A WONDERFUL start to July saw the local Thursday walkers group begin the month of trekking with a hike out at Boat Harbour, seeking whales migrating the humpback highway, with blue sky, sunshine, a gradually increasing breeze and a balmy 24 degrees.
“It was quite a contrast to last year, when winds actually blew three of the group off their feet,” Ray Hughes told News Of The Area.
Initially following Boat Harbour’s designated whale watching path out to a rocky headland, the walkers could spot several spray plumes in the distance, before moving around to the other side of the bay to follow part of the Tomaree coastal track over rock shelves and more headlands and vantage points.
The odd sighting of a leviathan’s huge flipper, a body roll and a tail slap or two were also happily witnessed, no matter how distant.
The second week’s forecast of showers did not deter an enthusiastic group from exploring a new walking track from Lorn to Bolwarra.
The early part, through many streets of Lorn, passed some magnificent old heritage houses, with quite a contrast in buildings: huge homes on huge blocks and smaller buildings, some brick and some weatherboard, most with long established gardens.
“It led to the Icky Sticky Patisserie, where all purchased treats to have with morning tea, whilst we watched a big black cloud looming in the distance,” Mr Hughes said.
“The rain hit a kilometre away from the scheduled morning tea stop, forcing everybody to scurry. Fortunately we came across a local bowling club, although nobody was there, so we took refuge on the verandah till the rain stopped, then later had lunch at the Bolwarra Lookout and took in the turf plains below”.
The following week’s plan was to extend further north up June’s Hawks Nest Nature Walk, past the surf club and running parallel to the beach, but winter’s rains meant cancellation once again.
“A hastily reconvened Wet Thursday morning coffee club got a large group together to celebrate ‘Christmas in July’, with all dressing to the theme, sharing laughter and frivolity contributing to the unofficial mantra of a “walking group with a talking problem,” Mr Hughes explained.
Bright sunshine and a cool breeze was the order of the day for a walk around Pindimar Bay led by local Lesley Lane who shared some local history.
Setting off from the South Pindimar picnic grounds onto Piggies Beach, a very low tide offered the shoreline or out onto the sandflats.
An opportune extremely low tide at the southern end of the beach allowed the group to continue, with wet shoes, climbing over upended trees and exposed tree roots to find a small secluded beach area for the morning tea stop, then a hasty retreat the same way to ensure the inlet wasn’t too deep with the changing tide.
The final walk for the month was blessed with sunshine and a very cool breeze, with an uneventful drive to Stockton to catch the ferry across to Queen’s Wharf and then follow the “Bathers Way” along the coastline to Merewether.
A wonderful walk ensued, past Nobby’s Beach, Newcastle Ocean Baths, the World Pool site and Newcastle Beach, then a meander through Fletcher Park, King Edward Park and on to Strzelecki Lookout before coming to the Newcastle Memorial Walk.
The group appreciated the ANZAC Walk’s commemoration of the centenary of ANZAC and those Novocastrians who enlisted in the First World War, as well as its stunning views back over the city on one side and out to sea on the other.
Down to Bar Beach, over another headland to Dixon Beach and on to Merewether for a well-deserved lunch break at the Surf Club.
Ambitious scheduled walks for August include from Grahamstown Dam, along the wetlands to Raymond Terrace, Glenrock SCA to Merewether Surf Club, Bennett’s Beach to Yacaaba Headland, and a Morpeth Meander.
By Thomas O’KEEFE
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