Category Last Walk Report

This walk traverses an area which is different to our usual haunts. The bush is lower and undergrowth is sparser. The ground is mostly quite rocky. The hills are fairly low and creeks small.

We (16 walkers) met at Hilltop (some of us very early, as the meeting time was half an hour later than usual). We then piled into 4 cars for the short trip to the start. After a briefing and circle (in the wrong order) we set off. The morning was uneventful, with lots of chatter as we strolled along a mostly flat bushwalking track to morning tea overlooking a view of hills and creeks. We then descended to a small creek, easily crossed as it was lower than usual, and then wound our way up a side creek.

This was followed by the only really steep section of the day. Halfway up this section, one of the walkers fell over and gashed her arm. A joint effort ensued to clean and bandage the injury. This was later augmented by an antiseptic spray applied at lunch to further clean and disinfect. As a result of this, several of us have realised our first aid kits need an upgrade.

By lunch time the weather had become quite warm and humid and dark clouds were gathering. One group, some of them with pre-existing injuries, followed the fire trail back to the cars, as planned. Another group left to follow what turned out to be a very overgrown track parallel to the fire trail. This group found that the narrow track was so overgrown that they picked a point where it was only 60 m from the fire trail and left it to also follow the fire trail back to the cars.

We had bought drinks and snacks to eat at the cars, but the threat of rain and the noise of gunfire from the rifle range and sirens from an unknown source made us decide that the park in Hilltop was a much better option for drinks. It was very shady and grassy, with picnic tables supplied. Since the last time we visited this area, the options for post walk drinks have improved. There are now 3 small cafes in Hilltop, which could be possible venues for drinks in the future. Thanks to all walkers for their company, enthusiasm for walking, and willingness to pitch in to help others.

Jenny

Six walkers made a later than usual start from Cronulla Station. The weather was ideal for an ocean-side walk and there were a lot of walkers, dogs and swimmers out. We followed The Esplanade south around the coast, first to Shelley Beach, then on to Oak Park. Morning tea was in Salmon Haul Bay Reserve near the historic Bass and Flinders Point memorial – views across to Bundeena and out to sea. On the positive side, we saw a couple of Australasian Darters. On the negative side there was a serious infestation of jet skis. We finished the outward walk at Hungry Point on the site of the old NSW Fisheries station.

We backtracked to Shelley Beach where four of the group had a slightly colder than expected swim, and those who were carrying lunch ate. Finally we walked back to Cronulla Beach where kebabs, coffee and ice cream were had as required.

After 2 full days of rain prior to the walk, we were a bit concerned that the inclement weather might continue into the Saturday. As it turned out, it was a beautiful morning with clear blue sky and temperature in the low 20’s.

In total there were 10 walkers most of whom had made the 2 hour trip up from Sydney. Janet, Di and John had planned to camp at Megalong Valley Farm but decided on an AirBnb when we hit the rain Thursday afternoon. Smart move.  The walk coincided with a wine tasting at Dryridge Winery which is in the Megalong Valley just by the 6ft Track Route.

We slightly cheated by starting the walk by the Winery which is 2kms along the route. Despite that we ended up doing 12kms in total.

The track starts by crossing some fields with sweeping views of the Megalong Valley and then descends towards the Cox’s river. The track is clearly defined and meanders down along a ridge to the left of the Cox’s. Although we could hear the river it did not come into view until 55 minutes into the walk. The terrain down to the Cox’s was through bush which afforded a little shade from the sun. We expected the river to be higher because of the rain but nevertheless it was running at a good flow.

There were views towards Kananagra from Ron’s Roost which is a bench seat in the shade about 40 minutes into the walk and which was ideal for a drink stop. 

We continued to walk down to the river and along it until Bowtell’s Suspension Bridge came into view. The original Bowtell’s Bridge was built in 1991 and was named after Corporal Bob Bowtell an engineer who died during the Vietnam war on Jan 11 1966. It is a 100m suspension bridge enabling walkers doing the full 6ft Track (42kms) to cross the Cox’s when the river is flowing hard. The new bridge which is a U Shaped configuration capable of supporting 5 people was opened on 13 September 2024. 

We all decided to cross the bridge to get views from the other side before returning along the Cox’s to find shelter for morning tea along the bank.

The walk returned on the same route with Di leading and John plodding at the rear. Many wonderful birds were seen and or heard on the route including a Black Cockatoo.

The walk up was a steady 350m up from the river which we did in 1.45 hrs owing to the higher temperature (which we estimated at 25c) and instead of returning to the start of the walk we entered the Dryridge Winery just off the track.

The winery has sweeping views of the Megalong Valley and is very popular for wine tasting with their ploughmans, cheese and charcuterie boards.  It made a very nice change and everyone felt that it was a great way to finish the walk. 

