BRISBANE WATER NP, PEARL AND WAMBERAL BEACH - BIKE, HIKE, SWIM AND SURF - 20 NOVEMBER 2015

An amazing morning. A blanket of fog across the land and sea. I drove to Brisbane Water National Park towards Patonga.

The drive was inspiring with fog lifting so that the valleys and mountains were fog shrouded but reasonably clear in between.

I parked near Warrah Trig and rode the service roads and tracks. Coming down the main road towards Patonga I spied a track on the left. It was an uphill cycle along a disused road with a number of obstacles like overgrown bushes, drops, etc. Further along this track I turned right following the orienteering ribbons.

 

This track was very narrow and I was forced to walk in a number of spots. Eventually, it opened onto a large undulating rock platform with views over Broken Bay and Patonga. I had fun playing on the large dips and smooth surfaces of the platform.

On return, I followed the orienteering ribbons. It looked like the same track but it soon became so narrow and thick with vegetation that I couldn't turn the bike around so I had to keep going. It was a hard walk with the bike and finally, I broke onto another wider track with sweat pouring off me.

 

I followed a few more tracks on the way back to the van. A hard 6.8km mtb/hike with an elevation range of 26m.

Pearl Beach was nearby, so I drove there for a swim. It was excellent, sunlight twinkling off the ocean surface and deep, clear water. After a refreshing dip and coffee, I went home.

About mid morning I went down to Wamberal Beach for a surf. It didn't look too good but while I was watching the wind swung around to off shore. I ended up having a nice fun surf with just a couple of others.

A great day and the temperature soared to over 45C.