The Coast Track (walk)

Otford to Bundeena on foot
Royal National Park, NSW (27-28th November, 2010)

History: The Coast Track and I
I have always, for reasons unknown to me, done this walk Bundeena to Otford. The first time I did this walk it was for the expedition hike for the bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award in 1994. We had a group of six and we camped by a beautiful stream at Curracurrang (sadly, the campsite has since been closed for regeneration). The four most distinct things I remember from that trip was: "Code red, code red, alphabet soup in the river!"; The Platform of a Million Rocks; the lovely holiday homemakers who gave us each a drink of cold water after we climbed the big hill; "it feels like you're at the end of the world".

I have since done the walk a couple more times before this recent trip; once as a practice/bonding hike before I went to Nepal in 1998, which was fairly unremarkable (in fact, I remember very little about it) and again in 2003 with Assie, Robert (my boyfriend at the time) and a couple of his friends. That trip was memorable for a couple of reasons. My friend Ross, famous for being late, had slept in and missed the rendezvous at Central Station. We caught the train and the ferry without him. But so determined was he to do the walk the he, an hour behind, caught up with us at lunchtime by running the first half of the track.

While the walk is a relatively short 26km, do-able in a day, it is best done over two days; however, we'd decided to do it in three over the Easter long weekend so we could spend more time hanging out at the beach. This involved a little bit of illegal camping at Wattamolla and legal camping at North Era (no one can tell me why it's illegal to camp at Wattamolla; it has all the amenities and some really nice, flat, grassy campsites). Unfortunately, our plans were dashed by the inclement weather: it pretty much rained the entire time and the track was muddy and/or slippery and walking in rain gear when it's still quite hot and humid is never fun.

Despite this final memory, despite knowing about the proliferation of spiky plants, and knowing how the exposed track means a hour's walk can quickly turn into sunburn, and knowing about the two massive hills, I decided I'd like to do it again.

The Proposal
Why? Because the views are stunning. Because at some parts you feel like you are the only people there. Because this is the hardest easy or the easiest hard two-day walk I know. And you barely need a map.

I started with an invitation to five other people, but we ended up with a group of three. I've never walked in such a small group before, but it turned out really well. My companions were a Dutch acquaintance, Reni, and my high school friend Gloria (with whom I want to do the Henro Michi). Both had considerable experience, which made me nervous because I hadn't done a walk for some time and therefore felt comparatively unfit.

This time I decided we'd do the walk Otford to Bundeena. This was for two reasons: someone once told me it was 'easier' to do it in that direction (I was sceptical, after all, there are just as many climbs both ways) and also I had bought camping permits for the 26th (North Era) and, since we planned to camp at Wattamolla, our excuse was going to be that we'd camped at North Era the night before but couldn't make it to Bundeena by nightfall on the second day, so decided to camp at Wattamolla instead. Naughty, I know.

Saturday
We had a disjointed start - Reni alighted the Otford train from her home station of Edgecliff, I came on at Town Hall as it was the easiest at which to change platforms, and Gloria boarded at Central after jogging from Forest Lodge (two suburbs away) after a late start - but after getting acquainted on the hour-long trip we stepped onto the track with some confidence.

The first thing that greeted us was a steep driveway-like paved track. Did I mention it was steep? At this point I realised that my new pack, bought for its versatility as backpacker luggage AND a rucksack was very much in the former category. All the weight was wrongly distributed. Nevertheless I laboured on.

The first hour or so is quite dense scrub, otherwise known as the Burning Palms section. I never really paid much attention to this bit because, having travelled from Bundeena, this was the bit that was in my way when all I wanted to do was get to the end. But it was a nice morning's walk, shady and cool, and suitably 'bush' like. The track then enters the littoral zone. The littoral zone consists of sandy parts, rather exposed areas, and spiky plants.

From Burning Palms Beach to North Era There are a fair number of holiday houses and the ground is either open or the scrub is quite low, which meant minimal spiky plant injuries but more exposure. Despite slathering ourselves in sunscreen, there was always a bit of doubt about whether we'd burn. Fortunately, a nice northern breeze reduced the heat, which made the walking temperature rather pleasant.

We met a bunch of blokes halfway up a hill wheeling down a fridge. This, my friends, is one of the drawbacks of living in a remote area only accessible on foot. Unfortunately, the very spot they'd decided to rest was right in front of a sign and the entrance to the track that we were supposed to be following. Fortunately we met another local a bit further up who we chatted to for a bit, and he led us back to the junction and set us on the right path.

There are two major hills on this walk, and they both occur around Garie Beach. The first one comes just after North Era Beach. Technically, there are two ways to get to Little Garie Beach: up and over, or around the cliff. The around the cliff option, fondly cursed as 'The Platform of a Million Rocks', has since been closed due to rock falling hazards, so up and over it had to be. It almost killed me. Evidently I was still suffering from wrongly-weighted-pack and not-as-fit-as-I'd-like-to-be syndrome.

The second one might have finished off the job had it not been for the fact that it was on the other side of (big) Garie Beach and we'd stopped at Garie Beach for lunch and Gloria bought me a Lifesaver ice block. I was also rather alarmed at the rate I was going through my water so we filled up at the amenities block (the water is not potable but I'd brought aqueous iodine to purify questionable fluid). This proved helpful for when we struggled up the second hill and rewarded ourselves with a break at the top (right).

