Wardell to Evans Head

31 km (184 km) | 7 hr

It is a great art to saunter ~Henry David Thoreau

Wardell to Evans Head was the plan for the second day of this stage of the walk. At 31kms it was a little above my preferred quota, but, with my usual early start and relatively easy walking along the way, the day did not prove to be a difficult one at all.

I started with a 7 km walk back to the beach. It was very pleasant strolling along the Richmond flood plain and through farmland in the early morning, although I was more than happy to arrive back at my spiritual home on the sand.

Broadwater Beach, in the eponymous National Park, covered about 10 km of the shoreline north of Evans Head and looked magnificent in the morning light. Its lookout was splendidly located, perched among beautiful sand dunes, with views up and down the coast, whales offshore, dolphins frolicking in the waves and plenty of eagles and shorebirds to admire, it was another little slice of paradise. And to top it all off, I loved the nearby ‘love shack’ and the embedded black rocks pointing menacingly out to sea.

It was perfect weather today, so I enjoyed a few dips with the dolphins. I have to stress though, that these long, isolated beaches, with their strong rips and cross currents even on the calmest of days, demand respect. If I have a swim, I always stay inside the inner bars and remain in waist-deep water despite the temptation to join the dolphins as they body surf the rolling swells on the outer bars.

As a reminder of the above need for care, when I arrived at the (patrolled) Evans Head Main Beach rescue boats and a chopper were out in force for a missing swimmer... so don't do as I do (which is probably sound life advice in general)!

In Evans Head, I met up with my brother, Graham, who was joining the latter part of the trip to provide support crew services in between rounds of swimming and golf! Always a pleasure to have some company after a few days of solo sauntering.