CENTRAL COAST MTB - BOUDDI - OLD QUARRY, 3RD POINT, 81 AND 78 TRAILS - 30 march 2015

A cloudy morning and it looked like it could rain.

I parked at the end of Grahame Drive at another entrance to Bouddi National Park. I started along the Old Quarry Trail. It was very steep with heaps of large road humps to prevent erosion. Towards the top, the trail was covered with bark chips. It wasn't exactly a fun start but it would make a good end.

I rode through semi tropical vegetation until the trail joined with the coastal track. This track and the following tracks were sandy. In some spots the sand was deep making cycling a little harder.

I turned left and rode a short distance to Third Point Trail. This trail was long with sandy patches with a background of low height scrub vegetation. It was a fun ride down that ended in a grassy patch and a very narrow trail to the cliff edge. I enjoyed myself playing along the cliff. There were great views down the coast towards Sydney.

Backtracking to the coastal walk, I turned right and peddled till I reached the 81 Trail. This also was reasonable steep with sandy spots. It ended with views north towards Copacabana.

Backtracking again, I came to the next turn of 78 trail. This was the shortest trail with a fun steep bumpy ride to a grassy patch which lead to a very narrow trail through the thick vegetation. The view here was the best, I thought, overlooking Little Beach and views north to Copacabana.

 

I returned to the car via the coastal and old quarry trail. Going down the old quarry trail was heaps of fun.

distance - 7.23 km
elevation range 70 m

CENTRAL COAST KAYAK/FISH - NORTH ENTRANCE - 28 march 2015

Checked the surf but no go. It looked nice on the water of North Entrance at Tuggerah Lake so I went for a kayak/fish.

 

I paddled a short distance and threw out the line and slowly drifted back to the start.

Near the reeds, my attention was drawn to a moving stick which turned out to be the barb of a large stingray.

It was nice watching the birds and the landscape. The sun was rising so the view changed with the merging sunlight.

A few boats slowly motored past causing small waves. The ripples on the water were pretty and at one point a family of ducks were bobbing up and down as the ripples oscillated across the channel.

 



 

Oh, I caught a smallish fish and threw it back.

CENTRAL COAST BIRDS - RUMBALARA OUTTING - 26 MARCH 2015

 

A day outing for the birds at Rumbara Reserve. 

 

A natural bush setting. Back to basics for the birds.

 

The weather was fine the birds were enjoying themselves - playing in the leaves, in small trees.



 

 

 

They had visitors. An inquisitive bush turkey who had his eye on Ava. She was yellow and he wasn't sure what it was. Ava ignored him.

Ahh, the bush turkey attacked and took a nip (a friendly nip but a monster of a beak to a lorikeet). Ava wasn't impressed. Photo of the attack above.

Miss Xena was posing and felt safe. Ah, the strange birds cannot see my camouflage in the green leaves.

 

LEAVE MY BIRDS ALONE!

 Ava back to eating.

 

Friendly kookaburras. Watching! Observing! Waiting! Swoop! And Master Archiebald got pecked and a small cut from a kookaburra.

 



Master Archiebald squawked and whined but was soon back to playing.

A fun day but stressful for Miss (bird protector) Kara.

CENTRAL COAST MTB - PEARL BEACH TO ETTALONG BEACH - 25 march 2015

I started off at Pearl Beach. It's such a pretty beach with calm water and a rock pool.

I cycled along the road running parallel with the beach then joined onto a track that followed the base of Mount Ettalong. It was a narrow track that clawed, at times, to the cliff  and the drop to the rocks/beach below. It was worn away in parts which made it difficult to traverse. There were great views down the coast and north towards Box Head. At Umina Point there was a small wave breaking.

The end of the path slowly ascended to Mount Ettalong Road. I followed the road a short distance and turned into Berrima Crescent. From here, I followed a sandy track to Umina Beach.

I rode/played around the southern corner of the beach and watched the sunrise.

The tide was low and the sand was compacted enough to ride on. It was great fun riding along the beach, skirting the edge of the waves, passing people and playing with different camera shots.