After that it was fairly easygoing with the clifftop path fairly flat, and steel walkways making the inclines easier to handle. Two spots of interest to note, Eagle Rock (which I reckon looks more like a turtle), and Curracurrang, which I remember from the first time I did this walk. Gratefully, we stumbled into the Wattamolla picnic area (well, I stumbled, the other two strolled).

Eagle Rock looks more like a turtle

We ended up parking our tents along a pathway to Providential Cove, which was still quite grassy and clear but out of sight from the main part of the picnic area and carpark in case a ranger spotted us, despite having a cover story ready. Annoyingly, a neighbourhood of tents was set up further along, belonging to a commercial operation. So, no camping at Wattamolla unless you're prepared to pay $265?

Sunday
Had a pretty good night's sleep. I liked waking up to little birds that sung 'oi' to each other. We intended to leave at about 8.30am to catch the cool early morning walking weather but between breakfast, exploring Wattamolla and lazily packing up we ended up leaving at about 9.15am.

Wattamolla Beach

We needn't have worried. The map promised an easy, quite flat clifftop walk with very little incline and that's exactly how we found it. It was quite humid but the sky was overcast, which made for a cooler day and it sprinkled on and off as we walked. It took 90 minutes to get to Marley Beach. We weren't too hungry or tired but ended up spending half an hour beside the lagoon teasing the magpies.

Actually, I forgot to mention this, but I noticed a lot of dead birds washed up on the beach, like some kind of burial ground. A lot of them look like pigeons (grey) and some of them look like magpies (black). Most of them are partially buried in the sand. Our theory is that there was a storm out to sea, which killed them and their bodies have washed up on the shore. It's quite distressing and I really didn't want to take a picture, but did anyway in case no one believed me. The worst area was Little Marley Beach where some of the birds had been reduced to partial skeletons and the stench was overwhelming.

The period after morning break was over way too quickly. There were a couple of scenic spots but it was half flat, easy scrubland. We reached the Bundeena side of the track in a little over an hour without so much as breaking a sweat. The amusing part was the Coastal Track sign, under which someone had written 'don't do it'.



The Verdict
Things I would change (but not necessarily lessons for future walks): If I knew what I wasn't going to use, I wouldn't have carried my sleeping bag (too hot, sleeping sheet was adequate), waste-burying trowel, or toilet paper.

Lessons for future walks: I should use a proper rucksack instead of a travelling hybrid as the weight distribution did no favours to my thighs or my shoulders.

Definitely do the track starting at Otford heading to Bundeena. That way, all the hard stuff is over on the first day and you have a cruisy half-day to look forward to on the second.

Bring a swimsuit to hang out at any number of the lagoons or beaches. Maybe consider walking in and then getting picked up/driving out at the other.

The Social Network (film)

The first thing I must mention is that I am not on Facebook and have never been on Facebook, so any profile you find bearing my name is not me. (My name does, however, appear as a group you can join, an in-joke by my friends).

The second thing I will mention is that I think 'The Social Network' is a stupid name for a film. I'd be quite tempted to call it 'Hackface' or 'About Face' or even just 'The Network' instead. These aren't very good names for films either but they are better than 'The Social Network'.

Given these aspects, why did I want to see a film ostensibly about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg? Well, because despite escaping the Facebook trap, I do recognise how it has changed the way people network online and I wanted to know Hollywood's take on what Zuckerberg was like, ie how they would present the character of Zuckerberg as a plausible programmer, one creative and talented enough to start a website that has become so crucial to social networking.

I took director David Fincher's film as *very* loosely based on the creation of Facebook. For all intents and purposes, the most dramatic parts of the film I assumed were exaggerated or fiction. Had this film been a biopic, it would've been boring as batshit. After all, who wants to watch the Zuckerberg character grow pasty in a back room after sitting at a computer all summer? Thankfully, Fincher treads the fine line between improbability and plausibility with some confidence, and Alan Sorkin's snappy dialogue takes the film to another level beyond the biopic and beyond most other films about computer nerds.

This is not a memoirish look at Zuckerberg. In fact, I was impressed that it had a surprisingly firm beginning, middle and end. This is about how Facebook could have plausibly sprung from the brain and fingertips of someone like Zuckerberg, an attempt, if you will, to put its birth into some form of context. For Fincher, it centres on Zuckerberg's breakup with a girl called Erica, who Zuckerberg is never quite over despite defaming her over the internet post-breakup, and his desire to be invited to a final club (I had to look up what a final club was - they are not usual for Australian universities as far as I can tell). This, I thought, was a bit extreme. They may have been contributing motivations, but not the main driver.

As a film it fares well on the back of some apt casting and solid performances. Jesse Eisenberg's Zuckerberg is believable in his arrogance, indifference, creativity and vulnerability - a difficult mix for much more experienced actors and one combined eerily well in him. The support cast is also exceptional, from the 'Harvard gentlemen athletes' of the Winklevoss twins (who successfully sued Zuckerberg for $65 million for stealing their idea to create a Harvard network) to Justin Timberlake as Napster's Sean Parker (he did such a good job I didn't recognise him).

Also in its favour is the eschewing of realistic, pedestrian conversation for zippy dialogue containing memorable repartee and some gems of one-liners. The scene where Zuckerberg runs a hacking competition for Facebook intern applicants is priceless.

All up, the film's disadvantages, such as the legal stuff, were well traversed, interspliced with the meat of the story, the 'flashbacks'. Fincher has done well to make all these parts a watchable whole, fascinating and plausible without being burdened by truth or reality.

Flim rating: 9/10
Enjoyment rating: 8/10