On the 29th of November, 9 members of the Up and Downers team got together for the Mosman to Balmoral beach walk.
The walk that was scheduled was Bundeena to Little Marley Beach and Wattamolla beach, however due to a Fire-Ban, a change had to be made.
Walk started off with a set of stairs from Mosman wharf, walking past the Taronga park zoo jetty.
The walk took the 9 intrepid walkers across Bradleys Head for some views across the Harbour, walking across the foreshore, we ended up at Clifton Gardens, where the team stopped for a quick morning team break. After this we walked across Georges Head, and middle head (The Sydney Harbour National Park.
The team powered through to end up at Balmoral Beach where we had lunch, after which two of the members took a well earned dip in the water. A Collective decision was made to walk back to the starting point, via a path we found in lieu of walking on the “hot” road.
On the way back as we passed military road, we took a quick detour to a local pub for another quick refreshing drinks, before coming back to the cars and heading home.
Great walk and great input from all members, especially for this leaders first walk 😊
The team (less Peter)
HMAS L02 Helicopter landing ship.
Map showing our route (red line) from Mosman Bay to Balmoral and then return via old tramway & roadsAltitude v Distance profile. (Balmoral Beach at the 11km mark)
6 walkers met at Bass and Flinders Point South Cronulla on a cool cloudy day. After a quick chat we started on our walk picking up a 7th walker on Cronulla esplanade. We continued the walk past Elouera and Wanda beaches noting the rough seas and the degree of beach erosion. There were many walkers and dogs but not so many swimmers. We continued through Greenhills, through the restored dune vegetation and stopped for morning tea at the rehabilitated sand mining pond which is now home to fish and birds observing a large fish being caught from the pond.
We had a jovial, professional photographer offer to take our photo. From here we returned the same way pausing at Cronulla beach for lunch. Despite the overcast weather, there was no rain at all and walking conditions were very pleasant. Thanks to everyone who participated.
Yesterday, five of us set off on the Glenbrook Zig Zag Historical Railway walk. We started near Lennox Bridge, which is a really impressive old stone arch bridge at Mitchell’s Pass. This is the oldest stone-arch bridge on mainland Australia, built in 1833 by hand by convicts under the direction of David Lennox. From there, we made our way up through the bush toward Marge’s Lookout, which sits high above Lapstone Hill. The views there are stunning, looking out over Penrith Lakes and beyond. Next, we hit Elizabeth Lookout, which also overlooks the Cumberland Plain — it’s a nice vantage point for sweeping panoramas of Sydney and its outskirts. Apparently on a clear day you can spot the CBD — but not yesterday – although we did think we could make out Parramatta. Then came Top Points Lookout, which is right along the old Zig Zag railway formation. The walk follows the historic route of the Lapstone Zig Zag, which was built in the 1860s to manage the steep climb up the mountain. The route includes the Knapsack Viaduct, a gorgeous sandstone bridge that once carried the trains across a deep gully and is now a well used local bike/walk path. We paused at Top Points for morning tea, enjoying the misty views over the plain below. After that, we ventured along to the now-disused rail tunnel which the locals call the “Mushroom Tunnel.” It’s part of the old 1892 Glenbrook Tunnel, built to replace the zig zag when it became a bottleneck. It’s closed off now, but you get a feel for the engineering involved. We did get a little surprise: as we walked along some rear fences, seven dogs barked at us, from seven adjacent yards. Like a local doggy neighbourhood watch team. Along the way, we wandered through lovely bushland, soaking up the greenery, and surveyed even more brilliant views from the Lapstone side, looking back across the Cumberland Plain. We scrambled along a rough track next to the current main rail line from Sydney, which was a fun (and slightly challenging) stretch. Another great lookout for lunch. By then, the skies had started to mist a little and it rained lightly, but that just added to the atmosphere and cooled us down a bit. One of the real highlights was spotting blooming fringe lilies everywhere. These were totally new since our recce last week — they weren’t open then, but today they were out in force. Super delicate and beautiful. After the walk, we had coffee and smoothies in the park at Glenbrook thanks to some excellent local delis. Everyone was in good spirits, no injuries, just good company and heaps of history. A top walk all around
13 happy hikers were on good time for start of this adventure. Soon into 3 cars and off to Little Beach carpark. Walked down to beach (saw amazing native cymbidium orchid and 2 wallabies) to check out the campground (in good use) before returning to turn off to the Bouddi Trail. Side trip to end of 3rd Point Trail for morning tea on the rocks/cliff edge. Back to main trail and up and down with great coastal views until eventual descent to Maitland Bay Beach. As tide was conveniently low, most of the group rock hopped out further to see the remains of the SS Maitland paddlesteamer (wrecked here in 1898 with loss of 25+ lives). Still 3 or 4 chunks of rusty metal obvious! Lunch in shade of rock overhang was enjoyed by all, and then to the other end of the beach to start the climb out. Most of the group took the side trip in and out to Bullimah Lookout for spectacular views. Car shuffle undone and all reassembled at the Empire Bay Tavern for well deserved refreshments. Thanks to all for another pleasant day out and for working together to assist one member who found things a bit of a struggle at one stage. We all need to remember to drink more water on warm and muggy days. David and Val
Eight walkers joined our easy walk around Narrabeen Lagoon. We started from the small reserve off Mactier Street. At Val and Dave’s suggestion, we went anticlockwise for a change, so after walking through Narrabeen and over the bridge, we walked through the reserves on the western side of the lagoon, mainly through sheoaks. There were plenty of birds including swans, and a lot of walkers / runners / cyclists. There was a snack break in Middle Creek Reserve, and we had a bite of lunch back where we started.
Thanks to everyone for a pleasant walk in good company.
