Thursday 1 August 2024
Photos courtesy of Philip and Erika. Walk report courtesy of Walk Leaders Philip and Erika.
Due to roadworks and associated stockpiles at the mapped start of walk, four bushwalkers braved the overcast conditions and started the walk from the Narrawallee Creek Road carpark, reducing the overall length of the walk by several kilometres. Heading down Buckleys Point Trail we saw that new signage has been installed identifying the various tracks and trails of the nature reserve. Our walk was to include the Mangrove Track, however as discovered on the reconnaissance, this track was impassible due to flooding. Even though it hadn’t rained for some time the track was covered by water for a long distance and the dense regrowth along both sides made it impossible to get around. Therefore, we went further down Buckleys Point Trail and took the Inlet Track to Narrawallee Inlet.
With the clouds beginning to clear, before heading north along Buckleys Beach we stopped for morning tea and watched the powerful surf pounding the shore. It was clear that the rough ocean conditions over the previous few days had significantly eroded the beach and cut into the adjacent dunes. At the end of Buckleys Beach we scrambled over the fascinating rocks at Buckleys Point. It was low tide but the relentless waves crashed and sprayed onto the rocks and pushed torrents of water far up the passages and tunnels under the rocks.
Once past the rocks we turned slightly inland and followed the Burrawang Walking Track to South Conjola Beach Lookout, where we had our lunch. The Burrawang Walking Track was densely flanked by hundreds of Burrawangs all laden with masses of bright orange seeds. After lunch we turned onto the Silica Ridge Trail, where between WW1 and WW2 silica was extensively quarried. The silica was transported from the quarry via a tramline, over a bridge at Narrawallee Inlet, and on to Bannisters Head for crushing and shipping to Port Kembla for the production of refractory bricks for use in steel furnaces. Once back at Narrawallee Road it was a short distance back to our vehicles.