At the end of the beach, I crossed over a number of small rock groins and onto Ettalong Beach. Once again the sand was firm enough to ride on.

At the end of the Ettalong Beach was a public wharf. I rode around on the wharf, then followed the bike path back towards Umina Beach.

 

I rode some more on the beach, then turned back onto the foreshore at the Umina Surf Club. Just down from the club was a skate and bike riding park. I had a fun time in both. The skate park was a bit unnerving so there's a challenge to return.

I rode back along the beach and then around the cliff base to Pearl Beach. At Pearl beach, I took a small track that lead to the wetland area. It was very pretty and teeming with birds.

 

I loaded my gear in the van and ordered a coffee at the nearby café and sat on the beach to relax and enjoy the warmth of the sun.

 

distance - 13.82 km

elevation range - 41 m



CENTRAL COAST BIRDS - AVA,ARCHIE, XENA - IN THE LITTLE TREE - 24 MARCH 2015

A photo shoot time for the birds - Miss Ava, Mr Archiebald and Miss Xena.

They had fun in the little bottle brush tree - playing, eating nectar, acrobatics and posing.

CENTRAL COAST HIKE - SKILLION SUNRISE - 24 MARCH 2015

Sunrise at the base of the Skillion at Terrigal.

The sun came up and I went walking along the rocks around the base of the skillion. The tide was low and the swell small.

 

 

As the sun rose, the rock platform came alive with sandstone patterns, water on rocks, splashes, greens turning to bright greens and people doing things.

 

A nice way to start the day:)

CENTRAL COAST MTB - TURKEY, MACMASTERS, LITTLE VALLEY TRACKS - 23 MARCH 2015

Bouddi National Park - great hikes, rides and coastal views.

I parked at the visitors centre at Maitland Bay. A short ride up the road and onto the tracks.

Firstly,  the turkey track which at times skirts along the edge of an escarpment. There were a lot of tracks which basically ran parallel with the road but crisscross at times. I was doing better over the rocky sections than last ride.

Secondly, was the Macmaster Trail, which is basically a service road. It was steep in parts and there were some short diversion tracks along the way.

Thirdly, was the Little Valley Trail, which turned out to be a dead end. It ended in private property 'no trespassing'. The service road was very steep with humps. The humps were to reduce water erosion. A fun ride down and a steep walk back to the top.

I rode around a few smaller trails and headed back to the start.

 

distance - about 9km

elevation range 118 m

A good ride but I don't think I'd bother with the Macmasters trail again.

CENTRAL COAST - BIRDS ON THE DECK - 20 MARCH 2015

There was a lot of squawking on the deck. We had visitors!

 

 

It was pleasant watching the birds interact, fly off and fly back. Some looked friendly and others, well, not!

CENTRAL COAST MTB - BOUDDI NP - BULLIMAH SPUR - 19 MARCH 2015

I thought I'd try Bullimar Spur in Bouddi National Park.

I started at the Maitland Bay Centre. It was down the steps towards Maitland Bay until I reached the turn off for Bullimar Spur. This was the most steps I've gone done and they varied in step tread and height. Still, I did better than I'd done before so I was pretty happy.

The track to Bullimar Spur was narrow and fun. At times, it was very rocky and uneven and at others it was level with a few obstacles. I made it over a few drops of less than 1/2 metre so I was happy with my effort again.

Along the way there were large outcrops of double head height boulders which the track meandered through. A few times I stopped and walked along the edge of the sandstone escarpment. There were great views over the coastline and a big drop over the edge. A nice playground!

The ride finished at the end of the spur. There were a series of boulders and slabs of overlapping sandstone. The view was over Putty Beach and beyond towards Sydney. I rested there for awhile and enjoyed the view and played with the cameras.

On the way back, I took a turn off that went more directly up to the Scenic Road. It was a hard slog as I had to carry my bike most of the way.

A great ride with great coastal views.

distance - 2.28 km
elevation range - 64 metres