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.
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