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Trip Reviews
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Wild Cherry Tree track, Tarra Bulga NP
Date: Sunday 22nd January 2012
Participants:: Cathy Almond,(leader) Rachel Davies, Michael Haynes, Gayle Shields, Graham Duell, Linda Tubnor, Jason Tubnor (visitor), Phil Downey, Robin Steven (visitor), Shani Kirby, Riecky and Hans Van Elnpt (visitors).
We all met in the Tarra Bulga car park and had ginger biscuits from Cathy or Anzac biscuits from Rachel, thank you both. Some cheeky parrots were there landing on some heads and hands, till they flew away. This walk had a lot in it. Misty rain (at first) sunshine (last), flat walking, steep climbs, creek crossings, lyrebirds, leeches, lovely trees and great views.
We headed off out of the car park and onto the main road then quickly onto the track, which was wet and very soon realised leeches were our enemy (forget the drizzle). This track was full of tree ferns and tall trees. We were stopping to de-leech and spray ourselves with whatever repellent anyone had till we gave up and just walked. We came across a lovely area where the cherry trees grew, then headed to our first creek crossing, which we all managed well. Then not too far away was the second crossing, no worries. We had lunch around 12.30 under some huge pine trees. Just finding a few leeches still.
After lunch a very steep climb up Gardner’s Track, the same huge pines on both sides, Great smell! Then walked along forest roads and had a wonderful view of 90 Mile beach and Yarram. Came back to main road and most walkers went back into leech country, but 3 wise ones chose the road. All arrived back at the same time and decided on coffees.
This is a great walk which we all enjoyed, thanks Cathy.
Gayle Shields
Date Saturday 21st January 2012
Participants:
Eileen Laidlaw (leader), Ben Aalbers, Wendy Cartledge, Bob Ellis,
Jon Rodman, Gayle Shields, Michael Haynes
We met at the Erica general store at 9:00 am and car pooled to the start of the walk, which was in Sharpe’s Road soon after turning off the Thomson Valley Road, where a locked gate barred further travel. We left the cars at 10:00 am and walked along Sharpe’s Road, fairly steeply uphill, and then a continuous downward gradient. We passed another gate at Sharpe’s Quarry and heard a lyre bird in full repertoire. At the junction of Sharpe’s Road and Cascade Spur Track, we turned south into the bush towards the waterfall. The bush was fairly open to start with, but became an obstacle course nearer the creek with fallen timber, steep slopes and huge rocks making progress slow and “interesting”. We could hear the falls clearly and occasionally had a fleeting glimpse of white water, as we skirted the lower reaches and climbed towards the top. There we found ourselves on a rocky platform beside the water as it gushed through the rocks and fell in a long cascade down a rock face. Here we had lunch, and then some of us changed into other footwear to cross the creek whilst others chose to get wet boots. Crossing the creek was a bit of a challenge, as on other visits Eileen had found the water level considerably lower, but we made it and followed the water downwards until a reasonable view of the falling water was obtained. Ben and Jon continued further down to get that “perfect” picture, whilst the others waited and watched the water gushing down and spraying wherever it encountered an obstacle. On returning to our lunch spot we packed up and headed due north until we met Sharpe’s Road again, where we retraced our route back to the cars. It is a strange phenomenon that makes the return walk uphill seems so much steeper than one remembered it being when going down in the morning!
Our thanks to Eileen for taking us on such an interesting excursion.
Michael Haynes
Friends of Baw Baw National Park Wildflower Walk
Date: Saturday 14th January 2012
SBWC participants: Eileen Laidlaw, Graham Duell, Sue Williames
Upon arrival at Baw Baw the weather was very cold, foggy and dismal. I did hear a whisper of a temperature of 5 degrees recorded on a temperature gauge in a car. None the less at least 50 hardy souls turned up for the day, the first time we had held it at the Baw Baw Village. Andy and George had the kettle boiling and cups of tea and coffee and bickies were eagerly consumed by all present.
After introductions of our guest speakers, John Davies and Greg Hollis, we headed east through the village. It was very interesting to listen to John speak of temperatures of minus 15 degrees and pH levels of 2.5 in some of the low lying bog areas.
As Andrew had bought up a basic willow eradication kit, Neville, George, Bill, Sue and I left the main group and headed out through the Pudding Basin then off track to poison a willow sighted on an earlier
occasion. This was a very messy blighter, having grown up, fallen over and re grown up through Richea and daisy bush. George tested the secateurs to their limit cutting through wood up to 2.5 inches thick as we didn’t have a saw with us.
Back on track again we soon caught up to the other walkers having lunch on the edge of Baragwaneth Flat. By now the weather had cleared and we had a beautiful warm sunny day. Sue had another mission on her mind. We were going out to a tributary of Little Boys Creek to check out what the colour vegetation was that had showed up on an aerial survey photo. Was it a willow? If so it would make tracking willows so much easier sitting at a computer. When we got to the spot we found a huge tree, approximately 4 meters high and at least 3 meters wide, multi stemmed. Sue was ecstatic!
On our way back we heard bagpipes in the distance and couldn’t believe our eyes when we stumbled upon a young chappie playing his Bagpipes on the side of the track. He was happy to give us a stirring rendition of Scotland the Brave, all captured on video.
It was great to see the new bridge over the West Tanjil Creek and accompanying board walk. Well done.
Back towards the village George and I had the pleasure of watching a man and woman catching skinks for the ladies’ PhD. They had what appeared to be a short fishing rod, minus the reel and ferules. Along the length ran a piece of thin nylon cord with a slip knot in the end, the idea being to place it over the skink and catch him between front and back legs.
Eager to get back on time we left them to their hunting and followed the Village Trail back and descended to the village via the main ski run to the summit. A cup of coffee and bickie finished the day off nicely. Many thanks to Parks Vic for a great day on the Plateau. A resounding success.
Eileen Laidlaw
Point Smythe (Venus Bay) Beach Picnic under a Full Moon
Date: Saturday 7th January 2012
Participants: Julie Parker (leader), Rob Bentvelzen, Janis Ferguson, Heather & Michael Haynes, Bill and Deb Wiglesworth, Gayle Shields and Julie’s Canadian visitors.
The Lower Tarwin Hotel was the meeting place for our group at 5.30pm, and after a refreshing cold drink or coffee we piled into three cars and followed Julie to the starting point. We walked along a wide bush track and soon Julie pointed out a pond with lots of lilies flowering in it.
Continuing on we were soon out onto the sand and a beautiful beach. We could see Inverloch across the water. The evening was beautiful, not much wind or heat, cloudy overhead though. Walked along sand admiring the water and headlands. We could see the rock formation called the Eagles Nest quite clearly as well. There was a big section of dead tea trees that we had to scramble over. Some energetic people had made tee-pees with some of the wood. A dried out sting ray was belly up showing its teeth, so photos taken of that. Stopped for tea around 8pm sharing some fine food, then set off again, along the beach. We found the track upwards from the beach and walked under some canopy for a bit, then out again. We were back at the cars in no time. A lovely loop walk, a great evening walk with good scenery and company. Thanks Julie
Gayle Shields
New Years’ Eve 2011 Under The Stars - Mt Mueller and the Rock Overhang
Participants Eileen Laidlaw (leader), Rachel Davies, Wendy and Geoff Cartledge, Sue Williames, Clayton Pollet and Katrina Merrifield
It’s nearly two years since I had led an off-track walk requiring a compass all by myself. In that time I had lost a lot of confidence and was very nervous about my ability to do so, so this is why I put this short walk on the calendar. Burgie had helped by assisting me with the walk I led for the combined Gippsland Walking Clubs Weekend back in November and I felt ready to have a go by myself.
Mt Mueller is only 1 kilometre off track from the Pudding Basin on Baw Baw and I knew the area pretty well and was ready to have a go. Altogether there were 5 people until the night before when I got a phone call “There are 2 more coming.” Great. Lucky we didn't have to stick to a tight schedule to catch a plane as unforeseen circumstances forced me to leave home an hour later than I had planned for. “I’ll meet you at your place” and “I’ve got it on my GPS”. Waiting, waiting, waiting till another phone call came, “I’m on the Tanjil Bren Road in a logging coupe.” Rachel and I hurriedly locked the backdoor and sped off towards Baw Baw, knowing we could never make up for lost time.
Upon
arrival at Baw Baw we located Geoff, Wendy and Katrina and the 5 of us
walked out to the Pudding Basin. The weather was perfect; we had left
the hot weather behind in the Latrobe Valley. Here we met up with Sue
and Clayton and stepped off track to the first knoll. On our way down
off it towards Mueller Sue sighted a willow. How to remember its
location? – it’s in a clear area with no snow gums growing next to a big
myrtle. One for Friends of Baw Baw. Continuing on we made Mueller about
4.30pm. First job was to clear out the pile of firewood left under the
rock overhang from past SES search and rescue practices held in the late
‘80’s and early 90’s. Then up on top to clear off a fallen snow gum to
make way for Katrina’s bivvy bag. Meanwhile, Sue and Clayton found room
for their tent after much skirting around and I selected two trees to
hang my hammock from. The weather forecast was perfect to sleep out in
without tents or a fly over my hammock.
Everyone prepared tea and soon all sorts of goodies (mainly bickies and dips) appeared. Chilli chocolate tasted great and everyone questioned what was the hard centre in the chocolates Wendy bought out? It was great to kick back and watch the colours changing on the snow gums as the sun set on 2011. All very peaceful. With fading light came the mozzies but they were no match for the Aeroguard. No one really wanted to stay up and see the New Year in so we turned in just on dark, too tired to be party animals.
Next morning I was awakened to the smell of beautiful rich coffee. I lay in the hammock and gazed up at the snow gum canopy above me. They really don't have a great number of leaves up there. It was so easy to pack up without tents and we were underway on our way home by 8.00am. Somehow the scrub seemed a lot easier to track through than it did yesterday afternoon. Was it the good night’s sleep? Upon getting to the Pudding Basin we said farewell to Sue and Clayton and walked back to the village, stopping just short to have a relaxed morning tea on a set of picnic benches overlooking an area of trigger plants in flower and several Macleay’s swallowtail butterflies flitting in and out amongst them. Back at the village we said our goodbyes and headed for home, back to the heat of the Latrobe Valley just in time for lunch. Thanks for coming along everyone and helping put me back on the track a bit more.
Eileen Laidlaw
Greenstone
and Routeburn tracks - South Island NZ
Date: 20/11/11 – 25/11/11
Participants: Denis Nagle (leader), Cathy Almond, Ed Dyt, Robyn Shingles, Peter Maffei, Ed Buller, Jack de Vries, Alan Eagle
Most of the party arrived in Queenstown on Friday (18/11/11) evening, with Peter and Robyn joining us on Saturday morning and Denis arriving Saturday afternoon.
Day One – Sunday
Sunday morning saw us lining up at the bus stop at 8am under an overcast sky. We had a cold and wet 15 minute sojourn at
An early summer walk in New Zealand!
Glenorchy to swap buses, then after a detour to drop some walkers
on another track, we headed for the Greenstone River. We arrived at 11am, and after changing into wet weather gear in the shelter, headed off at 11:30am. It was raining lightly but steadily. We reached the Caples River suspension bridge about noon, where we were introduced to Jack’s passion for bouncing up and down on each and every suspension bridge. We stopped for lunch at 12:30pm in a grove of beech trees, with the rain getting slowly but steadily heavier. Heading off about 1pm we walked steadily up river. No sign was found of the hut indicated on the map at Slip Flat, however we did have to use the emergency bridge as the stream was starting to carry quite a bit of water. About this time Peter found that his rain jacket was exhibiting a considerable amount of “flow through”, which in turn was used by Ed Buller to repudiate the various comments made about his spending spree in Queenstown for a new rain jacket. Denis also provided entertainment by “doing a turtle”, (a somersault). The rain continued to get heavier, and so rest stops became minimal. We reached the Greenstone hut just before 4pm after crossing a small bridge over a rather deep little gorge. Another party of 5 arrived about an hour later, as the rain just kept getting heavier. It was luxury to have a nice dry environment for the evening with a warm fire and flushing toilets.
Day Two - Monday
The rain poured all night and was still doing so while we had breakfast. However by 9am it began to ease off and by the time we left at 9:20am it was just spitting. By mid morning most jackets were off, although showers persisted all day. However the track was a creek, and slips and slides were the order of the day. Cathy almost qualified for the inaugural NZ bog snorkelling championships, and creek crossings provided moments of high entertainment. Dozens of waterfalls could be seen descending from the cloud shrouded peaks, all feeding water into the valley. Tussock jumping became common practice – at least we did not have to worry about snakes. Despite the infrequent showers, a parasol appeared. Comments also began to circulate about the spotless appearance of Robyn’s jacket.
The suspension bridge at Steele’s Creek provided good entertainment as Jack made sure that the (max one person at a time) bridge was permanently swaying. We had a half hour lunch in the beech forest at 1pm. The afternoon continued to provide showers, but we also started to see some sunny breaks and grand views. We reached McKellar hut about 4:20pm in blinding sunshine. The hut was undergoing renovation, so we found two female painters in residence. The washing party reported the river to be “brisk” (no total immersions were reported). However sandflies soon arrived, and as the kitchen was off limits, we had to cook outside while we tested various sandfly repellents. A young Frenchman also arrived. He had a carrot and cup of tea for dinner, and then settled down in his $45 tent. Cathy also made the ‘notables’ list by inadvertently preparing five serves of rice for tea. With the clouds gone, it was still light to 9:30pm.
Day 3 - Tuesday
Despite the evening’s promise, it was raining again in the morning, and we had acquired a French camper in the room. After several cups of tea and coffee, and breakfast, we ventured forth at the crack of 9:20am. Setting a challenging pace for our 2 hour day, we headed for Howden hut. Despite a few
showers, we had some nice views across the two lakes. We also met a “track runner”, who gave us a few tips on how to run the Routeburn track in a day. This day he had to take a longer route due to the track closure at Harris Lake. Arriving at Howden hut we settled down for an hour long gourmet lunch. Denis also learnt not to leave chocolate biscuits unattended, although it was another day before he discovered the cardboard cut-outs that replaced several of his biscuits. After lunch we took advantage of a pause in the rain to walk up to Keys Summit. A few breaks in the cloud provided glimpses of Lake Marion and the Darren Ranges. Cathy also gave us a guided nature walk. However as banks of cloud rapidly approached, we quickly retired to the hut, where several unnamed members took a siesta. Our French friend also arrived (in transit to Lake Mackenzie). Given that the weather forecast was for a large front to arrive overnight, Denis took pity on him and loaned him his tent fly. This was subsequently left at Mackenzie hut with a thank you note and an invitation to visit in France.
Day 4 – Wednesday
The forecast front arrived, with heavy rain overnight and continuing into the morning. The 8:30am forecast suggested that the rain was likely to reduce to showers in the afternoon. However the forecast for Thursday was for showers tending to rain – which was not encouraging for our trip over the pass. There was a distinct lack of enthusiasm to start walking, and after a leisurely breakfast we settled down for a game of cards. About 11am the morning latte session commenced and this morphed into an early lunch. By noon we started walking in light rain and mist. The ascent through the misty, moss draped and dripping beech forest, with numerous small waterfalls, was very reminiscent of scenes from the Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately the mist also stopped any views of the Hollyford Valley. Earland Falls could be heard long before they were seen, and when seen, were dramatic. The falls were a wall of water 20 or 30 meters wide, descending out of the mist with a thunderous roar. Spray was blasting across the track creating its own small gale. Photos were almost impossible. Negotiating the base of the falls required full wet gear, fully done up. This proved to be the last straw for Peter, who, at the next stop, upgraded his jacket to a bright orange garbage bag. We then walked steadily and reached the Lake Mackenzie hut at 3pm, just in time for a photo before the rain set in again. The hut’s bunk room was the best of the trip with sweeping views across the lake to the peaks beyond. Denis and Cathy elected to have a wash in the lake. The rest were more sensible and felt well vindicated by the echoing yelp that resulted from Denis’ entry (and rapid exit) from the water. We also discovered a serious food problem – no matter how much we ate and gave away, there was still more! Maybe we needed to extend the trip? After about 4 hours of heavy rain, the weather cleared enough to provide some nice views while we had dinner, although the peaks were still largely cloud covered. The hut ranger, Clive, provided the evening’s entertainment, with his humorous safety briefing and various reminiscences. However the pass at Harris Lake was still closed due to avalanche risk and given the weather forecast there was still some doubt about the helicopter shuttle service. Later that night we were all woken by another walker yelling in his sleep, “STOP, I can’t see anything”. It was only later that we learned he did not like flying and had just completed the helicopter transfer in extremely low visibility.
Day 5 – Thursday
We awoke about 6:45am to unexpectedly find blue sky, sun and a dusting of fresh snow on the peaks. The views across the lake were awesome and we were chafing at the bit to hit the trail. However we had to wait until 9am for the ranger briefing and instructions on how to cross the avalanche zones. By 9:10am we were on the way, cameras blazing. The views for the Zig Zag track were stunning, and once onto the ridge, the views into the Hollyford Valley were as good. Fresh snow lay on the vegetation and it was a novelty to observe avalanche procedure. The 400 metre ascent was not even noticed. The peaks of the Darren Range to the west were interspersed with patches of mist, providing a constantly changing backdrop. We reached the shelter at Harris pass at 11:45am, where we dropped our packs. The ranger on duty allowed us to continue up the track to above Harris Lake, from where there were more amazing views towards the Routeburn valley. It was also very cold, the air temperature was close to 0°C and it was quite windy. With our packs piled in the net ready for the helicopter transfer, we sat in the hut for well over an hour, getting steadily colder and hungrier, as we waited for our long overdue “ferry”. Peter, who braved the cold for a while to go outside and talk to the young ranger, ended up scoring some fresh venison (shot the day before), in return for transporting some to the ranger at the next hut. By the time the chopper arrived the weather was deteriorating noticeably, but the 60 second flight across the lake was still exciting. It took two trips to get all of the party and packs across, then after a few photos we just had to start walking to try and get warm. About ten minutes down the track we found a sheltered corner and settled down for lunch at 2:30pm, watching the cloud close in. From there it was a relatively short walk down to the Routeburn Falls hut, where we arrived at approximately 3pm. After finding our beds, it was off to the kitchen for a cuppa and a game of cards. By 5pm it was spitting rain and windy, with cloud on the peaks, so we could not believe our luck with the weather.
Day 6 – Friday
Last day of the trip and we were blessed with more sunshine. After another leisurely breakfast we left about 9am and sauntered down to the Routeburn Flats hut. Arriving at the hut at 10am we dropped our packs and as we had plenty of time went for a walk up the North Routeburn River valley (even though this required a river crossing). We arrived back at the hut just before 11:30am for a short morning tea, then continued down the track to the road. We finished the walk at 1:30pm, with half an hour for lunch before the pick up bus arrived.
Date: Saturday 17th December 2011
Participants: Sue Williames, Ron and Jenny Cann, Denis Nagle, Diana Carr and Alistair (for BBQ only).
Even the best of ideas sometimes need a little time to take off, so it was unanimously decided by the 5 ride participants that this event would be the inaugural Christmas lights ride in what will become an SBWC annual event.
We
reasoned that Dianna was actually the only real voluntary participant on
the ride and for that I am very thankful, as it was the first event I’ve
put on the SBWC calendar since becoming a member. As Ron and I were the
organisers of the ride (with me providing the idea and Ron, the
location), we both had to participate. Jenny of course could
hardly fail to live up to spousal support duties, and Denis, well…,
Denis was at Ron and Jenny’s place that afternoon to lop troublesome
branches off a tree, so he was committed on the grounds of already being
there, rather than insanity. So Dianna gets my Whacky Award for
actually choosing to look crazy, act flashy, burn some rubber and
deplete some batteries.
The evening started at the Cann residence. Their secluded, paradise-like BBQ area provided the perfect place to fill our bellies with sizzled meat, shared salad, delicious dessert and some Christmas cheer. Alistair joined us for the meal, but opted out of the ride. Hmmm, after he looked at our gaudily decorated bikes and our ridiculous reindeer helmets, I can guess the reason why.
Prior to heading off on the bikes, a little pitter-patter of rain had us saying, “oh, oh, oh,” but undeterred we set off and we were soon shouting “ho, ho, ho,” as the night stayed dry.
Blustery, warm wind stirred our spirits as we rode around the streets of Warragul on the well planned circuit that Ron and Jenny had mapped out. Christmas is renowned for being the SILLY season so it was not too out of place to be riding around the streets looking like idiots. Despite the strange looks and the odd toot of the car horn, we rode in a glowing and growing delight past lots of beautifully decked out houses. We started scoring the displays on a scale of one to ten, but I think the others thought my judging was a bit harsh when I scored a house at minus three, and the scoring soon fell by the wayside. After about an hour’s riding full of wonderful company and dazzling displays, we arrived back at the Cann’s place with all of us pledging to start scouring the post-Christmas sales for bargains to make our bike even flashier next year. And I can feel it in my flashing, musical antlers that Christmas 2012’s ride will be eagerly awaited and wheelie well attended (and before anyone gets too upset that it can’t happen more often than once a year, just ask yourself, would you really want to go through Christmas more than once a year???!!!).
Sue Williames
Grand Strzelecki Track, Tarra Valley
Date Tuesday 13th December 2011
Participants: Michael Haynes
(leader). Ron Cann, Janice Ferguson, Heather Haynes
Meeting at MacDonald’s in Morwell we drove towards Tarra-Bulga NP, on the way we saw a magnificent pair of wedge–tail eagles. Michael backed the car up the road and we sat and watched the pair taking turns in hunting. When perched in a nearby tree they were seen to be very large birds with a huge wing-span.
This was yet another of Michael’s ‘easy’ walks that turned out to be harder than anticipated! We drove to the beginning of the planned walk to find that the area was still recovering from the 2009 bushfires and looked to be an unpleasant bare walk on a rocky 4WD track. Michael, a member of the committee of the Grand Strzelecki Track, knew that 5 km of the GST track was opened and so we drove down to Tarra Valley to try there. It was lovely and green with lots vegetation – quite a contrast to the burnt forest track we had originally planned on. Wallabies were everywhere; many apparently trying to commit suicide by bounding across the road just in front of the car! The beginning of the track leaving from the Tarra Valley picnic area was marked by a post with the distinctive GST track marker that had been planted by Peter Ryan MP just a couple of weeks previously to officially begin work on the track. The path was steeply uphill with frequent track markers. Underfoot the track was a little slippery with all the loose bark and leaves - the path still needs lots of walkers to firm it up. Eventually we climbed out of the valley and for a short while were on a 4Wd track before plunging back into the NP, this time walking steeply downhill.
Some of this part of the walk was still in the process of being made and although there were track markers some of the track was only able to be followed by the pink ribbons put in by track workers. We came to a sudden halt when faced with a tiger snake unwilling to move off the path. We decided to allow the snake the path and detoured into the forest. Janice thought that perhaps when buying new gear a Setopress snakebite bandage might be at the top of the list! Suddenly the track finished and we found ourselves at a road junction where the Yarram Road takes off from the Grand Ridge Road. We decided that after our exertions we had earned the easy 2km walk on the road to get back to the picnic area. This section of the road descends fairly steeply, winding amongst beautiful tree ferns. We had afternoon tea wishing each other Merry Christmas and mourning the end of the walks for 2011.
Heather Haynes
Date: 15th November 2011
Participants Michael Haynes (leader), Ron and Jenny Cann, Chris and Steve Munro, Jan Garden, Julie Parker, Wendy Cartledge, Janice Ferguson (visitor),
Everyone
arrived at the park in Erica, and after a morning cuppa and a chat we
relocated to Caringal Scout Camp, where we were to start the walk. The
beginnings of the walk took us through an arched avenue to an outdoor
chapel, a beautifully peaceful setting, and then on to the Tyers River
East track. The track, following old timber tramways, lies on the
southern slopes of the Baw Baw Plateau which contain some of the tallest
forest in Victoria.
Initially the track seemed
reasonable but very quickly it deteriorated into a very narrow path with
ferns, bushes and blackberries which promised to take over in the near
future. We made several log crossings until we reached crossing 4. The
log crossing there had collapsed so we detoured around to the south of
the river with a view to finding crossing 5, pausing from our scrub
bashing along the way to take a welcome morning tea. We found crossing
5 and continued along what appeared to be the tramline. It was very
much overgrown, happily marked by orange tape (although we weren’t sure
at the time what exactly it was marking) and took us well over an hour
to cover the 700+ metres to what we eventually determined was crossing
6. The description in the track notes “sidle past a large fallen tree
then descend left …” was less than helpful with the numerous large
fallen trees!
We ate our lunch here at crossing 6 and re-evaluated the timing of our walk, making a decision to leave the “track” at this point to go cross-country in order to pick up Monettes Mill Road, a 4WD track to the north-west of the river. The scrub bashing became harder going the higher that we climbed … a logging coupe! We paused at one stage to administer to Chris, who had been bitten by a bull ant; a timely stop as at this point we found several “Greenhoods” in flower, then later “Sun orchids”. Happily it wasn’t too long before we found ourselves on the 4WD track with a clear downhill run in front of us.
We made our way back to Caringal Scout Camp with the brief excitement of a small tiger snake along the way. A cuppa and a piece of Julie’s fruit cake were a welcome finish to a challenging (for some of us) but most enjoyable day, through magnificent ferny forest. Well done Janice on your first walk with the club. We look forward to having you with us again. Many thanks to all for their good company, and to Michael for his leadership.
Jenny Cann
Postscript: It was good to note a report by Dave Rimmer in the July 2011 edition of the Bushwalking Victoria News which stated that the Tyers River East Track is amongst those to receive attention under the State Forest Walking Tracks Upgrade Project. There are plans to undertake clearing along the track and to reinstall crossings.
Churchill and Lysterfield National Parks
Date: Saturday and Sunday 12-13 November 2011
Participants: Bill & Deb Wiglesworth (leaders), Julie Parker, Sunday only: Heather and Michael Haynes Alison and Len Diston (visitors)
The flood damage which had postponed a previous walk weekend had been repaired enough to allow us to wander freely throughout both parks. Bill and Deb Wiglesworth and Julie Parker walked the fringes of Churchill Park on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Our trek took us along the old aqueduct which carried water from Lysterfield Lake to Dandenong for forty years last century.
Weather was perfect. We chose to walk the tracks with the most shade. We saw a number of sleepy kangaroos and, several times, Julie reached for her binoculars, but there was not a lot of bird life. The trails were pleasant and we had virtually exclusive use of them.
After checking in at the
Silesian Brothers Retreat Centre on Lysterfield Road, we took our pre
dinner drinks and nibbles to the front lawn There was distant traffic
noise but the centre is indeed a refuge close to the city. For dinner we
lucked upon a Thai restaurant which offered all meals for half the price
listed and so ate well for under $10 a head.
As the Brothers' own kitchen was undergoing major restoration, they shared our dining room for breakfast before dispersing across the different local churches to take mass. At 9.30 Michael and Heather Haynes joined us and we drove to Lysterfield Park where we were met by Len & Alison Diston who are close friends of Deb and Bill. There were 100's of cyclists heading off to do the trails, which were upgraded for the Commonwealth Games Mountain Bike competition in 2006. The walking trails are separate, thankfully, so we just had to take care when the two paths intersected. Once again the weather was perfect, although not as warm as forecast. Several times it drizzled and threatened rain, but we were spared. We ended up covering about 13 km meandering over many of the tracks. We ate lunch at Trig Point and thought it would be downhill for the remainder of the day but Michael's theory that there is always some uphill after lunch proved to be correct. We saw numerous kangaroos again on Sunday and there was one gully in particular which had lots of birdlife, though Julie estimated we only saw a dozen or so of the 172 species supposedly present in the park. We were weary after 13 km and were pleased that they were still serving coffee at the "Trail Mix" Cafe on Lysterfield Lake where our cars were parked.
Deb Wiglesworth
Combined Gippsland Walking Clubs Weekend at Mt Baw 4th- 6th November
Participating Clubs: Peregrine (3), West Gippsland (7), South Gippsland (8), Ben Cruachan (8), Strzelecki (18) – Total 44
As host club for this year’s event, we were relieved to welcome other clubs to the Baw Baw Alpine Resort with a forecast of fine and sunny weather.
