There’s a massive stretch of the Queensland coast between Hervey Bay and Airlie Beach that I have never properly visited and now seemed the time to remedy this, or at least the southern part. At this stage in my trip to Queensland I did not intend to go north of Gladstone; I was already a very long way from home up there. I picked out a handful of beaches and planned day walks while staying at motels, backpackers and caravan parks as one of my frustrations in Queensland was that many of the best sounding national parks with camping are only accessible by 4WD. As things transpired the northern part would come later.
1 August 9 kms. Before returning to hiking duties I went for a pleasant run at Tin Can Bay; it’s a great place for a waterside run as the town is on a narrow peninsula with walkways on both sides. The coastline is fringed by mangroves so there’s no beach, but it’s an area of estuaries and it is pretty with boats and distant hills.
2 August 27.6 kms. When I went onto the beach opposite the pub at Woodgate Beach, south of Bundaberg, I could see a huge curve of sand stretching from a point far to my left to a point even further to my right. I knew that this swathe of beach was bounded by a river estuary at each end so I had the bright idea of walking the entire beach, which I would effectively have to do twice as I would be doing an out and back in both directions.
I set out walking north along the beach from the town's boat ramp towards Theodolite Creek 2.5 kms away. The tide was high so there wasn’t much beach, and as I got close to the creek there were dead casuarinas (from recent fire) blocking my way. I didn’t want to get wet feet so I had to be quite crafty in dodging the little waves.
The point was a very sharp one and I turned inland to see calm river water and lots of pelicans. I walked back to the boat ramp mostly on a bush trail and then on the beach again.
From the boat ramp heading south I walked through the town on the paved footpath parallel with the beach with the intention of returning on the sand. The tide was going out and there was a southerly wind so I would return on the beach with a tailwind. Right at the start I could see a distinct point which looked like it was the end of the beach but I suspected the beach continued much further out of sight.
After four kms of footpath (the town is an extraordinary five kms long but only one street deep most of the way) I went onto the beach. The beach was backed by low dunes and casuarinas and I could see the same point I had been aiming for. When I reached it I was not surprised I had to go further; the beach curved and continued. Altogether it was seven kms beyond the town along the beach to Burrum Point and the estuary. In contrast to the northern point this one was a gradual curve.
I turned at Burrum Points and walked the beach all the way back to the boat ramp. I loved the sound of the gentle waves and the simplicity of it all. I could not resist stopping at the town cafe, in the caravan park, for lunch. I was pretty tired by the end of the walk.
3 August 14 kms. The next day I wanted to do a shorter walk. I drove to Moore Park Beach, north of Bundaberg, and parked by the surf club. I saw on the map that the beach ended at the Kolan River so I decided to walk along this empty beach until I got there, turn around and come back.
This was a wide beach at low tide with low dunes and sparse casuarinas, and the occasional coconut palm. There were masses of yellow shells. The first half didn't allow vehicles, which was a nice change. After a few kms the vegetation changed and there were lots of mangrove stumps in the sand and mangroves fringing the beach.
It seemed to take a long time to reach the river and I was getting frustrated. Then something really odd happened: I looked at the maps on my phone and on my watch and saw that I had gone past the river! When I walked into the dunes and among the mangroves growing in the sand I found the dry river bed; the thing seemed to be that the river doesn’t reach the sea at this time of year. That was a sly trick.
I ran some of the return. There were a few other people walking on the beach, who would appear as if from nowhere but I suspect there were houses hidden behind the dunes.
4 August 14.3 kms. Today’s walk was definitely the best so far: perfect sunshine and a variety of scenery. I parked at Agnes Water surf club and went onto the beach. This was a gorgeous surf beach (since this part of the coast isn’t sheltered by Fraser Island) backed by the usual casuarinas and dunes; the water was the bluest blue and there were no vehicles allowed on the sand.
I walked the length of the beach in bare feet, about four kms, ending up at the Town of 1770. Towards the far end I saw dolphin fins appearing frequently, so much so that I was virtually walking with my head twisted around to the right. I even saw a dolphin jump clear of the waves.
I climbed the headland and followed a single track over the top with views of the entire beach I had walked and passing another tiny beach, then took a forested path out to Round Hill Head viewing platform which gave a fabulous view in all directions. On one side of the point were rocky chasms and on the other side little beaches. To the north was a vast shallow bay and the water was a lovely aquamarine. Going up there I passed bush turkeys scrabbling around in the undergrowth. They always make their presence known.
My idea was to return on the other side of the 1770 peninsula and I thought I would have to walk on the road but I was able to walk along a calm water beach fringed by mangroves and then on a brick footpath. This path led me to the 1770 Beach Hotel so I crossed the road and sat on the verandah to drink coffee. A perfect place for a break.
After this I did have to walk by the road for a while. I tried bashing through the bush in a pretty palm forest but the ground was covered with fallen palm fronds and I found them to be unreliable underfoot, also the green ones are too prickly when you brush against them. Then I walked through a caravan park and took a track back to Agnes Water beach. It was still beautiful as I returned to the surf club.
5 August 10 kms. Not done with Agnes Water yet, I headed in another direction for a shorter walk at Springs Beach. Before that I did a very short 400 metre walk on a boardwalk through a paperbark forest which was really pretty as the paperbarks were extremely densely packed in.
It was a warm day. The longer Red Rock Track was a marked trail southwards along a series of smallish beaches and crossing several headlands. The beaches were all picture perfect sloping curves; one of them was a double scallop of beach, and all were backed by casuarinas, pandanus and palms. There was a trio of kangaroos on the first headland.
6 August 13.8 kms. I camped at Wreck Rock Beach campsite (this was the roughest road I drove on my entire trip) and slept to the sound of loud surf.
I left early to hike the length of the beach. There was a very obvious rocky promontory at the northern end of the beach, which was actually two adjoining beaches as I was to find out, so that was where I went. My end point was only a short distance from my turnaround point yesterday when I had approached from the north.
The beach was deserted, with the usual casuarinas, pandanus, medium size dunes and a few scattered coconuts. It was perfect weather again and it was going to get hot. I walked mostly on the sand then went up onto the dunes. Behind the dunes was dense bushland. Walking on the dunes was hard work, lots of ups and downs and soft sand, and the dune vegetation forms a kind of matting that your foot goes straight through when you aren’t attentive.
The dividing point between the two beaches was marked by small rocks, mostly in the water as the tide was high. I could see my goal promontory clearly and the surf was beating against it. As I got close I spied a nice big log to sit on. The beaches have good logs available since trees sometimes topple off the dunes onto the sand.
I sat on my log and after a while I noticed there was a child's tiny shoe perched on the log. Then I noticed something even better: a group of 5 - 6 dolphins were hanging out just off the point.
The return walk was hot work. I played a game of trying to keep to the left of my earlier tracks, mostly possible as the tide was going out.
8 August 6.6 kms. Yesterday in Tannum Sands near Gladstone it rained all day so I had a break from exercise. Whenever the rain looked like stopping it would come back heavier. The rain stopped in the night so I rushed out for a short walk before 7am.
I walked to the beach, which was wide and flat with some rock pools. The water was calm and the beach appeared to be sheltered by Gladstone harbour. It was not particularly scenic as this was still a grey day.
I did a few kms on the sand then reached the entrance of the Boyne River and turned to follow it on a sealed path; the path went past mangroves and had a name that was the best thing about it: the Turtle Way. Part way along were a couple of trees full of flying foxes making a din. I completed a loop by crossing several green spaces where I had to be careful to avoid the flooding.
And that was my last beach walk for a while.
No comments:
Post a Comment