South Cape Bay - 20th November 2012

South Cape Bay was a great walk today; good weather, beginning of my holidays, lots of interesting things to see. Walk description is here, and really hasn't changed much, except see below for changes to the beach itself.

The first interesting thing though is just beyond the registration shelter where you will come across this space-age de-contamination station. It's like a little adventure-playground for grown-ups. In fact, you have to pay attention to the instructions. It even sprays your boots with disinfectant.

The sea appeared quite calm as I arrived at the bay, but there were continuous, orderly ranks of large swells marching in from the Southern Ocean. The surfers were there too, catching a wave regularly.

The beach has remained storm-ravaged since my last visit. It seems to have even less sand, and the large berms of shingle remain at the western end. I think this would be dangerous to cross in a high sea. It is interesting to consider that all the rocks on the beach have been moved into their current place by the water. Some car-sized boulders have clearly moved about.

Nice to see they've spent so much building a four-lane highway to Cape Hauy, a track which was always in quite good condition, and could have done with a bit of hardening around the edges. Meanwhile, there are no steps off South Cape Bay, and no action to properly build an alternative. As a result, there are at least two ways across the steep slopes adjacent to the collapsed steps, one of which is adopting the classic southwest "bog" identity with great alacrity.

As the waves broke below the large shingle berm towards Lion Rock, you could see them flinging boulders about. I could see boulders up to at least 15cm in diameter being flung into the air. These LP-sized boulders have been delicately placed on the top of the berm by earlier storms.

The Native Pigface (Carpobrotus rossii) is out. This plant is on top of the cliffs where the track arrives at South Cape Bay.

The Christmas Bells (Blandfordia punicea) are just about to bust loose. This plant is quite close to Cockle Creek.

South Cape Bay - 11th March 2012

Had a very enjoyable walk to this spectacular beach. There are a few interesting observations to make. Also, met the Victorians who had been on the top of Hartz Peak. Don't know if they actually recognised me.

The bottom section of the steps has been washed away, I believe by a large storm late last year. I was going to walk to South Cape Bay that day, however the rain was so heavy and the wind so blustery at Franklin that I abandoned the plan before wasting any extra fuel. No doubt however, the waves would have been awesome. I don't think a walk on the beach would have been possible that day.

There is a sign at the top of the steps sort of sunk into the gravel, telling you that there is a diversion. The diversion seems to be close to the bottom of the steps and has trampled out along the dunes a few metres before descending to the beach.

South Cape Bay beach, showing storm-carved sand spit towards western end - 11th March 2012

The beach itself shows strong signs of big seas, with a spit of sand in the middle of the beach and a large bank of pebbles at the western end. The spit always appears after a big storm. The sand, pebbles and boulders move around a lot on this beach when the seas are large. Even in moderate seas, at high tide the waves can wash around the little outcrop of rock about a third of the way along. It is sensible to be wary of rogue waves.

Steep storm-driven pebble/boulder bank at western end of South Cape Bay beach - 11th March 2012

I was very surprised to see this small dog, straining at the leash, leading its mistress out onto the headland. Apparently it's an Assistance Dog. The lady is from Victoria, and apparently has a card showing the dog is required for health reasons. She showed it to the ranger, I discovered, and even noted the dog in the logbook. Therefore, she is allowed to take it into National Parks. I'm still trying to locate information about how you can get a dog certified as an "Assistance Dog", and for what reasons, it's not very clear. This wasn't a nice quiet labrador, gently padding along at his master's heel, this dog was leading the lady about.

The so-called "Assistance Dog" at South Cape Bay - 11th March 2012

My further investigations reveal the following so far. The Parks and Wildlife Service webpages say that "Assistance Dogs" are OK. The actual regulations from 2009 say that only guide dogs and hearing dogs as defined in the Guide Dogs and Hearing Dogs Act can be exempted from the requirement to not bring non-native animals into national parks. My reading at this point is that the regulations only exempt guide dogs and hearing dogs. This must have been a hearing dog... although I'm dubious. The ranger had to ring someone, on a Sunday, to get advice on whether the lady should be allowed in with the dog. I bet they didn't have time for a search of Austlii!

South Cape Bay - 14th May 2011

With a warning about dangerous surf and forecasts of eight-metre swells for Saturday 14th May, there was only one place to go: South Cape Bay. There are probably others, but walking to the bay also provides some good exercise. Never mind the attendant forecasts of rain, the seas promised some spectacular sights.  In the event the weather was a bit windy and occasionally drizzly, and it was certainly chilly out on the south coast, but overall the weather wasn't too bad. The waves were spectacular too, although I'd hoped to see them washing deeply across the entire beach. The beach was quite walkable, with only the occasional large wave managing to touch the little rocky projection in the middle with a few inches of froth. I note in hindsight that the tide was actually lowest during my visit. When walking on the beach however, the waves as they broke, hundreds of metres out, were clearly higher than where I was standing. Probably what we need to make it really spectacular is eight-metre swells forecast during an actual storm. Not sure how you'd manage to take photos of it though....