Michael Haynes and Richard McNeil were the advance party. By the time others from Strzelecki arrived mid Friday afternoon, the Strzelecki Bushwalking Club banner was suspended between snow gums to show the way, and the Ed Ski Chalet open to welcome us. Michael and Richard were nowhere to be seen - out doing a final reccie!
It wasn’t too long before members of other clubs began to arrive. We had allocated the bedrooms in advance, so people quickly settled in, enjoying the comfort of the expansive lounge and dining areas, with a panoramic view to the north through snow gums. This was the base for our weekend, the briefing point for walks and for wining and dining. The nearby Frosti Lodge was also open for a small number beyond the 36 that could be accommodated in the Ed Ski Lodge.
We had organised 9 walks for the weekend, 5 for Saturday and 4 for Sunday. There was no interest in the easy walk on Saturday so it was cancelled, and just 2 were needed on Sunday. Saturday’s walks went according to plan, except for the “St.Gwinear Car Park to Baw Baw Village”. Leader Peter headed off with a minibus full of walkers (Graham Duell had kindly driven up that morning in the Jindivick Community mini bus), taking the South Face Road then Thomson Valley Rd. Alas, before reaching the car park he came across a barrier – road closed due to roadworks! We had received a detailed planning document from last year’s host club Ben Cruachan, and one of the final suggestions was to check for road closures. In fact this HAD been done, but there was no mention of it on either the Vic Roads or DSE website! Not to be denied a walk, they returned to the Village and commenced the walk in reverse, getting as far as the Rock Shelter before retracing steps – not ideal, but an equal distance, and they got to see the splendid country from both directions!
After some reasonably tough, and in some cases VERY tough Saturday walking (Eileen and Wayne’s off track to Mueller and Tyers), there wasn’t a lot of demand for anything hard on Sunday. Most opted for a short walk to the summit of Baw Baw via the summit ski run, returning through 5 ways, then on to Kelly’s or to the Village Central for refreshments … all very social really!! A smaller hardy group ventured out towards Phillack Saddle over the Tors, returning cross country to the site of a former hermit’s shelter. Ask Tim if you want to know more!
One of the highlights of the weekend was the spontaneous poetry recitals on Saturday evening. Oh – and speaking of Tim, there was much good humour over the reunion of two Baw Baw skiers from the 70’s. Val was astonished to learn that Tim was the very same phantom skier who used to swan the Baw Baw slopes in his bright blue, fully knitted and full-body, flared ski suit! As others of us watched the distant miniscule Guy Fawkes Night fireworks from the Moe Race Course (thanks to Denis for the entertainment!), Val continued to cross examine Tim – “could this man and the ‘blue flash’ actually be one and the same! Much hilarity!
The weekend wound up soon after lunch on Sunday, with everyone from all the clubs pitching in to clean the chalet. All in all it had been an excellent couple of days, and those of us who had been part of the organising group had a sense of satisfaction that we had done our bit well! Great to have much support from within our club, and great to have a friendly bunch from other clubs to share the weekend. We will look forward to next year’s event, to be organised by the Peregrine Club.
Ron Cann
Excerpts From “Footprints”, the SGWAAC newsletter..,
This was a delightful and enjoyable weekend of talking, eating, exploring, socialising, bush bashing, making new friends and learning some of the history of walking and skiing on the Baw Baw plateau.
A few highlights:
· I got to visit ‘Hobbit Land’, a small pocket of myrtle beech and huge old snow gums that escaped the 1939 bushfires – a magic spot.
· A great moment when Val met ‘knitted blue suit man’ – an icon of the slopes about 40 years ago. An interesting young lad with a great outlook on life. (Tim Clarke)
· A ‘mini’ fireworks display viewed from afar
· Seeing the photo Ron produced during the Mt Erica walk, of the hut built by Rovers utilizing the ‘rock cave’ at Mushroom rocks.
But most of all the weekend was about meeting people and swapping stories. Thank you to the SBWC for doing such a fantastic job of organising a truly great weekend.
Steve Horton, November 2011
Saturday 5th November 2011
Walk 5 - Mt Tyers
When Ron first told me I
had 18 participants I was shocked. I was sure to lose someone out there
with that number. However as the time drew nearer to start the walk
numbers trimmed back to 13, still a large party but a little bit more
easy to handle.
With Wayne (“Burgie”) assisting up the front and Tim Clarke and Denis Nagle acting as whips I was confident we could get out and back all together.
Leaving Baw Baw at 8.30am we made good time out through the Pudding Basin to pole 32. With heavy recent rain the walking track was a lot wetter than usual and it was much drier once we stepped off track. The undergrowth is getting much heavier every time I venture out to Mt Tyers and the only solid footing was when you stepped on a rock. Good time was made out through the various knolls to the saddle before Mt Mueller, although walkers from other clubs were staggered that we had only walked 1.25km off track in the time we had been away. Once past this spot I located the rock where I want to have my New Years camp. Everyone was most surprised with the rock and excited with the possibility of sleeping under it.
The slope down Mt Mueller towards Mt Tyers made for good time and it was pleasant to observe the changing vegetation as we lost altitude. Morning tea number 3 was had in the saddle before the final assault to the top of Tyers. This we did by climbing up the side of the rock face on the Mt Baw Baw side.
Climbing up here really
got our hearts going in more ways than one and made us glad we had
bought the club’s snake bite bandage with the squares on it. Half way up
I observed little lizards sunbaking in the warmth of the rock and it
crossed my mind where there are lizards there are snakes. Upon gaining
the top of the rock Maureen from West Gippsland and I commenced to walk
across it with the intention of enjoying the view out to Hells Gate near
Jindivick. I had just walked past a dead little bush when I heard a
noise and thought to myself “Hm, Maureen wasn’t that close behind was
she?” Looking back I was confronted by a big fat shiny tiger snake all
poised to attack, his head and neck flattened and looking from side to
side at Maureen and I. I was only 45 cm away from him and Maureen was
the same distance on the other side. He was not sure which one to bite
so we made the most of his hesitation and both bolted in separate
directions. The rest of the group all bolted as well. Sure gets the
heart racing!!
Anyway, back to the final assault on the summit, about 100 metres away.
Up here Burgie recognised the spot where he had camped may years ago when we had come out there with Bob Booth. A bearing of 70 degrees led us off the summit to a line of mountain tea tree which we followed to the designated spot where we skated down on our backsides to drop over the edge of a gully into the cave. Everything was covered in large amounts of moss, all dripping wet. Most people brushed against it to enjoy the coolness it afforded.
Access into the cave was a bit difficult because of the wet slippery moss-covered rocks and it was here that I must thank Denis who had put a length of rope into his pack to bring out. Still, not everyone felt comfortable about going in but those that did enjoyed themselves. Denis commented it really was of cathedral proportions.
Lunch was had by everyone here sitting on the rocks at the entrance and after this we started our trip back. Again the rope came in handy to climb the rock we had slithered down. I must be loosing my nerve as on other occasions I had been happy to walk down this rock and walk up it again on the way back. Anyway, all back in the tea tree line we commenced the return journey. On the way back a lot more stops were had as we were all starting to get tired. Not just the ladies but the men as well. Once we gained the track it is amazing just how one can power away with new found energy and it was approximately 6.00pm when I stepped back into the EdSki lodge. Tired but VERY HAPPY.
Many thanks must go to Wayne, Denis and Tim for assisting to get everyone out and back safely.
I am told there were lots of early sleepers that night as well as “nanna naps” before tea!
Eileen Laidlaw
Walk 2- Baragwanath Flat
About 13 walkers, led by Richard, set off on Saturday morning. We followed the Village Trail anti-clockwise through the very soggy Pudding Basin, then north through Shirleys Slide and past Baragwanath Flat (named after an early surveyor) until we reached a snow pole line heading north-east. This pleasant trail led us around Currawong Flat and over some new board-walks crossing the West Tanjil Creek. Circling around towards the south-east we reached the intersection with the Australian Alps Walking Track and paused for morning tea. Passing through Phillack Saddle we followed the track to the cairn at Mount Saint Phillack. After a brief pause we returned to Phillack Saddle where we had lunch. After lunch we followed a faint trail down into Freemans Flat and headed for The Tors. The trail soon petered out but we knew it curved to the right (westwards) as we progressed, and so we tried to estimate this as best we could over the snowgrass hummocks and pools of water. After a while we found ourselves following the side of a deepening gully taking us north-west instead of west where we intended to go, but the terrain persuaded us to continue rather than plunge down the steep hillside. As we progressed the bush became thicker and taller, until all that could be seen of one petite lady was her hat, pushing through the rikkea. Eventually we met the track at the boardwalk crossing the West Tanjil Creek we had passed earlier in the day and after a rest returned to the Village Trail. Here we turned right and continued anti-clockwise to the village. There was much greater respect for walking off-track on the Baw Baw plateau among our visitors, but considerable satisfaction in what they had achieved.
Michael Haynes
Walk 3 - Mt Erica and
Hobbitland
Ron led from Mt Erica car park via Mushroom Rocks to Mt Erica, where we found the memorial to Geoff Watt, as well-regarded runner who died of hypothermia on a training run there in September of 1969. Not far past the summit we had lunch at the old hut ruins. From there we trekked on to ”Hobbitland", a secluded, damp mini-world of gnarled myrtle beech and snow gums. It was a lovely detour, though lots of stresses on the old knees as we climbed and then descended, but Hobbit Land was worth it. Weather perfect and skies a treat, Deb
PS this is where Bill lost his binoculars, but luckily they were found by a friend of Ron’s, so he got them back!
Walk 4 The Rock Shelter and Back!!
11 of us got in the bus kindly provided by the Jindivick community took the long drive down the mountain around the South Face Road back to Rawson and up to the turn off to the Mt St Gwinear car park where we were to begin the walk. STOP - there was a barrier across the road! Road closed until the 30th November. Much discussion ensued - would we walk on the AAWT towards Walhalla? (Not in Baw Baw NP) Would we do Ron’s Mt Erica and Mushroom Rocks walk? (Many people were thinking of doing that on the Sunday, so perhaps not) Would we go to the Mountain Design sale in Traralgon (a large number supported this!). Eventually we phoned the number given on the road sign but no answer. We then drove down to DSE at Parkers Corner but no one was there. So the long drive back to the lodge. Once we’d had morning tea Peter the walk leader took control and we followed in the footsteps of Richard’s walk to Baragwanath Flat – rikkea, bog, much of the path was grown over and very muddy. Our destination was Mt St Phillack Saddle. However, once there, the consensus was “perhaps a little further to Mt St Phillack” where we had lunch and then “just a bit further to the Rock Shelter”. By now we had almost walked the entire distance to the Mt St Gwinear car park, our supposed starting point. Interestingly on the way back to our lodge we met several groups who had also tried to do the walk from Mt St Gwinear car park to find the road blocked for repairs. They had also been well organised and had checked the VicRoads and DSE websites for road closures – no mention of it. The management at the village were also unaware of the roadworks. On our return there was a mutiny and it was decided to skip the difficult walking through rikkea and the soggy Pudding Basin part of the track. Instead we returned via the Summit Trail (one of the winter cross-country ski trails). Pleasant walking down into the village past all the chalets which were busy with many doing summer repairs.
Heather Haynes
Sunday 6th November 2011
Walk 6 -
Village Trails and Summit
Many people opted for the easy walk option on Sunday morning after a harder-than-expected walk on the previous day. After a quick vacuum and clean of the lodge, the group wandered through the village past the original Baw Baw Ski Club lodge and climbed up one of the wide clear slopes that in winter are the downhill ski runs. Once at the top of the run we continued on to the summit of Mt Baw Baw where those of us who were young and energetic climbed the cairn. We returned to the village via the Village Trail arriving back behind our lodge. In classic walking fashion we stopped at a café before returning to the lodge to have lunch, finish the housekeeping, and leave for home.
Walk 8- The Tors
Nine intrepid walkers set off clockwise around the Village Trail (thereby avoiding the dreaded soggy “Pudding Basin”. At Baragwanath Flat we followed a narrow trail out to The Tors – two rocky hilltops with a saddle between. There we had morning tea and debated continuing on to St Phillack Saddle, but wiser counsel prevailed and we retraced our steps to the Village Trail. Here Tim took charge and led us up a steep hillside to the cairn on top of Mt Baw Baw, on top of which we had a group photo. We then followed the Summit Trail back to the Lodge.
30 October 2011
Participants: Claire Cassidy and Peter Ryan [leaders], Larissa and Graeme (Essendon Club), Chrissy and Brendan (workmates of Claire) and Julie Parker.
It dawned cool and drizzly and continued to deteriorate for most of the day, but undeterred we set off on the planned activity. Julie had spent the night at Claire and Pete’s new house. We meet up with Larissa and Graeme in Macedon, drove to the end of the hike, left a car there and continued for a further 10 minutes on to Daylesford to meet the others.
The trail was well marked with the logo which probably saved us much deliberation during the day as we passed many unmarked tracks going in all directions. A short detour was necessary at the first creek as rains had washed away the bridge but all the other crossings were manageable with the help of Claire’s handy poles even if some got wet feet. We only stopped once for a shortish lunch break - too cold, wet and windy for anything else.
The walk went up and down many hills, past farms, alongside a disused railway line, down some minor roads, followed an access road for a gas pipeline and through the Wombat State Forest [or what’s left of it after years of logging]. It was mostly open, stony, clay country, showing the effects of gold mining and bush fires with a few wild flowers brightening the otherwise overcast day.
Refreshments at a warm cafe back in Daylesford were a welcome end to a good tramp. Thanks Claire and Pete for your hospitality and organization.
Julie Parker
Federation Walks: Shoreham – Point Leo – Somers
After signing in at Rosebud, Ed Buller drove us over to Shoreham where we started the 14 km walk along the beach. The sand was very firm, the tide was out and there was a light breeze, so conditions were perfect. The 13 walkers came from various clubs and the leaders were from Catholic Walking Club.
We stopped for morning tea at Point Leo, where children were playing in the sea and parents watched from the shore. At Merricks Reserve we found a nice spot for lunch and then continued on past a group of young sailors in Hobie Cats. We turned inland to view Coolart Homestead, a lovely old two-storied house built in 1890. A short walk through Somers led us to the cars at Somers Yacht Club. A very pleasant walk and nice to chat with bushwalkers from other clubs.
Fran Miller
Date: Saturday 29th October – Tuesday 1st November 2011
Participants: the usual extended walk crew plus a newcomer and some veterans (rusty) ones. Jack Devries (leader), Wayne Burge, Wendy & Geoff Cartledge, Ben Aalbers, Graham Bolton, Denis Nagle, Tim Clarke, Alan Eagle, Ed Buller, Ed Dyt, Rob Bentvelzen and Katrina Merrifield who came all the way from the Pilbara to join the walk
We drove up to the Howitt
High Plains car park on Friday night and set up camp. Some of us had to
set up our tents in the rain a
nd
one unnamed person made the task even more difficult by having no tent
poles, but Denis came to the rescue with a spare tent!!! Rain continued
all night despite the confident comment of Rob who stated, in the car on
the way up, that we would be dry as the area was in a rain shadow.
With only our spirits undampened, we set off with wet tents and wet weather gear at the ready. As we walked to the Vallejo Ganter Hut at Macalister Springs we put our wet weather gear on for most of the walk and found the hut quite a pleasant break from the rain for our first play lunch. Other soaked walkers were drying their gear by a smouldering fire which was ably fired into a blaze by our team pyromaniac. We headed off toward Mt Howitt, but at the junction with the track to the Crosscut-Saw we decided to give Mt Howitt a miss as the view through the clouds and rain would be nil.
As we progressed across the Crosscut-Saw we had further stops to snack and regroup as the clouds
slowly lifted, and by the lunch stop the weather was almost good enough to dry our tents before it forced us to put wet weather gear back on to protect ourselves from rain that was so driven by the wind up the cliffs that it was driving upwards (above horizontal). In improving weather, we climbed up and down Mt Buggery, the Horrible Gap and lastly the multiple tricky cliffs of Mount Speculation where we made camp and kissed goodbye to any unpleasant weather for the rest of the trip.
The next morning we made our way down into Catherine Saddle, across Mt Despair and onto the rocky plates of the start of the Razor Back where our leader skilfully navigated us onto a spur that led us to the Viking Saddle for our next camp site. The fire re-growth on either side of the saddle was some of the thickest and most unpleasant that many of us had seen and some very experienced walkers were seen to take tripping tumbles accompanied by some choice words. As for all days of the walk we made good progress and so were able to make camp by about 3:00pm. At the Viking Saddle camp we enjoyed the camp cooking and the company of other walkers. Extra evening entertainment was also provided by the occupants (supposedly two bearded ladies) in a bright orange circus tent with a flag flying above it. Entrance fees were too high for all present, but all were ably entertained by the lighting of a wood stove in the tent and the resultant issue of a plume of gum-tree smoke into the evening air from the top of the tent (admission for inspection of the heating stove was free to both party members and co-campers who were dumbfounded by such sights).
The next day involved an exciting climb up the Viking and finally up through a totally enclosed rock chute to the summit. An orange winged bird-man was seen on the summit and strangely resembled one of our more eccentric club members. After crossing to the South Viking we made our way steadily down a long uninterrupted spur to the Wonnangatta River where Wayne demonstrated his fishing skills and provided a wonderful feed of the most delicious trout for all to enjoy. The last day was a most enjoyable climb up through impressive wild flowers and lastly snow gums and alpine grass to our starting point to hear the running of the Melbourne Cup.
Thanks to Jack for leading this wonderful walk and to all participants who made it safe and enjoyable. Many of the participants would like to do it again as it is one of the best walks in Victoria.
Tim Clarke
Date: Sunday 23rd October
The
5 SBWC members: Fran Miller, Ed Buller, Megan Major, Heather and Michael
Haynes were among the 300 walkers sharing in 22 walks on the Mornington
Peninsula. The walks were well attended with not even some of the
Peninsula club members able to get into some walks. Those families
spending the day out to enjoy the sun and surf found their travels on
the Peninsula being criss-crossed by numerous groups of walkers
Cape Schanck to Gunnamatta Beach Parking at the car park at the light house we walked towards Gunnamatta via the Coastal Walk passing chunks of white sandstone which in the early 1900s were collected by bullock drays for the buildings at the Point Nepean military base. The tide was out and the sand firm, making the walk on the sand to the surf life saving club very comfortable. We had lunch looking down on the myriad of surfers seal-like in their black wetsuits. Unfortunately the tide had turned on our return walk meaning the walk on the soft sand was definitely hard work. We continued past our initial entry on to the sand to clamber over rocks at Fingal’s Beach with their magnificent sculpted rocks before climbing back to the cliff top on a long and steep staircase to the humidity of the ti-trees. We realised that the cool ocean breeze had misled us about the heat of the sun and many of us were a little sunburnt. We returned to the memorial hall at Rosebud and were given a delicious afternoon tea and information on next years’ Federation walks to be held on the 14th October 2012 in the Marysville area. We were also given a book with maps and details of the 22 walks on the Mornington peninsula used this year. This will be held in the library if you would like to browse.
Heather Haynes
Date: Saturday 22nd October
Leaders: Jim Stranger for the Ben Cruachan BW Club and Denis Nagle for the Strzelecki BW Club (and both for the Friends of Tyers Park)
There were 12 walkers in total this year. We got organised very efficiently and were ready to start when we noticed that Jim had got a flat tire. We fixed this in no time and were on our way. Due to other commitments I had not walked the track or done any track maintenance there since last year, so it was interesting to see how much others had done. A new cleared sidetrack to a view of the Moondarra Dam spillway afforded great photos of the water streaming down the rock face.
We made good progress along the river then into a side gully and up a set of twisting turns to stand high above the river. Signs of past fires through here are slowly disappearing with lush new growth everywhere. The wild flowers were also brilliantly abundant, in parts the growth meant you had to keep a look out for the path and the markers.
The weather was wet and humid, so it wasn’t long before coats were removed and then raincoats were required. Then there was a scream, the first of what was to be many a leech. We walked on stopping only to remove leeches regularly; they were so bad we had to keep going until we reached the top of a steep hill where the undergrowth was minimal. Here we separated with ladies to the left, gentlemen to the right so that the removal of the offending creatures could take place. After checking each other we found a suitable place for our morning tea break.
Even though it was overcast there was a cool breeze now and then, and the views were just as spectacular. As in past years we had lunch by the river but first removing more leeches. New road works have vastly improved the track up the next hill; a great deal of interest was had in the old weir and the limekiln. The river crossing was not a problem as the water level was quite low. The work that the Friends group has done on the track was evident at many points, and was most appreciated.
Considering our minor delay in starting, we finished the walk in the time allocated, a tired and bloodied, but happy group of walkers said goodbye and thanks before heading home. This is an annual walk, so if you haven’t been able to make it yet, maybe we’ll see you next year. Denis Nagle
Melbourne Bushwalkers exhibition and completion of Golden Mile Walk
Date: Tuesday 19th October
Participants: Ron Cann (leader), Jenny Cann, Jan Garden, Bill and Deb Wiglesworth, Julie Parker
The focus of the day was a visit to an historical exhibition of bushwalking, at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria in A’Beckett St. in the Melbourne CBD. Jan, Jenny and Ron took the train to Southern Cross Station where they met up with Julie, Bill and Deb.
Deb’s suggestion of the nearby Kinfolk café in Bourke St. for a “starter” coffee was well received, with infinitely more atmosphere than the DFO outlets of Southern Cross Station. If you haven’t been there it is worth a visit – many staff are volunteers, it donates to charitable causes, and the décor is rather unusual: “loads of recycled furniture, some of it made from the old Princes Pier, upturned rustic ladders used as bookcases, cosy seating on mismatched chairs and communal tables …”
Continuing on up Bourke St. the bluestone St. Augustine Catholic Church caught Julie’s attention. Its 1870 timber ceilings are impressive and its shaded gardens, featuring a magnificent callistemon in full flower, would be a delightful sanctuary for tired bodies on a hot summer’s day.
Strolling on under sunny skies, we were soon at A’Beckett St and the exhibition venue. The first real bushwalking club in Australia started in 1894 as the Melbourne Amateur Walking and Touring Club that later became the Melbourne Walking Club. The club still exists and a few years ago it donated some of its archives to the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.
The exhibition, “Melbourne Walking Club - Pioneers of Bushwalking”, draws on that material to show the history of the Melbourne Walking Club and some of the remarkable achievements of its members. Although not a comprehensive history of bushwalking it also shows the development of bushwalking in Victoria. We were impressed with the many early black and white photos, hand drawn maps of places that we now visit with accurate topographical maps and sophisticated navigation aids, “primitive” equipment, and many accounts of early adventures.
After picking up some lunch items in the food hall at the Victoria Market we selected a lunch spot under a giant Morton Bay Fig in the Flagstaff Gardens. Thoughts of yesteryear continued: the Gardens were
once a burial site for early settlers (“Burial Hill”); the gardens are named after the flagstaff first erected in 1840, at the settlement’s highest point, to communicate between the harbour and town. The harbour view long disappeared as the city grew up and up.
We continued on to pick up the tail end of the “Golden Mile” walk. We passed the 1859 Royal Society of Victoria building, where the bodies of Burke and Wills had lain in state after their ill-fated expedition. A horse trough in Victoria Street brought to mind a question asked in the Golden Mile Booklet: “How many horses were stabled in Melbourne in the 1880’s”. Julie’s instant “20,000” got it … a good guess or a good memory from the earlier “Golden Mile” walk?! Julie left us here, other things to do in the city.
We continued on to the magnificence of the World Heritage Exhibition Building and the beautiful Carlton Gardens. It is hard to believe that the current Exhibition Building is only around one tenth of the size of the exhibition space of the 1880 exhibition. The opening of the first Australian Federal Parliament was held here in 1901.
After strolling through the gardens for a time, it was time to up the pace, back to Flinders St. with a train to catch and a car park deadline to reach. All in all it had been a satisfying day, much to interest us, excellent company throughout, and plenty of city walking.
Ron Cann
Freemans Mill Walking Track, Bunyip State Park
Track Maintenance 2011
Date: 16th October 2011
Participants: Cathy Almond, members of Essendon and Waverly Bushwalking clubs
This activity was organised by Parks Vic. We met Steve, the Parks Vic representative, at the locked gate leading up to the start of Freeman's Mill track. This area was badly burnt in the 2009 bush fires, and although evidence of the fires is still visible, the re-growth is incredible. I don't think any maintenance has been undertaken since then.
We were given hard hats, reflective vests and gardening gloves and tools suitable to our abilities, in my case a set of long handled secateurs. One man with chainsaw skills was sent on ahead to cut logs and dead wood blocking the path.
Our job was to cut back any growth that impinged on or was likely to impede people walking along the path. Being wantonly destructive, and not having to worry about whether something was native or about to flower, was actually quite fun!
We worked for a couple of hours before a brief lunch break, then moved on to the other end of the track and worked our way back. My role continued as before, others went ahead of me with a Deutscher (a mower on steroids) and the chainsaw. I worked my way towards them, clearing as I went.
Steve insisted we down tools at 2.30pm and start packing up, providing us with afternoon tea as an incentive. I was a bit sore the next day but enjoyed the work, it wasn't too difficult and it was good to meet people from other areas and do something useful.
Cathy Almond
Dates: Sat/Sun 15th - 16th October 2011
Participants: Rob Bentvelzen (leader), Tim Clarke, Peter Maffei, and Ben Aalbers (as track markers spotters.)
We
all travelled up to Heyfield Railway Hotel for an early tea. Nicely
fortified, we then made camp about 9-00 pm at the last river bridge over
the Wellington.
We were intending an early start about 7.30 am but after looking around for one of Tim’s supports that goes with his stove we did finally depart at 8.30 am.
The trick was to spot the track markers to keep on the track and find the suitable river crossings, on to the last river crossing that brings you to Riggals Spur Track. We achieved this by 2.00 pm and set off the last 5.5 km to Echo Point. This little distance took 3.5 hrs and we were all very tired by the time we started the descent to the lake.
We found the lake was full, and a sidle around the hillside brought us to the camp site on the south west side, where the track heads down into the valley of destruction. With camp set up and tea on the go we were at last able to relax and enjoy the beauty of the lake. We also enjoyed Tim’s pancakes served with a dash of lemon and honey.
We were up early, a little rain during the night, and managed to get away by 8.00 am as the return journey was also 17 km. The Clive Lanigan track down the Valley of Destruction has been cleared by DSE and was an easy walk down to the river crossings. Again we concentrated on finding the markers and worked our way back to the cars. Over the last few years the river has changed a lot and with the extra rain the landscape has changed. There has also been a foot track put in to make Shaw’s Gap easier to negotiate.
On our return to the cars Ben and I were the only Iron men to have a dip in the river.
We stopped at Heyfield for fish and chips and then headed home.
Thanks to Tim, Ben and Peter for your companionship and to Rachel for putting the trip on the program. It has been a good lead up to the Cup weekend walk over the Vikings.
Robert Bentvelzen
Date: 4th October 2011
13 club members, 57 seniors, 1 bus driver, the events officer from Baw Baw shire and lovely weather made for a wonderful day at the annual Seniors’ Walk. Based at a picnic spot by the river in Noojee we had morning tea whilst the day’s organisation was explained to the seniors and a DSE officer spoke about the walks in the area. They then selected one of 3 walks to visit the town’s beauty spots - the Trestle bridge, Toorongo and Amphitheatre Falls or the Loch Valley tramway – also known as the Ralph Cornwall Track. I accompanied the waterfalls group – about 20 people – which was taken to the carpark at the start of the walk by bus. Even after all the recent rain the track was in good condition and it meant that the waterfalls were impressive. Apart from two ladies who returned to the carpark with Heather after glimpsing Toorongo Falls, (their shoes were most unsuitable!) the Seniors managed the track very well. On returning to the picnic area we enjoyed an excellent lunch provided by Baw Baw Shire before departing for home.
Thank you to the Club members who supported this activity - without you this worthwhile community event could not be held. It also provides good publicity for our club and garners goodwill in the community and with the Shire.
Michael Hayne
Date; Friday, September 30th – Sunday, October 2nd, 2011
Participants: Michael Haynes (leader), Julie Williams, Fran Miller, Peter McDonald, Sue Williames, Wendy McDonald (visitor), Gary Fox (visitor – now a member)
On Thursday evening (September 29th) 5 of
us met at Apollo Bay Backpackers Lodge. Early Friday morning we drove to
Glen Aire where Peter & Wendy had stayed. The car shuffle from Johanna
Beach (where we started walking) to Glenample took longer than expected,
so we didn’t start walking until nearly 11 am. The morning was fine (to
our surprise), as it had rained heavily most of Thursday. The track
started steeply uphill beside cow pastures, rewarding us with views of
the coastline on one side and a beautiful valley with a wandering stream
on the other. We had lunch at the junction of Old Coach Road and
Melanesia Track. Here it started to rain, and continued gently
throughout the afternoon. We followed Melanesia Track through farmlands,
eventually dropping steeply down a slippery track to Melanesia Beach.
