PATONGA MTB AND HIKE - 1 DECEMBER 2015

An excellent morning - sunny and warm and getting warmer.



I drove to Patonga to ride the bike along the edge of Patonga Creek. The track started out clearly defined along the banks of the creek. Unfortunately, the first campsite I came across was littered in rubbish and used toilet paper was strewn in a wide area. Some people come to camp in an area like this because it is natural and reasonably pristine and then they leave it like a garbage tip for others to clear up or the wildlife to ingest. On my return Two guys from Gosford council were cleaning the mess up. Congratulations as the area is really BW National Parks responsibility.

I walked the bike across a rocky creek and then the real ride started. Well, sort of started, as there were lots of low  overhanging vines and fallen trees across the track so it was a lot of stop to navigate around, over or under it. At one point, when I had a bit of speed up my go pro hooked on to a vine and I was pulled backwards off the bike.

 

After a short time, I reached a wide flat area of mangroves. There were a couple of tracks leading through it. Some tracks ended in pools of water but I managed to go a fair distance before the mangroves and tough grasses became too thick.

There were thousands of mud crabs! they tended to blot and hide or stand their ground to defend themselves. A puffed themselves up too high and toppled backwards.

I backtracked and followed the foreshore of the creek around the urban area. There were a lot of birds and looking across the still and reflective Patonga Creek it looked so peaceful and serene.

I cycled along the hard sand of the creek edge to the camping area at the estuary of the creek.

I parked the bike and walked out to the point admiring the creek, the bush foreshore , the creek estuary and the small waves breaking on the sandbanks. Very pretty!

Backtracking and continuing on to the pier, I rode along the pier and met some people going by boat to Broken Bay Sport and Recreation Camp where I use to work about 30 years ago.

It was a pretty and scenic 5.99km ride

 

I finished the morning with a fun small surf at Wamberal Beach and then coffee with a friend at Terrigal Haven.