Port Macquarie Coastal Walk

General Information

Grading : easy

Distance:  8.8 kilometers 

Total climb:  195 meters

Time taken:  2 hours

Map:  Port Macquarie 9435-2S, 1:25 000 

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:  661 kilometers

Route

Description

We started this walk at Town Beach and followed the marked trail to the south along the coastline. This meanders through bushland (including Sea Acres Nature Reserve) and along beaches, with the trail mostly easy to follow and with great views from time to time.

The trail officially ends at the Tacking Point Lighthouse.

We went on a little bit further down Lighthouse Beach so that we could have a brief camel ride along the beach and have a good lunch at the Tacking Point SLSC.

Note: 

I haven't included the return journey as part of this blog posting. We walked back along Lighthouse Road and Pacific Drive, just shy of 6 kilometers and not particularly interesting. Other options include returning via the Coastal Walk or catching a bus from Pacific Drive.

Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve: Cascade Trail

General Information

Grading: easy

Distance: 2  kilometers 

Total climb: 110 meters 

Time taken: 50 minutes 

Map: Tidbinbilla 8627-2S 1:25 000 

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:  49 kilometers 

Start point map grid reference:  55H FA 71466 74628 

Destination:  Loop walk

End Point:  Same as start

Route

Description

The starting point for this walk is the Mountain Creek carpark in the west of the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, at the end of Mountain Creek Road. We started by following the well signposted Lyrebird Trail and then turned off to follow the Cascade Trail, which loops back to the Lyrebird and thence back to the carpark.

Bournda National Park: Sandy Creek Walking Track

General Information

Grading:  easy

Distance:   5.6 kilometers

Total climb:   149 meters

Time taken:   1 hour 25 minutes

Maps:   Wolumla 8824-2N 1:25 000

Start point distance by road from Canberra GPO:   254 kilometers

Start point map grid reference:  55H GV 61710 20067

Destination map grid reference:   none

End point:  Same as start

Route

Description

This walk started at the North Tura Picnic Area at the end of North Tura Road, about 8.5 kilometres drive north of Merimbula. Note that a park use fee of $8 per day (at the time of writing) applies and the only way of paying is to put correct change in an envelope, write your details (so you'll need a pen) and place the envelope in the designated box at the picnic area. There is a viewing platform at the picnic area overlooking Tura Beach.

I chose to do the walk counter-clockwise, so I followed the trail to the north through coastal scrub until I came to Bournda Island.

I descended down to the beach and walked up the beach a short distance, then over the rocks and on to Bournda Beach. Continuing north along the beach, and with Bournda Lagoon on my left I turned inland around the northern end of the Lagoon to reacquire the Sandy Creek Walking Track. Some nice views back towards the Lagoon, Sandy Creek and Bournda Island from this section of the track.

The track eventually descends towards Sandy Creek, which it follows for about 1.2 kilometres. At this point it is necessary to cross the Creek, which when I visited was about ankle deep and required crossing in bare feet (although it would have been easy to cross if I had been wearing hiking boots and gaiters). Here is a view of the crossing after I had passed across.

From the Creek the track climbs again. This last section of the track contained a feast of reptiles with a small black snake slithering off in front of me, followed by a goanna taking fright at my approach and climbing up a track-side tree.

After that the rest of the walk was uneventful.