Here Michael took photos of his “Nemesis Rock” and a small fisherman’s
cottage dating from 1928. The track then took us over a series of ridges
and gullies, through wet forested areas where we encountered numerous
leeches – one giant one dining well on Julie’s knee. We continued
slogging through
mud and increasingly heavy rain until we reached Ryans Den campsite at
4:30. The rain really set in solidly then, and we retired to our tents
very early, although we greatly appreciated the covered kitchen shelter
in which to cook our dinner.
Saturday: All the party were ready to leave early except for Michael, who the others generously allowed to sleep in! It had rained heavily almost all night, stopping about 3 am. We left at 9 am on a windy, but surprisingly fine morning. So we had managed to dry much of our gear. We walked beside the sea, the track climbing headlands and dropping into gullies with raging streams carrying loads of silt. We had morning tea on a grassy stretch of track, basking in the sun, and soon after encountered a 1 metre tiger snake which was reluctant to move away. Climbing a stile we came to a beautiful area of grasslands with Jersey cows. We then followed a newly formed section of track with gentle gradients, though muddy underfoot, through a messmate forest. We saw many wild flowers, including Waxlip orchids, running postman, yellow everlasting daisies, golden bush pea, bluebell creeper, grasstrees, musk daisy bush and lots of wattle. Reaching the Gables Lookout we enjoyed the spectacular coastal views, but the strong wind obliged us to move back into a Casuarina forest to eat lunch and relax. From here we crossed another headland and descended sharply to Wreck Beach. The tide was going out so we walked along the beach, passing anchors commemorating the wrecks of the ‘Marie Gabrielle’ (1869) and the ‘Fiji’ (1891). At the end of the beach we climbed a switchback trail to the Devils Kitchen campsite.
Sunday: Up at early dawn, having lost an hour’s sleep for the start of daylight saving, we had a quick breakfast and were on our way. Fine weather, and not too many steep parts today – mostly undulating sand dunes. We took a newly developed section of track from Devils Kitchen to the Gellibrand River. Here we had lunch at a lovely picnic spot beside the bridge, then walked along the top of the cliffs, catching sight of the (nine) 12 Apostles as we came closer at each rise. There was considerable wildlife in evidence, as we saw a wallaby, an echidna, a wedge-tailed eagle and a kestrel along this section. We paused at a lookout, and then continued to the end of the track. There was a closed continuing section of new track which will take walkers to the 12 Apostles Visitors Centre when completed.
Report compiled by the group during the walk
Date: 25th September 2011
Participants: Peter Ryan (leader), Chris Cotton, Ed Buller, Michael Haynes
Chris and I travelled to Macedon on Saturday afternoon and spent the
night with Claire and Peter. Ed drove up on Sunday
morning, and we met in Gisborne. Unfortunately, Claire was unwell, so
Peter took on the leadership role. We drove in Ed’s car to O’Briens
Crossing in the Lerderderg State Park and started our walk northward,
roughly following the Lerderderg River. The Tunnel is a fairly short but
impressive piece of engineering, cutting a tall slit in the rock through
a ridge around which the river once flowed. It was created during the
gold rush, around 1855, to enable the exposed river bed to be sluiced
for alluvial gold. It emerges into a beautiful little valley which would
make a great camping spot. After a suitable break we then continued
through the park along Tunnel Point Track until we met North Blackwood
Rd where we turned east for a short distance before turning back
into the park. Unfortunately, the track notes for this walk are getting
dated now, and the tracks described no longer match those on the ground,
of which there are now many more, but not all the old ones have
survived. The result was that we thought we were on one track when in
fact we were following another. After a pleasant time wandering up and
down a series of ridges and spurs through fairly open bushland, we
discovered our error and finally identified our location. We had not
progressed as far eastward as we had estimated, and so we took a compass
bearing and headed for the car at O’Briens Crossing, reaching it fairly
late in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the late hour precluded our
following Ed’s suggestion of heading for Holgate and some special
“Temptress Chocolate Stout” they brewed! Thanks to Claire and Peter for
their hospitality and for organising the walk.
Lerderderg Gorge Tunnel
Date: 24th-25th September 2011
Gayle Shields and I spent a lovely weekend in the Grampians, admiring the wild flowers and enjoying the views from the peaks we scaled! On Saturday we drove to the northern end of the Grampians and climbed Mt. Stapylton (278 metres). Quite a rocky climb and we passed energetic people rock climbing (bouldering is the latest terminology!) we did not make it to the very top, but high enough to get wonderful views of the surrounding farmland. On Sunday we drove south and climbed Mt Sturgeon (343 metres). On the way down we saw some of the land slides that had closed the road for many months. The Mt Victory road was still closed.
Bird Rock at Mt Staplyton
Fran Miller
Traralgon South Flora and Fauna Reserve
Date: 20th September 2011
Participants: Anita Charles (leader),
Wendy Cartledge and Digger, Jan Garden, Bill and Deb Wiglesworth, Ben Aalbers, Rod Catchpole, Ron Cann, Heather and Michael Haynes
It was good to have one of our former
dedicated Committee members (and Club Secretary), Anita Charles,
back in a leadership role for a Third Tuesday walk. With Graham and
Anita’s twin boys now at kinder at Traralgon South, Anita has had the
opportunity to regularly walk the local tracks, and had devised a
circuit through the Traralgon South Flora and Fauna Reserve.
We met at the Traralgon South Hall, and after a quick cuppa, then sheltering under the hall verandah in the forlorn hope that the rain was just a passing shower, we got underway.
There are a multitude of tracks through the reserve, so many options. Ours was an anti clockwise circuit of approx 13 km. The tracks were mostly sandy and 4wd accessible, with some steep pinches which had hearts pumping vigorously!
Anita had explained beforehand that the Reserve was burnt out by the Black Saturday fires and whilst there is plenty of lower and mid storey regrowth, the canopy has not regenerated, so there would not be a lot of shade. However, the suggested hats, sunscreen and sunglasses (to counter the glare from the white sandy tracks) remained in packs as it was overcast throughout the walk and raining for much of the time! I suppose we can’t always have fine Third Tuesdays!
As
promised there was an abundance of wildflowers: Epacris, Correas,
Pulteneas, Melaleucas and Leptospermum. The “Running Postmen” (Kennedia
Prostrata) were abundant and reminiscent of the Southern Prom after the
fires down there. A local Yellow Grevillia was a standout, and towards
the finish there were many Wax Lip Orchids.
With few breaks and a solid pace throughout, it was a good fitness walk. The rain continued during a brief snack stop mid-walk, so no one bothered to sit down to rest. In the distance was a view towards Callignee, and a small blue building that is the present abode of the Bolton/Charles clan.
We were back at the Traralgon South Hall a bit around 1.30. Most of us had not walked in this area before so it was good to get a taste of what is a very interesting pocket of bushland.
Some headed home; a few of us took up the offer to follow Anita to the new Callignee Hall, where we barbecued lunch. With somewhat dampened clothing and now a strong wind blowing, we were grateful to have the luxury of a new kitchen to eat in. The facilities at the new 3 million dollar complex are impressive: CFA building, Play Group room, expansive hall, well equipped kitchen, cricket club rooms, BBQ shelter and playground equipment. The local community who suffered so much in Bill, Jan, Wendy, Anita and Digger the fires of February 2009 can be justifiably proud of their new resource. Many thanks Anita for a really good walk, and for allowing us to make use of the excellent facilities at Callignee!
Ron Cann
Bike Ride - Meeniyan to Fish Creek
Date Saturday 10th September 2011
Participants Peter Maffei (leader), Rob Bentveltzen, Wendy Cartledge, Rachel Davies, Denis Nagle, Robyn Shingles, Gary Fox (visitor)
We
met at Meeniyan at 3.00pm and set off on the Great Southern Rail Trail
towards Koonwarra, to ride across the relatively new Tarwin River
Bridge. A shower of rain started about 2 minutes in but lasted just
long enough for us to feel damp for a while. This was to occur a number
of times during the afternoon but did not dampen spirits.
We turned around at the bridge then headed back through Meeniyan on a nice smooth track with a slight breeze and occasional bursts of sunshine. The 3.5km to Stony Creek was through picturesque farmlands and then it was on to a small detour to check out the wetlands. The group spread out a bit on a lovely straight stretch with a few minor ups and downs heading towards Buffalo. Along the 8km stretch we stopped to observe an echidna which scurried across the road, and pick up one rider who hit a pothole at speed and fell off (apparently I’m accident prone!). The only injuries were a few grazes and major embarrassment!
A brief snack stop at the (closed) Buffalo general store then on to a slightly hilly stretch into the small town of Boys (didn’t see any though) and a lovely downhill run for the last 8 km into Fish Creek. We arrived on dusk at around 6.00pm, in perfect time for our dinner reservation at Cafe K.O.
We peeled off our damp and mud-spattered outer clothes and warmed up in front of the very welcome open fire – we must have looked rather bedraggled though. There were many meat options on the menu with the game sausages being particularly popular. A few warming drinks later and we were back on the bikes by 7.45pm.
It was a quick ride back to Meeniyan that felt mostly downhill (you don’t seem to notice the hills in the dark!). For those brave enough, there was sufficient moonlight through the cloud cover to allow the bike lights to be turned off. We finished off the evening with a round of hot drinks and delicious desserts at Moo’s Cafe, having covered approximately 42km for the day.
Date 2nd to 5th September
Participants Jack De Vries (leader) Tim Clarke Michael Haynes
Tim & I had a great drive on Friday up to Jindabyne - lovely scenery along the Snowy River past Suggan Buggan. We camped beside Lake Jindabyne in a Caravan Park, and Jack joined us there having driven from Sydney that afternoon. Saturday morning we drove to Thredbo and took the chair lift to the top, above the tree line, where there was plenty of snow. It was a clear, sunny day, and we selected a camping site beside a high cliff of rocks and snow and pitched camp. We then took a day pack and skied about 4 km to the top of Mt Kosciuszko. Great views from there - the snowy peaks appeared to continue forever! Skiing down again we returned to our camp-site to cook tea. We were in bed by 7:00 pm. During the night the wind steadily increased to a full gale, nicely bypassing the cliff we hoped would shelter us. Jack De Vries had his winter Macpac tunnel tent, and it behaved well. Tim's new single-skin, floorless tent - bright orange, 3 metres diameter, 12 sided tepee style - did not like the strong wind and flapped alarmingly throughout the long night. By daybreak we could see that the pegs were lifting and it was time to pack up. So after a cold breakfast we shouldered packs and returned to the restaurant at the top of the chair lift for some lovely hot chocolate or coffee. We stayed there for a while until the first skiers of the day had broken the surface of the home ski run, then skied back down to Thredbo. We lunched in Jindabyne, and then started home. Jack returned to Melbourne via Khancoban, and Tim & I via Bombala and the Monaro Highway. We camped in a lovely bush site south of Bombala on Sunday night, and then continued on to Traralgon by about 3:00 pm. Thank you Jack for organising the trip.
Bright to Wangaratta Bike Ride
August 13 & 14- 2011
Participants: Robert Bentvelzen (Leader) Rachel Davies, Margaret Bentvelzen (Support Driver)
We headed for Bright on Friday afternoon and stopped at Yea pub for a counter tea. The weather was good and the police were busy on the road to Bright. We arrived at the Big Four Caravan Park where we had booked a nice warm cabin to stay Friday and Saturday nights.
We commenced our ride on a very chilly morning with an immediate stop at the Bakery for a hot drink, hoping the sun would warm the air outside. We braved the elements soon after and had a wonderful morning meandering down the bike trail, all bitumen, down hill to Everton. We arrived there about 12.30 pm and Margaret arrived with a fresh lunch straight from the Bright Bakery. We drove back to Bright and then completed a small walking circuit around the Ovens River which happened to finish just at the local brewery! The social evening continued with a beautiful feed of fish at the local hotel and this completed a great day.
Sunday was a bit warmer and we were transported to Everton to commence our 16 km ride up to Beechworth. On this section we saw the layout of a mountain bike competition circuit with signs directing the flow of riders. We also met a young 5year old and his Dad going downhill to Everton. This young boy was riding his own small bike with small wheels from Beechworth all the way to Everton Station.
We met Margaret in Beechworth at the Bakery for a hot drink, and then commenced our return journey to Everton, just in time to see the young lad also arriving in Everton.
We continued on to Wangaratta and met Margaret in the Rotary Park for lunch. This meant we had completed 113 km of rail trail riding this weekend. On completion of lunch we returned home via Yea, arriving about 6pm in Drouin.
Thank you to Margaret and Rachel for a great riding weekend.
Once again we hosted a walk out of Tyrone Thomas’ book, “Walks in the Daylesford Region”. It was written up by him in 1993 and was listed as a two day walk graded easy. A few days later Loris came in to the shop and told me that her updated book rated it as a one day walk and that it was hard!
I must admit at the end of the day I was glad to be sitting down in the pretty camp/picnic area at the end of the walk. With a couple of newies on the walk, I was worried that they might have found it too hard and would be cursing the day they heard the name Peter Ryan as a walk leader! But they wouldn’t be the first to curse me!!!!
But it seemed that every one enjoyed the outing and were ready to come back for more. Even Chris, one of the newies, enjoyed his day. Chris by the way is an ambo and could be a very handy bloke to have around. He also fits well into the group and enjoys the banter that goes on a Strzelecki walk.
Whilst it was a longer drive than normal for the Gippslanders, about an hour and a half from Macedon, it was a new area to walk and had a certain mystique to it. Melville caves, whilst not strictly caves but large gaps in the rocks, were used in the late 1800’s by Captain Melville to hide himself and his horses whilst he plundered the local area and its gold escorts. It was a rather sad tale for this captain who spent 20 of his 35 years in gaol and was found strangled in his cell. The verdict was suicide!
After an initial steep climb to a rocky lookout and a walk through the horse cave, it was a pleasant ramble along a road to a disused mine site used to get crystal during the Second World War. Mt Kooyoora beckoned in the immediate vicinity and the rest of the walk was going to be off track. There was no sign of any foot pad or track so we hoofed it off into the light scrub to scramble to the summit, only 150 meters higher than where we stood. It took a while to find our way to the top as many large boulders and rocky slabs had to be negotiated before we reached the summit. Once on top we enjoyed the views and lunch whilst looking down on Trish’s 3,000 acre farm. Once a Gippsland girl, she now resides on the 5th generation family farm and hopes one day to get back home.
After lunch it was more rock hopping and scrambling as we descended to a saddle and then dropped back down to the lowlands where we had a large sheep paddock to cross. Curious sheep followed us and were probably wondering who the hell was crossing their paddock. A long slow climb took us back to the lookout and then a quick descent back to the picturesque picnic area and the end of the walk.
It is an area well worth more exploration and there are a few more walks that we plan to do in the area.
Thanks to the Gippslanders who drove up and spent the night with us.
Peter and Claire.
Mirboo North - Boolarra Rail Trail
Date Tuesday 16th August
Participants:
Wendy Cartledge (leader) Julie Williams, Anne Jones, Jenny Cann,
Nick Van Ewijk, Jan Garden, Dianna and Alistair Carr and Christine Clark.
Our group of 9 started off from Mirboo North along this historical Rail
Trail on what turned out to be a wonderful day of glorious sunshine.
The history of the railway track starts from back in the 1880's. The construction proved to be a difficult task, taking a couple of contractors to complete it. The construction was delayed by strikes for better working conditions and pay, as well as the constant bad weather. The township of Boolarra was formed from the humble beginnings of a construction camp and the township of Mirboo Nth was the site for a planned terminus of the new railway. The whole line was formally declared open on 7th January 1886 amidst great celebration in Mirboo North. It is hard to comprehend the effort involved in the construction of the railway, surrounded by dense bush and constant rain with all power supplied by horses and of course manpower.
The two new bridges (replacing those burnt in the
2009 bushfire) are now complete but the on and off sections have not
been completed so it did require a bit of slick foot work to get on and
off the bridges.
An interesting easy walk of 13kms, lovely scenic outlooks, plenty of
bird life and flora to admire along the way and an added benefit of
wonderful company.
To top off a great day we had an awesome afternoon tea (requiring a bit of a car shuffle) choosing outdoor tables sitting in the sunshine at a lovely cafe in Mirboo North.
Christine Clark
Date: 13th – 20th August, 2011
SBWC participants: Ron Cann, Tim Clarke, Michael Haynes
We happily accepted an invitation from members of the Melbourne Bushwalking Club to join their week at the Bogong Rover Lodge. After sleeping at the Tawonga Hall on Friday night we took the bus to Falls Creek on Saturday morning and skied in to the lodge with our packs, although there were places where the snow had melted and we had to carry our skis. That evening, as part of the shared chores, Ron and Tim were on firewood chopping duties, and along with the kindling wood Ron managed to chop off the side of his thumb! Fortunately, we had a ‘doctor in the house’ who treated Ron and attempted to re-attach the missing portion as a graft. Sutures without anaesthetic (to stop the bleeding) were not a pleasant experience, judging from Ron’s expression! Consequently, Sunday morning saw a few of us accompany Ron as he walked back to Falls Creek and caught the bus back to Mt Beauty to meet family and head for home – a disappointingly short trip! The remainder of the week passed quickly for Tim and Michael, although the poor snow cover did curtail some expeditions.
Michael
Rae Moore Commemorative Ski Outing
On Saturday 13th August, Denis Nagle and I headed for the hills – Mt Baw Baw in particular - and had a wonderful walk/ski to Phillack Saddle.
We sped up the windy road to Mt Baw Baw, only stopping to grab some
chains at Tanjil Bren ($25) and at the roadside cabin to pay the day
visitors fee ($36, ouch!). It was all worth it when we got there though
– the snow fields have their own unique atmosphere and it was lovely to
see happy children running around in colourful snow suits, beginners on
skis, inching their way forward and skilful snowboarders hurtling down
the slopes. We headed away from all the hustle and bustle, onto the
village trail where the snow was a bit patchy so we carried our skis.
The weather was perfect, not a breath of wind, but some cloud to keep
the snow glare and sun burn to a minimum.
At
Baragwanath Flats, we jumped on our skis and glided gracefully across
the snow! We occasionally had to carry the skis when the snow coverage
was depleted but it was definitely worth taking them. We passed a chap
walking from St Gwinear to Baw Baw and the snow was nice and firm which
made walking easy.
The markers we were following disappeared for awhile, but luckily Denis knew the way and we eventually found some more poles, so we knew we were on the right track. After about 1½ hours, we met up with the ‘Back of Baw Baw’ group at the sign posts on the saddle. Their 8 members had walked from St. Gwinear car park and were commemorating a fellow bushwalker who had passed away around the same time as Rae. We spent an enjoyable lunch break with them and then had a little gathering and shared our memories of these two avid bushies. We parted company, vowing to do the same thing again in summer.
On the return journey, we found a nice quiet slope where Denis practiced his skiing and I sat on a rock and enjoyed a cup of tea. We also met 2 groups of snow campers, one of them being members of a South Gippsland club who had slept in igloos last year.
We came back via the summit of Baw Baw and slowly made our way down the main downhill slope – Denis without falling but I lost count of my close encounters with the snow.
We left the mountain about 4.30 pm after a very pleasant day amongst the beautifully coloured snow gums. Thank you for organizing the day Denis.
Fran Miller
Date: Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th August 2011
Grade: Easy
Participants:
Tim Clarke (leader), Michael Haynes, Richard McNeil,
Wendy & Geoff Cartledge, Peter Maffei, Robert Hooper and Graham Bolton
We met at the township of Erica and drove up to the Mt St Gwinear car park, where we had a cuppa and arranged our final packing of gear. This resulted in some quite bulky overloaded packs holding skis, snow shoes, ski boots, stoves and other survival/comfort gear. Our hero Richard even carried in a wide mouth steel shovel which was used to great advantage for many purposes (other than discipline) in the snow camp. Thanks Richard. Due to the shortage of snow cover at low levels we were unable to ski or snow shoe until we reached the ‘race line’ just below the summit of Mt St Gwinear. The weather was cold and snowy, so we decided to set up our tents for shelter from the weather before we got too cold and wet. We chose an open area of deep snow that was surrounded by trees.
With the aid of Richard’s shovel we carved snow pits for our tents to make them more comfortable for sitting and putting boots on and off.
Our engineering master piece - a wood burning mini pot belly stove was
installed in my tent pit. This kept the tent quite a bit warmer than
others,
but it became rather crowded when most of the party of eight tried to
visit and fit into a tiny tent during the evening. In the close confines
of the tent we celebrated Wendy’s birthday by lighting a candle on a
little cake and sharing a bottle of Club wine.
Some of the party walked over to the rock shelter and down to Tullocouty Glen, Geoff decided to find out how solid the ice was over a frozen pool – not too solid was the answer, while others had a ski on the available snow.
The next morning we packed up slowly and given the scarcity of snow on the trails we decided to walk back to our cars to go home. From time to time we heard the sounds of distant engines that we thought may have been helicopters. On our way back we learned that these were helicopters that were searching for a girl who was lost near Mount Erica. Two of our members (Michael and Graham) joined the BSAR search teams at Rawson and helped with the search that thankfully found the girl before she was exposed to another alpine night without protection.
Overall everyone enjoyed the snow camping and it gave us a practical opportunity to test our snow skills and equipment. Many thanks to all who participated and special thanks to Michael who organized the trip during my absence skiing at Falls Creek.
Tim Clarke
Date: 31st July
Participants: Ron Cann (leader), Peter McDonald, Fran Miller, Rachel Davies, Julie Williams, Michael Haynes, Peter Maffei, Robyn Shingles, Richard McNeil, Ed Dyt and visitors Wendy McDonald, Ossy Otto and Shani Kirkby
SAG Wagon – Jenny Cann and Jenny’s Mum Edna
We all met at the Newhaven Information Centre at 10.00 and started with a cuppa and a chat about the route we were going to be taking, and marvelling at such a beautiful sunny day.
Ron started us off along the shared paths next to the Phillip Island
Road. These paths are fairly flat and very nice to ride along. As some
riders are faster than others we were spread out along the path, and met
up at the start of Rhyll-Newhaven Road.
After a quick 5 min break we tackled the nice long hills to Rhyll with the last km flying down hill into the town centre. We met up with Jenny and Edna at the café and had a well deserved morning tea.
The next part started with a short steep ride uphill to the Rhyll Inlet State Wildlife Reserve which follows the coast for a couple of kms. The tracks are easy to ride and we had a few stops at observation points to look out over the Rhyll inlet. The dirt path turned into well maintained boardwalks which took us through the mangroves and mudflats.
We continued on along the paths to the Oswin Roberts Reserve and Koala Reserve. There was a prize for the first person to spot a koala, but unfortunately no one did.
Everyone was getting a bit hungry by this stage so we made our way into Cowes along the share paths and then the bike lane on the road. We met up again with Jenny and Edna at some park benches just up from the foreshore, and had a lovely rest while eating our lunch.
Once lunch was over we said good bye to Jenny and Edna, and started making our way back to Newhaven Information Centre. We followed the path back past the Koala Conservation Centre, again no Koalas in sight, and continued on back to the Information Centre.
We made it back to the cars and finished off with another cuppa and some afternoon tea.
This was a fantastic ride, the weather was perfect for riding and everyone had a wonderful time.
Thanks Ron for putting on a great ride.
Rachel Davies
It seemed I would have to postpone this activity, but fortunately Denis stepped forward to lead it and was able to assist 2 beginners: Daryl and Sally Rowley. It sounds as though it was a successful day. Thanks Denis
Unfortunately we have not had many takers for our ad hoc ski days so far this winter, but Tim Clarke, Ron Cann and I have been making the most of the snow falls to get into training for our week’s skiing on the Bogong High Plans in mid-August. Denis and Henk have also joined in. After great early falls in early July the snow has been softening - Tim describes it as ‘gelati-style’. One great improvement this year is Tim’s heated shelter for our lunch time break – although should one wonder at someone happy to carry a tent, pot belly stove, its flue and wood for fuel in a day pack for a single day out in mild weather? On Tuesday 26th July Tim, Ron, Graham Bolton and I spent a pleasurable day using the tows at Baw Baw Village.
Michael Haynes
Date: Sunday 24 July 2011
Participants: Tim Clarke (leader) Donna Anketell, Michael Haynes
Since this was Donna’s first time at cross-country skiing (although she had tried the down-hill version) we did not attempt to go very far. There was a fairly good snow cover, and we found several good sections of wide, gentle slopes where we could play and practice skiing. There was a gentle fall of snow for much of the day, and this made the bush most attractive with the trees and bushes turning white, and provided fresh powder snow on which to ski. Our ‘pupil’ proved most apt, making great progress in mastering the light XC skis provided by Erica Ski Hire.
Morwell National Park: Billys Creek
Date: Tuesday, 19th July 2011
Participants: Michael Haynes (leader), Heather Haynes, Phil Answer, Ron Cann, Dianna & Alistair Carr, Jerry Englestad, Stuart Williams, Jan & Glen Garden
And Then There Were Six..
A large assemblage of walkers was expected for the Billys Creek Area, Morwell National Park walk, but as July 19 drew closer and the cold intensified, numbers gradually reduced to a total of ten. The forecast was for moist cold southern winds to bring high rainfall to Gippsland and a flood watch was declared for some rivers but fortunately we were well to the west of the expected weather havoc and the morning was actually cool but dry and ideal for a short walk with a challenging section.
From the carpark, just south of Churchill,
the group moved off through a well-established planting of local
eucalypts including Manna, Blue, Swamp and Strzelecki gums towering over
a carpet of lush green pasture. The creek was flowing strongly through a
series of bends, its waters a distinctive clay colour. It was an easy,
sometimes mushy, walk to the overflowing concrete weir that was once the
water supply for Morwell.
This was the place for a decision. The second part of the walk was 1.3 km up a seemingly vertical hill, followed by a more gentle 1.7 km walk back to the weir. As an added challenge there were two damp creek crossings that Michael pointed out before finding out who would climb the hill and who would take a less strenuous option. After consideration, Heather, Jan, Diane and Alistair headed back to the carpark, expecting the hill climbers on the Blue Gum Hill Track to be only a few minutes behind them. While waiting, Heather was imprisoned in the Carrs’ car, leading to a technical investigation of the childproof locks which kept them all busy and occupied.
Meanwhile, Phil was already about ten storeys high as Michael, Stuart, Gerry, Ron and Glen set out on their ascent. It is a very steep climb with a couple of extremely steep sections but Stuart insisted on an extra degree of difficulty with a bulging pack, probably equivalent to the 10kg of birdseed he usually carries on practice hikes close to home. It was a solid effort and a mark of his recovery from illness and surgery.
Michael had promised views from the top, and sure enough, most of the way up there was a view through the tree across farmlands and . . . six, seven, eight, yes there was Hazelwood power station and the pondage beyond. At this point a misty cloud was moving in with very light Gippsland rain obscuring the view at the very top of the climb. This cloud was giving the other walkers some moisture as they approached the carpark.
The descent was a totally different experience. A zigzag track with gentle grades had been cut from top to bottom, making it a long, but easy path back to the weir. The creek crossings created no problems, although it was clear that that water level could rise significantly with heavy rain. The descent had a comical feature. As the walkers spread apart they were on different parts of the track with some walking one way and others in the opposite zig or zag.
Unable to make phone contact, the carpark
group was starting to wonder about the arrival time of the hill climbers
but all arrived before panic set in. Gerry and Stuart left at this time,
Phil rushing home for a shower and some lunch and the remaining five
setting off for the lunch spot -- Crinigan Road Reserve. It was a
comfortable venue for lunch and Phil caught up with the group that had
been booked into a tour of the Gippsland Water Factory.
By any standard, the first view of this wastewater treatment plant is a surprise. In the background is the expected tangle of pipes and bends and turns and pipes and more pipes but in front is an enormous tin structure that is hard to comprehend. Known as the Vortex, it appears to be an architect’s fantasy of portraying a seashell in the form of a series of upended giant water tanks set into each other. Up close it is seen that the structure is set over a pool of water that acts as a heat sink, one of the many ecological features to make the building ‘green’. At the back, in the smaller tanks, are laboratories and operational rooms but the primary purpose of the front sections is as an education and interpretive centre with high quality video and interactive displays.
