Coastal walk ideas along NSW

[gbagua]

Hello,

I'll be driving from Brisbane and down to anywhere you guys may suggest I should start walking.

My plan is to carry a small pack with only a water bladder. Zero food.

Trying to be as close to nature as possible.

Sleeping will be on the beach but because I practice meditation on a daily basis, nights will be spent doing that.

Return, I'll try to get a lift back to the car.

This is basically like a walkabout on the beach.

I'll walk for 1 week or so.

Is it going to be very hot this time of the year (starting from 24 to 1 January 2023) for a coastal walk?

Cheers!

[crollsurf]

I walked from Coolangatta to Yamba a couple of months ago but had to stop due to forecast floods. Hoping to continue down the coast around April next year. I carried very little food but there were times when I needed to. Otherwise I'd eat in the towns.

Really looking forward to the Yamba to Coffs section. It would be the best section up north and there's a bus service that links up with the train. https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/walking-tracks/yuraygir-coastal-walk

It would be too hot and sweaty (for me) this time of year on the north coast and crowded seeing as it's school holidays. South coast NSW would be better, not as humid but still hot, and cafes/supermarkets... are further apart. So you'd need to carry food for sure.

Best time I think is after Summer when the days aren't as hot but the water is still warm.

[sandym]

How far south? You could drive south of Sydney and walk one of the sections detailed here http://greatsouthcoastwalk.net/. Once you get south of Ulladulla, a huge chunk of the coast is national park with just small settlements along the way.

You could easily jump a bus back to your car when finished as there are daily buses up the coast. If you are down the south coast it is unlikely to be too hot and along the beach you should be quite comfortable. On average, we only get one or two really hot days a year when the westerly blows in and those are hot everywhere.

Most of the opening/closing lakes are low enough right now you could get across but depending on where you choose some (eg Tuross) could be difficult.

Leaving from Ulladulla, you can walk the entire way on either beach (low tide best) or bush tracks.

[gbagua]

crollsurf. I was looking forward to walk along the Yuraygir section:

https://weareexplorers.co/yuraygir-coas ... kraft-nsw/

Lovely! It's what I'm after: peace and solitude with great oceanic coastal views.

But it's going to be hot I know. Maybe not this time of the year. I can dip in the sea as often as needed to cool off but then J won't be walking very much. I'll give it a crack anyway, got nothing to lose.

sandym,

Thanks but I can't drive that much plus on January I got an upcoming trip to Kaputar (trad climbing with a friend), which is a 7h drive from Brissie.

It would be a better option this time of the year for sure.

[DavidB]

I've been walking down the north coast in stages. Started in 2020 at Fingal and have reached the Manning River (Harrington). Its taken longer than planned due to COVID and floods. Next stage will be to reach Hawkes Nest. 'Stealth' camping is feasible but don't set up till nightfall as council rangers will want you to move on and a few locals can be unfriendly as they assume you are planning to stay for a while. Beach walking is also feasible but best done at low tide as the beach sand is harder and you don't want to get pushed up to the back of the beach where the sand is softer.

The main challenge will be crossing waterways. Most are OK at low tide but you will need a boat to cross rivers like the Nambucca and the Macleay. It can be too pricey for one person to hire a boat so you will need to look out for a friendly local with a tinnie. The Yuragir Track water crossings are more organised. Check the NPWS website for details.

Yamba to Sawtell is good walking but the section between Sawtell and Port Macquarie is also very scenic and less frequently walked.

[gbagua]

Thanks DavidB, I'll look into all of that.

Cheers,

G.

[crollsurf]

BTW If your heading south and beach walking, your outer right heel will blister for sure, so tape up. Vice versa heading north.

[Neo]

BTW If your heading south and beach walking, your outer right heel will blister for sure, so tape up. Vice versa heading north.

Ha! Yes the camber of a beach or a long flat fire trail can bugger up the hips or somewhere else. Maybe walking a third of the distance facing backwards would balance the body!

