The Kangarutha Walking Track is a coastal walking track that is located in Bournda National Park between the towns of Tathra and Merimbula on the New South Wales South Coast. Tuesday 27th May 2008. A clear sunny day greeted us as we drove out from our overnight stay at Vincent Weafer's property at Tanja in two vehicles for the drive south. The usual crew were on board, myself, Sandra Kelley, Peter Farrell and Paul & Lynne Garrard. Vincent would not be joining us for today's walk due to work commitments.

Earlier this year I had walked the Kangarutha Walking Track on a very hot February weekend. I personally felt that the oppressively hot summer conditions and the pace of the walk had somewhat detracted from my enjoyment of the walk, especially as many of the side tracks and coastal views had not been fully explored. Now the weather conditions were much cooler I felt this was a chance to rediscover what the Kangarutha Track had to offer. I would also be leading this walk and following almost exactly the same route and in the same direction we had taken in February.

First of all we parked Sandra's vehicle in the car park at Kianinny Bay, the intended finishing point for the walk, then all jumped into Paul & Lynne's vehicle for the drive to Hobart Beach camping area south of Tathra. Paul & Lynne had an annual National Parks visitor's sticker, so parking fees were not required. At 9.15am we arrived at Hobart Beach and parked in the same area we had used in February, shouldered our day packs and walked down to Hobart Beach on the southern shoreline of Wallagoot Lake. There were a large number of black swans on the water this morning as we made our way eastwards along the lake shore. Through the trees we could hear the thunderous sounds of the waves crashing on nearby Wallagoot Beach.

As the shoreline turned northwards I became aware that the sounds of the ocean had become quiet. The constant discussions as we walked had conspired for me to miss our turnoff through the narrow forest to Wallagoot Beach. No worries, I thought, if we followed the lake shoreline north, it would bring us out near the sanded up lake entrance - our intended destination. However, it soon became obvious that we were heading into swampland. The firm tidal sand quickly became sticky mud and we had no choice but to turn around and head back. We hadn't gone too far though when we noticed a narrow track heading into the forest. This linked up with a wider track that headed in a north easterly direction, ending up at a steep set of stairs that climbed to the top of a dune. Once up there we stepped out onto Wallagoot Beach and were treated to views as far as Bournda Island in the south and Turingal Head in the north.

We now made our way across the soft sandy beach to the water's edge where the sand was much firmer and easier to walk on. We had about one kilometre of beach to walk until we reached Turingal Head in the north and once there we crossed the dunes to the sanded up entrance to Wallagoot Lake. We found the foot track that ascended into the forest here. Once we were at the top we could look back on a melaleuca interrupted view of Wallagoot Lake before continuing northwards. We didn't have far to go before we reached the lookout above Wallagoot Gap. A wooden staircase led us to the sand below.

Wallagoot Gap

The gap itself is a narrow area of flat sand between two cliff lines. Once upon a time Wallagoot Lake obviously emptied into the sea here before the build-up of sand sealed the entrance off from the lake. We sat on some rocks near the sea's edge and enjoyed morning tea, unaware of the large green diamond python sunbaking on a narrow ledge above our heads (until later). We watched more sea eagle activity above us. We were to witness much activity by these birds of prey during today's walk.

Our group climbing the staircase from Wallagoot Gap back onto the Kangarutha Track

When we climbed back up the stairway to the Kangarutha Walking Track we headed north, turning off pretty quickly on our right to follow the track through a tunnel of melaleuca. This track ascended gradually through the forest heading in a north easterly direction until we noticed a faint side track heading towards the coast. We followed this for some excellent views of Turingal Rocks and the sheer sided inlet directly below the cliff line. We took plenty of opportunities to check out the narrow side tracks for interesting views of the coastline during this stretch of track. We also took it in turns to lead from the front as we made our way up the coast to Games Bay.

The Kangarutha Track makes its way through tunnel like melaleuca (S Kelley)

Sandra on the cliff edge at Turingal Rock

When we descended to Games Bay we saw a narrow inlet with a long deep beach of pebbles and small boulders. As we had already enjoyed morning tea we continued northwards, climbing the steep ridge on the north side of Games Bay then descending to another smaller bay just to the north that offered some interesting rock formations. Another steep climb followed before the track levelled out through coastal forest, providing more side tracks to spectacular coastal scenery and one humungus termite mound before eventually meeting up with a wider dirt track that took us to White Rock.

Another coastal view after following a side track. L-R: Peter, Sandra, Lynne & Paul

White Rock is obviously named. The area is covered in white rock and the quarry here is evidence of where the white clay bearing rock was mined for house bricks. The views from the cliff edges are spectacular. An unbelievable view to the south, where, if you had binoculars, you can pick out Boyds Tower. A steep ravine at the northern end of the quarry reveals a narrow track onto a point where more white rock can be found, but care needs to be taken on this track, especially where low tree branches can cause painful head injuries if youíre not looking where youíre going, as I found out. Ouch!

The view south from the cliff edge at White Rock

Sandra at White Rock

We now had a long stretch of track to Boulder Bay. We back tracked from White Rock to locate the Kangarutha Track as it descended steeply to a creek then ascended just as steeply again to the ridge. Another side track took us to a rocky cliff edge where we had a view of a multicoloured island of rock just near the coast. The orange and purple colours on the rock were caused by lichens. The track again descended to a creek which we found took us to a picturesque rocky area where the creek met the sea. We decided to stop for lunch here and watch the waves cascading over the rocks nearby.

Boulder Bay (S Kelley)

Resumption of the walk had us ascending and descending several times until we descended steeply to Boulder Bay. During the walk along the Kangarutha in February I had taken a swim in this bay to cool off during lunch. The water was certainly colder now. Shaped very similar to Games Bay in the south, Boulder Bay also has a beach of large pebbles and rocks, thus giving it its name. We now had more ascending and descending for the last section of track, though by now we seemed to be handling the ascents a lot better, my failure to remember my trekking pole this morning had caused me enough grief on the descents and my right knee and left ankle were now very sore. We came to an open section of heathland and discovered another interesting foot track that again took us to the coastal cliffs. Paul and I went a little further than the rest of our group and discovered an interesting view across Wild Horse Bay from near Wild Horse Point though no more spectacular than what we had already seen today.

Wild Horse Bay

We returned to the track and soon came to a rocky slab. Here we could walk to the cliff edge where two navigational beacons are placed above the entrance to Kianinny Bay and provide great views of our finishing point. All that was left was to follow the bush track as it descended through the forest for the final 400 metres, cross the footbridge over the creek, cross the grassed reserve and step onto the bitumen car park to finish (at exactly 3.10pm) for what this time was a more thoroughly enjoyable walk along the Kangarutha Track.

The entrance to Kianinny Bay from the cliff tops on the Kangarutha Track