Despite a paucity of walk description, and forecast high temperatures, 6 walkers packed more water than usual and their sense of adventure for this new walk for the club. The walk is an alternative to the Great West Walk, Glenbrook to Woodford section and was chosen because the original was uninspiring.
After leaving cars at Glenbrook Station, we drove 23klms to the start of the walk at Woodford, parked and headed down the Oaks Firetrail. This is a wide, well maintained firetrail, shared with mountain bike riders. Fortunately, there were only a few mountain bike riders, as those travelling in the same direction as us were travelling very fast. As the temperature rose, the bush flies made their presence known, encouraging us to keep walking at a good pace to keep them out of our faces.
After about 6klms, we left the Oaks Firetrail and turned on to the St Helena Ridge Firetrail, again wide and well-maintained. Areas which had been control burned a year or so ago were awash with flannel flowers. It was a very impressive display. There was a diversity of wildflowers throughout the day, but none in great numbers other than the flannel flowers.
Afew kilometres further on, we left the wide firetrail and started along a heavily overgrown firetrail, slowing progress. We found a tree throwing good shade for lunch and then pressed on, the trail narrowing to a bush track.
The most interesting part of the walk then commenced with the descent to the creek, the track zig zagging down a steep rocky slope. The temperature was reaching its peak for the day, so it was with relief that we reached the creek and found it had plenty of water. Boots off and feet int eh water. Bliss!
Once cooled and restored, we crossed the creek, followed the creek edge a short distance (and saw a magnificent swimming hole) and then tackled the cliffs, scaling boulders on the way.
By the time we were close to the railway line, water was running low, but by sharing around what we had left, we reached the cars. Peter shared some chilled drinks he had thoughtfully stored in his vehicle, to the evident pleasure of all. After unding the car shuffle, we stopped at the Lapstone Hotel for a dr ink on the way home.
This walk is a much more interesting option than the original Glenbrook to Woodford section of the GWW as it is through pleasant bush away from the highway. The creek was a high light and worth considering for a swim. However, it would be best done on a day that was not so hot.
Thank you to all for your resilience and team work.
The Oaks F/T was wide and well-maintainedFlannel FlowersTeh Flannel Flowers were prolificTeh SSt Helena Ridge F/T became overgrownAn d became a narrow track as we started the descent to the creek.Cooling off in the creek was bliss!Large swimming hole031 Blue Mountains NP. Glenbrook to Woodford. 08.11.2025
Nine walkers joined in this easy walk that was posted late in the week. We walked along the river from Silverwater Bridge to Wentworth Point along the water (except for a detour around the light rail works). At Wentworth Point we stopped for a coffee before returning through the parklands and the Armoury precinct. Plenty of birds around the wetlands and in the sheoak forest. Seven of us had an early lunch in the park under the Silverwater Bridge. Thanks to everyone who participated at short notice.
Several days were spent closely checking the changing forecasts and the recorded rainfall at Lithgow, Clarence and Glen Davis. Very little rain was recorded at Clarence since Wednesday and with a 50% chance of 1mm forecast, our walk went ahead with a final plan of “take a look” at the canyon before proceeding.
Nine walkers including 3 visitors, enjoyed a day in Wollemi National Park, somehow avoiding what the changing weather threw at us. Meeting at Clarence at 8:15am, Peter advised of Plan A (as advertised), Plan B (skip the canyon and do a full loop of Deep Pass from North to South), Plan C (a repeat of the 24th May 2024 walk) and Plan D (Mt Irvine and The Tessellated Pavements).
We thought the intermittent rain still falling as we drove along the dirt road, would keep us out of the canyon, so we considered swapping the two sections of the walk by doing Deep Pass first (Plan A-1) so we had a better chance doing the canyon in the afternoon.
However, Peter’s driving navigational error took us to the start of the Canyon and the northern entrance to Deep Pass, thus missing our car shuffle finish point at the western entrance to Deep Pass. That 400m section of road missing on google maps has a lot to answer for!
No problem, let’s do the canyon first and then Deep Pass as a ‘down and back’ after that (Plan A-2) so there would then be no need for a car shuffle!
As we descended the track and side creeks towards Budgary Creek (anti-clockwise circuit), ‘baby’ hail falling on us for a minute, was a surprise as we sloshed through very wet and thick scrub descending towards River Cave Canyon.
Waratahs were everywhere on the way down and later on the way up. They had really come out over the prior 3 weeks. Masses of other flowers also delighted.
The odd shower and thunder tried hard to put us off continuing but luckily we found no change in the creek level compared to our recce 3 weeks earlier, so a fantastic explore awaited us.
Changed into “wet” shoes, the Canyon did not disappoint. Taking our time, we looked at every angle as we splashed along in ankle to thigh deep water. The little climb up and along a rock platform avoided the deep pool, was no problem. Connie and Johnny (2 of our visitors) were well prepared, young and quite agile, so no problem on this walk as was Hazel from HVB, our other club. Julie spotted a lovely small black frog just before the end of the canyon. After videos and many photos were taken, we eventually reached the steep, rough climb up between the rock walls. It was not long before we reached the road and our cars.
On return, we hid from increased falling rain, eating lunch in the cars. It was now time that a final plan (Plan E) was hatched. Most agreed, it would be pointless and not much fun walking in this drizzle and the roads would be getting more hazardous if left later to negotiate, so….. “Nar, let’s give it a miss!”
Coffee and cake at Mt. Tomah Botanic Gardens sounded so much nicer, so off we headed.
It was still raining when we got there, making the view across the gardens and valleys spectacular.
After coffee, some viewed a fancy displayed flower (name?) just below the centre.
In summary, we dodged a bullet and had a lovely time in the canyon, thus making the most of our day.
Walkers: Gary, Julie, Loïc, Fernando, Hazel (V), Connie (V), Johnny (V), Jenny and Peter.
