Suddenly it’s almost here. We have been planning, talking and dreaming about LEJOG for the past 6 months and now, in less than two weeks, we will be heading out on the path, hopefully starting to make our way slowly across the UK on our journey from Land’s End to John o’Groats.
One of the problems of planning these sorts of endeavours is my tendency to insane over-optimism. It’s easy with the map and guidebook open, sitting in a comfortable chair to contemplate walking 30+km days for weeks on end. “We’ll be fine” I think. “What’s the worst that can happen.” “We’ll probably skip the whole way” run my thoughts.
We have tried to recognise and counter this enthusiasm by actively decreasing many of the suggested day lengths from the book we are using and adding in regular rest days.
But despite our best attempts to be rational in the planning stage, now as the big day draws near, I am racked with self-doubt. Have we factored in enough rest days? Are the distances in the first 10 days too far? Are we going to get injured? Can we actually do this? What happens if we hate it?
Louisa and I decide that the best way to conquer these worries is to go on a test walk as a way to assess our current level of fitness and to test out some of our equipment. I have been thinking for some time about doing a walk from the Gold Coast to Byron Bay along the coastline. We decide that the first 30 kms of this walk would serve as an excellent warm up for the LEJOG. (The rest of the walk will have to wait for another day . . . )
So yesterday, we got up early at five am and set off at five thirty to drive the hour to the Gold Coast. We parked in Southport and after a short walk from the carpark, set off through the Broadwater Parklands and across the Sundale Beach to pick up the Jubilee walkway at Mainbeach.
Setting off
Crazy Mascot and The Commonwealth Games Koala
The Jubilee walkway runs the entire length of the Gold Coast from Main Beach all the way to Coolangatta and the Queensland/New South Wales state border. It was opened last year and apart from a couple of road sections runs beside the beach on a dedicated shared path the entire way.
It was a beautiful morning and despite the early hour there were lots of people out and about. We slowly made our way down the coast, through the built up ugliness of Surfers Paradise and eventually through Broadbeach, to where the Gold Coast slowly takes on a more gentle disposition.
At the south end of Broadbeach, there is a long section of road walking along the quiet Hedges Avenue. This is the same route that the Gold Coast marathon takes, so we had a great time reminiscing about last year’s marathon experience and how at this point (before 15km) we had been feeling pretty good before all the later painful kilometres.
Beginning of Road Stretch with Marathon marker
We had a great time along this stretch indulging in some house porn and being assaulted by the mish-mash of architectural styles and the interesting juxtapositions of the many run-down original beach houses flanked by their brash modern neighbours. We certainly won’t be retiring to the Gold Coast anytime soon. . .
We returned to the beachside path at the end of the road heading into the Miami Beach area beneath the Magic Mountain headland. This is a beautiful beach and by this time in the morning there were many families with children heading to the beach. The flags were out and the lifesavers were patrolling and watching the crowds in the water. Miami beach ends at the North Burleigh headland and lookout where some colourful rainbow stairs take you up onto the headland with spectacular views back towards Surfers Paradise and onwards to Coolangatta where we will end our walk.
Miami Artwork and Rainbow Stairs
View back towards Surfers Paradise
Still a long way to Coolangatta – the most distal point on the horizon
We kept heading south around the gentle curve of Burleigh Beach which eventually ends at Burleigh Heads and the Burleigh Head National Park. This is a delightful preserved patch of coastal rainforest. We headed into the shade of the rainforest, out of the glare of the noonday sun, and followed the costal path around the headland and along Tallebudgera Creek to reach the Gold Coast Highway at the bridge over the creek.
As usual, there was a large group of teenagers all queueing up and waiting to jump the 3-4 metres off the bridge into the inviting water. We stopped to watch a few make the plunge whilst others waited, visibly trying to summon up the courage to make the jump.
After the bridge and Tallebudgera beach, we had a long road walk along the Gold Coast Highway as there is no beachside path and we didn’t really want to walk along the sand. This is probably the worst portion of the walk as the Gold Coast Highway through Palm Beach is no picture postcard. We did however come upon an excellent lunch spot at Sisterhood Coffee just before Seventh Avenue. By this stage we had walked 22km and a break was well due. We had a great lunch (vegetarian baguette for me, and fritters for Lou) along with some delicious smoothies.
We had initially thought the walk today was going to be about 30km when I plotted the route on Gaia GPS app however this didn’t take into account the road walking and other detours from the coastline, so at lunch we estimated that the final distance was going to be close to 33km. This left us 10-11km to go, so revitalised by lunch we set out.
Currumbin Creek Inlet
We turned to follow a minor road that ran parallel to the beach, catching occasional glimpses of the sea down the access lanes. After a short time we came out at Currumbin Creek Inlet, where the path led us up onto the bridge over the creek with the peaceful inlet spread beneath us. Despite the school holidays there were only a few people dotted around the shore. The Gold Coast from here down to Coolangatta is much less developed and feels gentler and more relaxed.
The last seven kilometres along Currumbin, Tugun, Bilinga, and Kirra beaches is one beautiful stretch of minimally developed beaches. There were less bicycles and scooters rushing past us and for large portions we had the path to ourselves and we felt that we had slipped back in time to the Gold Coast of 50 years ago. The buildings and high-rises of Coolangatta slowly drew closer until we rounded Kirra Hill and were suddenly returned to the future.
We were fast running out of energy and out of Queensland. One last turn off the beach, down a small side street, and suddenly the border monument was directly in front of us. We took the obligatory photographs and headed for the bus stop, happy that we were tired but had easily completed a 33km day.
A foot in both camps. . . .
After a public transport trip that involved drunken youths being thrown off the bus, and a woman yelling at people on the tram, we arrived back at the car and set off for Brisbane. We agreed that we both felt more confident after the day and that we were ready to take on the big walk. We set off in a week’s time for the UK. Time to get packing!
4 Responses
Marvellous hope the British weather is kind to you!
Fingers crossed! We’re hoping for good weather but preparing for the rain. Let’s hope you bring the sun when we see you!
Looked like a perfect little tester walk , of course no guarantees re the sunshine for the LEJoG . Great Britain can still promise some fabulous scenery for you to enjoy . Very jealous of you both Louisa and Nigel . Have a fabulous trip , shame you’re not skirting Captain Cook’s home town Great Ayton in North Yorkshire but of course would be very welcome xx
Have to say we are expecting all the weathers, any sunny days will be a bonus! We’ll have to pay a pilgramage to Captain Cook’s and the Myers’ home town one day soon xxx