Beach trip report
| General Location | Lake Macquarie, just south of Newcastle |
|---|---|
| Aboriginal Tribe/Language Group | Awabakal people |
| Access to beach | Road access onto beach |
| Beach Classification | Wave Dominated – Intermediate – Transverse bar and rip |
| Start Date/Time | 12 May 2017 15:26 |
| Start Location (inc Lat/Log) | S33° 04.121’ E151° 39.499’ |
| End Date/Time | 13 May 2017 09:23 |
| End Location (inc Lat/Log) | S33° 00.827’ E151° 43.315’ |
| Mode of Travel | 4WD along beach then walk bookends |
| Distance Travelled | 10.4km |
| Location of Sand Sample (lat/Long) | S36° 07.836’ E141° 55.914’ |
Eighty-metre high rocky Newcastle shoreline marks the northern end of Nine Mile Beach, which is also known as Redhead Beach, to the south the last 3 km of the beach is also known as Blacksmith Beach, which terminates against the northern entrance wall for Lake Macquarie.
The whole beach extends for 10.4 km (making it 7 miles not 9 miles long) and for the most part is fully exposed to southerly waves which average 1.6 m. 4WD access, is allowed for a large part of the middle section of the beach and is regularly used by local fishermen and 4WD enthusiasts.
So off we went to the local 4WD beach permit shop, paid our $33 then down to Awabakal Ave (name of local aboriginal tribe) let the tyres down to 18psi and entered the beach. I thought this would be a great chance to test out the drone on a beach, so reluctantly Joanne agreed to drive, while I operated the drone from the passenger seat. This team effort when exceptionally well up until we were attempting to exit the beach, when we heard a large clanging from the roof racks and then noticed one of the kayaks moving forward from it’s normal secured position. On closer inspection, we discovered one of the kayak cradle mounts had broken away from the roof racks. The next hour and half was engaged in doing repairs to our kayak mounts using what tools and spare parts we had available. Not a bad bush mechanical job even it did happen within 5km of Newcastle city.
Due to this mishap, we were force to return the next day to complete the 2 and 1.5km bookend beach walks as drive was not permitted in these sections of the beach.
