My Favourite Winter Walk

 Saturday 22 June

My friend Jan has been back from her travels for a few weeks. We hadn't managed to catch up until this weekend. A hike together became the plan. We had had several weeks of glorious sunny days, so I suggested hiking from Lennox Heads to Ballina. As it would be over a 2 hour drive for Jan, we booked a motel to stay overnight and asked Margot to join us.

Alas, last Thursday and Friday were miserably cold and overcast. I was dreading that Saturday would bring the same.

Here we are at Lennox heads - 9.45am and coffee time. 14 C and heavy cloud, but a glimmer of hope to the south, the direction we were taking.

LHS is the south view.

North

Now half an hour later and blue sky was appearing.

One kilometre on - the day was definitely looking more promising as we descended Skennars Headland.

It is over 4 years since I have taken this walk The local council has upgraded the path considerably.  We now walk behind this lagoon, not in front as previously. I missed seeing the rounded volacanic rocks on the beach, but it was wonderful to hear so many frogs croaking.

Having reached the headland in the above image, [Rocky Point] we looked back across the bay to Skennars Head. We were again relieved to be hiking south.

Such a lovely vista though, with the sun glistening on the sea.

One of the reasons I like this walk, is that the trail ascends and descends numerous headlands with marvellous vistas and bay walking.

Six kilometres now done, we decided to take a rest here to watch the Southern Hemisphere humpback whales. They are on their annual migration north for warmer waters, mating and breeding. Sadly they were well off shore, but we could clearly see the splash from their belly flops and tail splashing. We missed seeing any breaching. 

At eleven kilometres, we sat on a rock wall to eat lunch and enjoy the beauty of the day, as seen in front of us.

This was actually our end point. Jan decided she wanted to walk to the Richmond River breakwater, so I joined her and we knotched up another 3 km.

View back from the breakwater. Australia has the most beautiful sweeping beaches.

Spotted on this section. 

We were feeling quite fit, so the decision was made to retrace our steps as far as we were comfortable, and then call an uber to take us back to the car. As it turned out, we happily completed the whole trail by foot.

About 4km of the trail was away from the shoreline and through lovely aussie bush. These pics were taken on our return leg.

Back at Rocky Point, the view to the north had cleared and was a delight to view in the late afternoon sun. Here we took our third and final break.

The surfers were still making the most of the day. It was wonderful watching the waves roll in and crash on the rocky outcrops.

This image of Skennars Head was taken as we set off again and tried to estimate how far away it was. I wonder what you think? I was pleasantly incorrect. 1.75 km by Strava.

It was now almost 4pm, and the sunlight hitting the grasses by the lagoon, gave them a magical quality. I am not a fan of long grass and the slithery creatures it hides in summer, but in this afternoon light they were glowing and beautiful.

The final climb.

At 4.30pm, we had reached the shoreline, with only another half kilometre to reach the car. 

Margot and Jan aren't fans of beach walking. With this beautiful twilight, I just couldn't resist and stepped down onto the sand. I was so glad I did. The next few images will tell you why.

Jan took this one of me in my happy place.

What a finale to an absolutely glorious day! 24 kilometres happily completed.

During the past week, my zoom lens caught pelicans gliding in the mist as the sun rose on the far ponds.

Nature at its best on both days!

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