After a pleasant week at Port Denison , it was time to move , so we headed south to Billy Goat Bay just north of Green Head . There is a free camp there beside the beach - you may remember it from an earlier blog .
It only took an hour to drive down , we found a spot in what is basically a rectangular carpark surrounded by trees - you could fit a dozen vans here . There were 3 here already with several tents & swags , we were joined later by several backpacker vehicles as well .
The beach is a 40m stroll , the bay itself is very shallow , I walked almost all the way out to a rocky outcrop that could be called an island - about 250m - and never got any deeper than my waist . We did have a bit of a swim as it was 36 degrees , cooling down nicely .
The coastline is a mix of stunning white sand beach and honeycombed limestone cliffs that are gradually decaying into the ocean . We walked around to the next beach to the south and along , before turning and coming back along the access track to the RV - an interesting mix of orange gravel green shrubbery and white as white sand dunes .
We cooled down again later with a walk along the beach in the water . The sun was starting to descend into the ocean and showed some promise of a nice sunset - yes , another one !!!
Thursday
We got up and got organised early before the wind picked up too much . Today it was time for a paddle around the bay and islands . Breakfast complete , we carried the kayak and gear to the water - didn’t need a rest , it wasn’t that far - got to love that !!! Setting off we headed into the wind to the south , down and around the cliffs we walked down yesterday .
There is a reef system here that shelters the bays and beaches from most of the swell , although the wind was helping whip a up a bit of swell . The water even 200m from the cliffs was still only shallow - some parts no deeper than 300mm up to about 3m . There was plenty of seaweed growing , lots of shellfish , we didn’t see a lot of fish , but I’m sure they were there somewhere . Birds inhabit every available piece of rock that pokes out of the water , there were about 8 little islands ranging in size from 3m long to over 50m long , all made out of sharp honeycombed limestone .
We went down wind to the north passing several islands and down to the next headland and secluded beach . we thought it would be prudent at this stage to turn and paddle back into the wind before we went too far and had to fight against the wind !! previous lessons learnt !!! On the way back we found one of the islands is eroding down and there are a couple of archways and windows in it .
We kept paddling and saw a group getting ready for a paddle up the coast and back , we gave them a wave and kept paddling , they were going to have a good paddle back into the wind on their return trip !!
We had a good view of the RV , it gives you an idea where we are parked .
The headland has a pronounced high tide mark on the rocks .
We pulled the kayak out of the water and carried everything back and cleaned it up before lunch . A relaxed afternoon followed , playing a game or 6 of Rummikub before it was time for a beer and some salsa .
The campers were coming and going all day ( schoolies ) and we had a new batch of backpackers pull in as well , one caravan left and a motorhome pulled in .
Interestingly , Optus has better service here than Telstra , full service with Optus and only one bar for Telstra - Optus has had another win ( that only makes about 2 though !!! ).
Another couple of days down , here’s a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z1G8gwwxwyYo.kn11ZWGc6Yrg&usp=sharing
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