Walk This Way

In his latest book, editor Brent McKean explores 40 of Australia's most spectacular coastal walking tracks. In this edited extract we take a journey to Byron Bay's humpback highway and Tasmania's perfect peninsulas...

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THE WHALE TRAIL

Byron Bay may be better known for its hipsters than its hiking trails, but this surf destination is the gateway to a humpback highway, and you can experience it all on the 36-km Whale Trail. The coastal walk between the northern New South Wales towns of Byron Bay and Ballina, with its lure of whales, begins from Byron Surf Club, a stone's throw from the town centre. The path hugs the dunes behind Main Beach and the sparse tree line shows glimpses of glittering ocean beyond. From Clarkes Beach the track begins a gentle ascent up Lighthouse Road. A timber boardwalk unveils the rolling sets of world-famous surf break The Pass, the panorama taking in the length of Byron's beaches and the twin domes of Julian Rocks backdropped by the distant ranges and Wollumbin's distinctive peak.

The trail leaves the road and dips down to the Cape Byron State Conservation Area, where brush turkeys scratch surreptitiously in the scrub and koalas are sometimes spotted high in the rangy eucalypts. You'll wend over to Wategos Beach, another hotly contested wave fringed by a sandy cove and some of the nation's most expensive real estate, then have a steep but short upward clamber to Australia's most easterly point: crowned by Byron's 120-year-old white-washed lighthouse, the country's most powerful light station. It sends a signal 50km out to sea.