LENNOX HEAD - 12 TO 26 AUGUST 2020

 

LENNOX HEAD

12 AUGUST 2020

It was a two hour drive from Lawrence to Lennox Head. It took as longer as we stopped for lunch, heaps of road works, buying food at Coles in Ballina and a stop at Sunrise Cycles in Ballina to get new tyres.

A Lennox we settled into or camp - fixed the bike, repacked the van and had a walk down to the lake and beach.

A warm and pretty sunset.

13 AUGUST 2020

A warm sleep.

I had an early walk down to the beach and the lake. The surf was a no go as it was small and messy.

Later, after breakfast, we had a bike ride north along Seven Mile Beach. It was a fun ride on firm flat sand. There were many people on the beach walking. Most of those had a dag as well.

The afternoon was easy.

Later in the afternoon, I had a bike ride around the Lake Ainsworth and a few sandy tracks in the hinterlands. A good ride.

The late afternoon was warm and windless. I played guitar during the setting sun while Jacinta had a glass of bubbles (champagne).

14 AUGUST 2020

I had an early surf check and a wander around the lake.

Lake Ainsworth was looking glassy so I had a kayak around the lake.

The water is a tea tree colour and fresh. The water was very reflective so it was very pretty looking at the lake mirror image of the vegetation on the water.

After breakfast, we had a walk to Morton Headland via the beach. There were a couple of surfers on the small waves near the reef but there wasn’t a great deal of shape.

15AUGUST 2020

Today was a windy and off and on rainy day.

The surf looked dismal and blown out.

I had a bike ride to the point.

Later, we had a hike to Killen Falls. The walk was slippery and even more slippery along the creek to get to the falls. The falls was a massive overhang with a lot of water pounding over the edge.

I scrambled behind the falls under the overhang. The water was spraying backwards and I managed to get soaked but it was such an awesome experience. On the walk back, the afternoon set off beams of light through the falls spray. Another awesome sight!

On the way back, we drove into Ballina for supplies.

16 AUGUST 2020

The day was sunny so we baked in the sun on the beach. The sand dunes protected us from the west wind.

There was plenty of action in the water with schools of small fish attracting herding dolphins and diving seagulls.

Later, we had lunch and coffee at the surf club cafe and listened to a solo guitar player with a pleasant voice and style.

Back at the van, we decided to do washing and give the interior of the van a clean. That took most of the afternoon.

After sunset, I took the kayak out for a twilight paddle. It was awesome paddling through the semi submerged paperbarks and guiding through the duck weed in the semi darkness. Large bats began to appear and they were flying low. It was dark by the time I finished and visibility was reduced to torch light.

17 AUGUST 2020

I had an early bike ride. It was going to be short but I found a trail at the end of the back road beside the camp ground.

I followed it for ages over grass and deep sand. Every now and again there was a view across the hinterland scrub to the west. There were also a few short tracks to the beach.

Eventually, I took a turn off for the beach and followed the beach to the far north end at Jew Point.

The return journey along the beach was a bit hard due the cross wind being against me. At one point, there were a group of fishermen with boats, nets and cars trawling the small fish that were close to shore. They caught a lot of fish in the net scoop I watch.

Back at camp, we had breakfast and wandered down the beach. It was very warm and the sand dunes protected us from the cool west winds. I even had a swim.

After lunch, we drove to Broken Head Nature Reserve. The beach was very pretty and we had a hike along the three sisters track. We saw two more beaches which had bigger waves but not holding up well.

18 AUGUST 2020

A mid morning surf at Seven Mile Beach.

The waves were looking a little random but it was much better out there than watching from shore. Towards the end of the session, I had a few good right handers. Need to get more surf fit.

We spent the afternoon, getting supplies and fine tuning the van. We found a leak in the water hose at the rear of the van. Very awkward position – plumber needed.

19 AUGUST 2020

Jacinta sat on the beach and I had a surf. The wind was a strong offshore and it was a little difficult at first to get down the face of the wave. Towards the end of the session, I had a number of good waves. It was pleasant to sit in the sun and warm up after the surf on the beach with Jacinta.

A plumber arrived to fix the leaking water which turned out to be a cracked connection that was only going to get a lot worse.

I had a late afternoon kayak on Lake Ainsworth. Ot was pretty during the setting sun and the dying wind.

20 AUGUST 2020

A drive to Nightcap National Park.

We did a 9 kilometre hike from the top of Minyon Falls to the Base of the falls.

The lookout at the top was amazing with views over the edge to the base of the falls. The water flowed along the rocks till it cascaded to the depths below.

The walk was long going over a couple of creeks, up and down steps, through the rainforest and switching across the steepest descents.

When we reached the falls, we had a bit of difficulty following the track over the rocks to the actual base of the cascades. Eventually, we got there and enjoy the fall of the water over the basalt tubes which made up the wall of the falls.

On the scramble over the rocks from the falls base, I nearly stepped upon a snake. We showed it respect and backed off and waited till it had passed.

Back at the camp at Lennox Head, Ken and Barbara showed up. We chatted for awhile before we had to go to dinner at Jacinta’s school friends home. It was a great night where we caught up with each other’s family happenings.

21 AUGUST 2020

Ken and I had a fun mid morning surf a little up the beach from the camping area. We had a few nice rights. I was lucky and had two nice right barrels.

22 AUGUST 2020

It was a very windy night and morning.

I heard drumming near the lake and was impressed with the percussion group ‘BATALA’. It sounded good and hypnotic and the girls were of course stunning with wild hair. There were two guys in the group as well.

Ken went for a surf and a little while later I cycled down the beach and took some photos of his surf session. The wind was very strong but his mal gripped in well in the small and crispy conditions.

Jacinta and I drove into town for food and other supplies. It took awhile but we were successful in getting a lot of things we needed to make the trip better.

23 AUGUST 2020

We (Ken, Barb, Jacinta and I) drove to Booyong Nature Reserve for a hike.

The walk was level and very pretty in the filtered light of the rainforest. The tree roots were buttress and close to the surface so there was a bit of careful treading to avoid tripping over them. There were a lot of bird calls but we only managed to see two species. The wind was howling today but it was quiet on the ground level though the tree boughs were swaying.

We stopped at a disused railway bridge and walked along the tracks – looking through the gaps between the sleeps and down on the road below was a bit of a vertigo rush.

We all had a Mexican dinner at Lennox Head that night ... so full and it was very tasty.

24 AUGUST 2020

A morning bike ride to the beach to check the surf followed by a kayak around lake Ainsworth.

There was only a light wind so it was so pretty on the lake with the rising sun and the reflective lake.

I caught up with Ken and we wandered down the beach for a surf. The waves were okay but nothing to write home about.

The wind turned onshore and increased in strength throughout the afternoon.

Out of the wind, I had a relaxing session playing guitar and singing.

25 AUGUST 2020

It was a very cold night. Sleep was a bit restless.

A lazy day – a doctor’s visit for a skin problem and a few bike rides to the beach to check the surf.

26 AUGUST 2020

We woke to rain.

Ken and Barbara were off back home to Wamberal and we said our goodbyes to them and some nice people we met in the camping area – Kerry, Penny, Lisa and Susan.

Off to Brunswick Heads.