Last weekend was the highlight of my October as TJ and I went out to do something we have not yet seriously done before and that is to go for a hike! Yes, you read it right! This time, I was with my husband. 🙂
Good thing he had this long weekend to spend outdoors with me and experience some nature. Bouddi National Park is situated in the Central Coast, New South Wales that is barely a 30 minute drive from Gosford Station. If you are coming from the CBD area, say Central Station in Sydney, it’s an hour and a half drive so still not too far for adventure seekers. It’s that kind of a park where it has the best of both worlds– forest and beach, that makes it so exciting to get to. There are several activities that the park offers such as camping grounds and picnic area, cycling trail and walking track, and the beaches!
The whole Bouddi Coastal Walk stretches about 8.5km one way. No hardcore experience required as it was grade 3 level hike but one has to mind some short steep hills because not all of the track has a board to walk on. The Coastal Walk is also a gateway to a lot of lookouts and beach cove area, with readable signs and directions that interconnects different trails. So we decided to break the 8.5km walk by spending lunch and relax a bit at the Maitland Bay area. We took the lesser distance so that’s about 3km from the very entrance of Coastal Walk. Anyway, we had the excuse as the weather is just mildly permitting ’cause it was drizzling every so often with good chance of rain. So all in all almost 6km back and forth! Not bad for beginners (like TJ, LOL!).
Towards the entrance, there were two brave ladies ahead of us. However they stopped and took some pictures so we overtook the path. Since they are such brave ladies, they announced that there is actually a Red Bellied Snake (the one they are taking photos of), seemingly motionless at the bushy side of the track. That moment made me so off- guard and felt the adrenaline seeping in my blood vessels, getting me ready for fight or flight. It clouded me so much that I didn’t want to proceed anymore, albeit I realized that I can’t back out as well since I am now aware of the presence of the snake. This crazy husband of mine also joined the ladies and took photo of the Red Bellied Snake.So just another warning, if you are a coward like me with reptiles (Except turtles, I love turtles), and you plan to do bushwalking, I recommend do it during the season where our friendly snakes are hibernating and burrowed down in the land for a long time. Do some research as well prior to your bushwalking. In my readings, snakes especially the Red Bellied Snakes are not aggressive and they tend to slither away in presence of predators (like us, well, admittedly not me) as long as there is a good distance. So in cases like this, you’ve got to remain calm, keep your distance and let it pass when it’s moving. Do not ever fend them off as they will see it as a sign of danger and probably attack. Please check and click this site for NSW advisory and facts for this kind of situation.
Now done with the my own struggle to be brave, I decided to move forward. Down the path, the beautiful view awaited us– the unique rock formation that is the proud statement of the Bouddi National Park.
My photos do not even give justice to how beautiful this part of the walk is.
After the Board walk, we then entered the bush/forest part of the trail with not much liberal view of the coast. There were lookout points that we stopped on if we want to catch our breath. My adrenaline was still pumping and I was still being vigilant if there will be friendly animals (including reptiles) that we might come across. So after 2.7km, we arrived at the Maitland Bay and stopped over for lunch.
Getting to Maitland Bay is a track down hill. It is like a cove with the one end having marvelous rock formation and at the other end, you would see a ship wreck that happened in 1898. I was not able to get exactly at the ship wreck as it’s is really getting cloudy and that we needed to get back before it rained. I got a few but not so remarkable.
We decided to head back to where we began. TJ and I felt elated with the whole experience, even singing our hearts out while walking only to find another Red Bellied Snake, now a moving one, in the middle of the path slowly slithering away to the other side trying to hide itself behind the bushes! We were so horrified and forgot all about the steps in what to do if you see a snake. I found myself running back to the safest track I perceived to be. I panicked so hard which is not an advisable thing. So we decided to stop for a while to clear our heads and find courage deep within. Luckily, there’s another group of trekkers heading back who were far braver than us. One was even walking barefoot. So we kind of joined in. Each step we took was almost stomp- like so that the friendly snakes would be aware of our presence and hide. Until we can now clearly see the board walk and to be quite honest felt some relief.
Back to the beach, we can’t help but laugh out loud, feeling both invincible and vulnerable at the same time because of the whole experience. So if you will ever ask us if we are going to do it again? I would still say, “Absolutely!” but only if the snakes are sleeping.
The Housewife, MD 
Brave soul! Woot! 😘
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