A Magic Turn Of Events

Day: 323

Towns / Cities Visited: 218

Countries Visited: 31

Steps Taken Today: 15,851

Steps Taken Around the World: 5,110,404

By some miracle, we awoke to a tent neither being pummelled by rain nor assaulted by wind. Taking it as a good omen, we were up and on our way fairly quickly by our standards. Why were we so eager to get going, I hear you ask? Well, because our first destination’s quality of viewing was dependent largely on the tides. As we were in no way interested in getting there at actual low tide, which on that day fell at around 7:30am, we decided to endeavour to get there as soon as we could after we awoke, hoping that reaching it at mid tide would still allow us a decent view.

So, where were we headed? The answer to that, my friends, is Magic Rock. Don’t worry, its not some hocus pocus myth, but rather a sea stack carved out by the waves that is so narrow at its base that it seems like it remains standing purely by the work of magic. Now, this isn’t some Parks approved, well-signed hike; it’s more of a ‘you’ll find it if you know where to look’ kind of deal. Thus, after a little dedicated research, we discovered the most car-friendly option was to park at a spot known as Beautiful View, locate the trailhead, and make the rest of the journey on foot. Luckily, despite what some reviews might have you believe, it’s actually not that hard to locate. Google will get you easily to Beautiful View, which, FYI, is an alright view but nothing spectacular. From there, if you simply look to your left, the trail is blaringly obvious.

And so it was that we set off along it, wandering the somewhat rugged track beside the barbed wire fence marking the edge of the clay target shooting range to our left. Onwards, we passed paddock after paddock of windswept trees, coarse jumbles of rocks, and the odd cow until I began to feel that we must be close. Pulling out my phone, I checked the GPS, and by some miracle, my intuition had been right; we were only steps away from passing the discreet path into the coastal shrubs to our right.