[yeverett]

Late to the conversation - track notes and GPX for the coastal route from Woody Head (north of Yamba in Bundjalung NP) to South West Rocks are on coffstrails.com.
Keen to work coastal section from Coolangatta south next.
There’s a Great South Coast Walk (NSW, not to be confused with all the other south coasts) but we think the Great North Coast Walk is better!

[Champion_Munch]

Hi all, inspired by the ideas thrown around in this thread I'll be heading off for a walk down the coast starting at the Gold Coast and aiming to reach Coffs over the next few weeks.

A few quick questions for anyone having walked this coast, or any locals:
- What's the best way to deal with big river crossings? e.g. both Tweed and Richmond Rivers are massive, can a water-taxi be organised in advance somehow? Or how likely is it that I can find a local with a tinnie for help getting across?
- For smaller river crossings, have others just "sucked it up" and back-tracked to cross a road bridge, or found some other way to cross them safely?
- I've had a quick look at camping options, there is very little in the way of unpowered sites anywhere (outside the NPs). I'm not keen to pay $100 for a concrete slab(?!). Is stealth camping the only option along here?
- I'll be bringing some food, but also eating along the way. Any suggested cafes or pubs worth visiting?

Any other tips for walking the far northern coast very welcome!

Thanks!

[Warin]

- I've had a quick look at camping options, there is very little in the way of unpowered sites anywhere (outside the NPs). I'm not keen to pay $100 for a concrete slab(?!). Is stealth camping the only option along here?

Some country pubs allow camping ... don't know about the coastal ones.
A stay in a pub should be less than that $100.
Caravan sites may let you squeeze in, unpowered ... small tent one person kind of thing, they don't advertise as they want the $$ people.

PS ... There is a camping map running off OSM data..
https://opencampingmap.org/en/#10/-29.3 ... 18/0/0/bef

[Champion_Munch]

Thanks Warin, that open camping map site is amazing. I'm hoping to keep it flexible, so will probably check in with any local caravan site if I'm near one, and they are happy to squeeze me in on a patch of grass somewhere. I'm guessing that mid-week outside of peak times would probably make it a bit easier to do that. Good to know that's an option too.

[Warin]

[quote="Champion_Munch"]Thanks Warin, that open camping map site is amazing./quote]

It is made to try and improve the mapping of campsites. So if you see stuff that is missing or wrong .. then change it using OSM - the data updates daily in my experience.
The map is actually very useful for planning, though unintended...

[crollsurf]

Hi Champion, I've walked from Coolangatta Airport to Yamba last October and hope to start walking again from Yamba next week. So we might bump into each other, you never know.
When I walked last October a lot of accom was booked out for flood victims but there are plenty of stealth sites to be had, along the longer beaches.
South of Evans Head is a military no go zone. I ended up catching a taxi around it ($80)

No issues with river crossings down to Yamba. From Yamba there are a couple. I'm thinking I should be able to wade/swim/hitch a lift across most.
Sandon River phone 0407 362 118
Wooli River with it's break walls, looks sketchy so ring 0439 409 909 if you think you need to.

A few links you might find interesting:
https://www.facebook.com/nswcoastwalk
https://share.garmin.com/robcroll
https://lighterpack.com/r/86dazy

[Champion_Munch]

Thanks crollsurf, that's super helpful. Looks like you bypassed all the river crossings over bridges or ferries so far.

I'll be doing something very similar to you, planning 4-5 days from GC to Ballina, then 3 days to Iluka, then 5 days from Yamba to Coffs (or as near to Coffs as I can get). I'll be doing in 3 sections so to be home on weekends, catching buses/trains back and forth. Sounds like you'll be well ahead of me if you're starting from Yamba next week, but I'll keep an eye on your FB page for details of upcoming sections.

For the military "no go" zone - I wasn't able to find any confirmation online whether this is accessible or not, via the beach. You made a mention of finding a reference on NPWS saying it is OK to walk through as long as no military operations are scheduled, but I can't find any details about when they are scheduled. I guess walking along the beach should be fine.

[crollsurf]

Fishing mate from around Evans Head has since confirmed you can't walk the beach either, which is a shame.

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