If you’re looking for a challenging coastal walk, then pack a picnic, put on your walking boots, and head for Illaroo to Wooli walking track with some friends. This relatively underdeveloped stretch of NSW coastline is at the southern end of Illaroo campground.

Spend your day walking along sandy beaches, across rocky platforms, grasslands and paperbark forests. There are superb coastal views from the headlands, where you can take in ocean breezes, do some birdwatching, and even enjoy whale watching during their annual migration. You’ll pass through several small settlements along this moderate track, and if you’re lucky, you might see evidence of the endangered coastal emu. Remember to take your binoculars if you want to go bird watching or whale watching.

Illaroo to Wooli walking track can be tackled as a day walk or as a part of the multi-day Yuraygir coastal walk, which includes Brooms Head to Illaroo, in the north, and Wooli to Red Rock, to the south.