Beach trip report
We arrived at Port Denison and did the very best reconnaissance; ordered coffee at the beach side “Starfish Café” and sat down to eavesdrop on other patrons for ideas on getting to Ten Mile Beach.
| General Location | Port Denison |
|---|---|
| Aboriginal Tribe/Language Group | Amangu People |
| Access to beach | Access into adjacent beach |
| Beach Classification | Wave Dominated – Intermediate – Transverse bar and rip |
| Start Date/Time | 4 Mar 2017 12:14 |
| Start Location (inc Lat/Log) | S29° 18.687’ E114° 55.640’ |
| End Date/Time | 4 Mar 2017 12:14 |
| End Location (inc Lat/Log) | S29° 23.860’ E114° 57.444’ |
| Mode of Travel | Bike/JetSki |
| Distance Travelled | 10.5km |
| Location of Sand Sample (lat/Long) | S29° 18.267’ E114° 55.486’ |
By the time we had finished our splendid coffee we were none the wiser from the coffee club patrons, so I hopped over to the adjacent SLSC building and spoke to the life guards who were very helpful. I was even offered one of the lifeguard’s fat bike but chose to stick with my new replacement fluid mountain bike that I had purchased in Perth. Once we had our plan to tackle the beach we parked the caravan at the back of SLSC building then drove onto South Beach. South Beach on this public holiday was like a work day city parking lot with over 100 4WD lined up along the beach.
Ten Mile Beach is adjacent to South Beach, the two beaches are joined at Jack Reef Point which is where I commenced my bike ride. Well I spent most of the first kilometre mostly pushing my bike as the sand was too soft for riding. After a while conditions got a little better, and I was riding along when a young man on a fancy looking Sporty motorcycle sped past, he was kind enough to give me a thumbs up.
It was about 600 metres further down the beach I again came across this young man who was leaning up against his stationary bike. I was told the motorcycle engine had failed.
I used my phone to ring Joanne who contacted James’ parents who were parked on South Beach not far from where she was. The first person to come to the rescue was James’ father Peter who arrived on a jet ski. A little time later his mum and brother arrived in a 4WD ute. I helped load the motorcycle onto the back of the ute. Peter thanked me for assisting James and enquired as to what I was doing. Following my explanation, he offered to take me to the end of Ten Mile Beach on the back of his jet ski.
So, my bike was loaded onto the back of the ute and I jumped onto the back of the jet ski and we bounced our way to the end of Ten Mile Beach. It was to be honest a hair-raising ride, but we made the other end in two hours quicker than I could have possibly made it on my bike.
Returning to South Beach on the jet ski, we had a new first for the Mile Beach Club thanks to Peter and James and the jet ski.
