Bushwalk 4 - Patonga to Pearl Beach

The next short walk on my list was Patonga to Pearl Beach. I'm going to make a big call & say that Patonga & Pearl Beach are my two favourite places on the Central Coast. Actually, that's not a very big call is it. Alright, let's say they're my two favourite beach suburbs in Australia! They epitomise the summer-holiday-by-the-beach-I'm-so-relaxed-I-may-never-leave feeling. The Josh Pyke song The Summer is about Patonga, and I think this song captures what I'm trying to say perfectly. So just listen to the song, OK? Done? Good.

In a terrible twist of fate, on the day I planned to tackle the most scenic of the walks on my list I LEFT MY CAMERA AT HOME. I was devastated. All the photos below were taken with my phone. That they turned out at all is testament to the beauty of the scenery.

The start of the track is another part of the Great North Walk. It starts right from Patonga beach - here's some pelicans hanging out there. I could have sat & watched them for hours, but I had some walking to do.

After a brief, but quite steep climb, I came to the first small lookout.

I thought this view was quite nice. Little did I know what was coming up. Below is a very cute set of steps cut into the sandstone.

At the top of the hill I came across a familiar sight around the Central Coast - a pair of Brush Turkeys. We have always had turkeys on my parents property, creating their huge nests amongst the trees. I remember seeing a lot in suburban Brisbane too. The neighbours would get very upset when the turkeys destroyed their garden beds in search of more nesting material. I always took the turkey's side.

After a short, pretty flat walk the views started and boy were they something special. See for yourself. This is looking across Broken Bay towards West Head, Palm Beach (yep, the very same Palm Beach where Home & Away is filmed) & Barrenjoey Head.

This one is looking back down the Hawkesbury River, with the edge of Patonga just visible.

The track is in pretty good condition - very sandy. Just a word of warning - this also happens to be prime habitat for death adders. Be wary if you're walking this track in summer. Unlike most other Australian snakes, death adders tend not to move away when you approach - they'll just sit in the leaf litter & let you step on them.

Just when I thought the views couldn't get any better I reached the Warrah lookout. Here is the view looking back towards Patonga beach.

And another view towards Palm Beach - I just couldn't stop taking photos up here!

Soon after the lookout the track departed from the Great North Walk & turned into a fire trail to descend into Pearl Beach. Here was my first glimpse across the treetops.

This is Pearl Caves - a beautiful formation. The caves are fenced off - to protect them & us. I didn't mind, just being able to see them at all made me happy.

Soon after the caves I arrived in Pearl Beach itself - to this absolutely stunning beach.

I had some lunch at the laid-back Pearl Beach General Store, soaked up some more sunshine & then headed back up the hill. And look who I spotted on the way back - my old friends the brush turkeys!

After an hour or so, with only one quick diversion to admire the view from Warrah lookout again, I was back at Patonga beach. Check out this gorgeous beach house - the track starts right next to this - you would never know that something so special was hiding back there!

I really can't recommend this walk enough - it's only an hour or so - you could even make it a whole day trip by hanging out the beaches on either end & enjoying some lunch in the middle. Just do it OK!

The Stats
Distance: 8.6km return
Time: 2hrs
Difficulty: Easy-Medium - steep ascent/descent at the Patonga end.