#96 of 100 trips - Sandymount to Smaills Beach 1 October 2023

 

The change in weather from yesterdays snow and wind was encouraging enough that 10 people turned up for the start of this trip, a coastal traverse on the Pacific Ocean side of the peninsula which also includes some of the places visited on earlier #100 trips.  Starting at Sandymount (trip #71) we headed straight for the 300m descent down the sand dunes to Sandfly Bay.  It's surprising that so much sand has made it's way so far up the hill and it makes for a fun walk down, with some releasing their inner child  by taking long strides and running while managing to stay upright on the way down while others took a more sedate descent. 

Negotiating your way through the sand dunes is reasonably straightforward, as long as you follow the makers which are designed to keep people away from the penguin breeding places.  Once on the beach at Sandfly Bay we had to make a detour or two to avoid some large sealions sunbathing on the beach, near the walking track.  We were treated to a real spectacle with around 20 sea lions on the beach with some lounging on the warm sand and others cavorting in the waves.  We made the most of  this spectacle by choosing a large washed up log on the deserted beach as a good place to sit for a snack break and enjoy the show that the sea lions put on for us.  

Knowing that we had only started and still had a long way to go, we reluctantly continued along the beach, stopping often to watch the antics of the sea lions or take a detour around those that were relaxing in the sun.  As we neared the end of Sandfly Bay we had the 100m climb up the sand dunes and it was here that we started to encounter large numbers of people heading down to the beach.  Sandfly Bay is a popular beach for seeing sea lions and the warm, sunny weather was obviously bringing the people out.  We were glad that we had been there so early.  We stopped to catch our breath at the lookout and admire the view over Sandfly Bay.

The next part of our walk involved some road walking which we had already done on trip #79 so we knew what to expect and walked along in small groups taking this opportunity of easy walking to chat and look around. We passed paddocks with sheep and lambs bouncing around while looking ahead we could see the road leading us to the hill we would need to climb.  This time of year really shows the extent of the problem that gorse has become is highlighted by it's bright yellow flower. 

Following the road right to the end takes us down the hill to Boulder Beach where we had been on trip #57 when the weather had been wet and misty.  Today it could not have been more different as the earlier clouds had cleared and the temperature was starting to rise.  Once near the bottom of the hill, we took a path that twisted and turned through the vegetation to the Boulder Beach where we scrambled over the rocks to the deserted beach which seemed the perfect place to stop for a lunch break.  

While the beach looked deserted we soon discovered that there were a few sea lions sunbathing away from the waters edge.  Often the sleeping sea lions look like a log until one of their flippers is raised like a sail to test the breeze then a head would pop up to check that nothing of interest is happening then after all that effort, the sea lion would lie back down to continue it's snooze.

We spent more time at Boulder Beach than we probably should have but we were in no rush to leave and  packing up after lunch was slow which probably wasn't the wisest choice as the tide had turned while we had enjoyed our relaxed lunch and it was starting to come in, lapping around the edge of the rocky shore of Boulder Beach.  With most in the group never having been all the way along Boulder Beach the decision was made to walk along the beach to the cliffs at the end and then find our way through the vegetation back to the track. 

Again, this was not the wisest decision as  we could not find a track at the far end of the beach despite scouting around looking for one.  In the end we had to climb over the tussock and brush covered sand dunes while being careful not to disturb any hidden sea lions.  There were times we thought we had stumbled onto a track only to discover that it was a track made by a sea lion and we were left to scout around for a better way again.

 After a few false turns, we eventually stumbled onto a trapping track which lead us back the main track.  The temperatures were really starting to rise as we eyed the hill ahead of us. Up close the climb up the hill did not look as daunting as it had from a distance with the track climbed steadily 120m upwards with frequent stops to catch our breath in rising heat and admire the views opening out behind us. Reaching the top of the hill we again took time to sit and soak up the fantastic views, particularly since we could see where we had started at Sandymount earlier that morning (the hill slightly right of centre in the distance) and Boulder Beach was spread out in front of us. 

It would have been nice to stay here for longer but we still had a few kilometres to go so we reluctantly dragged ourselves away and rounded the headland where we again stopped to admire more spectacular views.  We had been spoiled with wonderful vistas today starting at Sandymount with views looking over the harbour towards the harbour mouth, then along the coast over Sandfly Bay and Boulder Beach and now we had the city with Saddle Hill  and the coast line as far as Nugget Point spread out before us.

As we continued heading towards the Karetai Track (trip #53) ,  we were happy to notice that it was downhill all the way.  The track follows a paper road down hill to Smaills Beach and instead of following the paper road all the way to the bottom, we turned off at Pudneys Cliff to admire the sheer cliffs that plummet 100m straight down to the sea.  Thankful that there was not a breath of wind, we followed the narrow path along the cliff top and continued down to Smaills Beach where there was a tricky rocky scramble down a small bluff to the beach.  Happy to be back at sea level again, it was only a short 5 minute walk through the sand dunes back to the cars and everyone agreed that it had been a wonderful 16.2km walk in 5.5 hours with perfect weather and fantastic views