Putty Beach to Maitland Bay

On the drive up to the Central Coast, I got Gill and Rachel to decide whether we were going to Bouddi or Popran National Parks. I can't remember why Bouddi won out, although despite it being the middle of winter, the lure of the beach might have had something to do with it.

After parking, we headed off along a combination of road and fire trail to the start of the track down to Putty Beach. The track was a bit indistinct, with a number of branches, so we kept finding ourselves unintentionally at little lookouts. Continuing down the actual path, it looked like someone had been through with a flame thrower. One side of the track was completely burnt out while the other appeared almost untouched. Presumbably a bit of backburning had been going on rather recently.

Down at Putty Beach, we headed north along the beach to the rocks for a bit of morning tea. We scrambled around on the rocks for a while, admiring the views and the spectacular patterns in the sandstone, and then headed for Maitland Bay. It was pretty easy walking along the cliff top. Much of the track has a boardwalk to reduce erosion, and it is flat going for most of the way.

We stopped for lunch at Maitland Bay, finding ourselves a nice sand "cornice" to sit on while we ate. There was an ominous build-up of storm clouds to the south, so after a quick throw of the frisbee, we headed out to Bouddi Point to look around on the rocks. Again the sandstone had some absolutely spectacular patterns and formations, but with the approaching storm we decided it was time to pack up and head.

Back at the car, Gill and I decided to wander out along the side track near the car park to Bullimah lookout. We left our packs but grabbed rain jackets in full expectation of the storm. However, it passed harmlessly on both sides of us as we walked out. The lookout had excellent views down over Putty Beach and south to the mouth of the Hawkesbury at Broken Bay.