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Stage 29 - Picnic Point to Tathra

We got up at sunrise to get ready for final day of our crossing of Mimosa Rocks National Park. It was to be the water crossing day, with both Bithry Inlet and Nelson Lagoon lying between us and our destination at Tathra, and an early start was necessary, as we weren't sure how long these crossings would take. Again we were lucky to catch up with the ranger checking the campsites and get some valuable tips on both places and the possible routes available. Thanks for all the help - it seems a good time to reiterate how impressed we have been with the service and infrastructure provided by the National Parks and Wildlife Service along the south coast.

We set off from Picnic Point, climbing up and over the lightly timbered hill to the south. At the top, where the forest met the grassy paddocks of a property bordering the Park, a picturesque panorama lay before us of Wapengo Lake and its mountainous backdrop. At the bottom of the paddock, a dirt road followed Bithry Inlet from the lake to the sea and just before the entrance we found the narrowest point that looked crossable – where a sand spit stuck out into the channel 200 m across on the southern side.

The cliffs at Picnic Point forced us inland again

Peaceful rural scene at Wapengo Lake

A local resident watches the strange
goings on at the inlet

It was just after high tide and already there was a strong tidal flow heading out to sea through the line of breakers at the entrance. Setting up our packs and getting the air mattress ready as described in earlier stages, we decided that two heavy packs on a single air mattress could be a bit unbalanced and one trip for each pack would be preferable. The art then became to pick the right starting point, so that, as we swam the packs across, the tidal flow would sweep us around onto the sand spit. The first passage worked perfectly, a few stingrays scooting away on the sand beneath as we paddled our first pack across in a large sweeping curve. However, on our return, the tide pulled us into an arc heading towards the line of breakers at the entrance, cause for a minor adrenalin rush. Fortunately, we found the bottom and waded out just before this point. As we walked back to our second pack, 200 m back along the northern shore, we mused on what people would have made of it if we had been swept out to sea, leaving only one pack on one side of the inlet and another pack on the opposite side – another mystery like that of Mystery Bay, perhaps? Finally, to our great relief, we made our third crossing without a hitch, successfully transporting all our gear to the southern shore of the inlet.

Science at work - now the curve of the trajectory depends on the speed of our swimming, the perpendicular pull of the tide, modified by the buoyancy of the air mattress and the weight of the load .....
ah bugger it, let's just set out from here!

We dried ourselves off to a chorus of bellbirds in the tall spotted gum forest on the southern shore, before heading off again, following a dirt road up over the heavily timbered hills and down to the campsite at Middle Beach. From here, we followed a very pleasant track through a forest of old coastal banksias and along the peaceful shores of Middle Lagoon. The banksias in this part of the coast were by now in full bloom and their pale lemon flowers provided a feast of nectar for wattlebirds, honeyeaters and lorikeets.		Track down to Middle Lagoon Swans on the lagoon
Walking through a forest full of bellbirds	View over Middle Beach Middle Lagoon

The track emerged at the broad sand bar blocking the lagoon from the sea and we continued south down the broad expanse of Middle and Gillard's Beaches past a series of sandstone rock formations in every hue from white to orange. A small dark chocolate sandstone promontory, passable only at low tide, separated Gillard's from Cowdroy's Beach, and we wandered down this beach, eyes fixed on the superb pink, white and gold sandstone cliffs of Baronda Head, growing ever larger. A group of surfers were getting some very nice rides in the azure waters in front of the cliffs – what a brilliant backdrop for a good days surfing.

Sandstone formations on Gillard's Beach

Heath covered promontory with Baronta Head in the distance

The pastel shades of Baronta Head

Walking through the Gap to Nelson Lagoon

Nelson Lagoon

To the left of the headland lay the narrow gap that marked our passage through to the northern shore of Nelson Lagoon. Happily, it was now low tide.

Surveying the lagoon for a crossing point, we chanced across Phil and Nathalie returning from an overnight camping trip at Cowdroy's Beach. They showed us the best spot to cross, which involved a long wade across a shallow section, a walk across a soft sand bar and a short swim with our packs on the air mattress across the main channel; much easier than Bithry.

Crossing the shallow part of the lagoon

Like Bithry Inlet, the tall spotted gum forest on the southern shore of Nelson Lagoon was full of bellbirds, whose singing is one of the more cheerful sounds of the bush. We climbed up away from the lagoon on the dirt access road before turning left and making the sharp tree-fern lined 172 step descent to secluded Moon Bay, where a couple of naturists were improving their all over sun tans.		Some of the 172 steps down to Moon Bay
More bellbird habitat	Moon Bay

The climb out of the southern end of Moon Bay was not as steep, following a long gully and gradually climbing up to a timbered spur that ran behind Mogareeka Inlet. Following our 2001 edition of the topographic map and our GPS explicitly, we followed a marked road down to Mogareeka town, right through the backyard gate of a house and out the front drive!! (note: mapping information is generally very good, but don't always rely on it).

Mogareeka Inlet

On Mogareeka

Tathra - what better place to revive after the 3-day crossing of Mimosa Rocks

Rounding the north shore of Mogareeka Inlet, we crossed to the other side on the main road bridge before picking up a bicycle path that led us to our cabin accommodation for the night adjacent to Tathra Beach. As a reward for completing the crossing of Mimosa Rocks, we spent the next two days being normal coastal tourists; sleeping in, reading a good book, having an early morning surf on beautiful Tathra Beach, treating ourselves to a roast lunch at the Tathra Pub with Phil and Nathalie, our fellow lagoon waders, watching the fishermen on the old Tathra wharf and the manta rays beneath it, flying a kite and generally relaxing in the pleasant autumn sunshine.

The old Tathra wharf

2m wide manta ray living at the wharf

Tathra Beach

Tathra pub

Although it has undergone considerable development in recent years, Tathra has not yet lost its small town charm and, with its great beach and surrounding coastline, has to be one of the top spots on the south coast.

Sand python on Tathra Beach

Evening falls over Tathra Beach

Another superb south coast sunset over Tathra Head


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