SHERINGA BEACH A FAVOURITE PLACE

 I realised why I looked forward to returning to Sheringa Beach when the tarmac smooth, gravel, access road rose to the top of the sand dune ridge that overlooks the beach and I once again marvelled at the rugged beauty that lay below. Just like Walkers, Sheringa is rather isolated being 8 km in from the highway but is well known and therefore more popular, meaning that the few campsites available often become occupied early in the day. I was lucky this time, managing to snare the same site that I used last year, just behind a low sand dune and less than 30 metres from the beach.

 I spent a tranquil 3 days strolling along the almost pure white sands of the 3.9 km long shoreline which I always seemed to be able to privately enjoy even though there were other campers around. At other times, expeditions into the surrounding bush that covered the adjacent dunes revealed many wildflowers and plants that were hidden therein and birdlife that I more often than not find impossible to photograph. I assured myself that this will not be the last time that I enjoy this place.

Colourful seaweeds abound

 

Wildflowers and plants of Sheringa

WALKERS ROCKS and A WAR OF BEES

  My next destination for a couple of days was Walkers Rocks, a wild and isolated 600 metre long beach situated in the Lake Newland Conservation Park. I stayed here around the same time last year and was again impressed with the unspoilt peacefulness of the area. There is a small campsite with basic facilities at the end of an excellently maintained gravel road. However, its isolated situation means that only a few seem to visit. This time, I was also treated to a sight that may remain unique to me anyway. Whilst exploring the rock formations just above the waterline, I stumbled on a hive of Bees that appeared to be under attack from another species of Bee or possibly a swarm of wasps. It looked as though it was a fight to the death with the victor's spoil being the hive. From what I observed the original inhabitants ( the striped ones) were losing the battle with the marauding black species. This war lasted for the two days that I was in residence and was not quite over when I left.

The Hive under the rock ledge

The Combatants

A fight to the death

Casualties