Crescent Head to Point Plomer

19 km (508 km) | 6 hr

Everything was still awesome… I had a morning stroll up Little Nobby and then Big Nobby before waiting for the tide to ebb a little before setting off to Goolawah Beach via Goolawah track.

When I do this walk all again (!) I’ve made a note to myself that there is a newly made track below the Big Nobby lookout at Crescent Head. It is just down the road southward and beachward - with the track entrance near the telegraph poles on the left. Unfortunately, I only found it once I had already made beachfall via the road.

Goolawah was another fine long stretch of sand with views south to Racecourse Headland. It’s about 7 km of sand from Crescent Head to magic Racecourse Headland, where the track around the head is another to 'die for' short cliff top walk. From there, it was a comfortable beach walk past Delicate Nobby with a stop at the great little cafe at Waves Campground and then on to Big Hill. Big Hill had a pretty loop walk that combined great views with a pretty stretch of littoral rainforest.

There were sheer cliffs on the southside of Big Hill, so I returned for a short walk along Point Plomer Rd to the turn off to One Palm Beach. A small beach that packs a big punch. What a place! Dramatic cliffs on both sides, the huge sea thundering in, and a cute little cove that is just splendiferous.

Getting down to the beach was not for the faint-hearted and climbing up the steep, steep incline pretty much wore me out. I was just congratulating myself and thinking 'not too bad for an old bloke' when I moved over the headland to see a group of rock fishermen of a similar vintage perched precariously on isolated rocks surrounded by the mean roaring swells. Getting there would have involved serious, serious scrambles and rock climbing surrounded by crashing waves. Those fish must be really tasty to make it worth the danger. As a non-fisher, it seems to me you've never known a crazy risk-taker until you've met a fanatic who's into rock fishing - the recreational activity where courage meets insanity!

I stayed the night at Point Plomer campground in a primo little cabin with a balcony looking north up the coast from whence I had come. Just sensational!