The Lighthouse Walk Thursday 30 May 2013

With conditions still unfavourable to paddle around the point we  spent around 1.5hr practising bracing in the shore break and then headed back to camp.  By now it was 11am and we still had time for a decent walk across the island.
A small group of around 10 people headed up the bitumen track at the back of the camp with the aim of making the lighthouse at the other end of the island.
It started off as an easy walk on the flat, but after a few km the track was washed away by a stream and it required walking through long grass and clambering down a bank to get across.  This was enough to deter most of the group and only the diehard walkers continued determined to get to the lighthouse.
Don, Jan, Richard and Jane ventured across the stream and the others took another track to walk to Leeke’s Beach.  The track soon headed steeply uphill to reach a plateau with the group getting a good cardio workout.  Once on the plateau we had magnificent views across to Humpy Island, Masthead Island, Heron Island and the many small islands between us and the mainland.  We were now within striking distance of the lighthouse and the final few km were downhill across a windswept ridge devoid of much vegetation, before making our destination the lighthouse.  The wind was blowing strongly from the SE as we sheltered behind the lighthouse and ate our lunch.  It had taken us 2hr 40 to walk the 8.8km.  Don commented that we had better leave by 2pm to ensure we got home before dark.  So after a short lunch stop in which we took in the fantastic views we started on our return journey. It was a long hard slog uphill to reach the plateau and then it got easier with most of the walk downhill.  On the way home we got a wriggle on, ensuring that we made it before sunset and arrived at 5pm.  It was a challenging 17.2km walk, but well worth the effort and we were all glad to rest up after close to 5hrs on our feet.

Images submitted by Jane