We six were very privileged, with Jenny to give us an introduction and Ian, the acting manager to give a very thorough explanation of the two types of water treated at the plant: domestic and industrial. Waste water and sewerage are treated to very high levels of purity, with much of it being sold to the paper mill at Maryvale, thus saving large quantities of fresh water from being used in paper production.
For the ten who made the walk on a day that threatened, but did not deliver on being ghastly, it was a great day out and for the final six it was an opener about how water rates are being used and serious environmental issues addressed Thanks to Michael and Heather for excellent planning, leadership and hospitality.
Glen Garden
A walk, some fine dining and a ropes course
Date: Saturday and Sunday 16-17 July 2011
Saturday
Participants: Ed Buller (leader), Cathy Almond, Fran Miller, Robyn Shingles, Peter Maffei, Michael Haynes, Richard McNeil, Daryl Rowley
We met at Belgrave train station car park, a fairly late start for a walk so no time to stop and smell the coffee, with Ed cracking the whip. It was a lovely day; we were very fortunate with the weather. Our original destination was changed as there had been so much rain, parts of the track were flooded and would have meant wading through water.
Our walk began down a road and shortly into bush. There was a minor hill to get the blood flowing. We met some people who took a photo of us as 'serious walkers'!
At our morning tea stop, we encountered a very friendly male lyrebird who was not at all fussed about our presence. He stood on an elevated branch and entertained us with various tunes, then spent some time scratching around on the nearby ground. The photographers were able to get some great photos before he took off.
The track was very muddy but pleasant, mostly flat and grassy and not particularly hard walking. We went through the lovely Sherbrooke forest.
Lunch was at a small reserve with bush toilets, at a table by a creek; there was another, closer lunch stop but it was too crowded with tourists feeding birds.
A steep, steep hill after lunch tested us all and resulted in the discussion of, when you elevate your heart rate, how fast is too fast?
We returned around 4.30 and all adjourned to Oscars’ Ale House for ale and recovery.
Ed, Michael, Fran and I stayed on and headed to the Lyrebird for dinner; it is worth visiting Belgrave just for the dinner and beer experience.
A carabiner or karabiner is a metal loop with a sprung or screwed gate that is used to quickly and reversibly connect components in safety-critical systems. The word comes from "Karabinerhaken", meaning "hook for a carbine" in German.
Sunday
Participants: Ed Buller, Cathy Almond, Fran Miller, Michael Haynes, Daryl & Sally Rowley, Denis Nagle
The intrepid group met at Trees Adventure just after 9am. We were given gloves, hat and harness which we figured out ourselves how to attach and tighten. After a brief safety demonstration, we were let loose.
Trees Adventure was established last year by two Frenchmen, who traveled around the world to get ideas. It combines flying foxes with giant step swings, barrels to crawl through and tightropes among other things. At all times you are harnessed to a wire, at various levels above the ground. Teachers amongst us had experienced something similar before; it was completely foreign to me.
The harness has 2 carabiners (giant hooks), which at all times connect you to the overhead wires. Depending on the activity, you then either balance on a wire and walk from one tree to another, stand on a rope and swing, or fly on the flying fox. I know what it sounds like, but it is extremely safe.
There are four levels, green, blue, red and black; you must do at least red before you attempt black. The red level was harder than expected – it requires a lot of upper body strength – so then Michael and I did the 'short black' course (the last 3rd of the 'long black' course). We found the blue course a doddle after that. Daryl, Ed and Denis all completed the long black.
You are only allowed 2 hours on the equipment; we could have stayed longer although my arms were grateful for a rest.
We retired to a cafe for lunch in Belgrave before heading home.
Ed asked me to keep his name low profile, perhaps because he developed pneumonia and had to take the next week off work to recover! Thanks for a great weekend, Ed, and glad to hear you are well again.
Cathy Almond
Date: 3rd July 2011
Participants: Rachel Davies (leader), Suzy Taylor, Heather and Michael Haynes, Steve and Chris Munro, Peter Maffei , Robyn Shingles, Denis Nagle, Geoff and James Lockwood, Daryl Rowley
At approximately eleven o’clock the group of eleven participants set out
to conquer the 9 Km track circuit, whilst trying to stay as dry as
possible. Led by Rachel, the group set out following the road, before
being shortly led into the fern infested depths of Steegle Track.
The
group quickly segmented into smaller packs as some stopped to marvel at
the scenery, whilst others determinedly pushed on through the wet
undergrowth. The weather report the day before had warned of strong
winds and heavy rain; however the group was blessed with only a light
drizzle to hinder progress. Near the start of the track we encountered
our first obstacle. Urged on by Rachel the group swiftly by-passed the
road block to be confronted by yet another hindrance, a ditch stretching
from one side of the track to the next (the remains of an old bridge).
A wide creek trickled merrily on both sides of the track so
circumnavigating the ditch was quickly discarded, and the thick, soggy
underbrush and soft mud would only aid in soaking your pants should you
wish to attempt jumping the creek. Finally a few brave pioneers succeed
in crossing the ditch via two conveniently placed logs. The rest of the
group was then helped across the ditch by these individuals. From there
the walk continued relatively unhindered as the group pushed ever
onwards towards their goal. The path widened enough for the group to
spread out and allow some (in the form of myself and a few others) to
push swiftly ahead while the rest followed through the ever changing
scenery. At first the track ventured up and down in the form of steep
hills and gullies, but finally levelled out at a road crossing, the
first of many. The group stopped to snack and converse at this first
point. By now it was raining steadily and midday was upon us. The walk
was then resumed in earnest, sidling down the other side of the steep
hills the group had just overcome. The path here was treacherous,
twisting, muddy and wet. At one point part of the group was led astray
by the head of the column (me) and off the track into a small quagmire,
fortunately this marsh led straight back onto the track. The bush was
relatively quiet that day, few birds chattered in the trees and the
underbrush was silent for the want of insects and other small animals.
Only the steady rain filled the seemingly empty air, and proceeded to
soak any piece of clothing left exposed. This leisurely stroll through
the rainforest soon came to an end with the discovery of another road.
Those that had shot ahead patiently waited for the rest of the group as
only Rachel could aid us in which path to take. Once this was settled
the group again marched into the changing landscape, once again
segmenting into smaller groups as everyone followed their own pace. The
group bringing up the rear was hopeful their forward counterparts would
deal with one problem that persisted for the rest of the walk, leeches.
They were sadly disappointed, however, as the leading walkers only
succeeded in arousing the leeches and the rest of the walkers were left
to bear the brunt of the little vampires. As the walk continued the
circuit began to fragment into smaller separate tracks, each being
divided by a road. This resulted in the lead walkers constantly
stopping to be guided by Rachel on which track or road to follow. By
now most legs were completely soaked through thanks to the wet
undergrowth encroaching on the track. The smell of fresh blood wafting
down the track and the sound reverberating through the bush aroused many
leeches further along the track; as now even the lead walkers faced
waves of the hungry little creatures. After stopping once more for a
quick snack the group pressed on down the final leg of the journey. The
rain now showed no signs of letting up and soon everyone was forced to
don rain jackets under the constant shower. As the walk neared its end
many stopped to marvel at a large tree that had fallen in a recent
storm. The mighty root system of the tree was something to behold, as
was the massive trunk. A well hidden short cut allowed the group a
quick return to the car park and by then the walk was over. People
sipped hot drinks and soup under the protection of their car hoods and
the participants farewelled each other as the walk came to a close.
Likely everyone was looking forward to a hot shower and a heater once
they got home. I
was!
James Lockwood
Cathedral Ranges – The Jawbone
Date S/S 2-3 July 2011
Grade Medium
Participants Ed Buller (leader), Chris Cotton and Cathy Almond
The
weekend weather promised a fine afternoon on Saturday with maybe some
rain on Sunday afternoon – a perfect fit to our plan. We all caught up
in Healesville for a bakery lunch and then set off thru the Black Spur
to Narbethong. In less than an hour we were parking in the Ned's Gully
car-park ready to walk. The first three kms walking was along the
pleasant creek that was running well. The track was wet and after a bit
of slipping and sliding we arrived at Cooks Mill drive-in campground.
Only a few brave souls were enjoying the chilly afternoon and we soon
set off along a nice little track up to the Jawbone car park.
The views up the hill from here are quite imposing, and the rock rises
almost vertically out of the hillside giving the impression of a steep
ascent. In fact it is quite moderate thanks to well made stone steps
most of the way. Half way up we found a nice little waterfall for camp
water, and soon found ourselves up on the farmyard campsite.
Only
one tent was up in the lower area so we moved up on the ridgeline to
have that to ourselves. It was sometime around 4:00pm so after tents
were erected we headed up the South Jawbone for some lovely evening
views in a chilly breeze.
Back down at our tents warmth was quickly provided via some nice Red and enough snacks to almost give dinner a miss, but not quite. Kind souls had provided a fireplace and with some additional fuel we soon had a pleasant evening in the making. Around 7:30 about half a dozen winking lights appeared coming down the jawbone soon followed by a climbing party on their way back.
The night blew around a bit but the rain stayed away pretty much until a bit of drizzle at breakfast time. We had a relaxed brekkie and then headed off to explore the North Jawbone. After climbing around on the jawbone for a bit we decided to do a recce along the ridgeline and consider a walk along to Cathedral itself. We made it up the ridgeline to get some fine views of the surrounding valley and the consensus was that a combination of wet rocks and pack walking could wait until another day.
We headed back down the way we came up and were soon back at the cars and enjoying a refreshing ale in the White Rabbit brewery in Healesville.
Thanks to Chris and Cathy for their company.
Ed Buller
Bike and Hike East Gippsland Rail Trail and Surrounds
Date Queens Birthday weekend – 11-12th June 2011
Grade Easy to Medium
REPORTS FOR THE CYCLING SECTION OF THIS ACTIVITY WERE PUBLISHED IN THE JULY NEWSLETTER
Walking leg of the trip over the Queens Birthday weekend
Saturday: Den of Nargun/Angusvale
Participants: Cathy Almond (leader) Michael Haynes, Phil Answer
We
met the rest of the crew in sunny Bairnsdale around 10am. The bike
riders were almost organised, and we parted ways at 10.30am.
It took a bit over an hour for us to get to the start of our walking trail in the Mitchell River National Park. It's a lovely picnic ground and worth a visit just for that.
The Den of Nargun walk isn't difficult, but the track is narrow and rocky in parts, so you do have to be careful. It took us around 40 minutes (my time keeping may be out, it's been a while), to walk to the actual Den.
It is so named because of the Nargun, an aboriginal legend of a fierce, half human, half stone beast that lives there. The site has significant aboriginal heritage, and we didn't venture in too far. It appears as a large pool with a rocky overhang. It was noticeably cooler there than on other parts of the track, and we enjoyed a brief stop and rest.
From there we retraced our steps and headed part of the way to Angusvale. The whole walk is 2 days; we planned to get some way towards Billy Goat's Bend and turn back. The track is narrow and follows the Mitchell River most of the way, occasionally meandering up a steep ridge to get through a valley. The views were delightful and I was tempted to swim, but refrained.
I can't tell you how far we walked, it was mostly flat though so we kept going until we succumbed to hunger pangs and stopped for lunch.
On return, Michael and I found a lovely campsite called Woolshed Creek. This is a large, flat area, with good river access and fireplaces. There used to be a toilet but it has been removed. The campsite is marked on the map but secluded from the main path, and not easy to find unless you hunt. You don't walk far to get to it, and it would be a lovely base camp for future reference.
We arrived in Nowa Nowa around 4.30pm and met the sore and sorry bike riders shortly afterwards.
Day 2 – Sunday
Participants: Cathy Almond (leader) Phil Answer, Ed Buller, Charlotte Buller, Andrea (Charlotte's friend)
We began the day with a tour of Nowa Nowa. Don't scoff; there is actually a brochure highlighting the delights of the little hamlet, with multi-coloured lines indicating different walks you can go on to explore the sights. We chose a short jaunt to the lookout. It passes mostly along the river and through the outskirts of town. Although it had been raining over breakfast, the weather cleared when we left and it stayed dry.
You can drive to the lookout and walk 300 metres which, in Charlotte's eyes, meant we had wasted our time (!), but the view was quite impressive, down to the river and cliffs.
We took the shortcut back to the camp ground and headed off to Buchan.
Our main walk was through Buchan caves, which I had never seen. There are 2 caves, Fairy Cave and Royal Cave. It's hard to say which is better; if you were only going to do one, I don't think it would matter which as they are both quite amazing.
We managed to convince the girls to walk from the car park to Royal Cave, about 1km, and that was the extent of our walking, except through the caves themselves. There are other walks in the area but, for reasons that will later become clear, we didn't do them.
The literature/website tells you there are 3 tours a day; but due to demand they were running tours every 15 minutes so we had no problem getting into the caves. We chose Royal Cave first as we were in time for the 11am tour.
The caves have stalagmites and stalactites, formed over millions of years. They recently installed new lighting and the formations are extremely well lit and easy to view. I spent so much time taking photos in the first cave I'm not really sure what I saw.
Tours go for around an hour. We had to go into Buchan for lunch and were slightly late for our second tour, much to our guide’s disgust. Equally beautiful and stunning to see, both were well worth the effort.
As we were deciding what to do after our tours, it began to rain which somewhat dampened our enthusiasm for walking. Ed spoke of 'a little brewery I know, on the way back', and so it was we ended up at the Bull Ant Brewery in Bruthen. The beer was very good, and I could live on the onion rings, although my heart would protest.
Intermittent driving rain saw us arrive back in Bairnsdale to greet some soggy but happy riders. We were able to have afternoon tea and warm up with coffee before heading home.
Thanks Rachel for organising such a great weekend and I look forward to doing it again.
Cathy Almond
Toorongo Falls and Noojee Trestle Bridge Walk
Date: Tuesday 21st June
Participants: Ron Cann (leader), Michael Haynes, Diana Carr,
Phil Answer, Bill & Deb Wigglesworth, Steve Munro.
On the winter solstice seven walkers gathered outside the Neerim South Hotel for briefing & car sharing, and then travelled to the Toorongo Falls reserve for morning coffee and cake under grey, but mostly dry, skies. We first walked to Amphitheatre Falls along the gushing and gurgling Toorongo River. The path was well maintained but muddy. Stone steps in the steeper parts made walking easier and reduced erosion. We left the river and walked to Toorongo Falls on the Little Toorongo River. Both falls were tumbling cascades, a much greater volume of water than normal. The previous night’s rain and wind had caused quite a few branches to fall across the tracks, and even more across the road leading into Noojee. The circuit of both falls took about an hour of easy, but squelchy, walking.
We had lunch in the Noojee picnic ground; nestled between an elbow bend of the Latrobe River. After lunch we walked along the rail trail for about 20 minutes to the trestle bridge. Thankfully the previous night’s wind and rain had not caused any damage to the bridge. A pair of grey fantails provided entertainment as they looped and swirled about below us on the centre of the bridge. Equally entertaining were the theories on the bridge’s construction swapped by Ron, Mike & Steve.
Beyond the bridge the trail continued for a kilometre or so and culminated in a large mound and a sizable stand of delicate Coral Fern.
The walks were short, fitting for the shortest day of the year. Remarkably, the day was mostly dry for us walkers while much of the rest of West Gippsland was rainy.
Steve Munro
Despite a
very unpromising weather forecast seven hardy bushwalkers gathered
outside the Neerim South pub for our usual third Tuesday walk. We
carpooled to the Toorongo
Falls Reserve car park dodging fallen branches and debris from the
previous night’s storm.
After our cuppa break where the merits of different priced vacuum flasks were discussed (the cheaper Aldi one performs as well as the more expensive ones) we set off to find the falls. First stop was to watch a lyrebird by the river. It disappeared after a short flight across the stream. The day turned out to be better than expected as we were sheltered from the weather by the steep slopes. Further along the track Ron noticed a strange rock with a round hole in the middle. Many theories of how this hole could have been formed were mulled over before turning to theories of the extinction of the dinosaurs!
The river
was full after the rains and the Amphitheatre Falls were magnificent
with water rushing over the moss covered rocks. We
climbed
upwards to the Toorongo Falls noticing the number of branches that
had landed like spears in the track showing the force of the wind.
The Falls were fantastic again due to large amount of rain. The loop
track from the Falls had a “Do not enter” sign and tape draped over
it – apparently the track upgrade works continue.
We drove to Noojee for lunch in the park, fortunately under shelter as it started to rain. From here we walked to the trestle bridge track and along the track to the beautiful curving trestle bridge. The bridge is a legacy from the old railway which ran from Noojee to Warragul from 1919 until 1954. The bright green tree ferns looked beautiful from above. Ron persuaded us to keep going across the bridge into unknown territory to see what the other side of the track was like. This side was more overgrown and petered out quite soon. When we returned we decided we had all had enough and would do the Glen Nayook walk another time (it was a freezing cold day after all) and we drove off to Piglets Cafe in Neerim South for coffee and cake.
These two walks in the wet bush were really enjoyable, the bush was crisp and clean and bird sounds were everywhere. We were really lucky that every shower happened when we were either in the cars or under shelter. I’m so glad I decided to go. Thank you Ron for leading us and thanks to everyone for your company.
Diana Carr
1. Friday 17th June, with early good snows in the mountains, Tim and I took the opportunity to reccie a good position for our snow camp planned for early August. We also took a fire drum and wood to leave at the site. We found that the car park at Mt St Gwinear had been improved with some new barriers and gates. There was about 30cm of snow cover, with a firm crust but soft underneath, and the skiing was quite good. After locating a good camp site and exploring the area around it, we went on to the Rock Shelter on the AAWT for lunch. From there we took several detours and paused to ‘play’ on some inviting slopes during the return trip.
2. Friday 24th June: Ron Cann, Tim Clarke and I returned to Mt St Gwinear for a fun day in the snow, limbering up for more energetic skiing days (hopefully) to come. Unfortunately, the reports of good snow cover were a couple of days out of date, and warmer temperatures and rain had melted quite a lot of it. We therefore had to walk a bit to reach the snow, and the cover varied from quite good to very thin indeed! Nevertheless, there was enough there for us to reach the summit of Mt St Gwinear. The slopes on the other side were even less snow-covered, so we ate lunch under Tim’s light-weight shelter before starting back. On the way we located a couple of well-covered slopes where we could practice skiing and turning. An enjoyable day, and quite enough to start toning up the skiing muscles, but now we have to wait for more snow!
Michael Haynes
Bike and Hike East Gippsland Rail Trail and surrounds
Date Queens Birthday weekend- 11-12th June
Participants: Rachel Davis and Cathy Almond (leaders),Rob Bentvelzen, Michael Haynes, Phil Answer, Jack Devries, Denis Nagle, Ed Buller, Charlotte (Ed’s daughter) and Andrea (Charlotte’s friend)
Bike ride day 1: Bairnsdale to Now Nowa
The plan was for everyone to meet in Bairnsdale
at 10am on Saturday. However Ed and I arranged to meet on Friday
night and stay in Bruthen. The reason: a certain known
establishment, the Bullant Brewery is now serving its own
range of handcrafted beer, made on the premises. We started with a
taster size of the four varieties served on a carved piece of red
gum, accompanied by onion rings deep-fried in beer batter. (The
girls had lemon, lime and bitters). Then we had the most wonderful
meals, followed by the serious size beers.
We adjourned to our accommodation at the Bruthen Hotel, where we furthered the girls’ education in how not to play billiards and darts. The live music was pretty good but the real entertainment was some of the locals. We were up and gone before any sign of the publican or his wife.
Ed was a bit unsure about riding, having only once or twice done any distance rides. We decided to car shuffle so his car would be available in Bruthen.
After a few minor adjustments (thanks Jack) to some brand new bikes, all were ready.
Those riding the first day were Rachel, Rob, Jack, Denis, Ed, Charlotte and Andrea.
Cathy, Michael and Phil were going walking at the Mitchell River National Park.
The Rail Trail starts just over the river and at first it is fairly flat and has a bitumen surface until it crosses the highway. More adjustments were required to some bikes, but we settled into a steady pace. Recent heavy rains though had made the track very soft in places and here and there trees had blown across the track. The scenery was very pleasant as we passed through farmland and bush. A long climb started to take its toll on the less experienced riders. There was the occasional down hill and a bridge over the Nicholson River for some variety.
By midday Ed, Charlotte and Andrea had decided to make their finishing point Bruthen. The rest of us decided we had to set off to arrive in Bruthen in time for lunch. Rob and Jack set the pace and were on to their second pie by the time Rachel and I arrived. After our stomachs were full we wobbled our way across the Tambo River.
We still had 30 ks to go and it was going to be a race to get to our destination before dark. Again the track had some very soft, wet, sandy patches that made the pedaling harder. We reached the turn off to the Mississippi trail, where other riders were heading after having ridden from Orbost that day.
After six hours in the saddle though, a lot more than most of us were used to, we were thinking the end couldn’t come soon enough. We arrived at our accommodation; Mingling Waters, to find the walkers had arrived and luggage was unpacked. But no sign of Ed - rumor was, he was still in Bruthen at that aforementioned Brewery!
We were revived slightly by the hot showers, albeit with the ever so sensitive adjustment taps.
The lost party had arrived, seems they had gone sight seeing. The pre dinner drinks went down most agreeably, and then our host Mike and his wife presented us with a special menu just for us. His gracious service was most appreciated; poignant to hear that the restaurant is on the market, but after 30 years we thought he deserves a break. (They plan to still be involved in the canoe hire and some other ventures. We wished them all the best.)
Denis Nagle
Bike Ride
Day 2: Nowa Nowa to Orbost
There was some rearrangement to the groups today, Michael venturing to join the riders - Rachel, Rob, Jack and Denis - whilst Ed, Charlotte and Andrea decided to walk with Cathy and Phil. The rail trail mostly paralleled the road, and there were a number of minor roads crossing the trail necessitating careful manoeuvring through metal barriers. The trail was generally firm gravel, but overnight rain meant there were still patches of soft sand or mud to negotiate. Rail trails are generally thought of as being fairly flat, but the long gradients took their toll on those less fit (well, Michael anyway).
The ride for the morning was about 40 km, and the plan was to buy lunch in Orbost, so we could not waste too much time with rest stops. For about 30km all went well, but then
Michael’s lack of riding practice became increasingly obvious, with soreness in the knee and increasingly frequent walking up the gradients. The others took turns staying with ‘tail end Charlie’, but after a while Rob, Jack and Denis pushed on as the weather was becoming threatening, and rain was falling heavily as the last two entered the outskirts of town. Lunch under shelter was very welcome, and at 2 o’clock we boarded the bus which Rachel had organised to take us and our bikes back to meet the walkers at Bairnsdale.
Our thanks to Rachel and Cathy for organising the weekend, which was very successful.
Michael Haynes
Mt Baw Baw Village to Mt St Phillack Circuit
Date: 22nd May
Participants: Richard McNeil (leader), Michael Haynes, Peter Maffei, Rachel Davies, Julie, Daryl and John
We started from Baw Baw Village Carpark, after putting on our winter gear due to the snow on the edge of the road and the big grey clouds coming our way.
Walking through the nearly deserted village we started on the Village trail and headed east to Pudding Basin, which had patches of snow and lots of water. After jumping across little ponds of water, and sometimes slipping in, we continued on to Baragwanatha Flat.
We left the trail and taking some compass bearings followed the snow poles trail through The Tors. A lot of the snow poles were missing so compass and map were used.
We stopped for a much deserved lunch after climbing uphill through thick scrub and snow.
After a quick chilly lunch we continued navigating with map and compass and found 4 of the missing snow poles leaning against a tree. Peter carried 3 of the poles and re-established them along the trail.
Once we crossed another boggy area we intersected with Australia Alps Walking Track and followed the trail back to the Village Trail, and back into Baw Baw Village.
It was a fantastic walk and we topped it off with a trip to the café for coffees and hot chocolate.
Rachel
Melbourne’s Golden Mile Historical Trail
Date Tuesday 17th May
Grade Easy
Participants: Ron & Jenny Cann, Michael & Heather Haynes, Alistair & Diana Carr, Jan Garden, Ben Aalbers, Phil Answer, Steve Munro, Julie Parker.
There
was a young lad named Ron
Who could do no wrong
He led us for quite a while
‘long Melbourne’s Golden Mile
and tried with a smile to hurry us all along.
Eleven SBWC bushwalkers left Warragul on the 08:26 train for Melbourne. After a comfort break and short assembly at Flinders St Station, the group walked along the Yarra’s north bank, noting the site of the old Yarra falls and ship turning basin. Next stop was the Immigration Museum for coffee and cake. The route we followed for the day is described in the brochure “Melbourne’s Golden Mile - Walk Australia’s most historical trail” published by City of Melbourne and Museum Victoria.
From the Immigration Museum, the former Customs House, we went past the site of the original Fawkner’s Hotel and then down Flinders lane behind the Rialto. Venturing down the little known Highlander Lane, we peered into the fascinating, exotically decorated interior of Rutherglen House. When told that Rutherglen House was occasionally let out as a Reception Centre, Julie said “It’s lovely, that’s where I want my wedding to be held!” – a wedding date has not been set.
We stopped for a photo opportunity outside one of the seamier addresses in King Street and then turned east into Collins St. Here the ornate elegance of 1880s Melbourne was displayed in the Rialto, Winfield and Olderfleet buildings. Along William St., we passed the Australian Club and then the Savage Club in Bank Place, the latter opposite the 1860s vintage Mitre Tavern, still a popular drinking spot, particularly on a Friday afternoon.
Crossing Queen Street we admired the magnificently ornate mix of Classical and Gothic architecture in the ANZ Gothic Bank and the next door “new” Stock Exchange (now superseded), described as “secular temples”. Over the road at 333 Collins St. we admired the
astonishing domed banking chamber of the former Commercial Bank of Australia.
Following a tip from a local we took a lift to the sixth floor where we
could see the, now enclosed, light tower that topped the banking
chamber. This light tower served as a navigation beacon for ships
entering the Yarra River.
While wandering through Block Arcade, and past a very busy Hopetoun Tea Rooms, many of us descended upon Haighs Chocolates. Lunch was alfresco in the City Square near the Burke & Wills Statue, and under trees of course. Further along Collins St. we ventured into The Athenaeum Theatre to examine some of the historical photos in the foyer, and then proceeded past the Baptist and Scots Churches. Diana recalled her visits to a dentist in the T&G building, confirming its nickname as the “tooth & gum building”.
Further along Collins St we passed the venerable Melbourne Club. Along Spring Street we stopped for photos on the steps of Old Treasury and Parliament House and quite a few of us remembered participating in various protest marches on these same steps in our younger days.
After walking past Princess Theatre and Gordon Place we consulted watches and decided to head back for the train. In spite of Ron’s friendly hustling us along, we were unable to complete the walk as outlined in the brochure. We had to stop short of the site of Madame Brussels’ brothel and leave touring the Carlton Gardens/Exhibition Building precinct for another time. The consensus was that this trip, although a departure from our normal bush treks, was very interesting and enjoyable.
In addition to the excellent brochure that guided us, a National Trust Booklet “Walking Melbourne” (National Trust 2004) provided some useful information on many of the buildings.
For anyone whose interest was piqued by this walk, some interesting early photographs are in The Streets of Melbourne, published by Herald and Weekly Times Ltd for Melbourne’s 150th Anniversary.
Tim Flannery’s The Birth of Melbourne (2002) contains contemporary articles and anecdotes covering Melbourne’s first 60 years.
Marshall Browne’s novels The Gilded Cage and The Burnt City give fictional accounts of Melbourne during the boom when many of the notable buildings we saw were built, and of Melbourne’s subsequent bust. Kerry Greenwood’s fictional heroine, Phryne Fisher, spends many hours walking the paths we took, although in the 1920’s and 30’s.
