Ballina Beach & Bungalung NP

Our meeting point was the BP Stapleton Trip leader Yarney in his Forester, Joe and Cheryl Reeve in their Outback, Bill Greenwood in his lifted L Series. Then we set off south to pick up Mary Horner in her newly lifted Forester XT with big new AT General Grabber tyres. She has renamed the car “The Tank” Our next stop was Lennox Head at the headland lookout for morning tea. It was a busy spot with many hang gliders taking advantage of the strong on shore wind. If you were game enough you could pay for a tandem flight.  After that we drove down the scenic coast road on to Ballina and stopped for supplies, met up with Rob Noble who lives in Ballina and had lunch at a park in the centre of town.

Then it was on to the Burns Point Ferry to cross the Richmond River. We drove to the mouth of the river where we could look south and check on the beach conditions. It looked good the tide was well on its way out. We then went on to the beach and headed south towards Evans Head. Since our last visit which is a few years ago now, the beach access track is easy going, its been lined with plastic boarding.

 Once we hit the coffee rock we had a good time driving over and through it all. Stopping at a few spots for some good photos. Mary spoke too soon and got bogged and had to be pushed out by hand. Dave nearly got stuck taking off after that and coming off the beach Jan got stuck going the wrong way up the on ramp off the beach, he managed to get himself out by going back and forth a few times.

Our next stop was up the lookout at Evans Head where we looked north from where we had come from. Then it was on to Woodburn and then further south to the Bunjalung  N/P. We found a campsite and set up then went down to the beach for a walk and swim. There was a really strong rip and you were fighting it the whole time. Then back to camp for nibbles and dinner, it was a big combined cook up of ravioli and salad supplied by Jan, Joe and Cheryl. After a good old chin wag and typing this trip report, it was off to bed.

After a warm still night Sunday dawned fine and clear, we started the day with Bill  doing another big cook up for breaky this time tasty sausages.  Then we set about doing the hot task of packing up our gear and tents. To cool off we all set off to nearby Jerusalem Creek for a refreshing swim. The water colour is very brown from the tea trees, we could not tempt Jan and Bill to get in. Next trip Big John said he should bring his small inflatable boat so we could do some exploring of the creek.  To our surprise the beach access track to head south to Iluka was closed because it has been washed away by the big seas. You can still access the beach at Iluka and drive north. From where we were it’s a long way round, so it was not really worth it as it’s only about a short 10 km beach run.

Plan B was to head west, Yarney’s GPS was showing up some tracks just south west of Woodburn. At Woodburn we all fuelled up and then headed for the hills. Once on the dirt we stopped and Yarney got some info from a local land owner. On the first track which was tight and twisty Joe got the Outback hung up on a stump after a bit of a push he was away again. Further on Yarney nosed the Forester into a boggy crossing and decided it was too soft and deep, so Joe did a quick reverse snig to get Yarney out. We all decided the crossing was too deep to get through so we all turned around. We then took another track which was interesting climbing up over sandstone rock, we also took a quick detour through a quarry going up and over the small hills and mounds.

Next stop was a big fallen tree across the track, where Yarney went on a scout ahead on foot. Once we found a bypass track around the tree, Bill went ahead and collected Yarney, and then we all continued on. We stopped at shady clearing for lunch and then it was mainly down hill running, out on to the main road to start heading north for home. We had another stop in Woodburn, where it was decided to head to the beach again and travel north, the tide was on its way out so the conditions would be good. In fact it was like a highway, this time we did not take any bypass tracks through the coffee rock.

Soon we were all off the beach and on the Barge, Then on the highway. Before Bryon Bay,The old I spy with me little eye game came into to play to pass the time away play, there were some tricky ones. Our last stop was the BP travel centre at Coomera where the trip finished. We also said our goodbyes to Dave and Big John as they kept going north. It was a great weekend thanks to Jan for the trip leading and for everyone coming along.