Make a scene ... a deserted beach on the Yuraygir walk.Credit: Ben Stubbs
Ben Stubbs discovers jagged headlands, snake trails and Aboriginal tradition on the Yuraygir Coastal Walk.
A Yuraygir legend tells of two Aboriginal men who travelled into the settlements around the Clarence River. The townsfolk didn't like intruders and they chased them on to the beach, eventually losing their trails in the sand. The next day they returned and found the men's footprints, though they'd changed into the long prints of two coastal emus disappearing into the distance of the Yuraygir coast.
We are following the ancient trail of these legendary coastal emus. From the rocks that overlook the world-famous surfing reserve at Angourie in northern NSW, we watch surfers waiting for the swell. With our packs and sturdy walking boots we turn the other way and head into the trees to begin our trek.
Our journey leads us along the Yuraygir Coastal Walk, a 65-kilometre trail from Angourie in the north across the wind-whipped cliffs and pandanus-lined beaches to Red Rock in the south. The Yuraygir National Park is the largest coastal strip of national park in NSW and therein lies the beauty of this walk.
Our guides are Mark Watt and Damien Lett, who work for the National Parks and Wildlife Service in the Clarence region and have agreed to take us on a two-day taster of the trail. The Yuraygir Coastal Walk can be done in one continuous four-day trek, camping along the way, or broken into segments, as we are attempting. The Yuraygir trail opened last year and is only just starting to gain popularity, so we have it virtually to ourselves.
Our target for the day is Brooms Head, 18 kilometres to the south. The land we walk along is that of the Gumbaynggirr people in the south and the Yaegl to the north.
Once beyond the crowds at Angourie, we traverse the rocky headlands and neat little coves without another soul in sight. Spiky pandanus fronds dip towards the sand as we walk past the crumbling dark brown "coffee rock" cliffs, as Lett calls them.
From the vantage point at Dirrangan Lookout, we see kites swoop over the ocean looking for food. The wind picks up behind us, directing our view to the nub of Clarence Peak in the distance where storm clouds percolate at its edges.
There is something Jurassic about the lush landscape of Yuraygir - grotesque spiders weave webs as thick as fishing line across our path, luminous yellow grasshoppers flitter through the air in their thousands and lizards scurry underfoot as we approach their warm rocks.
Watt and Lett spend much of their time around the Yuraygir trail, though not all of it on land. They've been involved in numerous marine rescue operations over the years - this stretch of Pacific coastline is famous for its migrating whale population. We climb down the trail at Shelly Beach and Watt describes a sperm whale that washed up here last year; its bones sat on the beach like a bizarre jungle gym for months.
The humidity today is intense. When we stop for a drink, Watt points out a snake trail carved in the hot sand at our feet. On closer scrutiny, we spot the footprints of other critters framing the swirl of the snake's slither. "Seeing this stuff, you can really understand where Aboriginal art came from," Watt says. We continue before the slithering snake returns.
We wind through a bush corridor guided only by the sound of the waves. The roar becomes louder and we step out of the foliage on to another misty and deserted beach. Half-built driftwood shacks sit at the high tide line surrounded by gardens of coloured shells and we stop for lunch on the edge of Lake Arragan. While we're not far from the holiday town of Yamba, this seems like the middle of nowhere. Kookaburras cackle in the trees above us and a pod of 50 kangaroos lounge on the edge of the beach, unfussed by our arrival.
This area is now overgrown and wild, though it wasn't always so. Before Yuraygir became a national park in 1980, it was known as a sandmining site and a favoured haunt of bush bashers, who brought their four-wheel-drives through the scrub to the beach.
Discreet cement pillars spaced throughout the bush trails now dissuade weekend joy riders, leaving the area to the wildlife and the occasional camper. A pair of kangaroos follows us as we set out on the powdery sand again. We watch them frolic in the shallows of the waves as we round Red Cliff and tramp along the beaches towards Brooms Head.
We're met at the other end of Brooms Head beach by a national parks vehicle, which drives us through emu country to our campsite at Sandon River. The low-lying fields of heath and scrub behind the beaches of Yuraygir are home to more than 100 coastal emus. It is only through the conservation efforts of national parks staff and the community that this population survives. The area used to swarm with the big birds but habitat loss, bushfires, animal attacks and vehicle collisions have pushed their numbers perilously low. In many cases, the emus are their own worst enemies. "They're not the smartest animals around," Watt says, as we pass a sign that notes only two emus have been killed by vehicle collisions this year. "Sometimes they'll just jump in front of a car out of curiosity."
We set up camp for the night at Sandon. Just beyond our tents is a golden curl of sand and the sheltered bay on the edge of the Sandon River. Before the sun sets we have time for a quick stroll along the beach to admire the driftwood statues constructed by campers through the years. The light of the day disappears as we return and rest our feet by the fire. The night is pin-pricked with stars and the sort of darkness you don't see in the city.
We're joined for the evening by Ron Heron, or Uncle Ron as he is better known, a Yuraygir elder and a "bones and stones" archaeologist who has studied his ancestral home extensively. He tells us of the Yaegl people and how they caught fish using traditional traps and poultices of plants that would stun their catches. He shows us Aboriginal tools found in digs below Brooms Head. Axe heads and spear points were sharpened on kangaroo femurs and can be found in middens throughout the area.
Heron works with Macquarie University and is trying to raise Aboriginal awareness and education in the Clarence region. "We used to know the Bundjalung and Yaegl languages but it's all been forgotten," he says. "For a long time, Aboriginal kids were taught that Captain Cook discovered Australia and that was it. Things are changing now, though, which is good."
Before Heron departs for the night he tells us to watch out for the "axe factory" the next day.
Watt takes us along Sandon Beach early to a quarry full of chipped tool pieces and spearheads left by the Yaegl people - the "axe factory". We drift across the river in canoes and continue walking south to the point at Illaroo.
We enter a section of cool rainforest, providing a relief from the humidity. A legless lizard slinks across our path as we descend on to another empty beach. From the rock pools of Diggers Camp we see the dark lumps of the Solitary Islands out to sea.
We approach the last stretch of vacant sand at Diggers Camp. Sun-bleached driftwood is strewn across the sand. In the distance, through a heat mirage, I see two figures. They lope along the beach to the water's edge. They could be the emus we're looking for or just curious campers. As we approach, they disappear into a wall of pandanus. I search for the faint footprints they've left in the sand, hopeful we'll find a trace of the coastal emus of Yuraygir.
Ben Stubbs travelled courtesy of NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
FAST FACT
Getting there
Angourie is about 670 kilometres north of Sydney, or a drive of about 8hr 45min. Rex Airlines flies daily from Sydney to Grafton from $129 one-way. The drive from Grafton to Angourie and the trailhead of the Yuraygir walk is 67 kilometres or an hour's drive.
Walking there The Yuraygir Coastal Walk is clearly signposted, from Angourie in the north to Red Rock in the south. There are numerous camping grounds along the trail. Phone (02) 6641 1500 for more information and trail maps.
Staying there
The Calypso Holiday Park in Yamba has a range of accommodation, including riverside cabins and villas from $67 a night. See calypsoyamba.com.au.
The Sandon River camping ground is a perfect place to break up the Yuraygir hike. Toilets, drinking water and firewood are available.
Phone (02) 6641 1500 to book.
More information
See clarencetourism.com; nationalparks.nsw.gov.au.
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