Steve Munro
AAWT – O’Sheas Mill to Mushroom Rocks
Date: May 12/13
Participants Tim Clarke, Michael Haynes
This was an impromptu walk inspired by a need to increase fitness for the coming ski season, and for me to try out my shoulder (after injury) with a light pack. We were aware that the weather was likely to be poor, but decided to go ahead regardless. We drove to O’Shea’s Mill site (otherwise known now as the East Tyers Camping Ground) where we left Tim’s car to start walking. This section of the AAWT has been realigned following the construction of the South Face Road, and now follows a Firebreak Track which is quite well maintained. It rained lightly, on and off, and the track would have been very slippery without its covering of leaves and bark. As it was, the track maintained a fairly consistent uphill gradient with only occasional very steep sections. After a couple of hours we joined the Mt Erica Road about 1.5 km from the Thompson Valley Rd. This was easy walking, but steepish, until about the 1.9km mark, where we started to see light patches of snow. This steadily increased until we were walking in several inches of the stuff. We met a party of secondary students from Dandenong, coming down the road with a student who was feeling unwell. At the T-junction with the Middle Tyers Rd we found two mini-buses parked, unable to reach the Mt Erica car park because of a large tree fallen across the road, and soon encountered a group of Monash Churchill students returning to the buses. At the picnic ground we had lunch, after scraping about 6 inches (15 cm) of snow from the table and bench. It was very cold and the rain, although not perceptibly melting the snow, was turning it to thick wet slush. We then decided to walk to Mushroom Rocks and look for a campsite there, rather than continue on to the ruins near Talbot Peak as originally planned. Arriving there at about 3:30 it was obvious that any exposed camp site would mean a very wet and uncomfortable night, especially as Tim’s new lightweight tent does not have a floor, so we decided to pitch camp under the rocks at the site of the first Baw Baw ski shelter. It was a bit tight, as the roof sloped, but fortunately at a similar pitch to the asymmetrical tent. Why I banged my head repeatedly on the rocky roof whilst Tim did not was a mystery – natural clumsiness I guess! We spent a protected night there, although a drawback to being a troglodyte is how quickly it gets dark. Next morning we cooked breakfast in the tent, then packed up and left. Some snow had melted, due to the persistent rain overnight, but the weather improved for the return journey, and we even saw some watery sunshine. The trip down was much faster than the climb up, of course, and we arrived back at the car by lunch time. Thanks Tim for a good idea, weather notwithstanding.
Michael Haynes
Vaughan Springs- Castlemaine Region
Date: Sunday 15th May
Grade: 13.2km -Medium
Leader: Claire Cassidy
Well we finally did the Vaughan Springs walk, it took us a while to get
there but it was well worth it.
Last time I had planned to do it Rob (Bentvelzen) came all the way up to
Castlemaine on his own and I couldn't get out of bed so he did it on his
own.
Claire and I and a couple of guests met at Malmsbury, Marita and her daughter Romana joined us for the day, the sun was shining so it looked like we would have a great day. And we did. Vaughan Springs is hidden away in the Chewton Range area, south of Castlemaine. It is full of old gold mining relics and mine shafts and is a pleasant spot to spend the day.
The start of the walk is at Vaughan Springs, a pretty little spot hidden
away from the hustle and bustle of modern life. A few houses are all
that remain here after the gold rush days. There was a mine operating in
the area until the late 1940's but all that remains is a mullock heap
and a small sign.
We climbed away from the Loddon River to traverse a high bank 100 meters
above the river and enjoy the vista of some old Melbourne trams sitting
forgotten in someone’s paddocks. They must have had plans to do
something with them but never got around to doing it.
The area was pleasant and we crossed over the main road into rugged bush
and found an old mine site. It looked like it had not been used for a
long time. The ground was well and truly worked over and there was a
large heap of shale they had dug out of the ground.
I had a new toy with me, a GPS and it was interesting looking at it as
it tracked our progress and told us how far we had come. We had lunch at
a picnic area by the Loddon River and it was very pleasant in the sun.
After lunch we headed up a hill called Italian Hill and missed the foot
track off to the river. We continued on the 4WD track and came across
the Great Divide Trail where we diverged and returned to Vaughan
springs.
A pleasant day with good company and another walk from Tyrone Thomas
book that we have done, but not quite according to his directions.
Peter Ryan
Walk on the Bogong High Plains
Date: Easter: 22nd to 26th April
Grade: Medium to Hard
Participants: Wayne Burge (leader) Jack De Vries, Ed Buller, Denis Nagle, Tim Clarke.
Thursday night saw us pull into Jokers Flat camp site around 10pm, tents were put up and to bed we went in anticipation of the morrow.
Friday
morning didn’t look too bad as we arranged the car shuffle. Ed’s vehicle
was left at the Big River camp ground and we all piled into Jack’s
Triton Wagon and headed to the start of the walk just around from Big
River saddle. Packs on we started walking up the Alpine Walking Track.
The weather clagged in a bit and it was cold, probably only around 6
degrees. Coats were on and off with some light rain and we finally
reached Cleve Cole Hut at 4pm.It was cold here at 1800m but we had the
hut to cook in and have a chat to the other walkers. On the way up we
met 2 blokes who intend to RUN the Alpine walking track hoping to beat
the record of 14.5 days!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday dawned fine and after a leisurely breakfast we set off for Mt Bogong. There was a light frost but the sun was shining, 10.30am saw us at the summit cairn and the views were spectacular. We then walked over to west peak, had lunch and explored a little before heading down Quarts Ridge to camp at Bogong Creek Saddle arriving at 4pm. A solo walker, Brian, was already there. Tim had the fire going in 15 minutes, he’s not a pyromaniac he just likes lighting fires so he says!!! Tents were put up and we settled in, one other solo walker arrived and we had a pleasant evening around the fire.
Sunday morning Easter Bunny came to all who were camped there, amazing! At 5am the frost was thick on the tents but by 6.30am it was gone but the wind chill factor made it very cold. Tim’s spatula had the head chewed off and Jack had one sock missing, never to be found. We think a fox had paid a visit to camp. We set off up the Grey Hills Track in brilliant sunshine. It was steep and we warmed up quickly. The views were fantastic looking back at Mt Bogong or in front at the Bogong high plains. Lunchtime saw us at Crows Nest with a wonderful view of a creek cascading down off the high plains. From here we went off track crossing Big River. Three of the fellas decided it was a good place for a dip.
Many strange and unusual noises were made; the dip did not last long. From here we continued off track reaching Ropers Hut at 3pm.Tim had the fire going not long after and we settled in for another sit around the fire with Brian.
Monday morning was mild as we set off for Mt Nelse then around to Fitzgerald’s Hut. The views were again fantastic. From Fitzgeralds we dropped down to Kelly’s Hut then followed Track 107 down to Wild Horse Creek. We were unsure if Track 107 even existed but there was a good foot pad to follow. Lunch was taken at Wild Horse Creek and we followed the foot pad all the way to the Mitta Mitta River. Track 107 was a fantastic track, well maintained and the gradient was superb, the bush was ever changing as we dropped altitude. We were glad to reach the river at 4pm as it had been about a 20km day. Once again Tim the ‘pyro’ had the fire going in about 10 minutes. We had another relaxed evening around the fire and we were all in bed by 9pm.
Tuesday morning was only a 20 minute walk to the car and then we had to retrieve the Triton wagon. This took one and a half hours. Then it was off to Omeo for lunch and home. I can only say I had a great time with plenty of laughs, fantastic views and superb weather and good company - thanks blokes.
Now for a limerick::-
There was a young man call Jack,
Whose sock was lost from his pack,
He looked everywhere,
And then in despair
Realised he would never get it back!
Wayne Burge
McMillan Walking Track - Camping At Woods Point.
Date: Saturday/Sunday 16th&17th April
Participants Rob Bentvelzen (leader) Rachel Davies, Phil Answer, Richard McNeil
Leaving Warragul at 8am we made our way to Woods Point via Noojee and
Matlock arriving at The Point around 10.30am.We checked out the camping
sites around town and decided on the Jack Scott reserve. Setting up camp
and having lunch took until early afternoon, and seeing as the McMillan
walk was going to take seven hours we decided to do a short walk around
town. This proved to be a very enjoyable afternoon. We crossed the
Goulburn River which runs through the centre of town, and followed a
track that takes you to a lookout that overlooks the town, and then on
to the town’s water supply which is only a little dam in a creek that
supplies the Goulburn River. Further on and circling back around towards
town is what I would guess is the town’s Botanical Gardens. It’s quite a
nice place with a variety of plants, very well kept lawns and lots of
evidence of what would have been Chinese gardens. As it was getting late
we went back to camp to light a fire and have some dinner.
The next morning we were up and packed early and ready to go. It was
only a short drive to the start of the walk at Comet Flat. The first
section was all uphill along the Johnston Hill track, and apart from
feeling it was never ending it was quite easy. This track comes out on
the Walhalla road and with plenty of safe areas just off the road this
is where we had lunch. The good thing about walking uphill all morning
is that it’s all downhill in the afternoon. The way back is down a spur
to Goolys Creek, then along the creek until you meet up with Johnstone
Hill track, then it’s back to the start. Sounds easy! But with a track
not being used that that often it soon becomes overgrown and without
much signage the walk soon became much harder. At the bottom of the spur
we lost the track, and with the undergrowth becoming much thicker it was
time to hit the creek as this was the easiest option. Soon the scrub
opened up and we were back on the track for an easy stroll home.
Another good walk Rob
Richard McNeil
20th Anniversary Weekend Walk – Mt Erica to Talbot Peak (Hobbitland)
Date: Sunday 27th March
Participants: Eileen Laidlaw (leader), Ron Cann, Kerry Williams, Megan Majors, Philip Answer, Ed Dyt, Peter Dyt, Peter Maffei, Heather and Michael Haynes, Cleo and Ken (Berwick BWC)
The
morning after the night before!! Bush dancing and celebrating the clubs
20th anniversary till midnight, then ready for walking at
Erica/Mushroom Rocks car park by 10am. What a beautiful clear, cool,
sunny day, full of interesting flora and fauna to reinforce the answer
to “Why do we do this?
The track to Mushroom Rocks was muddy – so much rain this season we wondered had it dried out at all this summer. The ferns were fantastic, overgrowing the track in places. One Lyrebird was extremely happy - we stopped to listen to an endless repertoire for several minutes. Then we met what looked like a Burrowing Cray. He/she waved blue tipped claws
and
burrowed back under leaves and yes, we were careful not to tread on it.
Near the junction to the scout hut Megan and Ron kept muttering about
the blackberries still evident, in spite of recent work by “Friends of
Baw Baw”. On to Mushroom Rocks where we pointed out the one that looks
like a mushroom on a stalk, then on to point out the start of the track
to the NBW hut.
By now the day was warming up, the group was strung out, with much talking and gawking at various plants and snow gum features as we made our way up hill to the plateau. We regrouped not far from Mount Erica then continued on to Talbot hut ruins for lunch. Eileen was concerned that with a late start and slow pace we might not have time to get to our destination, but group consensus was: Let’s do it!
We continued along the current route of the
Great Alpine Walking track past Talbot Peak and again got
distracted
by the flora. This time Eileen identified “Aseroe rubra”, commonly known
as star fungus. Eileen explained that its foul slime is to attract blow
flies to spread spores.
Down the hill, round a sharp bend and Eileen led us off the track to the left to her magic place. We bush bashed through low straggly, often prickly scrub for about 500 metres following the escarpment on the left, until Eileen found the right rock which marked the drop down spot to “Hobbit Land”. A short scramble down a track past huge rocks and there we were - standing on a soft carpet of forest mulch, surrounded by huge snowgums, beech trees and moss covered boulders. Fire has not touched these trees for maybe well over a century. We thanked Eileen for sharing her special place with us. By now the discussion centred on how long it would take to get back to the cars and would Eileen be home in time to milk the cows. The walk down was eerie at times as misty fog filled the gullies and the temperature dropped. Back to the carpark, and then back to Erica where some had met to carpool. The end of today’s walk and the end of the 20th anniversary weekend.
Megan Majors
Strzelecki Bushwalking Club 20th Anniversary Walk – Mt Worth SP
Date:
Saturday 26th March 2011 
Participants: Ron Cann (leader), Nick van Ewijk, Michael Haynes, Richard McNeil, Steve Munro, Denis Nagle, Kerry & Liz Williams
After meeting at Darnum and a short drive up to Mt Worth it was time for a cuppa before heading off on the great adventure. How civilised! A rather wet week had left us behind and the weather boded well for a walk through the sparsely forested undergrowth of the Mt Worth State Park.
The walk had in part been surveyed by Ron, Michael and Tim Clarke a few weeks earlier. We were assured of a relatively clear track which would have had the attention of ParksVictoria and Friends of Mt. Worth before our trip. The recce had been turned back at the falls by a huge gum that had dropped across the track on a steep hillside beside the falls. Interestingly the recce team had also not been able to follow the return route “track” in the “light” undergrowth.
A clear fresh morning saw us walking through to the remains of Trevorrow’s Mill where we followed an old track up the valley of Lorkin Creek to Courtney and Lorkin Falls. Despite the assurances of our leader that a clear track would await us, a little scepticism was evident. However Ron had the last laugh as the track, while not recently cleared, was relatively open and made for pleasant walking. The fallen tree was indeed a giant and had fallen across the track both below and above Courtney Falls and had been partially cleared by Parks Vic. The 2nd falls, Lorkin, were more substantial although the walk across the base of Courtney’s was perhaps the more impressive.
After a brief stop we headed uphill along the track following a railing. Interestingly, as the railing ended so did the track. After a bit of a scrub bash to try and locate any vestige of track it was realised the leader’s map had “gone west” back near the falls and a retreat was made to make a successful recovery.
The plan to follow the spur back down the opposite side of the creek provided us with a bit of a scrub bash/wrestle. Some compass work and terrain reading kept us on the somewhat indistinct spur with the occasional tease of an old track marker. A close encounter in thick scrub with a tiger snake sunning itself on a log at waist height provided an unusual although unwelcome encounter. The scrub wrestle, well above head height in many places, eventually brought us out onto known terrain and lunch where we were joined by a rather vividly coloured brown frog which chose to lunch with us.
A straightforward walk down the last bit of track that had previously been taped by Ron, Michael and Tim brought us out at Gardiner’s Mill. Despite the talk of mutant leech attacks we must have had them bluffed as leech attacks were probably outscored by the number of walkers. It was then a short stroll back to the cars and more anniversary celebrations in the evening and at Mt Erica the next day.
Evidence of the efforts put in by the old-timers in the early part of last century were often noticeable: benched tracks and tramway lines, winch cables scattered in quite isolated spots....a hard way to earn a quid! This was my first outing with the club for a while and both Liz and I enjoyed the company, the stroll and the repartee.
Thanks to Ron for a most pleasurable walk .................and for organising decent weather!
Kerry Williams
Starling Gap to Big Pats Creek Reserve
Date: Tuesday Walk 22nd March 2011
Participants:
Bill Wiglesworth, (leader) Deb Wiglesworth, Ron Cann, Graeme Duell,
Janice Garden, Steve Munro,
Chris Munro, Bob Venables and Michael Haynes
Although the forecast was ominous and the weather was nasty and wet in several areas of Gippsland, we completed the 9 km walk having encountered merely a few drops of rain.
The Starling Gap picnic area is a very fine place to have a cuppa although it was disappointing to see the litter left in the fire pits by previous visitors. While Bill, Steve and Ron did a car shuttle, the rest of the gang explored a couple of short walks from the picnic area to the site of some logging machinery – a winch and boiler - from the 1930’s and 1940’s when there were several bush mills in the area, and to a creek crossing on the track to the Ada tree.
Late morning we set off towards Big Pats Creek Reserve; it was a pleasant downhill stroll on a well formed track thick with fallen leaves. This was fortunate for those of us who managed to trip ourselves and land face or knee first in the soft earth.
We stopped for lunch just before the half way mark and continued our leisurely walk, observing many fungi and much lyrebird scratching along the way.
The Reserve is another lovely lunch spot on Big Pats Creek.
We were fortunate indeed with the weather and it was a nice outing – the first for our new member Bob – welcome Bob!
Deb Wiglesworth
Date: 11th -14th March Labour Day weekend
Participants:
Ed Buller, Jack Devries, Wayne Burge.
The adventure started on Friday with the drive up being made more difficult by thick cloud. Ed had to creep along at less than 20km per hour just to stay on the road. At McFarlanes saddle a couple of blokes with headlamps on from the Benalla Bushwalking Club asked if we were lost!!! We did drive out of the cloud and arrived at Horseyard Flat safe after seeing a couple of rabbits, one wombat and a dingo.
Saturday morning we were lost briefly trying to find a very indistinct 4WD track but we worked it out, the track got better and we had lunch on the top of Cromwell’s Knob with views of Mt Kent and Mt Dawson with the Moroka valley below. The day was hot and humid as we worked our way down the spur with great views of the river. The end of the spur dropped steeply into the river and was very shifty under foot, Jack had a fall and ended up some 4 meters from his hat with abrasions to his head, shoulder and shins and two fat fingers, nearly taking a spill over a 3 meter drop. Finally we reached the river at 4.30pm it was a welcome sight and we plunged in to cool off. A campsite was found and we settled in for a pleasant evening.
Day 2: We began walking just before 9am it was another warm humid day, the walking was good and the river had many rocky bluffs and deep pools plus one waterfall. The secondary gorge was interesting with 2 holes that could either be by passed by going up and around through the scrub or stripping off putting all your clothes in the pack and putting you pack in a big orange garbage bag and floating it across the hole. This was pleasant to do with the day being so hot and worked well. At 3.30pm we pulled up next to a large pool near Fitzpatrick’s Creek and scratched out a couple of spots for tents. Around 6pm with a couple of rumbles of thunder it started to rain, this lasted about 2 hours, we sat under Ed’s tent fly and cooked tea then were in bed early after 2 hard days.
Day 3 dawned a bit cooler and we headed of at 8am and soon passed our first waterfall, around the corner the gorge proper started and it was impressive. The wall closed in, the boulders got bigger and progress was slow, it was like a maze trying to find the best route through. We came to a not often visited 4th water fall and had to climb up and around to get to the top. Rock hopping our way up the gorge we arrived at the large 3rd waterfall and after a bit of rock climbing the going was easier past the next 2 waterfalls to the Lummican Gully campsite and lunch. From the campsite a new track has been cut and we arrived at the next waterfall which is 3kms from Horseyard flat in 35 minutes. We reached the car at 3pm, the walking over the three days was tough but the scenery was fantastic. Great walk, great company, thanks blokes.
Wayne Burge
Australian Alps Walking Track Maintenance
Baw Baw National Park
5th – 8th March 2011
Leaders: Parks Victoria staff led by Andy Gillham (6 in all, for various periods)
Participants: Bill Lay (Friends of Baw Baw NP), Eileen Laidlaw, John Sunderland, Michael Haynes, Ron Cann (Friends of Baw Baw and Strzelecki) Peter McDonald, Peter Maffei, Bob Venables (Strzelecki), Geoff Kelly, Mark Tischler, Therese Tischler, Alice Grant (Victorian Mountain Tramping Club), and Steve Lincoln and Oliver Raymond (Ben Cruachan).
In total there were 20 contributors to this major track clearing activity, for varying periods of time: one day for some, the weekend for others, and a few for the full four days.
With a base camp set up at Jeep Track Flat, this year’s clearing commenced at St Phillack Saddle and headed westwards, with a target of reaching the end point of last year’s clearing, a little to the east of the Whitelaw Hut site. Those who are familiar with the area will appreciate the ambitious nature of the project, necessitating a considerable walk through undulating terrain to the starting point, and of course, a longer walk back to base camp from the end point of each day’s clearing. By Tuesday it was a 13 km round trip! Fortunately we ran out of fuel for chain saws and trimmers around lunch time on Tuesday, though an early finish had been planned!
Unfortunately the job is still not
complete, and so a final 2 km of track will remain heavily overgrown
until
February 2012 when another 4 day programme will be launched to finish
the job. While the 2011 target may have been overly ambitious, a great
deal was achieved, with a total of some 3 km cleared. This may not seem
like a long distance but apparently “the rule of thumb” for track
clearing through heavily overgrown country is 100m per person per day.
This was close to the mark, given the time lost each day with the long
walk into and back from the work site.
Andy had advertised the event as “as easy or hard as you like”. I’m not sure that it was ever going to be “easy”, but with the rotation of tasks the demands were manageable, and the camaraderie, teamwork and the satisfaction of walking back through a track in excellent condition, made it all seem very worthwhile. Once again participants enjoyed the friendly hospitality of Parks Victoria staff, and certainly didn’t go hungry!
Well done to all who were able to contribute. Hopefully you will be keen to finish off the job next year, and others from Strzelecki might also decide to come along. You might want to note the dates in your 2012 planner – Saturday 25th to Tuesday 28th February. Ron Cann
Andy Gillham (Parks Victoria) –Ranger in Charge sent thanks to SBWC for their involvement in the recent track clearing along the AAWT in the Baw Baw NP. …”this work is considered extremely important in the overall management of the Park and could not have been undertaken so successfully without the support of your club..”
Walls of Jerusalem and Cradle Mountain - Tasmania
Date: 1-7 February 2011
Participants: Eddie Dyt (leader), Ed Buller, Peter Dyt, Wendy and Geoff Cartledge, Cathy Almond
Day 1
We met at the Walls of
Jerusalem car park on Tuesday afternoon. Wendy, Geoff and I had already
been walking in Tassie for a few days, but were still slightly anxious
about the other participants’ level of fitness, given two of the three
had been river walking for 3 days. We needn't have worried.
Our departure got underway with blue skies and we climbed about 2 kms,
mostly uphill, over tree roots and a rocky path, through pleasant bush
surrounds, to Trappers Hut. The hut was built in NP the
early 1900's for men to trap animals, dry and sell their skin. It is now
used as an emergency shelter; you can camp there but there are better
options not a lot further
along.
Walking from there was not as steep, still rough, and the rain set in after a short period. It was more annoying than anything, and stopped shortly after we arrived at our campsite. There is one main campsite in the park; we went 'off track' and found some flat, grassy patches where only one tent could be seen from the track. (This caused minor problems for one member of the group at a later date, but what's that saying about “what happens on the track, stays on the track?!).
Come dinner time and Eddie realised he had forgotten the meat portion of his and Peter's meals for the next 3 days. With Peter threatening mutiny, he was up early the next morning to retrace his steps and collect them from the car.
Day 2
The remainder of us got going and walked up Mt Jerusalem. We wandered past the official campsite, Wild Dog Creek, which has tap water, platforms for tents and was totally full. We were advised not to visit the toilet, which was also full. It was very cloudy with misty rain; this did not deter us from taking multiple photographs of the beautiful scenery. The walking from Wild Dog Creek is along flat boardwalks, through Herod's Gate to the Walls. We were fortunate that the weather cleared on top of the mountain, and we (briefly) had sensational views. We met Ed at Dixon's Hut for lunch, and ate sitting on a dead log, surrounded by green grass and ancient pencil pines.
Our next foray was up King David's Peak, which looked daunting from below. Turns out a stonemason has been through and carefully carved the rocks to provide stepping stones to the top. The walking was so easy we did it again the next day. (Also the weather didn't clear for us this time). There is a track leading west back to Wild Dog Creek from the top; we didn't know this at the time and bush bashed down.
Day 3
We woke to sunshine and blue skies, resulting in an extra cuppa and a late, lazy start. Walked up to the Temple, excellent views of the surrounding mountains including Barn Bluff, Mt Ossa and Cradle Mountain for those of you who care about these things. We took our time getting there and had lunch on
top, it was hard to leave. Having missed the views yesterday, we walked up King David's Peak again. We explored the option of a swim at the Pool of Bethesda near Damascus Gate, (don't you love the names!) but the deep mud deterred us. Thankfully we took the marked track back, and had enough time for a wash on the way home. Ed and I got wet in Lake Strzelecki (near our campsite), although we stirred up a lot of sediment just standing in the Lake. As Ed said, he knew things were bad when he could see the debris floating in his chest hair!
Some sensible people managed to carry a bottle of wine, which went down very well. We went to bed when the wine was finished and it got too cold to stay up.
Day 4
Woke to fog/damp conditions with the sun making a passing attempt to break through. As it was pack up day, we did so quickly before the rain could find us. On the way down we re-met 13 inspirational Newcastle bush walkers, the oldest 80! They had been pack walking for 5 days and were on their way home, although one lady fell and probably broke her wrist, just prior to meeting us. At least they were still walking.
En route to Cradle Mountain we stopped for Geoff's recommended Strahan pie, which was greatly enjoyed by all.
Eddie had organised a very pleasant cabin for us at Cradle Mountain Caravan Park, where we repacked for the next day and took a fast trip around Dove Lake. A lot of the walk is on boardwalks, which made it easy. We had a lovely dinner nearby and settled in for the night. Geoff and Wendy were woken by some enterprising possums who apparently had hung off the screen door handle, to open the door and gain access to the lollies in Eddie's pack!
Day 5
The shuttle bus the next
morning took us back to Dove Lake and we headed off to Scott Kilvert
hut. This is a beautiful walk through lovely scrub, uphill and with
chains to assist in one steep section. The track continued with rocks
and tree roots making walking challenging, around the
base
of Cradle Mountain although we couldn't see much as the rain set in
shortly after leaving.
We arrived at Scott Kilvert hut for lunch. It is named after a student teacher and student who died whilst walking in the mountains in 1965. It was thought had there been a hut, they may not have perished. The hut is 2 story and very grand by hut standards – well worth a visit.
During lunch we discussed our options; there were no short walks and the weather was worsening – so we sat inside and whiled away the afternoon playing cards.
A Hungarian guy was also staying at the hut; he had done a lot of travelling and inspired some of us with his stories. He was grateful for a cup of tea as he had no stove; his meals seemed to consist of ½ packet of biscuits!
Day 6
Cloud, mist and wind were the order of the day the next morning. The weather forecast the day before was for snow above 1200metres; as it was my birthday, it was my one wish for the day. We headed off early as Eddie had decided we would stay at Waterfall Valley that night, and we were keen to do some day walking, if possible.
Within an hour or so of walking, it began to sleet – then SNOW! I was very happy; the others wanted me to stop wishing at this point! The snow was not heavy but did lie around, and a strong wind kept conditions cool. and I were grateful we had purchased gloves before leaving.
Waterfall Valley hut is usually the first stop on the Overland Track. We arrived as most people were leaving for the day, and set ourselves up in the old hut, which sleeps 8. The volunteer ranger came to talk to us and because Eddie asked so nicely, took us to some nearby falls. We had to be serious 'leave no trace' walkers; the aboriginal custodians don't really want people going down there, and she will only take people who specifically ask. On leaving the main track we were not allowed to leave footprints, to indicate people had gone off track. We were also told not to step on Pencil Pine roots, as they are thousands of years old. Given the frequency at which they occur, and the smallest foot size being an 8, this was an almost impossible task (but we tried).
A hasty lunch saw us on the track again, heading to Barn Bluff. No more snow but the weather couldn't seem to make up it's mind, hailing one minute then blue sky. As we headed up, Barn Bluff was variously in cloud or completely visible.
It was not a hard climb over big boulders following cairns up and up, some evidence of snow still lying around. We all made it to the top (the highest point anyway, there was some dispute about what constitutes 'the top'!). From there we had sensational views, blue sky and it was well worth the effort. Going down was easier and we were fortunate to get down before the weather turned again.
Back at the hut we met our 2 roommates, from Brisbane and Melbourne. We shared wine, cheese, cabana, chocolate and my birthday cake, a German Stollen, thanks to Wendy who had carried it for 2 days.
Day 7
Woke to cold, mist and showers, with rain following not long after we left the hut. From then on the weather deteriorated, with horizontal, driving rain and very strong wind that nearly blew some of the lighter members off the path a couple of times.
Kitchen Hut provided a brief respite from the conditions before we continued on down to Ronnie's Creek. The wind and rain made the trip down hill holding onto chains challenging, but we were all careful and safe. The remainder of the walk was lovely, past a waterfall and almost a tropical setting.
Back at Cradle Mountain the boys went to have showers and Wendy, Geoff and I said goodbye and headed to Devonport, to catch the ferry back the following night.
Thanks to Eddie for a fabulously organised walk. Thanks to the group for great company and making my birthday so memorable!
Cathy Almond (42!)
AAWT Benambra-Omeo Track Clearing
Date: January 22-25
Participants: Members of VMTC, Catholic Walking Club, Essendon, Maroondah and Bayside and from SBWC Megan Majors
An overgrown section of the Australian Alps Walking Track has been cleared and re-marked for about 5km from Buckwong Creek, thanks to the efforts of 12 volunteers. This section of the AAWT is not far from the Cobberas and includes steep rocky sections and a few grassy flats. It took all day to get there. On the way we stopped at Omeo to get a briefing from Parks Victoria Ranger Natasha, who then escorted us to the camp site and left us with the tools and materials required. From our tents in the night we could hear feral animals, particularly brumbies, whose persistent presence is a disappointing aspect of the alpine parks.
