Urunga to Nambucca Heads
22 km (400 km) | 6 hr
I checked the weather app before setting out and was a little concerned about the predicted 40 knot (70 km/h) southerly winds. I left at first light, and when I got to the magnificent 3 km Urunga footbridge, all was perfectly calm. There's a moral there somewhere – the early bird gets the worm, don't believe everything you read, always look on the bright side of life... or, maybe, I'm just a lucky fellow and the gods and goddesses of wind and waves and weather looked kindly on their wandering coastal pilgrim.
Urunga means 'long white sands' in the language of the local Gumbainggar people, and I loved its amazing boardwalk (which would make a fine walk in and of itself) and its long and white(-ish) sands. Urunga Beach becomes Hungry Head and then Schnapper Beach before lovely Wenonah Head. After rounding the headland North Valla Beach stretched 6km southwards to Valla Head, and then Mid and South Valla and Hyland Beaches extend a further 5 km to Nambucca Heads Main Beach. Beilbys and Shelly Beaches and Wellington Rocks completed the day’s coast walk, before a pleasant denouement along the V wall and its many painted stones on the northern shore of the Nambucca River.
The wind did pick up considerably as the day went on, but the many small headlands and rocky outcrops between Urunga and Nambucca provided some shelter as well as perfect views and resting spots along the way. Beach walking is definitely more difficult into the teeth of the wind but, combined with a dramatic southerly swell, it does add plenty of ‘action’ to the scenery.
There were no real obstacles on this day of the walk, especially at the bottom of the tide. It was shoes off for a knee-deep wade at Deep Creek, Valla, which seemed to amuse the resident pelicans. It was a particularly beautiful stroll from Valla to Nambucca, although I note that this would be a much more difficult walk up in the dunes at a full tide. There are parallel fire trails in the swale behind the dunes, but these are very soft sand and would be much more taxing than the walk in the 'goldilocks zone' of firm wet sand near the water.
I spent the night with Garry in Valla, who, as well as being a wonderful kayak coach, was also a great source of information about this part of the coast.