Friday 16 November 2018

A Coastal Walk - Bulcock Beach to Kings Beach

Recently I took you on a walk around Golden Beach in Caloundra.  Well today we're going a little further up the road, still in Caloundra though and I'll take you on a walk between Bulcock Beach and Kings Beach.


Out of the kilometres of coastal pathways around Caloundra, this section is the most popular as it's right in the heart of town.  Tourists and locals alike all flock to the area as there's plenty of restaurants, cafe's, fish and chip shops, parks and playgrounds, beaches, boardwalks, oh and quite a nice view too.

If you look back along the Bribie Passage from the first boardwalk, you can see the start of Golden Beach. (above photo)



Looking the other way (above photo), you can see the very northern tip of Bribie Island on the right, the mouth of the Bribie passage and the Pacific Ocean in the middle and the sand on the left is Bulcock Beach.



There are plenty of picnic tables and barbeques for people that are self catering or you can cross the road to the takeaways shops and buy something to eat al fresco with a view.

There's always some kind of boat coming or going and further out to sea you can often see a ship heading into the port of Brisbane.

On really windy days there are plenty of kite surfers zooming about showing off their amazing skills as they skid across the water and fly through the air.


I love that there's still some of the old beach houses left along the Esplanade which remind you of a bygone era, especially now that they're surrounded by towering unit and hotel blocks.


In truth though, nothing says sea side more to me than an old Holden Kingswood with surfboards sticking out the back.

I think it was my favourite moment on the whole walk, especially as it was outside one of the main café and restaurant precincts.




A little further along the path we come to Happy Valley which is a really popular park with families and is really busy any day of the week but especially on weekends.  

There's often groups meeting up here to celebrate birthdays and other special occasions by having barbeques and just enjoying some outdoor together time.



It's especially popular with families because there's a pretty fantastic playground there as well which we've been to MANY times over the years with the kids.




On this particular day another visitor wanted to join in the fun at Happy Valley.


I'm not quite sure what kind of shark it was but it was the most gorgeous blue colour.

Even though it was a baby, I can still imagine it has a good set of chompers on it so I wasn't getting as close to it as the man in the below photo.



One of the best parts of this path is the boardwalk joining Happy Valley to Kings Beach which is probably one of the most popular beaches in Caloundra.

It really only takes about 5 minutes to walk along it, or more depending on how many times you stop to admire the view as it clings to the headland and over the rocks.


I love not just the ocean view but looking back towards the hinterland and seeing the Glasshouse Mountains peeking up on the horizon.  That's the area where I live so it's always nice to know that I'm not far from home when I'm out and about.






Kings Beach is popular because of it's surf of course.  There's always someone out in the water whether it's in summer or winter.  I think they're a bit nuts in winter but there are some die hard swimmers out there who love their daily swim.


There's plenty of beachy resorts to chose from to stay if you ever want a holiday in this part of the world.


I do love the old Pavilion that's taken on a new role as a café these days.  It looks lovely now that they've done it up as it was starting to look a little tired and in need of some loving care.



As always there more playgrounds and parks which are perfect for a spot of cricket before lunch.




The salt water fountains are lots of fun for the littlies especially and a nice quick way to cool off on a hot day.



My favourite bit about Kings Beach is the salt water pool which they've fixed up in recent years.  It's perfect for people who love swimming in the salt water but aren't confident in the surf and we've been here a few times with the kids.

Late on a hot summer's day it's the perfect place to come for a quick swim to cool off and then we go off in search of ice cream or fish and chips for dinner, depending on how late it is and what we feel like doing.



I also love how they have a perch for the birds of prey to sit and survey the ocean and hopefully spy a spot of dinner for themselves.






I do hope you've enjoyed the stroll from beach to beach and I apologise for the amount of photos which has made the post very long.  I usually try to keep my posts much shorter but I did want to share this beautiful walk with you.

I hope you're all having a wonderful week where you are and a enjoy the weekend that's coming up.

xx Susan



4 comments:

Teresa Kasner said...

Oh how lucky you are to be in the summer now. We're heading into the dark, frigid, long winter. I'll trade you any day! Is that an Osprey bird in the last photos? We have them summer here in the Columbia River Gorge. Have fun with your fair weather!! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

Jules said...

It looks absolutely stunning and it's so good to see so much sun. The days are short here now, so we make the most of any bright, sunny ones.
I wouldn't be too keen on the shark though. X

Gloria said...

Lovely to see your post about the Caloundra beaches. I lived between Moffatt and Kings Beach for fifteen happy years and knew all of these landmarks very well, having walked along the Esplanade many times and seen the town change from having a rather old-fashioned look in 1988 to its present modern appearance. The ospreys had nests in the Norfolk pine trees at Wickham Point way back then, so they must find it a congenial spot. Thank you for the post.

Jane said...

How beautiful! That's what I call paradise! I love long posts with lots of photos. I'm afraid my posts need much more in the way of words and photos, but I'm not good with words, I never know what to write LOL We have some lovey places to visit on and around our peninsula, but with Ginger's ill health we can't go out and leave her for long or take her out for to long as she tires out so easily, poor baby :( Look forward to your next post, Best, Jane :)