Nambucca Heads to Scotts Head

15 km (415 km) | 5 hr

Another superb day's saunter for an extremely contented coastal pilgrim.

I started the day with a 'tinny' boat ride across the gorgeous Nambucca River. Shoutout to Grant and Nambucca Boatshed & Cafe for a perfect way to cross, even in less than ideal conditions. The boat ride is a great investment at $25, and once across the river, pristine South Beach awaits. It has to be one of the finest wild beaches on the coast. Sea and shorebirds everywhere, pelicans and gannets, terns and little terns and pied oyster catchers and a pair of my totem bird for the coast walk, the white-bellied sea eagle. Sensational!

South Beach (also somewhat confusingly called Forster Beach on Google Maps) is one in a series of longish beaches on this part of coast. It’s about 12 km and it faces southeast for much of the way from the Nambucca River mouth, before sweeping around to face north in the lee of Scotts Head. Warrell Creek runs parallel for most of its length, and there are no crossing points until Scotts Head – so once you cross the Nambucca River you are absolutely and completely committed!

With no road access or housing anywhere north of Scotts Head, there was not a soul around - just a perfect, perfect stretch of beach melding into Scotts Head Main Beach. It might not be quite as idyllic in peak season, as there is 4WD access at the southern end of the beach, but simply perfect for my meander in the winter sunshine. It was a little less than my usual quota, so I took my time (well, I always do - it's all about the journey as the self-help books relentlessly remind us).

It was still quite windy, along with a powerful southerly swell. It was great to have a bit of dramatic wind and ocean, ‘Sturm und Drang’ sensory overload to accompany a solitary saunterer, even though it did seem to push the whales a lot further offshore and made the walking a tad chillier and more demanding.

Scotts Head is a gorgeous coastal holiday spot and a bit of a surfing mecca when the conditions are right. I stayed in a beautiful Airbnb granny flat. After a day of southerly gales in my face, a long, hot bath and nice cold beer went down very nicely indeed!