Final day on Maggie (we’ve gone local), and we decided to go our separate ways.  But only in order to reach Arcadia, which is a couple of bays away.  There are two ways to walk there – the “High Road” and the “Low Road”.  One is longer, steeper and rougher than the other.

I took the boardwalk again, to Geoffrey Bay, which looked just as appealing as yesterday. My plan was to paddle in the water on my return walk, so I left my runners on for now.  I paused to watch a sea eagle swooping and soaring over the hoop pines.

I walked on to Alma Bay, the next beach along. It is much smaller than the other beaches we’ve visited, and has massive boulders flanking each end.  The shapes were fascinating, and I meandered happily in and around them.

Meanwhile, Ian opted for the 5 km hiking trail, which leaves Nelly Bay via a climb to a saddle, then up steeply to the ridgeline.  It had expansive views over the whole of Horseshoe Bay.  He pressed on to Sphinx Lookout via a series of switchbacks.  From here he could see back to Nelly Bay, as well as Alma and Geoffrey Bays. The track was rugged and rockstrewn – a proper Hike.  From the lookout, it dropped down to a road, and into Arcadia.

I hadn’t intended to leave the waterfront, but a quick google told me that the Arcadia Lookout was only a short distance away, and mostly on a sealed road.  So I set out, climbing steeply up to a water tank, then onto a short bush track.  I reached a vantage point where I had a similar view to Ian’s, only lower.

Retracing my steps, my next stop was the Rock Arch and wallaby feeding spot, on the edge of Geoffrey Beach.  There was another derelict jetty; obviously they tried several places for the ferries, before settling on Nelly Bay.

It wasn’t hard to spot the wallabies – anywhere there were excited kids tentatively reaching out a small hand, there’d be a furry creature happy to accept some grass or pellets.  They didn’t seem camera shy either!  A bit further along there was a rock arch, then a couple of caves. But the wallabies were the Rock Stars.

After our different walks, we met up here. A final stroll in the late afternoon sunshine along Geoffrey Bay, a climb over the last headland, and a final push up the stairs to our apartment, finished the day.  Just in time to watch a colourful sunset over the marina.