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Stage 32 - Pambula Beach to Eden

It was one of those magical moments that you wished might never end.

We had just passed the 500 km mark of our walk and were sitting on a rise at the end of Pinnacle Beach looking back to where we had come from. To the right of the narrow ribbon of pale golden sand, the sea shimmered silver in the reflected light of the sun. To the left, a touch of orange in the low cliff line hinted at the riotous colours of the eroded sandstone walls that we had just passed. In the distance, 80 km to the north, we could make out the distinctive silhouette of Gulaga. The soft white clouds drifted by and the tinkling sound of a distant chorus of bellbirds floated across from the nearby forest.

What dreams are made of

Earlier in the day we were also sitting and waiting, this time by the Pambula River mouth waiting for low tide. Has anyone ever seen that infinitesimally small period of time when the tide actually changes direction? We sat and watched as the outward flow slowed and, with just the slightest pull to the ocean, waded out to the end of the sand bar and set adrift with our packs on our air mattress. Experience is a wonderful thing and, with our past crossings to learn from, we had timed this to perfection. The slight curve of our path landed us gently on the small sandy beach opposite to and slightly left of the bar.

Looking back to our crossing point at the
Pambula River mouth

White sand - sapphire sea

On Barmouth Beach

In the forests of Ben Boyd	View across Merimbula Bay from Barmouth Beach	Looking down Haycock Beach
	We followed the shoreline around to Barmouth Beach, where some steps led us up to a dirt road in Ben Boyd National Park. This road led us quickly east across the promontory on the southern side of the river, through the quiet of the tall eucalypt forests, to the coastal heathland at the northern end of Haycock Beach. To our left lay the dark silhouette of Haystack Rocks and to our right the broad low dunes and wide beaches, Haycock, Quondolo and Pinnacles, extending over 6 km to the south. A few hundred metres from the access track there were no more footprints and we once again ambled along the sand, alone with our thoughts, the sounds of the sea and the shadow of a sea-eagle drifting over us. Walking along a long stretch of isolated beach is truly a form of meditation.

Solitude

At Quondolo Point the dunes narrow as low pink and cream streaked sandstone ridges start to appear, hinting at what is to come. After the point, the eyes are focussed on the bright yellow sandstone barrier of Quoraburagan Point, jutting out to the waterline to separate Quondolo and Pinnacles Beaches.

Iron-rich sandstone rocks on Quondolo Beach

Quoraburagan Point - what lies beyond?

	The beauty of walking north to south on this beach is that you do not realise that Quoraburagan is keeping a secret and, as soon as you pass it, you enter a magical world of sandstone rainbows; a 2 km stretch of low eroded cliffs and gullies in a riot of colours from the purest white, through cream, yellow, orange, red and pink to the deep maroons and burgundies of iron-rich outcrops.
	The pinnacles of Quraburagan

Approaching Terrace Point

As we neared the end of Pinnacles Beach, the sea became virtually flat, with just the gentlest of waves, protected by the jutting prow of Terrace Point. We wondered where we had seen this combination of green-clad cliffs plunging into a sapphire coloured sea and edged by a pale golden sand beach before; it was the Halkidiki Peninsula, in Greece.

Southern end of Pinnacles Beach

Reflections on reflections	We only met two people that day – the surfing builders from Cathie Lake who had taken a week to try out the South Coast surf spots and were checking out the waves at the southern end Pinnacles Beach. We chatted a while about the beautiful spots on the coast that we had all seen, before they hopped into their van and left in search of the perfect wave. We left in search of whatever it is that drives you to walk 500 km along the coast of New South Wales.		Back in the forest
	mmmmm

Heading inland once again, we climbed steadily up through the tall forest along a dirt access road, the grey-green of the forest vegetation broken by the occasional splash of colour from an autumn flowering wattle or banksia. Reaching the spur, we found an old walking track heading down through dense forest toward Eden.

View over Eden and Twofold Bay

After a kilometre the track emerged onto the new residential subdivision of Eden Cove, where we picked our way across to the northern end of Aslings Beach on Twofold Bay. From here it was a quick walk along the road between the beach and Curalo Lagoon, before joining a boardwalk around the lagoon that took us to the tourist park where we were staying.

This had certainly been one of our favourite stages of the walk.

Curalo Lagoon

mmmmmm

Boardwalk on Curalo Lagoon


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