Forster to Elizabeth Beach
28km (776 km) | 10 hr
Headed out at first light for the first day’s walk southwards to Elizabeth Beach. I had stayed the previous night in Forster (where I did make sure, for quest purity’s sake, to walk across the beautiful bridge from Tuncurry).
The Bicentennial Walk from Forster Beach past Forster Ocean Baths, Second Head Lookout, Pebbly Beach, The Tanks (a unique place to swim with natural horizontal rock shelves making a huge pool) and Pine Point Lookout made for an excellent dawn start to the day. I had a post-sunrise break at Bennetts Head Lookout before dropping down to perfect little One Mile Beach and its amazing dune at its northern end. Then it was around Turtle Cove past Caves Bay and on to steep, steep Burgess Beach. The access is a little hidden here – it lies directly across from Link St - but is a ‘totally worth it’ beach to explore. From the south end of Burgess Rd, it was a steepish link trail to enter Booti Booti National Park and the trail to Cape Hawke lookout. While this track wasn't indicated on my Google maps, you can see and confirm the entrance on street view with a ‘full zoom’.
Then it was down to McBrides Beach, a steep one-hour diversion, but an excellent little secluded 'natural' beach. Next it was time to walk up, up, up to Cape Hawke lookout (224m elevation plus a few more flights of steps up the tower) with splendid views of the coast to Big (North) Brother and beyond.
Sadly, no magic track appeared to take me to Janies Corner and Seven Mile Beach, so it was a bit of a road trudge along pleasant enough Cape Hawke Drive (4km) back to the Lakes Way - a high-speed road with narrow verges of 'snake-y' long grass. It was about 4 more km along Lakes Way, plus another 2 km or so of dirt road from the turn off back to the beach. Oh well, can't have perfection all day every day and this was an exceedingly rare occasion where a serious road diversion has been required along the coast. Read on though for some good news on this score.
So, I was delighted to finally get to Janies Corner. As a reward for my travails, it was as if some of the older gods and goddesses of sand and sea and headlands had seen my plight and so put on a splendid display of breaching whales and soaring eagles, along with a cooling northerly breeze, a few perfect resting logs, and the endless whiteish sands and dunes of Seven Mile Beach to saunter away the afternoon. It was a longish beach walk on soft sand (the softest, I think, that I have experienced so far) to the Ruins campground at the southern end of the sand.
The day got even better with the insanely great, newly remediated Booti Walking Track past Morley Cove and Lindeman Cove, before coming out on the perfection of Elizabeth Beach (regularly nominated as one of the best beaches in Oz) where I was staying for the night. The NP track designers and builders and consultants deserve a medal for this Booti Hill trail - gentle gradients, and rainforest and erosion protection, but a perfect 'bushwalking feel' through lush coastal vegetation with plenty of outstanding coastal views along the way. Great to wind up the day’s saunter with yet another 10/10 headland walk on this amazing coast.
In case you’re wondering 'Booti Booti' means lots of honey in the local Gathang language. No honey but a few cheeky schooners of old for sundowners at The Rekkie (Pacific Palms Recreation Club) to reflect on a wonderful day of coastal walking and plan for Seal Rocks and Treachery on the morrow.