A day to remember

Have you ever had one of those day that you just want to keep in your mind forever?

Sunday was just such a day for me. For a start, the weather was perfect: warm sunshine, a cooling breeze, a cloudless blue sky.

I absolutely love coastal walks so we decided to do a bit more of the Heysen Trail, this time from the Kings Beach parking area to the start of the Newland Head Conservation Area, a distance of around 4 kms return. But what a distance: a narrow coastal path for a while, then a deep descent via steps, the sandy rock-strewn swathe of King's Beach on our left (named after early settler Eli King), a scramble up a steep section that had obviously seen its worst in winter and was now a dried, gouged-out track of rutted, compact soil, another descent, another very steep winding bit, the rugged headlands of the Waitpinga Cliffs looming ahead, rolling green farmland to our right ....
I decided to go without my camera and backpack to feel truly fancy free, so all the photos are from Steve's trusty hand, bar the one I took of him.

The start of the walk; nice and easy.

But oh, the views. Vast rolling green hills on one side and on the other, steep rugged wildflower-strewn cliffs plunging into surf-ravaged rocks. A sheltered sandy beach. Coastal flowers everywhere. Conveniently placed benches for a well-deserved rest.

Check out the winding track in the distance.

We plodded on, stopping every few minutes to marvel at the weather, the scenery, the track and its challenges ahead of us. We saw only a couple of other couples enjoying the walk and had camaraderie 'Hi, lovely day' exchanges.

I loved hearing the waves pounding on the shore and crashing on the rocks as we walked perilously close to the edge of the cliff. I loved watching the sea birds flying overhead though we didn't manage to spot the sea eagles which apparently frequent this section of the coast. I loved the silence when we moved a little inland. I was also watching where I was going, afraid of a misstep.

After an hour or so we arrived at a stile over which was the conservation park and the next stage of the walk.

We rested, decided not to go any further, then returned along the track to a seat we had previously picked out as our lunch spot. It was perched high on the edge of a precipitous cliff, backed by sheltering hills.

Feeling sated after our salad bun and mandarin, we were in that satisfying physical state of feeling well fed and comfortably exhausted. 'Did you know that Antarctica is the next landfall?' Steve said, pointing seaward. I was gazing out on the endless expanse of sea thinking on that statement when I suddenly spotted movement below in the form of a dozen or more pinkish grey shapes - a pod of dolphins. They were perfectly in sync as they swam together, rose for air, dived, then gracefully surfaced in a glistening arc to continue their forward journey along the coast, deftly avoiding the rocks. We were enchanted.

The first pod

Just as we were reliving the moment, another pod of a dozen or more swam past.

The second pod

Magnanimously I offered to take the backpack (now considerably lighter sans lunch and water). I also thought I'd better take a photo of Steve as I was featuring in many of the photos he took.

We retraced our footstep...

... stopping off at Kings Beach for a breather.

The dogs were really enjoying themselves - and who can blame them?

The car park in sight (upper left).

...  and collapsed into the car feeling tired but satisfied.

It was the end of a perfect walk - and back home we rewarded ourselves with a cup of Russian Caravan tea and a helping of freshly made raspberry and coconut slice.

[And for our friend Michael: this is the walk you'll be doing when you visit us.]