From the entrance, the lookout seems to stand at the other end of the shore. Once the walk begins, it disappears from view every few minutes.

Maps know only flat ground

We plotted the route in advance as a straight line parallel to the coast. It avoided the tide and did not cross the reserve boundary; on the screen, twelve kilometres became an almost unchanging blue trace.

The first dune ridge made the line useless. Its windward slope was gentle, with sand continually pushed towards the crest; the lee side dropped abruptly, with no visible foothold. Crossing in a straight line meant climbing again and again, while following the ridge was faster. After one kilometre, we stopped watching the destination and chose only the next stable patch of ground.

“Straight lines belong to maps. The direction a dune gives you is always a chain of temporary decisions.”

Sand is not blank. Where marram roots hold it, fixed mounds form; wind accelerates around the plants and leaves sharp crescent hollows. Beetles trace fine lines in the morning, while bird prints descend the lee slope. Together they reveal the firmness of the surface and the previous night's wind.

Illustration of layered dunes, wind patterns, and a distant walker
The dark band on the lee slope marks sand that is still damp and usually offers firmer footing than the crest.

The half-life of a footprint

The wind strengthened before noon. Fine grains skipped close to the ground, filling the edges of our prints before erasing each hollow's outline. Looking back, the route from fifteen minutes earlier was only a broken shadow. We had to stay close enough to keep one another in sight.

At kilometre nine we came upon an abandoned boardwalk. Most of its planks were buried; only the fixing bolts formed a true straight line. It did not make walking easier, but forced us to keep stepping over exposed edges. We soon left it and returned to the gentle slopes shaped by the wind.

At the lookout, the tracking app showed that the route was 1.8 kilometres longer than planned. The line on the screen twisted and hesitated, yet preserved every detour precisely. Before we turned back, the wind had covered the final footprints and the dunes looked no different from before we arrived.

Four kinds of ground

0–2 kmMarram-anchored mounds

Low slopes and stable sand around the roots make this a good place to confirm wind direction.

2–6 kmMoving ridges

The lee side is soft; traverse along the contour.

6–9 kmDamp hollows

The stride becomes steady again, though pools from the previous night remain scattered across the ground.

9–12 kmOld boardwalk belt

Built structures cross the dunes here, forcing the most frequent route changes.