This section of the 6ft Track is probably the most scenic and is a nice way to experience one of Australia’s landmark walking tracks.

Our thanks to everyone who did the walk and we hope that everyone enjoyed it

Best Regards

John & Di 

Well the forecast was a bit sketchy, but the weather was certainly not! A lovely spring day met 13 walkers who started the walk at West Pymble rather than the advertised Christie Park start point due to Lane Cove River being up after recent rains.

The leader was somewhat distracted by her new and very nerdedly wonderful bird call detection app – Merlin by Cornell Labs, which identified 16 different bird calls during the walk. Bushwalks may never be the same. Highlights were definitely the large number of small birds now uncommon in the suburbs like variegated fairywren, yellow-faced honeyeater, Lewin’s honeyeater, Scarlet myzomeia, Brown Gerygone, Gray fantail, Golden whistler, and Eastern yellow robin. We heard all of them but saw none of them. Was still tops!

We made good time down to the weir and was reminded how very lovely the Lane Cove River Valley is in many parts despite its suburban catchment. We pushed on through Fairy land and the mangroves next to Pittwater Road before heading up the final leg past the Field of Mars cemetery where a swamp wallaby briefly outshone the bird life for attention.

Everyone had a good day, I think and the noisy drinks at the rooftop bar of ‘the Governor’ were of at least of interest to those who wondered why this enormous pub was tucked down in the backwaters of North Ryde on the way to the waste transfer station.

Thanks all for a great day and a warm welcome to our visitor Jonelle. Cheers to all, Julie and Garry

Six keen walkers attended the extra walk put on over the long weekend. With rain forecast, the U&D rain gods once again shone on us. No rain experienced all day! Raincoats were useful on the bush bash with wet foliage to negotiate.

The plan was to do the cancelled exploration of the Western ridge of the Mt. Murray Anderson trail (programmed for 5th Sept), to find more of the published Aboriginal engravings. Once again however, we had to modify that plan as the original Hazard Reduction burn was expanded and included both sides of that main track. Avoiding damaging sensitive burnt bush, we opted to explore some rock shelves to the north of Long Track instead.

With 2 options based on satellite images, we decided on trying the first section, 2.3km along Long Track.
This proved to be a true bush bashing adventure (as Matthew described it). Fighting through dense scrub with the odd reprieve of rock, we stopped about 350m in, for morning tea on a sunny and rocky outcrop with a view to the north.

Here we decided that we had had enough and would take a shortcut back to Long Track.

The 600m of bush bash took us an hour to get through, not counting our 20m morning tea stop!

We decided to now have an easy day by getting to the end of Long Track with great views of Cowan Creek.
Lunch back down the track at the other lookout, then back to the cars with the promise of coffee at Terry Hills.

It was a fun day out. Thanks to all.

Distance covered 10.5km

Peter’s photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/J2YYujxjjawMMxoP8

Ten walkers turned out for what felt like our first summer walk of the season, despite the calendar still insisting it was spring. With temperatures reaching around 33°C in the Royal National Park, the heat was a significant factor throughout the day

The route took us down into the Hacking River valley and through magnificent rainforest, where hundreds of Cabbage Tree Palms created a lush and almost tropical atmosphere, with a peaceful stop at the junction of the Hacking River and a small tributary creek providing one of the day’s prettiest spots.

The only unexpected encounters came in the form of two dirt-bike riders, who we met first on the walking track and later again on a fire trail. They were friendly enough, although the impact of motorcycles on some sections of track was quite noticeable. One of our walkers optimistically attempted to hitch a ride with them but was some-what politely refused!

One walker sensibly decided to finish after the first loop rather than tackle the hotter afternoon section which left 9 to face the (mostly sheltered) fire trail in the afternoon.

The side trip out to Cawley’s bridge provided an opportunity to inspect the fauna retrofit works connecting Heathcote and Royal National Parks across the M1. I was very glad to see two koalas on the bridge, albeit of the stuffed toy kind. I trust our various impersonations of native wildlife (see photos) fools the ecologists who have wildlife cameras up on the bridge.

The leaders had a surprise shortcut on the back to Helensburgh through a 500 m (approx) historic railway tunnel which chopped off an entire mountain from the walk back. Despite the somewhat mucky entrance, the cool conditions inside was very welcome and the brick ‘egg’ design was also very cool.

There were no injuries, no navigational dramas and no other incidents to report. The group completed the 16km walk in good spirits, having enjoyed a varied route featuring rainforest, river scenery, wildlife habitat restoration works and some local railway history.

The day concluded in the traditional fashion with well-earned refreshments at the Helensburgh Hotel. Beautiful scenery, good company and plenty of interesting features along the way combined to make this a worthwhile new walk for our club. Thanks to all for participating.

