Peta Murray spends a week walking the Yuraygir Coastal Trail in northern NSW with Connect Adventures.
It has been more than a decade since I first walked the opening sections of the Yuraygir Coastal Walk pronounced yoo rah gear and, like a book abandoned halfway, I have longed to return. That day finally arrives as we gather beneath the pandanus at world famous surf break Angourie, just south of Yamba, with Kate and Jason Little of Connect Adventures. Their new local operation makes this remote stretch of coastline, with its tides and three river crossings, far more accessible for hikers.
Day 1 Angourie to Lake Arragan: 13km
The sun sparkles on an emerald sea as our group of ten shoulders day packs for the first stage of the five day walk. The route follows the path of the endangered coastal emu and stretches across the largest continuous piece of sea hugging national park in New South Wales. Angourie Back Beach is deserted except for a white bellied sea eagle gliding on the updrafts and a humpback whale breaching offshore. Pandanus roots cling to greywacke cliffs while freshwater springs trickle from the rock. This is the traditional homeland of the Yaegl People and is believed to hold the oldest continually used midden in Australia dating back more than six thousand years.
As we climb around Woody Bluff, bottlenose dolphins fish below the cliffs and eastern grey kangaroos move through the coastal heath around Durrangan Lookout, named after a tempestuous Dreamtime spirit said to haunt the sea on stormy nights. Pink karkalla, tiny orchids and flannel flowers line the path. Clarence Peak rises inland like a faithful guardian.
A chorus of terns greets us on the rock platform of Shelley Head, the most remote campground in the park and reachable only on foot. Further south, the tide blocks the rocky ridge of Plumbago and we divert inland through wattle and paperbark swamp to Lake Arragan. Resident kangaroos graze around our tents as we enjoy Yamba prawns under a sky filled with the shadowy arc of the Milky Way and the Dark Emu.
Day 2 Lake Arragan to Sandon: 13km
At dawn an oversized joey refuses to leave his mothers pouch and I feel an echo of reluctance as we prepare to leave Red Cliff, a bluff dotted with kangaroos and a perfect vantage point for the whale migration from May to October. But the tides do not wait and we follow the firm shoreline for five kilometres to Brooms Head. The village takes its name from a broom washed ashore in 1870 after the shipwreck of the schooner Eureka.
This is one of the few places where temperate and tropical waters meet. The lagoon shelters red algae, soft corals, wobbegongs and the occasional moray eel. Once used for commercial fishing and sandmining, Yuraygir was protected as national park in 1980 and its blend of marine and coastal habitats is part of its appeal. From the lookout we trace our southern path and continue along a beach where freshwater streams squeeze through coffee coloured rock. Pipi shells lie scattered across the sand, evidence of pied oystercatchers at work.
A northerly breeze carries us the eight kilometres to the village of Sandon and nearby Plover Island, a grassy rise cut off at high tide and culturally significant to the Yaegl People. Both Kate and Jason grew up on the Clarence Coast and their connection to this land is clear. Jason shares local stories each day while Kate ensures we eat food grown and made in the Northern Rivers region. Our meals feature fresh produce, locally raised meat and native ingredients such as wattle seed and pepper berry from indigenous owned Bakarindi Bushfoods. We drink coffee from Botero Roasters and enjoy Sanctus Brewing beers in the evening. Even our trail mix is local and packed in reusable silicon.
Day 3 Sandon to Boorkoom: 17.5 km
At Sandon the caravan park owner ferries us across the river in his tinny while dolphins and a green turtle ride the tide. A forest of banksia and she oak leads to Sandon Back Beach where nine kilometres of shoreline stretch ahead. Off the coast the islands of Solitary Island Marine Park rise from the sea, a lone lighthouse gleaming on the northernmost height. Humpbacks wave pectoral fins in the distance and a large pod of dolphins hunts the gutters near shore.
At the southern end hermit crabs have flung tiny balls of sand across the beach. We turn inland through angophora forest to the village of Minnie Water with its holiday shacks and general store patrolled by two ducks and a dachshund. After fish and chips eaten under the watch of squabbling gulls, we climb the headland to Minnie Water Back Beach then follow a short track from the village of Diggers Camp to Boorkoom. This ocean view campground sits high on a bluff and we fall asleep to waves rumbling against the rocks below.
Day 4 Boorkoom to Station Creek: 14km
Whales spray and splash on the horizon as sunrise paints the sky pink. Packs on, we cross Wilsons Headland where wildflowers brighten the banksia scrub. Dropping to the sand, we battle a fresh southerly wind, making progress slower than the day before. Low dunes soon give way to the peninsula of Wooli, a town known for its oyster farms and its narrow position between ocean and river. Local skipper Bruce is waiting to take us across the channel for the next stage.
From Wooli the Yuraygir Coastal Walk enters Gumbaynggirr country and becomes more demanding with unmarked trail sections and rocky scrambles. There is no inland alternative and this part of the route is impassable on a high tide. A brahminy kite circles overhead as we pick our way across jagged shelves of sandstone, siltstone and greywacke. Kelp drapes the rocks and rockpools hold sea sponges and pristine shells.
Pandanus trees fringe Freshwater Beach where sooty oystercatchers stride the tideline. With the tide rising, the sand becomes soft and heavy and it is a relief to reach the headland where a tunnel of wind shaped banksias leads to Pebbly Beach. This golden cove with its turquoise water feels like a secret retreat. The campsite nearby is overseen by friendly Tony who reminds us that to cross Station Creek we will need to remove our boots and roll our trousers high.
He is right. We wade waist deep across the sandy estuary before walking the final stretch to Station Creek campground, shaded by blackbutts, corkwoods and flooded gums. Frog song rises from the creek as we fall asleep.
Day 5 Station Creek to Red Rock 5.5 km
Kookaburras announce our final morning. After a last swim in the surf we complete the short walk to the red hued bluff of Red Rock where local boatman Brian ferries us across the clear green Corindi River. The journey is almost over yet there is one final surprise on the drive back to Yamba. In a field of sugar cane an elusive coastal emu appears at last. According to Dreamtime stories, emus were once sky birds tricked into cutting their wings and forced to live on earth. It may sound a cruel fate but when home is the Clarence Coast it hardly seems a punishment at all.
For info on Connect Adventures' range of guided and self-guided walks click here.