Excerpt from report by David Davies VMTC
Date:
20th February
Leaders: Visiting leaders Nathan and Doug
Participants: Rachel Davies, Denis Nagle, Wendy and Geoff Cartledge, Michael Haynes, Christine Clark, John Gilcrist, Tim Clarke, Richard McNeil, Gayle Shields, Phil Answer, Ron Cann plus visitors Lucy Thorpe, Nicki Cann and Chris Garden.
The
Labertouche Caves are well known locally, not only as a place for a
caving adventure, but also as a place of frequent misadventure. For
many years I, and many
others as it turned out, had been keen to explore the caves, but the
accounts of local emergency services rescues had suggested caution.
Hence the enthusiasm for a guided exploration.
Fifteen of us met up with leaders Nathan and Doug (and Lucy Thorpe at the cave entrance colleague Ryan) at Jindivick, at a leisurely 10.30 on Sunday morning. Since the February ’09 fires there have been substantial changes to the infrastructure around the caves. Access is now via a 20 minute walk from a newly created entrance road and car park. Nathan expressed the view that restricting direct car access to the caves was reducing the number of casual visitors, and hence the numbers requiring assistance from emergency services.
I had visited the caves area just once before, on a David Holroyd walk perhaps 3 years ago, one of the very early “Third Tuesday” walks. We had lunched at a cleared area somewhere between the cave entrance and exit. Such are the changes since that time that I, and others, were initially unable to recognise it: The former picnic area is now covered in metres high, dense regrowth, following the fires. Fencing and treated pine steps have been installed, leading down to steel steps, ladder and mesh platform. This was the location from which Nathan and Doug set up ropes to belay us the several metres down into the cave.
Our numbers were too large to go through as one group, so priority was given to those who had the furthest to travel. Chris was keen to go through twice, so he joined in with the first group as well. Rain started to fall as they got underway, though they were not to escape the wet!
The second group had plenty of time to explore around the area and to lunch. The first priority was to set up a tent fly. Then, with wet weather jackets on, we walked to the exit. It was hard to stay dry with the now wet and encroaching regrowth which threatens to engulf the track. Over lunch we each guesstimated the time of return of the first group. Gayle was the most wishful thinker; was she the coldest? Richard was “on the money” as we heard returning voices. All had gone well with the first group, and their brief feedback was enthusiastic, though they certainly weren’t “dry” and were a little the worse for wear, not looking their Sunday best! Most had left their lunch at the car park, so they departed quickly while we in the second group donned helmets and head torches, ready to start on our adventure.
And what a grand adventure it was. Entering the cave required us to step into a waist harness, be hitched to a rope running through a friction device, and then one at a time be lowered by Nathan to the cave where Doug was waiting several metres below. When everyone was in, we began the upstream journey, each of us with a designated person in front to show us the way and offer a hand if necessary, and a person behind to give us an extra lift and foothold if needed.
What an amazing environment down there, multiple passages created over perhaps millions of years as the Labertouche Creek washed away the soil from between massive granite boulders. The taller of us were advantaged in places where an extra reach was useful in spanning large gaps or in ascending steeper sections – those of us that are vertically challenged and slighter in build were advantaged where a squeeze or contorted position was necessary. There is such variety of situations to negotiate, calling for constantly changing technique, guaranteed to give one a real physical workout. Sometimes we were walking briefly through the shallow water, sometimes we were chimneying up through narrow passages, only to return back to the creek level as we followed the reflector path. Occasionally Doug or Nathan, and now Chris, would pop out unexpectedly, having explored another alternative and often more challenging passage.
Though at ground level it is only perhaps 150 metres from the entrance to the exit, the journey underground is far from straight forward, and those that have previously attempted to mark the route with a stringline would have needed a much greater length! The going was indeed slow, and it was some hour and a half before we emerged into the slightly disorienting daytime brightness and brilliant vegetation colour at the other end. One by one we surfaced, bubbling with enthusiasm for the wonderful experience we had just had.
Phil was there to greet us. He had spent the day doing his own exploration of the area, and reckoned he had chalked up 8-10 km. He had followed the creek on the surface and found the location where it disappeared underground to run through the cave. We scrambled through the undergrowth to check it out – and a nearby spot where there also appeared to be a sink hole which might, if cleared, lead down into the cave complex.
The other group were well on their way home by the time we had packed up and walked back to the car park. Some clothing changes were necessary out of respect for clean car seats! We chatted with Nathan and Doug for a while, passing on our unanimous appreciation for a great day, and for the quality of their leadership. They would be happy to offer a similar day at some time in the future, for those who missed the opportunity, and for those of us who reckon it would be worth doing again!
Ron Cann
Date 15th February 2011
Participants: Wendy Cartledge (leader), Ron Cann, Nick van Ewijk, Michael Haynes,
Phil Answer, Julie Parker, Bill and Deb Wiglesworth, Jan Gardener, Rob Bentvelzen, Gayle Shields, Steve and Chris Munro
We all met at Traralgon at Dahlsen’s car park around 9am and left after car pooling into 4 cars. After around 1 hour of driving we came to our starting point in the Avon Wilderness Park, where a picnic table was waiting for us. Out came about 4 Thermos’s, cakes and biscuits. By now it was 11am and had started to warm up so we decided we had better go walking. We soon came up to a fence and looking over saw the Avon river was below us. The track became a single file and the walk was lovely - we looked down on the Avon for quite some time and the rocks were a reddish colour. The track stared going up and away from the river. There was a lot of new growth of wattles, gums and sheoaks. Someone spotted a small lizard. The day had become hot now, so we had to stop a few times for drinks but by 1pm hunger was setting in so we had lunch in the shade, still above the river. We were to go down to the river, but time was against us, so after lunch we headed back along the same track. It was a good Aussie bush track.
We had got back on the tarred road and the CFA were doing a burn-off so lots of smoke over the road. We stopped at Heyfield to swap over cars where Wendy left us to go home. We headed to the café for a drink. Ron, Rob, Jan and Gayle had to go, and left the others to enjoy their drinks in the garden behind the café. On arrival back in Warragul around 5.40pm “oh no” Ron’s left back tyre had gone flat, so he had some work to do before going out to tea!
We had a very enjoyable day thank you Wendy.
Gayle Shields
Come and Try Kayak and Canoe Day at Blue Rock Lake, Willow Grove
Date: Saturday 12th February
Participants: Denis Nagle and Iain McLean (leaders) and visitors Greg, Jack and Kirk Machen, Robin Philbey
Officially listed as a SBWC
event both Iain and I as members, plus 4 visitors; Iain had done some
additional advertising in our local newsletter the “Hill End Herald”
attracting the interest of a family (Dad and 2 sons) and Rob, a mate of
mine attended.
After a lot of lugging of kayaks and life jackets etc across the grass from the car park to the swimming area, and a comprehensive briefing of matters of safety, weather conditions/forecasts and the obligatory paperwork etc. we were finally on our way. We launched the kayaks for a bit of practice close to the shore just in case a rescue was required. However, like ‘ducks to water’, it was clear that all were quite capable, some even a little too confident. The surface of the lake was like a mirror, flat and smooth. Iain being a sailor taught us how to read the conditions and we listened intently.
After a short while we were ready and keen to explore the lake further. We paddled up a cove, where a few weeks before we had discovered, in the shallows, masses of carp that would suddenly explode in a frenzied commotion, some leaping clear out of the water while others would splash us and bang against the sides of our canoes. We reached this spot but alas, the carp were nowhere to be seen.
We paddled back via a short stop at a rest area on a point and did a bit of re arranging of seating so each could try another type of craft. Returning to our starting point we had a bit of time to play some more, at least until the rumbles in the tummy got the better of us.
At about 12.30 we packed up, said goodbyes, to our great participants, and Iain invited Rob and I back to his place for lunch. We all thoroughly enjoyed the day and are eager to try it again. Thank you to all, Iain for his help in organizing and Rob with unloading and loading kayaks etc.
Come and Try Kayak and Canoe Day - Blue Rock Lake, Willow Grove
Sunday 13th February
Participants:
Denis Nagle (leader)
Janet Leman, Fran Miller, Gayle Shields, Julie Parker, Cathy Almond,
Linda Tubnor, Michael Haynes and visitors; Shauna Boyle and Jason Tubnor
I had lost count of how many were actually coming, what with last minute additions and subtractions and confused communications, etc. But I was confident all would be fine as the day before had been a good practice run. I realised I needed to be well organised in order to have all the equipment and paperwork ready. Logistically and physically it was going to be a challenge. Local resident Chris Laming had very kindly lent us four kayaks, Iain lent me his and I got another one to add to my two. New member Linda and visitor Jason had brought their own.
Except for being rushed during my briefing by a rather impatient motorboat owner, we got on to the water without much of a problem. I elected Julie to take the lead, thinking she would know the local destinations and Michael to be our whip. (Applying the same rule as when walking; everyone is to remain between these two).
But there was a problem with the foot pedals that control the rudder in the kayak that Gail and Fran were in. Meanwhile I saw the others were not quite heading in the direction that I had thought they should be. I set off after them and set them on the correct course then returned to inspect the troublesome controls. Even though not fully repaired, they were able to make way and caught up to the others.
We put ashore and the controls were repaired. Again we set off and again we were not keeping together, I guess my communications may not have been all that clear. We eventually started to function as a unit and as the lake narrowed it got easier to see where we were to go. (Orientation skill on land is one thing; out on the water it can be very different).
The weather
was a bit overcast at first but it eventually cleared and we had
beautiful sunny patches. This made for brilliant reflections on the
water of the many dead trees and our colourful flotilla. We reached our
designated morning tea location, a grassy patch beside the lake, where
we had fresh picked blackberries and scrumptious homemade muffins, a
good rest and reorganised ourselves.
We set out at a leisurely pace and the river began to get narrower. Our lunchtime destination was to be the head of a side creek. However, the difficulty in alighting from our kayaks onto the rocky shore at this point was evident, so we decided to make our way back to a spot I thought might afford a clearing in the bush. With the recent rains and dam being near to capacity, vegetation was growing right to the edge of the river, so flat clear land was at a premium. We managed to find a place but in the process of doing a bit of shuffle of Kayaks I slipped in the river. It was getting quite warm so I didn’t mind at all. (It was also noted how long it would be before I took a swim).
Lunch was shared with lots to spare and I said it was back to our morning tea area and anyone can take the lead, I’d keep at the back. We made the distance in no time and we were back at the boat ramp before we knew it, although I suspect for some it felt like a long way.
Afternoon tea was had on a picnic rug in the shade and a quick dip was had by a few. The kayaks were returned and loaded to take home. Thankyou to everyone that came and your help in making it a very successful outing on the lake. Please check the programme for future dates for other planned kayak trips.
Denis Nagle
Yarra Trail Melbourne CBD to Fairfield Boathouse
Date: 6th February
Participants: Richard McNeil (leader), Peter Maffei, Robyn Shingles, Michael Haynes, Julie Parker, Denis Nagle , Fran Miller, Carol
With trains not running due to track maintenance works, the intrepid riders met at Warragul station around 8.45am and three cars headed off to Melbourne. With changeable weather along the way, we weren’t sure what to expect of conditions but arrived at Alexandra Avenue near the Botanic Gardens with the sun peeping through the clouds.
A lesson learned before we set out was that you must be careful with placement of your bicycle on the bike rack of the vehicle – Denis discovered an almost melted through tyre next to the exhaust pipe which fortunately could be patched up in the hope of coming across a bike shop to buy a replacement (more on this later).
We headed off along the swollen Yarra on the Capital City Trail, amazed by the large logs and other debris being carried along the river. As we headed further upstream the water started to encroach onto the track in places, initially requiring a small off track detour up a slippery hill carrying bikes, then a diversion back up to street level to detour around the flooded area through Abbotsford.
A pause at Victoria Park as a couple of Collingwood ‘tragics’ gazed at the sacred oval (!!) then on to Dight’s Falls and a pleasant stop for lunch. Back on track after lunch we headed off to the Fairfield Boathouse for a coffee and cake stop. A bit of excitement when Denis’ tyre finally blew, startling customers and bike riders alike, then to top off the bad luck, a friendly bird left a calling card on Denis’ shoulder.
Denis and Peter headed off to find the bike shop “five minutes away” while the rest of us headed over the pipe bridge and up the hill to a lookout. A detour through the bush gave us a taste of mountain biking then back over the bridge to meet up with Denis & Peter again. Yes, the bike shop was actually five minutes away, they’d found a “white wall” tyre (oohs and aahs of appreciation all round) to suit the 30 year old bike, and got a $25 bargain to boot!
We stopped for an enjoyable walk around the lovely old Abbotsford Convent visiting the bric-a-brac market and art space. Then wound our way back through Abbotsford and Richmond before heading back down to the Yarra and on to the bike trail for the return trip to the City. A pleasant ride which returned us to our vehicles around 5.30pm, having covered around 36km for the day (depending on the odometer you looked at). Thanks to those who provided vehicles for transport on the day…
Robyn Shingles
Friends of Baw Baw Track Maintenance – Water Bar Clearing 2nd February 2011
SBWC participants: Ron Cann, Tim Clarke, Michael Haynes
It was a successful day as we cleaned out all the water bars from the Mt St Gwinear car park to the Rock Shelter, plus several on the AAWT towards Mt St Phillack. It was a cool day on the plateau – ideal for working even though the valley was experiencing a hot day
Michael Haynes
A Buchan Wilderness and River Trip
Date: 26th- 30th January 2011
Participants:
Ed Buller (leader,) Denis Nagle, Wayne
Burge, Ed Dyt, Alan Eagle.
This was our second excursion into the Buchan Wilderness area after an initial exploration in Jan 2010 and we were keen to get back in and see what downstream had to offer.
Day 1 We all met up at the servo in Buchan at around 11:00am after Denis had completed his postal rounds! The Car Shuffle involved leaving one vehicle at a river ford about 30 minutes up the road and then driving to the walk start at Seldom Seen Fire Tower (Despite dense fog and very limited visibility). Without any form of whip cracking the party were all ready for the downhill slog into the river by the planned time of 2:00pm, most impressive! The downhill slog of about 3kms took us 5 hours in 2010 but we had laid some tape markers for the return visit that proved most time saving as the vegetation was a bit keen.
A particularly well marked ‘blue tongue’
was apprehended by Wayne for a photo shoot and then released. We all
arrived at the river about 6:00pm after 4 hours, in good time to put up
camp. Some small trout were procured for pre-dinner snacks (they were to
be the exception for the rest of the trip as no others wanted to get on
the hook).
Day 2 arrived bright and warm with a planned 12kms to cover. The walk is pretty much 80% in the river and the rest along the banks where possible. Dense blackberry thickets provided a ready feast as we walked along some very pretty stretches of gravel river bed with the odd rocky section. We soon caught sight of our first Gippsland Water Dragons and not long after Wayne procured a live specimen for detailed observation. The rest of the day passed in a lazy fashion and we found a most agreeable camp site in the middle of the river (small gravel bank) with nearby swim hole and rock slide. I was advised that despite our efforts we had only covered 6kms as the crow flies (12kms on the ground) telling us just how much this river twists and turns. As our other vehicle was some 36kms downstream the knowledge that we could cover 12kms a day reassured us somewhat.
Day 3
was a relaxed start at around 8:30 followed by more pleasant river
navigation. We had ample evidence of deer, hearing barking and seeing
evidence of them. Soon we caught sight of our first 2 Samba on the river
bank and one can only marvel at their agility at getting up a hill at
high speeds! We now left the wilderness reserve officially, not much
change, maybe a few less trout in the river but that was a bit
irrelevant as nobody could catch them. A black Snake made an appearance
and clearly was not fazed at crossing water to get to where it wanted to
go. Wayne made a brief acquaintance with a skeletal dingo on the river
bank, presumable looking for a water dragon lunch but it was in a sorry
state of health. Another shingle beach was located around 3:30pm for our
campsite.
Day 4 we estimated about 12kms to the car but the River was becoming more rugged and slowing us down a bit. None the less we set off in sunshine and wet boots for the last section. Some deep channels gave the boys an opportunity to crack out the airbeds and soon some amazing inflatable devices were in action – refer photo. Some great swimming holes were encountered along with numerous close-up encounters with more deer. Denis ran out of numbers to count the birds he observed. Well not quite, but between him and Wayne there were plenty counted, I did notice the wedge tails above us, plus the green tree frog and more water dragons skipping over the water. I think this day was possibly the most interesting section of the river with the deep channels and swimming spots (most welcome as the day got warmer)
At around
5:00pm we duly arrived at our vehicle and final campsite that proved
most pleasant and a good opportunity to dry out all the wet kit after
rucksack rafting experiences. My feet were happy to declare a rest and I
reckon 3 days is about enough for walking in a river. Footwear somewhere
between green volleys with extra soles and heavy boots there might be a
good compromise for a River walking boot but I did not find it.
Day 5 By 8:30 on the Sunday we were packed and heading back up to Seldom Seen to get the other chariot. This time the weather was perfect and we had splendid views of the surrounds while we chatted to Ken the fire warden on duty.
All in all an excellent exploration and I don’t recall seeing any evidence of human incursion. The area is absolutely unspoilt and a real treat. Plans are in progress to get up into Reedy Creek next year.
Thanks to Alan and Wayne for the 4WD’s and everyone for their good company.
Ed Buller
Christmas Camp - Wellington River 2010
Date: 4th & 5th of Dec 2010 Participants : Wayne & Christine Burge, May Burge , Rob & Marg Bentvelzen , Kirsty Burge & Damien Robinson, Hudson & Aiden, Graham & Anita , Amelia , Zoë, Chris & Tom, Julie Parker & Cathy Almond.
Friday night saw almost every one arrive at camp. There was some rain and a few rumbles of thunder to keep us on our toes but we managed to sit around the fire for most of the evening.
Julie and Cathy arrived
Saturday morning and along with Rob and me headed off for a walk along
Shaw Creek from Thomastown taking in McMichaels Hut, some small water
falls and cascades and Kellys Hut. The feature of the walk was the wild
flowers. 
The Gumboot Champions 2010
Julie kept us informed as to what we were looking at. There were a couple of orchids, bird and moth and many other varieties.
The walk was planned to be into Crolls Gorge but 100 mm of rain the previous weekend put paid to that!
Saturday evening there were plenty of nibbles on the tables and a couple of camp ovens ticking over in the fire. After all the meals were done it was time for the gumboot and rolling pin throw. Cathy showed how strong an arm she has with the longest throw for the ladies and Robs bulging biceps produced a mighty heave for the longest throw in the men’s’ section. Amelia and Aiden showed their skills to have the longest throws of the kids. Then it was back to the fire for pudding.
While we were walking on Saturday, the kids, with some help from Damien, had a great time in the river building a rock wall. It was quite hot and this kept them amused for hours.
Sunday we shot up the road for a look in at Dinner Creek Gorge. There are no signs at the small carpark any more and the track is a bit over grown. We scrambled along the side of the creek and took in a large waterfall and managed to get down into the chasm. It was impressive, with a lot of water coming over the falls. Then it was back for lunch and home.
Thanks to those that came along, the weather was good and company was great.
Wayne Burge.
Date: Sunday 9th January.
Walkers: Graham Duell (leader),.Julie
Parker, Cathy Almond, Robyn and Peter Maffei, Rob Bentvelzen, Richard
McNeil, Denis Nagle
After much confusion caused by the leader, the walk took place on Sunday (not the originally planned Saturday), which in hindsight was a blessing because the weather was very pleasant and Saturday had been hot.
Most of us caught the train as planned, and managed to find each other on the journey to Flinders St. At the station we met Julie, Cathy and Denis who had driven down independently, and immediately repaired to Federation Square for coffee.
We then walked through the Queen Victoria Gardens and along the Tan to the Botanic Gardens, and spent some time ambling through them via the ornamental lake. Leaving the gardens, we continued on the ‘Capital City Trail’ along the river despite some whingeing from older members of the group about how far it was.
At Como Reserve we found the ferry, which took us across to Herring Island. The island has been a dump, a Scout reserve, and is now a ‘Melbourne Water’ park. It features a number of sculpture installations dotted around, a large grassed area with picnic facilities, and a gallery, which was closed. While the sculpture was generally interesting, there were relatively few of them (6) and somewhat of an anticlimax after the arduous journey to get there. We retired to the picnic area for lunch.
The return journey was along the same route to the Botanic Gardens, where we had coffee in the café. Exploring the gardens, we came to the fairly new Children’s Garden that is a real delight, and spent some time there.
I headed off to South Melbourne to see my new twin grandchildren, and the rest of the group walked back to Flinders St to catch the train home. A very pleasant walk in delightful surrounds.
Graham Duell
Freeman’s Mill Track Maintenance at Bunyip Creek, north of Labertouche
Date: Wednesday 17th November
Participants: Ron Cann, Megan Major and 25 other volunteers from 7 different bushwalking clubs
We divided into 4 groups, each with a Vic Parks supervisor from the Gembrook region and were given gloves, vest, and a hard hat, also ear muffs and safety glasses if you were going to be using one of the brush cutters, chainsaws or heavy duty ‘mowers’.
After driving up the aqueduct road for a few kms, we parked, crossed the aqueduct itself and found the VERY overgrown track. It was slow work with so much vegetation to clear, but very rewarding at the end of the day, to be able to walk back to where we had started, on a clear track.
There were quite a few wild flowers still blooming – lots of mauve fan flowers, trigger plants and purple fringe lilies. Many of the surviving trees are covered with leafy shoots covering the black trunks and the bush is looking very healthy.
At the end of the day we were treated to afternoon tea and discussed progress made by each of the 4 groups. There is still a lot of clearing to be done and another day will be organized – so if you missed out this time, you will have another opportunity to be a ‘trailblazer’ for a day.
Fran Miller
Kurth Kiln Regional Park – Shiprock Falls
Date 16th November
Leader Ron Cann
Grade Easy to Medium
Participants Ed Dyt, Rod Catchpole, Michael and Heather Haynes, Julie Parker, Steve and Chris Munro, Linda Johns, Jan Garden, Tim Rothberg, Carol Pharaoh, Jenny and Ron Cann, and visitors Mark Tweg and Ray Johns. The walk was guided by Ursula Klink from the Friends of Kurth Kiln, and her offsider Bev, also from the “Friends”.
A group from Strzelecki had visited the 3,500 ha Kurth Kiln Regional Park in April 2010. Ursula and Alfred Klink from the Friends of Kurth Kiln had been wonderful hosts, with Alfred giving us an enlightening talk about the history of the kiln, and Ursula and fellow “Friend” Bev leading us on an interesting walk in the southern section of the Park. At the time, Ursula made the kind offer to show us the northern section, including the Shiprock Falls, if we wished to come back another time. So a spring date was chosen, to contrast with the earlier autumn walk.
Our keen group of 15 were warmly greeted by Ursula and Bev as we arrived at the car park, just above the kiln. They had packs on and were ready to go, but waited graciously and informally chatted to us as we readied ourselves while indulging in the customary pre-walk cuppa.
First stop was the kiln and the nearby ex-army huts. These were part of a complex used as a base for forestry management after the kiln was decommissioned at the end of the Second World War. We spent just a brief time there, knowing that later in the day we would be catching up with Alfred who would be able to answer any questions that we might have.
The Tomahawk Creek was flowing strongly as we followed it downstream to Shepherd Creek Road. Heading north, we passed through delightful eucalypt forest, progressively making our way along minor roads (Boundary, Monkhouse, Beenak) to our lunch spot at the corner of Beenak Rd and Monkhouse Track. A side trip to the Monkhouse Dam raised interesting questions about its origins, sandwiched as it is between two elevated vehicle tracks.
After
lunch we made our way towards Shiprock Falls, passing through a
three-way intersection with all roads signposted as Beenak Rd! Giving
directions here could be very interesting! A brief walk along the
bitumen of the Gembrook-Launching Place Road had us at the car park
above the falls. The massive rock beside the footpad to the falls gives
a hint as to the origin of the name. The recent rains had ensured a
strong torrent of water, cascading down onto a maze of moss-covered
boulders. Some of us descended to the water’s edge, others stayed at
the viewing platform, constructed some years ago in response to a very
serious incident when a walker on a similar trip to ours had tumbled
many metres below, fortunately surviving with relatively minor injuries.
Julie and Carol had thoughts of returning back to the top via a more direct and more adventurous route. It was not to be however, with slippery rocks making their intended path too hazardous. So we returned together, regrouping at the carpark before retracing our steps towards the property of Ursula and Alfred.
From Beenak Rd we took a road to the south, signposted as Aukland Drive. Observant Julie, being a frequent traveller and NZ visitor, commented that the sign was incorrectly spelled – shouldn’t it have been Auckland? Not so however … Ursula explained that the name has a special meaning: Alfred and Ursula Klink Land!
Bev left us as we approached Ursula’s very interesting house, waving farewell to us stragglers as she headed down towards the Park boundary and Thornton Track. We were soon to be treated to a lovely afternoon tea, but first had the opportunity to see evidence of the enviro-friendly lifestyle that Alfred and Ursula have created for themselves: wind and solar power, fruit trees, and extensive and bountiful vegie gardens, enclosed in wire meshed structures to limit sharing too much of the produce with the local animal and bird population.
It
was quite a spread as we sat around a large table adjacent to their
extensive and rustic kitchen, with panoramic views over the valley
below. Alfred gave us a brief run down on the history of the kiln, for
those who hadn’t come along in April – he is very knowledgeable and
paints a vivid picture of the non-stop process of charcoal production
that kept some 60,000 vehicles operating during the petrol rationing of
the Second World War.
Before departing, a rooftop visit gave us a true appreciation of the construction methods employed in the building of their home. It backs into the hillside, with the flat roof covered in earth. Projecting up from the roof are a series of translucent domes, like mini observatories, serving to direct light into the windowless rooms at the rear of the house. The views from the rooftop of the gardens below are delightful.
Ursula’s energy and generosity was not yet spent as she led us back into the park. We followed the Thornton Track through a lovely forest where Hazel Pomaderris was prominent. As we came in sight of the Kiln area and our cars, Ursula said her farewells, leaving us to stroll to the finish of what had been another excellent day at Kurth Kiln. A big thankyou to Ursula, Alfred and Bev – for their generous hospitality and for sharing their expert knowledge of the Park.
Ron Cann
Orienteering Crossover Regional Park
Date Sunday 7th November
Participants Ron
and Jenny Cann (organisers), Chris and Steve Munro, Richard McNeil,
Peter Maffei, Ed Buller, Rob Bentvelzen, Julie Parker, Tim Clark, Fran
Miller, Phil Answer, Wendy and Geoff Cartledge, Denis Nagle.
The club had previously visited the Crossover Regional Park for some navigation practice, organised by John Miles (Warragul SES and “Get Lost Camping”). The potential of the area for an orienteering activity had become apparent on that day: undulating country for recognisable topographical features, relatively “open” bush for off track walking, defined boundaries as “collection features” in case anyone decided to wander off into the bright blue yonder!
With the help of Paul Pearson, a suitable map had been organised. The precise location of a relatively new 4WD Track had been plotted with the aid of a GPS. We had the use of the club’s two GPS units and 6 compasses (though most participants had their own). Jenny and I, together with Sophie, our
daughter and son-in-law’s dog, had placed 15 of the club’s orienteering markers at various locations on the Friday afternoon. So all was in readiness for Sunday’s activity.
We
began the day at our place in Warragul, around 10.00am. The dining room
was soon a buzz of activity: a run through of the after-lunch navigation
activity, practice of measuring bearings, lively discussion of the whys
and wherefores of magnetic variation (to add or subtract?), grid
references, some basics of GPS use. Everyone pitched in, those more
experienced giving help to those less experienced, all benefiting in
some way.
After lunch we headed out towards Rokeby, along Old Telegraph Rd East, then up Pilgrim track to a start point on the Southern edge of the Crossover Regional Park. Denis had phoned to say he would meet us there. I hadn’t contemplated his means of transport, so was a little surprised to see him emerge from under the helmet of the motor bike rider who had mysteriously emerged from the bush track to our west!
