Mara Creek Beach

Mara Creek lies about halfway down Angourie Back Beach, on the way to One Man’s. The water of the creek is brown-red-coloured – stained by tannins from the leaves of tea trees – it’s quite literally ‘tea’. And where this tea pours endlessly into the ocean at Mara Creek, there’s almost always a bunch of birds having a civilised tea party. Silver Gulls and Little Terns mostly, with a pair of Sooty Oyster catchers hanging out on the fringe, unsure whether or not they’ve been invited, and fretting accordingly. Mara Creek is accessible by either walking down from Angourie, or from a small car park that’s a right turn off the Back Beach road. The carpark has toilet facilities, and there’s a few picnic tables scattered along the 150 metre track that takes you out to the sand. This is a gorgeous, unpatrolled beach: there are rips and often a gutter just off the shore break.