South Cape Bay washed by eight-metre swells, viewed from the cliffs - 14th May 2011

The view between Lion Rock and Coal Bluff, South Cape Bay - 14th May 2011

Foam in a wave-lashed South Cape Bay - 14th May 2011

South Cape Bay - 13th and 14th March 2011

Had a very enjoyable overnight walk to South Cape Bay on the March long weekend. Camped at Lion Rock, just on the flat sandy bit at the bottom of the stairs up to the toilet(s). This is a great spot, as long as the weather is calm. I imagine it could be more problematic in a storm. The first day was a little damp and breezy in places, but hey, this dubious summer/autumn is better than the weather anywhere else in Australia! The sunset was OK, the clouds quite attractive. Sunrise was a bit flat, but the sun came out a little later and made for a few other nice photos. Overall, very relaxing.

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South Cape Bay - 7th November 2010

Had a nice walk to South Cape Bay. This fellow was happily munching ants along the track and was quite unconcerned about me, at least until the camera's flash became annoying.

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Lots of interesting flotsam on the beach, including this sponge.

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Stormy weather had washed up large mounds of kelp, which makes for interesting foregrounds in photos at least.

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I wondered about harvesting some pieces to see if I could make some of those lovely water-carriers and other items the Aboriginal ladies make. Then of course I remembered it's a national park...

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There were quite a lot of dead shearwaters around. I've also seen significant numbers on Fortescue Bay Beach.

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Stormy weather had altered the beach quite a lot. There was lots of exposed rock and sand had been stripped from most parts of the beach.

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The Tasmanian Laurels (Anopterus glandulosus) were in flower along the track, noticeably in the old sand dunes behind the beach.

South Cape Bay - 16th September 2009

It was school holidays, and The Swarm (of locusts) needed to be taken out and made to walk as an antidote to the various electronic games with which they had "wasted" much of the rest of their holiday. South Cape Bay is a good lengthy walk without taxing hills, and not too bad even when the weather higher up is a bit iffy. The trip was akin to what I imagine a walk with Hobbits would be like. It commenced with a large breakfast (probably half a big box of Nutri-Grain each, they're cheaper by the pallet), and then a ritual emptying of the fridge and cupboards into backpacks. After an arduous 40 minutes by car, they required refuelling at Dover with second breakfast, so egg and bacon rolls were purchased and consumed before they succumbed to impending hunger. I felt I had to join them in this ritual, so as not to make them feel in any way guilty about the cost. Having eaten all the Dover Takeaway's E&B rolls (The Swarm has been there!) we resumed our journey.

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A quick snack (elevenses?) further fortified them for the walk on arrival at Recherche Bay, and occasional devouring of muesli bars and chocolate continued to lighten packs as the walk proceeded. They were obviously well fed, as the leaches found their ankles enticing. First lunch was taken on the cliffs overlooking South Cape Bay, before a stroll along the beach produced a need to eat again (second lunch?) at the western end. Supplies were running low, allowing only a few snacks on the return journey for The Swarm. Blood glucose was dangerously low on return to the car (that is, there was a little too much blood in their glucose stream). Valiantly I drove them in an emergency dash to the Dover Grocery Store, where enormous fudgy ice creams provided sufficient energy to enable them to snooze comfortably (and me to drive) for the 40 minutes return drive home. This was the land of milk and honey, or at least milk, Weet-Bix and Milo, which can be taken in equal quantities (large ones) in a full large soup-bowl, as I have discovered. This, and occasional glasses of milk, tided them over until dinner, as I recall. Anyway, they seem to be as slim as ever, so I'm worried that maybe I underfed them...

Fungi - South Cape Bay Track

South Cape Bay - 2nd September 2009

Had a very good walk to South Cape Bay. The weather has been pretty ordinary, and this Wednesday was forecast as fine. Indeed it was, and the sun shone much of the day, with only gentle (if cool) breezes throughout. There has obviously been some rough weather out on our South Coast, and the long swells were sweeping a significant depth of beach when I was there. The surf was quite spectacular at times, with huge barrels forming perfectly along the kilometre and more from Lion Rock to beyond the cliffs where the track emerges. Nobody was there surfing.

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The beach is currently graced with a large dead seal, which I could only partially smell due to the cold I was coming down with. Overall, the beach was looking quite wild last week, and the good weather made a visit worthwhile.

More photos at Picasa

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South Cape Bay Rocks

Seaweed at South Cape Bay

The seaweed actually makes for some interesting photos (I reckon).

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This is the huge mass of roots with which this kelp clings to the rock.

South Cape Bay - 17th January 2009

Had a good walk on the 17th January to South Cape Bay. Warm sunny day, and even the breeze on the beach wasn't too cold. There were quite a few walkers on the track, although many seem to just go to the cliffs or down to the eastern end of the beach, without walking along even to Lion Rock.

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The rocks at the eastern end have been uncovered again, and the "tesselated" section is quite clear.

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Quite a lot of rubbish from the beach has been collected over time and deposited between the two sets of steps down the cliffs. Most of this is obviously from fishing boats, and there is quite a collection now. I suppose it would be good to cart it out one day and remove this quite unsightly mess.