The markers had been placed in a roughly circular arrangement, so that it was possible to start some groups in an anti-clockwise direction Are Ron, Tim and Fran lost?
(from no.1) and others to start at no.15, travelling clockwise. Groups left at 10 minute intervals, so as to avoid simply following those ahead. Of course in practice this didn’t make a whole lot of difference – if a marker was difficult to find then groups inevitably caught up with each other!
Success was varied – some markers were found by everyone, one or two by no-one!! While everyone was busy, I had time to stroll around the course, smug in the knowledge of where the markers had been placed (at least I hoped that they were all still where we had put them 48 hours before), and offering the occasional hint! Jenny had the difficult task of “manning” home base, having the occasional contact with Phil’s group by radio, and the challenge of finishing a Sudoku before the first group returned.
Soon after the agreed time limit the groups began to stroll in, each with their own accounts of the highs and lows of the afternoon. We declared everyone a “winner” so it was chockie frogs all round, before a debrief over a cuppa. The general consensus was that the day had been very worthwhile, and that there was scope within the Park for another similar activity in the future.
Julie had offered the suggestion that the markers should be placed at head height and surrounded by pink fluoro tape. “Wouldn’t that make it all to easy?” I had thought! The following evening Jenny and I had the task of retrieving the markers. As the light faded and my GPS seemed to be sending me around in circles somewhere in the vicinity of marker 13, I found myself agreeing with Julie! We found it on the following evening’s walk!
Ron Cann
Cobberas Circuit – Melbourne Cup Weekend Walk
Date 29th Oct – 2nd Nov 2010
Participants Wayne Burge (leader), Jack Devries, Alan Eagle, Ed Buller, John Sunderland.
We all arrived safe at Native Dog Flat and were tucked in bed about midnight. Saturday morning we drove down to the gate on Cowombat flat track and headed off down to Bulley Creek to pick up a spur to climb on to the Cobberas. The sky threatened, the sun poked out for a few minutes then the weather closed in with rain and low cloud reducing visibility to only 50m. In the mist and rain we walked to the summit of Cobberas No1 spotting a few brumbies on the way. Lunch was taken just below the summit in rain and wind, very cold. Cleft Peak was left for another day and we navigated our way down to the saddle below Moscow peak to set up camp. The weather cleared briefly to give us views of Cleft Peak then closed in again, we set the tents up in the driest spots and got a fire going , Ed & Allan set up their tent fly to cook under and it was much appreciated . The rain finally drove us into the tents around 9pm then it proceeded to belt down rain for the rest of the night. In the morning it looked like we had camped in the middle of a swamp!!!!
Around 8.30am the weather started to clear so at 9am we set off for Moscow Peak and Cobberas No.2. The weather stayed fine for 12 hours and we had some good views along the way and arrived dry at Cowombat Flat in the afternoon, encountering one snake along the way. Entering Cowombat Flat we had a look at the plane wreck then walking across the flat to camp spotted about 7 brumbies. Camp was set up on a low ridge between 2 creeks. I went off to see if there were any trout in the Murray river, there weren’t any so I came back to camp to the fire lit and ready to settle in for the evening. The rain arrived around 9pm and we were in the tents not long after. Once again it rained most of the night. In the morning we walked out along the 4WD track determined to climb the Pilot. We bombed up to the summit from the road which took about an hour. Arriving at the top there were limited views for 5 minutes then the weather closed in and we ate lunch as it hailed. Freezing cold with no views we bombed back down to the 4wd track and headed back to camp. The weather teased us along the way with a burst of sunshine and a blue patch of sky only to disappear as quickly as it had appeared.
A rock cairn on the track was investigated as it was in a spot where we could walk about a km across to the start of the Black-Allen line*, the start of the straight bit of the border to Cape Howe. We followed a horse trail in and came across some sign of pig diggings and some yellow tape which was duly followed and led us to the Murray and the same mob of horses we had seen the day before. After much discussion, a GPS as well as more yellow tape led us to a place in the scrub where the yellow tape ran out and the GPS had us within 100m of the spot. Moving forward we came across a small pile of rocks then Jack found the gal pipe in a shallow gully head with a small container wired on it, bingo!!!!! A group photo was taken then we followed a horse track back to the spot where we were having the discussion some 15 minutes before. Heading back out to the road the heavens opened up and we arrived back at camp in the rain.
I was desperate to get a fire going when we got back and spent 30
minutes coaxing it along till finally with a group effort and drier
twigs it finally became a fire. It continued to rain all night but at
least we were warm till 9pm saw us in bed again.
Tuesday morning was cold and the mist had rolled in, about 8.30 we left for the cars as the weather improved, arriving at 12.pm.
Thanks to those on the walk, your positive attitude and good spirits despite the poor weather made the hike all the more enjoyable. We did have sun every day, a warm fire at night and Jack had dry feet the whole walk. Still better than being at work I say!
Wayne Burge
Date: Sunday 17th October
The weather forecast was not sounding very promising, showers and windy. But three factors played a crucial part in the rides success. First, I was offered accommodation in Melbourne, close to the start and to stay the night after. (This was a great help thanks Julie). At the last minute I accepted the invitation to join a group of riders, instead of riding alone. (This too was also a great help, thanks Eric, Roger and Mark) and there were the many people that sponsored me, sent encouraging messages and were there at points along the ride to meet us. Thanks also to all of you.
We started at 6am and finished at about 4 30 pm, with rest stops, lunch and ferry travel time taken out, this made our actual riding time about 8.5 hrs, which equals an average speed of 24.7 kms per hour. We got no punctures, one spoke was broken and I needed some adjustments made to my shoe clips. We all finished the 210 kms in good condition and were very pleased with our effort. I’ll probably do it again next year all being well.
Date Tuesday 19th
October
Participants: Ron Cann, (leader) Jenny Cann, Deb & Bill Wiglesworth, Nick Van Ewijk, Cathy Almond, Peter McDonald, Steve & Chris Munro, Tim Clarke.
In near-perfect spring weather, ten walkers travelled to Holey Plains State Park, a few kilometers South-East of Rosedale. After the customary morning cuppa at the Holey Hill Campsite, we walked for about 30 minutes downhill through woods of mostly Banksia trees, some still carrying scars of recent bushfire or fuel-reduction burns but now mostly healthy. The track was wide and well-maintained and terminated at
Long Swamp. Skirting a basking snake, we walked to the centre of the swamp and surprisingly found it almost completely dry. We returned to the campsite in good time for a morning break, shared with countless mosquitoes. A 30-minutes circular walk on the northern slope of Holey Hill brought us back to the campsite again for lunch.
After lunch we drove about 5-6 km west and then did a car shuffle for a walk to Harrier Swamp along Wild-Flower and Long Ridge Tracks, about 2-3 km of wide & well maintained tracks. A 20-min walk around Harrier Swamp completed the day’s walking.
The highlights of this enjoyable walk were the native orchids, coyly hiding among the leaf-litter, grasses and other flowers. We believe we spotted good examples of about half a dozen or so varieties, including Fringe Lily, Waxlip, Twining Fringe Lily, Spider and Tiger Orchids and Milk Maids.
Frequent consultation of Peter’s reference books aided identifications. Mosquito repellent and an orchid-identifier reference book are near-essential items to pack for an October walk in Holey Plains State Park.
Steve Munro
Great Ocean Walk - Apollo Bay to Glen Ample Homestead (12 Apostles)
Date: 10th - 16th October
Participants: Cathy Almond (Leader), Rachel Davies, Graham, Duell, Ed Buller, Michael Haynes
Day 1 Apollo Bay – Elliot Ridge
9.7kms
We
were to meet at the Apollo Bay information centre at 11am. Graham
arrived at 9.30am, Michael and Ed 10.30am, Rachel and Cathy 10.45 with
mobile switched off! Eventually left at 11.15, the start was along a
footpath until Marengo. Lovely weather; sunny with a cooling breeze. We
followed cliff tops beside the ocean until lunch at a headland with
spectacular coastal views.
After lunch we descended to beach and walked along sand for a while. Some more bush paths then took us to Shelly Beach. We tried to cross rocks around a point, but the waves were too threatening.
Rachel discovered that the water was wet and cold as it swamped her right boot. We then struggled up a steep path to take the inland route. (Here, and at various points along the walk, hikers have to make decisions about the route to take). Reaching Elliot Ridge Camp site at the civilized time of 3.30ish, we made camp in a very well designed campsite.
Day 2 Elliot Ridge – Blanket Bay
11.8kms
Leaving at 8.30am after a good breakfast the travel took us inland for about 5 km along a lovely track, marred only be stretches of deep squidgy mud. We met 2 American guys; one working in Sydney, his mate had come across from Washington especially to do the walk. We then met a party escorted by guides from “Both Feet” - a company specializing in a luxury version of the walk, who shared their morning tea coconut slice with us. Continuing on over more stretches of muddy track we made our way back to the beach at Blanket Bay, which involved a steep climb down rocky stairs. We then set up camp and had a late lunch followed by a relaxing afternoon. Cathy and Ed swam in the frigid sea, Graham and Michael paddled and Rachel sensibly took a nap. Others followed her lead during the afternoon. Blanket Bay is a most beautiful place – spectacular beach with rock pools as the tide receded. We saw numbers of wild creatures – superb wrens hopping around our feet, a brown snake along the track, and a couple
of very dark wallabies. In the tidal pools we found a variety of creatures – small fish and crabs, variously coloured star fish, a white coral, sea slugs, anemones and others we couldn't name
Day
3 Blanket Bay – Cape Otway
10.3kms
A beautiful sunrise over the water. After another good breakfast we followed the coast around to steps leading to a boot cleaning station (trying to prevent Cinnamon fungus spread). A bush track took us through undulating country, passing a lookout at Lewis Point, and a shy koala. We walked through rapidly changing vegetation, and passed several more lookout points, descending then to Parkers Inlet, where Ed had a swim and we all had morning tea. Another group with a commercial guide was also resting there. WE then followed the coastline over various rock formations to Point Franklin.
At this point Cathy and Graham approached what appeared to be a dead fur seal. It suddenly opened it's eyes and bared its teeth at Graham, then set off for the sea. Unfortunately, Cathy was directly in front of it, closer to the sea. It was surprising how fast Cathy can run wearing a pack! Chivalrous Ed took several photos, whilst the rest of us helpfully fell about laughing.
Our track then took us inland to a car park where we had lunch. Soon after lunch our lovely day took a dramatic turn with a shower of tropical intensity. After hastily donning waterproofs we followed a path which took us past the lighthouse to our campsite. Here we set up camp and took up residence in the shelter thoughtfully provided for us, as the rain continued throughout the afternoon. Our campsite provided entertainment for us, with 5 koalas moving around, two at least intermittently growling, grunting and calling.
Day 4 Cape Otway – Johanna Beach
23.5kms
It rained lightly most of the night, which possibly explains the relative quietness of the koalas! The rain obligingly stopped just after 6am and although cloudy, we had no rain during the day and it was great walking weather. We started by crossing Cape Otway Cemetery. The path had many bright yellow worms on it.
We followed the cliff top coastal walk to Aire River, where we had to detour inland to a bridge. We had lunch on a cliff top and continued along the undulating path. We saw many wild flowers white, yellow, blue and purple. We also encountered a tiger snake, which quickly left the path to us.
Reaching Johanna Beach we had a tough slog along the soft sand until we met Johanna River, where we had to remove boots and wade across. Ed discovered that some waves come further up the beach than others, when his pack and boots were suddenly in the water. IT was amusing watching him grabbing the pack while throwing his boots higher up the beach. Fortunately his pack was waterproof so no harm done. Following this was a stiff climb up a hillside to a great campsite on the cliff tops overlooking Johanna Beach and the surf.
Day 5 Johanna Beach – Ryans Den
13.9kms
Leaving the campsite we had a long, steady incline looking down on a snaking river. Eventually we went into bush and a rest stop along the road, at the apex of 2 roads.
The road became a rough track that a four wheel drive couldn't access, down to Milenesia Beach-a very pleasant lunch stop. There is an old hut there, which becomes very significant further into this story.
We walked along the beach looking for a secondary beach exit when Michael slipped on a wet rock. Fortunately Graham was nearby; Michael had injured his right arm and couldn't carry his pack. We sat him down, rang 000 and organized assistance for him. There was a couple at the hut; we were able to take Michael in and made him as comfortable as possible. (We later discovered he had dislocated his shoulder – ouch!). The helicopter ambulance landed on the beach (very exciting for us!) and after significant amounts of morphine, Michael was carried to the helicopter on a wooden chair.
By then it was 3.30pm and we decided if we didn't go then, we wouldn't make the end of the walk. We headed up, up, up and around, up and down coastal pathways and up steep wooden steps, via a very scenic route and a shy echidna, until we made it to Ryans Den. Yet another spectacular campsite with views over the treetops and within sound and site of the beach.
Day 6 Ryans Den – Devils Kitchen
15kms
Michael, our good luck
weather charm having deserted us, we awoke to heavy rain. There was no
sense putting off the inevitable so we headed off at the usual time of
8.30am, discussing Michael's breakfast of bacon and eggs compared to our
porridge, and how he would be driving Heather mad for the next few
weeks.
Mud, clay and overnight rain gave us some interesting footwork. The track meandered up and down hills. If there was any bird noise, we couldn't hear it over the roar of the wind. The scenery was spectacular as usual; the sea extremely rough.
Lunch was a very quick stop as it was very cold by then. We continued along the Old Coach Rd and arrived at the campsite at 2pm, as the rain set in again. We met our fellow walkers there, Bruce and Luke, and passed a very pleasant afternoon talking to them.
We contemplated walking Wreck Beach; the view from the toilet showed this would not be an option, as the tide was too high, seas were heavy and there are 300 + steps down (and back up). We retreated to the shelter for the afternoon as although it had stopped raining, we calculated it to be about 10ºC, plus a freezing wind.
Ed's offer of barter finally came true; the keys to the presidential suite (campsite on top of a small hill, own bench and views of the ocean) in return for a coffee bag! Until then Michael had an unassailable lead!
Day 7 Devils Kitchen-Princetown
8kms
It wasn't quite as cold or raining when we emerged from our tents, although the sky was still grey with flecks of blue. On arriving at the campsite we saw a sign that stated the 8km hike to Glenaire River would take 4 hours; this seemed excessive but the times had been accurate to this point, so we left at 8am. Map notes said the track had heavy sand and steep hills, so to be sure we followed directions.
Given the rain, the track was quite firm, there weren't as many hills as expected and heading for home always puts a spring in the step. We arrived at Princetown at 10.30am, and were lucky enough to be able to change our pick up time (booked for 12pm). Ed and Cathy celebrated with a beer, Rachel and Graham chose the more sedate coffee option. We arrived back at Apollo Bay at 12pm, relieved to be finished but having enjoyed a great hike.
Thanks to Michael, who had the brilliant idea of
writing up each day's walking as we went; most of this report was
written by him. We wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing
him back on the
track soon.
Cathy Almond
Date 8th -10th October
Hosts: Waverly Bushwalking Club
Strzelecki Bushwalking Club Participants: Cathy Almond, Rachel Davies, Denis Nagle, Julie Parker, Gayle Shields (Sunday).
Congratulations to Waverley Bushwalking Club on the magnificent job they did with organizing this weekend. The Anglesea YMCA was an excellent place to stay with great food and plenty of room for the 250 participants from 30 clubs. Even the weather was kind to us with the falls looking their best after the recent rains and not much bog (on the walks I did anyway). We have the booklet for all the walks on offer over the weekend if anyone would like to borrow it to check the 21 other alternatives.
Phantom Falls Walk.
Starting at the Sheoak Picnic Area this circuit was all on track through damp fern gullies and large eucalypts, very attractive. First stop Henderson Falls, then Wonwondah Falls. A change of scenery through the ‘canyon’, steep walls with coal visible in some sections, narrow passage and moss covered boulders. Then Phantom Falls and back to the picnic area for lunch. The afternoon section was a 7 km return walk following Sheoak Creek to Swallow Cave. A slight misnomer as they contain nests of Fairy Martins not swallows! On to Sheoak Falls and down to the cold windy coast. On the return we encountered a koala walking along the track towards us. It halted when we came face to face, considered a while and then walked of through the bush around us, quite unperturbed, delightful.
Back to YMCA and scones, jam and cream and more afternoon tea still available for us at 5pm.
Evening dinner was taken in two sittings with an inspirational poetry and story telling from a local author entertaining the group not dining. A great idea
Point Addis to Anglesea,
After the car shuffle was organised we commenced with a short walk along the beach, keeping close to the sea so as not to disturb some endangered hooded plovers, which for the first time, had just been discovered nesting on the beach near the dunes. Then up onto the cliff tops, the path taking us through heathland in full glory, peak wildflower time and excellent views out to sea and over the hinterland. Back down to the beach and around the headland to the mouth of the Anglesea River to the road and camp.
Julie Parker
Rachel and I had a leisurely drive down to Anglesea on Friday. We met Denis that evening; he had ridden his bike from Melbourne in preparation for Round the Bay. We were staying at a caravan park; the YMCA where many stayed had very good reviews.
The 5 Waterfalls walk: Upper and Lower Kalimna Falls, Phantom, Henderson and Wonwondah Falls.
We met at 8.45 at the YMCA. Although there was 18 of us, Waverly was
extremely organised and had
us all car pooled and to the start well ahead of time. In fact, we
finished the walk 45 minutes ahead of schedule.
Our first walk was through lovely forest to Lower and Upper Kalimna Falls. The Lower falls were the most spectacular, with a wide berth of water falling over a rock ledge into a huge pool. We were able to sit under the water and shelter, which was very pleasant.
Lunch was in the Sheok Picnic area where we were warned about kookaburras. Sure enough, I felt the
flap of wings and a bird came behind me and took the whole bread roll from my companion’s hands! The kookaburra only ate the meat and left the rest. Everyone was very wary after that, and no-one else lost their lunch although the birds tried again.
From there we headed off to the remainder of the falls. Although a lovely walk along bush tracks, none of the other falls were anywhere near as spectacular as what we had already seen.
That evening we had a great dinner at the YMCA, and caught up with the contingent of West Gippsland Bushwalkers. Meal and company were great, and we can highly recommend the combined weekend as a great way to meet like minded people and share tips. (Try dehydrating yogurt; takes 24 hours but tastes like cream, I'm told!)
Cathy Almond
Anglesea Perimeter Track – Western Section
This 14km walk had representatives from a number of BWC - Waverley, Peninsula, Grampians, Catholic and Strzelecki. We started from the YHA camp at 9.30am and walked to the west side of town, were we met up with the Alcoa Surf Coast Walk Track.
We followed the track through heathland and saw many different orchids and other wild flowers. A few of the group were very knowledgeable with the wild flowers and were able to point out and name many of them.
We continued west and then turned on to the Messmate Track which took us to the Alcoa open cut coalmine. We went back to the Messmate Track and walked up hill to the top of Mt Ingoldby and had a lovely morning tea.
The track continued on passed the back of some lovely property and came out at O’Donohue Road, which we followed until we crossed the Great Ocean Road. We then went down to the beach and had a relaxing lunch in the sun, watching little kiddies play in the waves.
After lunch we continued along the cliff top track to the Anglesea River and followed the river back into town, and made our way back to the YHA camp.
The walk took about 5 hours with stops for morning tea and lunch, and photos of the flowers and coalmine. This was a very enjoyable walk, with really nice people, and we had a fantastic afternoon tea, when we got back, put on by the YHA.
Rachel Davies
Upper
and Lower Kalimna Falls, Sheoak Falls and Swallow Cave
This walk, like a number of others, was in the Lorne area. We started about 9.30, a smaller group of 10 led by a very capable and experienced leader from Waverly.
Due to recent fire and storm damage the track that was originally planned was closed so an alternative route along a management road was chosen. This took us higher above the forest and gave us some interesting views of regeneration of the vegetation. About ten minutes into the walk I spotted my first Koala, rather I sensed its presences before I saw it. Koala droppings have a distinctive odor and I seem to have an ability to recognise it. (Not sure if that’s a good thing).
We reached the first of the falls - a large rock overhang where you can walk easily in behind the falling water. We had our morning tea here then retraced our steps back to the junction to the upper falls, passing one of other groups and seeing familiar faces from the Warragul Walkers Club. These falls were also in good flow from recent rain and a near by tree fern revealed a cluster of epiphytic orchids. Again we retraced our tracks back to the car park where we had a late lunch. (We didn’t see any thieving kookaburras; maybe they were all full by then from previous walkers’ lunches).
The track to Sheoak Falls and Swallow Cave was through a dryer type of forest and a number of wild flowers were in full bloom, again I spotted more koalas. These falls are viewed from above and below and drop into a large amphitheatre where a squadron of swallows (they were actually mostly tree martins) circled above darting into and out of mud nests in the rock face. And as the name suggest, at the top of these falls a stand of casuarinas (sheoaks) grow. I had a very pleasant walk and met some lovely people; photos were emailed to me from one of the other walkers. I can also endorse others findings that this was a well organised and social event. Congratulations Waverly.
Denis Nagle
Mallacoota to Merrica River Ranger Hut
Date 24, 25, 26 &27 September
Participants Ed Buller (leader), Wendy Cartledge, Alan Eagle, Denis Nagle
We
all met at Wendy’s in Glengarry just before 5pm and were quickly on the
road as we had a long drive ahead to reach Mallacoota. As we drove along
a most enchanting full moon rose in front of us and seemed to be a
portent that this trip was going to be something out of the ordinary.
With one stop for dinner in Bairnsdale and another in Cann River, we
arrived at our destination on a most balmy evening, the smell of Sweet
Pittosporum in the air. We organized our lodgings, studied maps, talked
and relaxed with a few drinks before retiring for the night.
Next morning bright and early Ed and Alan had to drive the cars to Merrica River to leave one then return. This gave Denis an opportunity for his obligatory early morning swim.
Our boat across the lake was awaiting us and promptly at 10am we set off on the glassy waters of the inlet, all the while entertained by stories from Simon our boatman. From the pier where he dropped us off we walked a short distance to the old Lake View guesthouse and by chance met two park rangers who told us of the history of Mallacoota’s beginning. Through Banksia woodlands where Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos screeched raucously, we were suddenly into a swampy heath where water up to our ankles covered the track for over a hundred meters and nearly as abruptly onto sand dunes and overlooking a beautiful curving beach where in the distance the red granite of Gabo Island and it’s lighthouse seemed to float in the blue ocean.
The tide was out so this made walking along the beach much easier, added to this we had a cool tail wind to assist our progress. Just past Tullaberga Island we took a short detour to the fresh water Barracoota Lake. We had lunch here then returned to the beach and continued past the wreck of the Steamship Riverina (1927) half buried in the sand. We rounded Telegraph Point opposite Gabo Island and reached our objective for the night, Wau Wauka. The campsite here is in a sheltered grove of Melaleuca overlooking a tannin stained lagoon. The water however was quite brackish. Ed and Denis took a very quick dip in the freezing lake. In no time we had the tents up, dinner cooking and a fire blazing to keep us warm. The stars were out shinning brightly and the sound of the waves made ideal conditions for sleep.
Next
morning Alan and Denis went in search of a better water supply, to our
amusement a small pond just behind the campsite contained drinkable
water but we had searched behind the dunes prior to this for over an
hour. We subsequently set off along the beach again at the rather sedate
hour of 10am, laden down by a days’ supply of water. We reached a point
just passed Iron Prince and found a couple of buoys from a Taiwanese
fishing boat in the flotsam and we tied them to our packs. Shortly
afterwards the sand ceased and a section of loose rock began. Here we
discovered an even better source of drinking water from a trickling
spring amongst the rocks. The going was a little more difficult as some
rock hopping was necessary and occasionally the rocks would decide to
move when you stepped on them. Wendy was most challenged when on one
occasion she went down on all fours only to then have the buoy swing
round her pack and smack her in the face. After a kilometer or so, we
decided to give up on the rock hopping and cut over a sand dune and down
onto a flat area just before Cape Howe. We reached the border markers
and a cairn and had our lunch while the clouds cleared and a sunny
afternoon shone forth. Again we crossed another sand dune that ended
abruptly at the water’s edge; strange sinkholes indicated air pockets
amongst the boulders they were encroaching on.
At Bunyip Hole we rested before climbing a hill up onto Endeavour Moor, a veritable wildflower heaven of vivid pinks, oranges, purple, yellows and white. The track across the moor was unmarked but reasonably well defined, although long pants and/or gaiters were desirable for the knee to waist high scrub. It was also pleasing to be walking on something other than sand. All too soon we descended onto the sand spit that separated Nadgee Lake from the sea. We crossed this with the afternoon sun reflecting off the lake, then proceeded another half kilometer north along the coast, before commencing our U-turn to bring us to the delightful campsite on the north side of the lake, about 5pm. We took it in turns to have a wash in the lake, the effort of carrying water proved worthwhile, as we were unable to locate any local drinking water.
At Bunyip Hole we rested before climbing a hill up onto Endeavour Moor, a veritable wildflower heaven of vivid pinks, oranges, purple, yellows and white. The track across the moor was unmarked but reasonably well defined, although long pants and/or gaiters were desirable for the knee to waist high scrub. It was also pleasing to be walking on something other than sand. All too soon we descended onto the sand spit that separated Nadgee Lake from the sea. We crossed this with the afternoon sun reflecting off the lake, then proceeded another half kilometer north along the coast, before commencing our U-turn to bring us to the delightful campsite on the north side of the lake, about 5pm. We took it in turns to have a wash in the lake, the effort of carrying water proved worthwhile, as we were unable to locate any local drinking water.
Sunday
morning we headed off about 9:30am across Impressa Moor, where we
continued to be amazed at the variety of flowers and orchids on display.
Our track then led into a ‘forest’ of ti tree as we headed towards
Nadgee Beach. Shortly before the beach we located more fresh water in a
swamp on the right hand side of the track.
Nadgee beach proved too delightful to let pass, so we dumped packs and
went surfing (Ed, Alan), swimming in the river (Wendy) or fishing
(Denis), who at last succeeded in landing two small salmon. After
warming up, we continued along the track for a short distance and almost
missed the turnoff to Osprey Lookout. After a short stop we walked
through thick ti-tree (in almost semi-darkness due to the density of the
overhead foliage) and reached the spectacular lookout. Out to sea the
splash of whales breaching could just be seen, while closer in we
watched a pod of dolphins hunting schools of fish from below while sea
birds dive bombed them from above. To the north we had a view of cliffs
and in the distance Green Cape. Leaving the lookout we continued
northwards and soon had some navigational difficulties as the 4WD track
turned inland and the turn-off to continue north along the coast was not
as prominent as the map suggested. This cost us about 20 minutes to
resolve. We decided to push on to Little River Beach for a late lunch,
arriving there about 2:30pm. We had no problem with crossing the Little
River mouth, but after lunch needed to climb up a short but steep gully
so as to be able to continue inland along the north side of the river.
We found a campsite, and subsequently the track leading back up onto the
headland and north to Newtons Beach. Inland from the beach, Wendy and Ed
found good quality water up a branch of the Wirra Birra creek, and
we
settled down in a pleasant campsite just 50 meters from the beach. Our
plan was to get up at 4 am and walk to the sea caves at the other end of
the beach, as this was the low tide and the caves can only be accessed
then. It was a very clear night and we were able to walk without the aid
of torches, the moon being still quite full. As we approached the cliffs
they cast a very strong shadow, all of a sudden we ran out of sand,
rocks and waves barred our way. We tried unsuccessfully to find a way
around them but in the end had to abandon our attempts. We started back,
walked towards the cliff and vanished not only into the shadow but also
into the opening of a huge cavern. We explore this one, then found
another that ran for about a hundred meters or so, complete with
resident bats. Back along the beach one gradually became aware of the
faintest of glows out on the horizon. We reached the end and watched in
awe as the sky turned a vivid pink, then red and finally a brilliant
gold.
On our return to camp we got a massive fire going and had a big cook up for our last breakfast. With the tents packed up we headed back along the beach to pick up the track again that headed up over Mt Tumbledown and the final stretch into Merrica River. We arrived at the gate about 11am and were met by a very welcoming NSW Parks ranger. We finally hit the road but not far along Wendy discovered she had a hitchhiker. A tick had firmly attached itself to her head, we stopped and did the necessary extricating of it and all did a thorough checking of themselves. Back in Mallacoota the first stop was the bakery for lunch before the long drive home. Nadgee is a very special place and will be listed, as a place to return to again. This trip was also special thanks to good company, helpfulness and planning of all involved.