Spending the weekend away in Blackheath provided a large number of members the opportunity to not only complete some of the wonderful range of walks available in the area but also to socialise with club members. After a convivial meal at a local hotel on the Friday evening, a good night’s sleep in our delightful accommodation and breakfast the next morning, several walks of differing levels of difficulty set off (see individual walk reports below). The self-catered dinner was excellent and generous in proportion. We took the opportunity to thank our out-going social committee for their many years of hard work and finished the evening with the performance of a number of skits.

Sunday morning was a later start with BBQ bacon and eggs before people packed up and headed off in various directions, a few to walk, many to visit the rhododendron gardens etc before heading back to Sydney.

GLOW WORM TUNNEL

The drive from Blackheath to the start of the track took 1.5 hours and turned out to be the most hazardous part of the day. Trucks from the nearby sand mining area were travelling at a speed requiring evasive action by our driver on more than one occasion. However, once we got there, the walk was an easy 6km and the glow worm display impressive. The 6 walkers enjoyed the beautiful weather and lunch at the rock fall. Fortunately, the drive home was less eventful.

WALK TO LOOKOUT TOWARDS BALD HEAD

4 walkers decided to make an easier day of it, and so opted for the walk from Hat Hill Road out to the lookout across to Bald Head, about 7km return. In the event, the track around and over the hill sections was irregular enough to make it more of a moderate walk, so we took our time. The weather was very clear and fine, and a bit windy on the exposed bits. There are beautiful views all the way out, either side of the ridge. Quite a few wildflowers were out, with the attendant native bees, butterflies and so on. We had an early lunch at the lookout , and then backtracked to our start. It’s a nice quiet track, with only one other group encountered the whole day.

BLACKHEATH FIGURE 8 WALK

The morning walk saw 8 walkers make their way to Pope’s Glen, Horseshoe falls, Govett’s Leap, Barrow Lookout and the Braeside track. After a lunch enjoyed in the sun, 7 walkers continued on to Clifftop , Centennial Glen, Colliers Causeway and Porter’s Pass. Total distance: 15 km. Fabulous weather and views.

086 EVANS LOOKOUT, HORSE TRACK, BLUE GUM FOREST AND PERRY’S LOOKDOWN

Starting at Evans Lookout, 6 walkers were able to view where we hoped to get down to, steel their nerves, and set off down the recently re-opened Horse Track. The track has had many steps built, making it less treacherous than previously to navigate, but the elevation drop still makes it steep. Reaching the bottom of the valley, we made our way along a pleasant track beside the river until we reached Junction Rock where we had morning tea. After that, the track became much more undulating. We stopped at the base of the Perry’s Lookdown track for lunch, and diverted to explore the river nearby and the Blue Gum Forest. Perry’s Lookdown has not got any easier, but we all made it to the top where we were delighted to find our “uber”driver waiting to transport us back to base. A challenging but satisfying day.

PULIP ROCK TO GOVETT’S LEAP

It was a delight to find the track into Pulpit Rock open again after a lengthy closure. The viewing platforms have had new railings installed and the very lowest platform is no longer accessible. 4 walkers enjoyed the still magnificent views and took advantage of the gorgeous weather to walk on to Govett’s Leap. The wildflowers were abundant and various.

Another beautiful spring day except for some smoke haze from hazard reduction burns. Thought we were going to have the Fantastic Fifteen initially, but that dropped to the Fabulous Fourteen, and then to the Dynamic Dozen and eventually the Energetic Eleven by the time we set off.

From Mosman Bay UP and UP steps and paths to a ridge top and then down the other side to Sirius Park. On leaving there we saw signage telling us that the section of path just before the Zoo wharf was closed due to construction work and that a street diversion would be required. We pushed on to admire the harbour views from Little Sirius Point before back tracking to tackle some more UP to circumambulate the Zoo via streets instead of foreshore.

Soon took the track down past Athol Hall and back on to foreshore track to Bradley’s Head where morning tea was enjoyed.

Continued on to Chowder Bay where 2 of our number took an early departure leaving the Nifty Nine to enjoy the recently improved track past Obelisk Beach and fortifications, some back to 1801, before a top lunch spot on Middle Head.

Made our way back past the naval hospital and then onto track through great angophoras to the stairs down to Balmoral Beach. One of the group decided to miss Balmoral and return to Mosman from that point but the Edgy Eight were enticed by the mention of ice-creams (or coffee) at Balmoral. All enjoyed their refreshments before 2 buses back to our starting point.

Should have been about 12km, but track closure brought it to 13.5km. Many thanks to all for an enjoyable day. And for some of us, the satisfying achievement of a successful tick removal from the back of the head of one of our group