Robyn Khorshid. Click on photos to enlarge.
More info’ on Irwin Inlet paddling is available here.

Arrival at the inlet mouth, looking towards the Southern Ocean. The extensive sand spit at the mouth was open to the ocean on this day. There was a narrow channel on the western side.

Atirwin4bowriv — One of the access places is on the Bow River, just a couple of kiolmetres upstream from the inlet.

Atirwin2mouth — As with much of the southern coastline towering sand dunes border this section of coast and the waters of the inlets, fed by local streams, have cut their way through to the sea.

Atwils1putin — At the put-in near the mouth of the Denmark River, for a Wilson Inlet paddle to its mouth with the sea.

Atwils4retreat — The northern shore of Wilson Inlet is populated, but the southern shore is bush, apart from this one residence or getaway cottage, “Rogues Recluse”.

Atwils3rock — The pelicans like this granite outcrop in Wilson Inlet.

Atwils2swans — Birdlife abounds: especially water birds. There’s huge flocks of the swans on these southern inlets.

Attorb1.mth — Torbay Inlet mouth with sand spit cutting off the inlet from the sea. Compared to some this is a small waterway, with two small lakes upstream, then connected to Lake Powell by a meandering water course.

Attorb3.lake — The second upstream lake of Torbay Inlet.

Atwils5.sea — Paddler takes off from Denmark’s Ocean Beach on a windy day, but it gets much wilder than this!

Attorb2.lunch — One of the upstream lakes is bypassed by this man made waterway, which runs straight beside the lake in next pic. Water birds abound.

Information on this page is taken from the much‑loved “Canoeing in Western Australia” website created by Robyn Korshid which ran from 1997 – 2023.

We are deeply grateful for Robyn’s incredible contribution to paddling in Western Australia, and for her generous permission allowing us to preserve and replicate material from her original site for ongoing use by the paddling community. Please note that the content reproduced here is taken directly from Robyn’s original website and reflects information that was accurate at the time of its publication. Some details may have changed since then, and we recommend cross‑checking any safety, access, or conditions information with current sources where relevant.

Robyn’s dedication, knowledge, and passion have shaped paddling in WA for many years, and we are honoured to help ensure that her work continues to support and inspire paddlers into the future.