Denis Nagle and Alan Eagle
Seniors Walk: Rokeby Rail Trail
Date Tuesday 5th October
SBWC
Participants Jan Garden, Graham Duell, Richard McNeil, Nick Van Ewijk,
Alistair Carr, Chris and Steve Munro, Michael and Heather Haynes, Wendy
Cartledge, Rod Catchpole. Tim Clarke,
The Seniors Walks were planned to allow for a variety of fitness and energy amongst the participants, all utilising the Rail Trail. We met at Rokeby for morning tea and briefing, the bus and very helpful bus driver carrying 51 seniors, 12 members of SBWC, a Parks Victoria Ranger, the Shire organiser, 2 Red Cross ladies and 2 members of Rokeby and Crossover Friends Group. The most energetic group left Rokeby to walk to the Crossover trestle bridge and return (about 8 km). The next group travelled by bus to Crossover, and then walked back to Rokeby. The third group set off from Rokeby to explore the Rail Trail for as far as their time and inclination took them. Each group was led and supported by club members. All groups returned to Rokeby for lunch, which was supplied by the Shire. There we heard from the Friends group about the history of the area and their plans for future restoration. Thank you to our members who assisted on the day, and to Ron and Jenny for assistance with the recce, and to the members of other organisations who also assisted. All participants I spoke to assured me they would be back next year.
Michael Haynes
Fingerboard Spur, Poverty Point Bridge & Horse Shoe Tunnel
Date Tuesday 21st September
Participants Ron (Leader) and Jenny Cann, Jan and Glen Garden,
Dianne and Alistair Carr, Heather and Michael Haynes, Steve Munro, Phil
Answer, Nick van Ewijk, Tim Clarke. Graham Duell
Early morning rain had
mostly disappeared by the time thirteen eager walkers gathered at Erica
recreation ground for the customary pre-walk coffee & cakes.
Fortunately the weather
stayed
dry, although cloudy, for the entire walk.
After a car shuffle, we negotiated a steep descent down the side of Fingerboard Spur to the Thomson River track. Much of the surrounding bush was severely damaged by last year’s bushfires, but it was pleasing to see strong regeneration of the tree ferns and green shoots appearing on blackened eucalypts.
The Thomson River track was in good condition and gave good views of the river about 20-50 metres below. The Thomson River itself seemed in good condition, deep slow-flowing pools alternated with short rapids. Recent rain had brought out some nice wildflowers. An artful arrangement of rock slabs into a table and benches in a widening of the track made a very pleasant place for our mid-morning break.
A few minutes after the break, we reached Poverty Point Bridge, an imposing structure spanning Thomson River. The base of the Bridge is a set of metal spars that were imported from Britain in the early 1900’s. The bridge originally supported a narrow gauge tram line which was used to haul wood for mines and settlements along the valley. Ron showed us a copy of an early painting that showed the bridge in operation and a number of settlers’ or miners’ huts nestled under the bridge. It seemed amazing that huts could cling to the steep valley sides. Modern planks and handrails had been added to the bridge to make walking easier and safer.
We respected signs on the bridge warning of fire damage and stayed on the west side of the valley. Another hour or so easy walking along the river side trail brought us to Thomson Station on the old Walhalla railway line for lunch. The old railway line went from Moe to Walhalla, but was finished just in time for the decline of Walhalla as a gold town around 1910-11. Trains continued until WWII but the line fell into disrepair until a group of enthusiasts restored part of it as a tourist operation in the 1990s. The restored Thomson Station was in fine condition and made a very comfortable lunch stop. A few months ago Puffing Billy was borrowed for some centenary trips on the restored parts of the original train line.
South of the station, parts of the old rail reserve had been widened, seemingly in preparation for an extension of the tourist line. Some impressive new metal beams stacked in the station yards also indicated the prospect of new works, or at least extensive repairs. An old and now decrepit, although still standing, bridge spanned a gully a few hundred metres south of Thomson Station.
A kilometre further
south, a short and steep decline took us down to the river bed and the
inlet of the Horseshoe Bend Tunnel. Built in 1911 by a local, William
John Hannaford who almost lost his family in the explosion that
completed the tunnel opening, and earlier called “Chinese Tunnel”, the
tunnel lowered the level of the river to allow easier extraction of
gold. Below the inlet we walked along the river bed to the tunnel
outfall, and saw how the river returns to a normal level below the
outfall. Gippsland Water wants the flow in the tunnel restored to the
river, in part to allow native fish to navigate upstream. Change is
being resisted by Friends of the Tunnel because of its historical
significance and tourist intere
st.
Thirteen walkers are now in a better
position
to understand the controversy over the tunnel. This correspondent, for
one, votes for the fish and the return of water flow to the river.
A steep climb up a well-maintained zig-zag track took us to the tunnel car park. We reversed the car shuffle and arrived back at the Erica recreation ground by four-thirty, where we enjoyed a final cuppa and some of Jenny’s delicious cake slices.
Steve Munro
A Journey into the Past.
Date: Sunday 12th September
Participants Peter Ryan, Claire Cassidy, Rob Bentvelzen
As always these walks are preceded by some social activity and on Saturday night we all enjoyed some wine and food at the local pub in Macedon. A roaring fire to warm the body externally and good food to stock pile energy for tomorrow’s walk in the hinterland around Castlemaine was enjoyed by all. And we were home in time to watch the end of the Western Bulldogs and Sydney Swans match.
Sunday, a short 50 minute drive, from Macedon, brings you to the area of Vaughan Springs. The area to be walked actually has five spring sites which are marked with a hand pump inside a low walled circular area. The walk around Vaughan Springs is 13.2 km according to Tyron Thomas and well worth doing. The area walked is not steep and quite interesting with lots of variety in springs, old gold mining sites, water races, 130 metre long water race tunnel called the Devils Tunnel, and the Loddon River, which was still flowing strongly after the good rainfall received in the area.
The walking was completed by 3pm and after a cup of tea in the car park, the journey home was commenced to ensure a hot lamb roast for tea was well taken care of. Thanks to Peter and Claire for organizing another great walk.
Rob Bentvelzen
Date 12th September
Participants Julie Parker (Leader), Richard McNeil, Fran Miller
About 10.00am we hit the slopes of Mt St.Gwinear – the snow was a little thin on the ground at the car park, but there was decent cover further up the hill.
I must say, I do not like walking with sheets of plastic strapped to my feet, but the ‘Yowies’ enable one to get out onto the snow and to get right in amongst the snow gums, which is where we stopped for our ‘elevens’s’, after passing the viewing platform. We had a good view, the weather was ideal.
We ambled on to the flats, taking the ‘yellow pole’ track which avoids going up over the summit. There were very few people about, but
a few bird sightings – a robin, a thornbill and 2 yellow tailed black cockatoos who were demolishing a tree. Many animal tracks and droppings as well.
We lunched on the other side of the creek, choosing some granite boulders for our chairs in a cosy cluster of trees. The sky had looked threatening and we did get a sprinkling of snow, but it soon cleared.
We decided to have an easy day and returned to the cars, passing a few very well constructed and decorated snow people on our way back.
Thank you Julie for a lovely day on the mountain.Fran Miller
Powelltown - The Bump, Reid's Mill
Date Saturday 11th September
Participants Cathy Almond (leader), Julie Parker, Peter Maffei
We chose to walk the Reid's Mill track first, as during the reccie of this walk, it was supposedly closed. Signs indicating this were only at one end of the track, so we headed off.
New staircases climb steeply from the car park and lead to a wide, possibly four wheel drive track. Most of the walk was on this track, the last part descending into bush, to Reid's Mill.
Only a large, rusted wheel remains of the mill. Powelltown was a 'timber-getter's town”, supplying Melbourne. Logs were carted initially by horse drawn trams and later steam trains, to sawmills. There are a few old mill sites further along this walk.
We had a fairly relaxed approach to the start and ate lunch with road noise audible, before continuing onto the main part of the walk.
Walking to “The Bump” is easy; the track is well made, mostly flat with a few creek crossings. In places old railway tracks could be seen and we often marveled at the pioneers, so tough to be logging in such a harsh environment. The track is surrounded on all sides by very thin-trunked trees and ferns; it's very peaceful and shady.
The Bump is a slight but significant rise in the landscape. When the railway was built from Warragul to Noojee, timber getters promised all timber from La Trobe Valley way would go via that rail and not the Great Divide to Yarra Junction. There must have been politicians amongst the timber fellers; someone cut a tunnel through the Bump and took logs through, not over it. Another version is the Bump was just that, and it was easier to go under than winch logs over a steep incline.
The tunnel was filled in 1960; we were able to find the entrance and follow it partway back the way we had come. The tunnel proved lifesaving during the 1939 fires, when 200 people sheltered and survived.
It was a very leisurely day. We began after 10am and didn't leave until 5pm, after a cuppa from Julie's thermos. It was a really enjoyable day. Thank you both for your company and Peter, there's always next time!
Cathy Almond
Date Friday 10th September
Tim Clarke, Ron Cann, Andy Runciman and Michael Haynes
We
decided to go to Mt St Gwinear as Andy (though
experienced at downhill skiing) wanted
to try the cross-country variety. The warmer
temperatures and rain of the previous week had played
havoc with the snow and it was melting rapidly. Although
we had frequent snow showers during the day, it melted
as it fell. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the day and Andy
made good progress.
The boys showing off their prowess
Date Tuesday 14th September
Tim Clarke, Ron Cann, Henk Pillekers and Michael Haynes
We had obtained half price lift tickets we were anxious to use, and so decided our last downhill ski for the season would be at Mt Baw Baw. Henk, who hadn’t been able to get much skiing in this winter, impressed us with his skill at telemarking. There were not many other skiers on the mountain, so lift queues were non-existent. The snow conditions were quite good, and we tried out all lifts and runs, and created several more among the trees. Perhaps just one more day out?
Date Thursday 23rd September
Ron Cann, Tim Clarke, and Michael Haynes
A last trip down-hilling at Mt Baw Baw. After a series of warmish nights the amount of snow had diminished dramatically. We found 3 other skiers with whom we shared our half price vouchers. Using the tows took concentration to avoid patches of rocks and dirt poking through the snow, and a couple of tows were no longer operating. On the positive side it was a glorious day with sunshine and blue sky, and we enjoyed the unexpected bonus runs. This was definitely the last day of skiing for 2010.
Michael Haynes
Moonlight Divide Track and the Giant Ash Tree - Mt Worth SP
Date: Saturday 28th August
Participants: Cathy Almond (leader), Rachel Davies, Gayle Shields, Heather and Michael Haynes
Driving up to the car park we first saw a Lyrebird cross in front of us and then sadly a wombat that didn't make it across the road. At Moonlight Creek car park, we were preparing for our walk and looking skyward, decided the day would be good to us, (we hoped).
At first a nice casual walk for about 1km, with a wallaby stopped on the track ahead, watching us, then hopping away. A steep climb was next - the first of a few - and we weren't cold after that.
After walking along we came to a waterfall that was flowing very well over the rock, which was lovely to see. We continued on our way, seeing tree ferns on the slopes looking fresh, green and healthy. Crossing the creek at different times wasn't a problem with small bridges over it. One bridge was in the way of a tree that fell, but luckily only clipped the end, so we were able to use it. In different places trees had fallen down across the track and we had to make our way over, under or around them, which we all managed to do.
The rain had made the track slippery and muddy, but no leaches, and we heard the sounds of birds singing along the way.
We stopped at a sign that said "McDonald's Track 700m" where Cathy and I decided to go and have a look while the others had lunch. Just as we left them it started to rain, but it didn't last long. A steep climb to the top, and we had a look around the clearing, where someone had lived. Cathy spotted another lyrebird, and so back down the slippery slope to have our lunch with the others.
The mills along this track have been taken over by nature once more with only signs stating they were there.
We continued walking, climbing over fallen trees, slipping along (but not falling), till we came to the wheelchair access path back to the cars. Michael and Heather had to leave us at this point. We decided to do the Giants circuit walk. This was lovely as well. Very green with a canopy of tree ferns over our heads. The two mills on this track still have pieces of machinery lying around. This track is also very slippery and muddy. Saw the giant ash tree, still leaning. This is a good rainforest walk with fungi, mosses and different ferns growing everywhere, it was all lovely.
We arrived back at the car, having already decided to find a coffee, a great way to finish walking. Thanks Cathy for a good day.
Gayle Shields
Beginners (and advanced) Ski Day at Mt St Gwinear
Date: Sunday 29th August
Participants: Tim Clarke (leader), Ron Cann, Richard McNeil, Ian McLean and Michael Haynes
After meeting at Erica Ski Hire we travelled in one car to Mt St Gwinear carpark. There was plenty of snow, although not fresh since Friday evening, and we were soon on the trail. We found a suitable gentle slope to play on, and we all stayed there for a while. Then Tim, Ron and I set off to explore some of the more distant ‘flats’ which are not often sufficiently snow-covered to be worth visiting. We were able to travel off-trail between the trees on deep, unmarked snow, navigating with map & compass (aided by GPS) in a large loop. The conditions were very good, making for pleasant and easy skiing. Lunch was eaten sitting on a hilltop, with wide views all around. Eventually we circled around to the summit of Mt St Gwinear, and then enjoyed the run down back to the carpark. Here we rejoined Ian and Richard who had spent the day playing and practicing on the lower slopes, and prepared for the trip home.Michael Haynes.
Date: Friday, 27th
August
Participants: Tim Clarke (Leader), Michael
Haynes, Graham Bolton
We met at Parker’s Corner (Rawson) and car-pooled,
travelling via the South Face Road to Mt Baw Baw
Village. Tim met a guy with a 2-for-1 ski lifts voucher,
so he quickly became a friend! Graham and I had to pay
full price….! The guy’s name was Ralph, and it turned
out that his sister was once a member of SBWC. He joined
us for the day, and we spent some happy hours trying out
all the lifts and ski runs that Baw Baw has to offer. It
snowed, off and on, all day – dry, powdery snow that was
GREAT to ski on. Possibly the best snow we have ever
experienced, and the best in the memory of those we
spoke with. You can’t plan times like that – you can
only be lucky you were there!
Ski Day for Beginners at Mt St Gwinear
Date: Saturday, 21stAugust
Participants: Esko & Michael Lossi, Ian McLean, Phil
Answer, Rob Hooper, Ed Buller and daughter Charlotte
(visitor), Nick Van Ewijk, Tim Clarke and Michael Haynes
(leaders).
We met at Erica Ski Hire (now moved into a nice new
building) where those needing gear hired it, and then
car-pooled to Mt St Gwinear. Tim had to stop and fit
chains, but Phil’s 4WD negotiated the snow easily. (Rob
was delayed and met us on the trail.) We did not need to
go far to find a good beginners’ slope, and we stayed
and played until lunch time. After lunch, when billies
were boiled, the party split into 2 groups, those
feeling more confident climbing higher up the trail to
some steeper slopes where the skiing was a little more
challenging. All those learning, (or re-learning after a
gap of some years,) made great progress in their skills
and control. A most satisfying day.
Skiing on the Bogong High Plains
Date: 7-14th August
This activity was by invitation from a winter group of the Melbourne Bushwalkers to the following SBWC members: Maurice Poulton, Ron Cann, Tim Clarke, and Michael Haynes. The four of us met at Mt Baw Baw on the 2nd August for a practice ski on the day after the first heavy snowfall of the season as we needed to get our ‘skiing legs’ back and try out some new equipment.
We drove to Tawonga South on Friday August 6th and slept in a community hall there. Early next morning we left the cars at Mt Beauty bus station and ‘bussed’ to Windy Corner at Falls Creek where we shouldered our packs for the 11 km ski in to the Rover Chalet. The rest of the week was spent exploring the nearby areas of the high plains: Mt Cope, Rocky Knobs, Pretty Valley and the like. Mostly the weather was good and the snow even better, although one day many of the party (of 24) spent the morning looking out the windows at heavily falling snow. Otherwise we packed our lunches each day after breakfast and headed out in groups to explore and play on the slopes. Saturday morning we set out early to ski back to Falls Creek & catch the bus out.
Helens Head and Pyramid Rock, Phillip Island
Date: Tuesday 17th August
Participants: Ron Cann (Leader), Jenny Cann, Tim
and Gayle Clarke, Michael Haynes, Linda Johns, Gayle
Shields, Julie Williams, Jan Garden, Carol Pharaoh, Tim
Rothberg
Threatened by wet and cold weather that would excite a
keen skier, we set off for Phillip Island for a
Tuesday
walk under the guidance of our miracle-working leader
(Ron). Yes you guessed it, as the walk started with a
cuppa at Kitty Miller Bay, the sun came out and it
stayed fine for the rest of the walk. I don’t know why
we bother to carry all this wet weather gear when we
walk with Ron? We walked westwards along the rock shelf
around Watt Point where, after negotiating a steep
slippery decent on a wet c
lay
track, we saw the rusting remains of the bow of a square
rigged sailing ship, the S.S.Speke, which was the
largest three-masted steel sailing ship of its day.
We
pushed on as quickly as possible to beat the incoming
tide that was already starting to flood the rock
shelves. We climbed Helens Head and after a minor
mutiny, found a sheltered place out of the wind to enjoy
our second morning tea. We then walked around the back
of Hutchison Beach and across Wild Dog Bluff where we
had to negotiate some “shocking” farm fences (electric)
on the edges of cliffs that blocked
our
way. The group showed great team work in getting
everyone safely through these obstacles. Congratulations
to those more cautious walkers who were out of their
comfort zones.
Another
steep descent on slippery clay led us down to Berrys
Beach where we enjoyed lunch. We went inland a little
way and then followed a substantial gravel-clad
cliff-top track that was unfortunately flooded with
water in many parts. We crossed Red Bluff and made our
way down to the Pyramid Rock car park and continued on
to the rock viewing platform before returning to the car
park for the car shuffle. Along the way we were also
rewarded by the sight of several black wallabies that
seemed to be not that scared of people. We
finished the day with hot chocolates and coffees at
San Remo. Thanks Ron for another great
walk and for your continued intervention with the gods
of weather.
Tim Clarke
Date: Tuesday 27th July
Participants: Ron Cann
(leader) Jenny Cann, Heather and Michael Haynes, Steve
Munro, Jan Garden, Carol Pharaoh, Gerry Foxhall
(visitor)
Due to a calf injury (mine!) I had postponed this walk to the fourth Tuesday. I had several possible alternative plans in case the 13 km walk threatened to undo some good healing.
We met at 9.30 at the “Guide Park” in Graham St. Wonthaggi, just opposite the hospital. After introductions and a cuppa we shuffled a couple of cars to Harmer’s Haven where the walk was to finish.
Our
walk followed the nearby Bass Coast Rail Trail for a
short distance before crossing a stile into the
Wonthaggi State Coal Mine Historic Reserve (Central
Area). We stopped briefly at the entrance to the
McBride Tunnel and the nearby Pit Pony entrance before
moving on past the former Rescue Station and the Vet’s
House to the skeletal remains of the 1910 No. 5 Brace.
While track notes (“Day Walks Around Melbourne” –
Glenn Tempest) informed us that this was the location
where hundreds of 14 year old boys were employed to sort
stones from the coal, there was much speculation as to
exactly how it all worked and where and how the loading
of coal trains occurred. Some research is needed here!
Following well defined tracks, we passed a couple of old safes marking the site of the old mine office. A path through attractive coastal woodland took us westwards, eventually leading to a bird hide overlooking the Baxter Wetlands. Several pairs of binoculars gave us a “birds-eye view” of the locals: varieties of ducks, swamp hens, swans nesting, egrets, ibis, and a striking scarlet robin.
Pushing on past more ruins of former mining activity we reached West Area Rd, a decision point for the walking wounded. Fortunately I was managing quite well and Michael was also happy to continue, in spite of a troublesome blister he had commenced the walk with, a legacy of new plastic ski boots which hadn’t yet been tamed. Soon we were walking near the base of the wind farm, the blades turning ever so slowly in the almost windless and beautifully sunny day. A mob of kangaroos hopped along a nearby sandy ridge.
Consensus decreed a delayed lunch, in the hope of a top 10 beach-side lunch spot. Two fishermen passed us, one with a very heavy looking mesh sack on his back, containing the morning’s catch – the beach couldn’t be too far! It did prove to be a top 10 spot, on a flat topped sand dune overlooking the delightful Baxter’s Beach, with large waves pounding onto an outer sand bar. To the west we could pick out Cape Woolamai, to the east the 3 km of sandy beach which we were to follow after lunch.
The sand was reasonably soft and a bit of a plod, but such was the weather and the glorious views that it didn’t seem too long before we spotted the Beach Location Marker 20 (Cutlers Beach), our exit point from the beach. From here we quickly located Collins track, following it through coastal woodlands past a number of “nature trail” markers. Signage to “Harmers Haven” had been broken off in two places but a clear path and an earlier ‘reccie’ confirmed the correct route. We speculated that perhaps a Harmers Haven resident had decided that the beauty of the local area might be spoiled by excessive through traffic, and had taken preventative action!
Though not seeing much by way of wildlife in the final couple of kilometres, numerous diggings and animal pads suggested an active night life. Wombat holes were widespread and conical holes along the track were likely evidence of a substantial bandicoot population. Jenny spotted a pile of scats that could only have indicated the lengthy resting place of a koala in the overhead eucalypt branches.
Before too long we were back to our cars. With sufficient room for all of us there was nothing left to do but drive back to Wonthaggi, collect the other car, and settle in to a well earned afternoon tea at the Mega Bites restaurant – highly recommended! Ron Cann
Bush
Search and Rescue Snow Skills
Weekend 23-25 July 2010
SBWC
participants Graham Bolton (BSAR delegate)
John Sunderland, Tim Clarke, & Michael Haynes.
We drove up to JB Plain very early on the Saturday
morning. The BSAR bus, with about 30 volunteers and
organisers had just arrived. The bus had come the long
way around and ‘overnighted’ at Bright.
JB Plain is 1.5 km up the road from Dinner Plain and
outside the resort (fees) area. There is a charming,
clean hut with a fireplace and a long drop. There was
only just enough snow for skiing on the trail and
patches elsewhere. So, no skis: BSAR handed out
snowshoes.
We set up tents in glorious weather before the training
exercises began at 11:00am.
The group was separated
into experienced and less experienced volunteers, with
separate sessions organised for each. These covered,
emergency shelters, Bothy shelter, radios and GPS. BSAR
have enough CB radios to issue one to each of us, which
is new to me and helps a lot. After lunch we came back
together then sent off in groups of four on a radio and
GPS exercise. To my shame I forgot to check the datum
in the GPS and we were 200m off the spot!
When I compared the grid reference with John’s GPS we
realized the mistake. After dinner there was a night
practice in Line Searching. We must have made a strange
sight for the “victim” as we approached, all with
headlamps on, moving slowly forward in line abreast,
through the mist. Tim found the missing person.
Sunday dawned sunny again, just lovely. Muster was at 8
am then we had a search for four “missing” people to
occupy us for the morning. My group had to stretcher
the found “person” out to the road. This went quite
well. Lunch and the usual debrief and the BSAR crew
roared away on the bus.
We decided to stay another day and went for a gentle ski
up the trail. Dinner around the fire in the hut was
very pleasant. Monday we drove up to Mt Hotham and
skied out towards Mt Locke but the snow was a bit thin
even that high. It was another glorious day, sunny and
a light breeze, so 3º C was quite comfortable. Michael
and I wanted to test our new skis and we found a nice
slope with a view of Feathertop and had a play. (John
chose to stay at camp, since he has misplaced his ski
boots somewhere. We hope they turn up soon.)
We headed back home about 3pm. Thanks to Michael for
driving us in his 4WD.
Graham Bolton (BSAR delegate)
Date:
Monday 12 July
This callout was by text. Michael and I had been skiing that day and to Michael’s great credit he packed his gear and set off to the search. As is often the case, there was no time for sleep that night. Please see his report below. Thanks Michael.
I was pleased to be allowed to join the bus at 6:00 am in Healesville, instead of driving to Northcote, the regular pick-up place. We reached Lake Mountain about 7:00am and began sorting gear while the organisers conferred with the Police Search & Rescue and planned the search. We were divided into 6 groups of 3. There were also SES, Police Dog Squad and the resort patrollers assisting. Most groups were told to take day packs and return to base to camp, but my group leader, Rod Costigan, advised us to take full packs, as we would be following a creek too far to get back. We set off about 8:45, and as you may see from the photo, the bush has recovered little from the fires: many large fallen trees, and the smaller ones still standing often toppled if we tried to pull on them. Some places near the creek had escaped unburnt, and these were quite thick to penetrate. We searched for 3 hours. Helicopters passing overhead often made communications difficult. The lost woman was found just before mid-day. M.H.
Mel Morcom (Churchill) and Michael Haynes (SBWC) returning to base
McMahons Creek Goldfield -Yarra Ranges NP
Date: Sunday 27th June
Participants: Richard McNeil (leader),
Graham Duell.
Richard said that the weather would be good; the track
would be in good condition, the distance was only 9
kilometres, and that it would be in an interesting area.
He got the last bit right!
We drove up through Warburton to the ‘Little Peninsular’
car park in steady drizzle. As we had a cuppa and got
organised, I read some of the information signage about
the area. The goldfield was developed in the late
1850’s and 1860’s, and to gain access to alluvial gold
in the bed of the Yarra, 2 tunnels 30 meters long were
blasted through narrow spurs to divert the river. This
left a 1 kilometre and a 3 km length of river bed dry
and accessible for foraging. (I’d like to see the
environmental impact statement they used!). The entire
flow of the Yarra still goes through both tunnels.
The signage also indicated that the circuit walk, which
we were doing, was 13 kilometres, not 9, and when I
turned to tell Richard he had slipped over in the mud.
We inspected the ‘Little Peninsular’ tunnel, which is
close to the car park, and then set off following an
underground pipeline up a very steep and very slippery
hill, and down a very steep and very slippery hill to
the dry bed of the river. A short distance further on
we came to the ‘Big Peninsular’ tunnel, which has steps
down either side of the spur to see the entry and exit
points. To get to the entry point, the track crosses
the river via a set of stepping-stones. Due to the rain
the river was reasonably high which gave our boot
waterproofing a bit of a workout.
The track then climbed through bush past several mine
shafts, mostly fenced off from curious bushwalkers.
After lunch at about the halfway point, the track
followed an old water race for several kilometres. This
diverted water to be used in mining activities, and was
again indication of the effort made to get at the gold.
This section of the track was also through a fairly
recent fuel reduction burn, and there were many trees
down across the path, and many more looking like they
were about to come down, making for difficult going.
The very slippery terrain also meant Richard had lots of
slips and slides.
Returning towards the car park down a long and slippery
descent, we were entertained by one (or several?) unseen
lyrebirds going through their full repertoire of calls,
kookaburras, shrike thrushes, yellow tailed cockatoos,
etc which was quite fantastic.
A great walk, interesting area, but very slippery and
walking sticks would be recommended.
Graham Duell
Strzelecki Rail Trail and Lyrebird Walk
Date: Saturday 19th June
Leader: Rachel Davies
Participants: Cathy Almond, Denis Nagle, Rob Bentvelzen
Rachel did the big pick up
and had us sipping coffee shortly after 9am at the
Mirboo North bakery. (We won't mention the first place
we tried, where the chef hadn't arrived and the heater
was about to explode). It was a cold, wintery day with
heavy clouds overhead,
but
no rain ensued. As all good leaders do, Rachel had done
her homework and we started on the trail shortly after
9.30am.
The trail is only currently open to Darlimurla; two bridges through to Boolara were burnt out in the fires last year, and have still not been repaired.
It is a lovely walk along a flat, well maintained trail, surrounded by tall trees and bird life. The boys discovered a brick tunnel under the trail not yet overgrown with vegetation, although heading that way. We had a very easy stroll to Darlimurla station, where a shelter and table exist for morning tea.
Rachel and Rob had seen a bollard that they thought indicated an entry for the Lyrebird Walk, so we followed the Darlimurla road back. The bollard proved elusive but we did come across an entry to our chosen walk
This is a beautiful walk,
some slight uphill sections but a well worn track
through the park. We walked the 'Warriors Walk' first
(of course), and had lunch on top of the hill
overlooking lovely bushland. The table has been replaced
since the walk was burnt out, a few years ago. We were
disappointed to see few signs of wildlife although Denis
did hear a lyrebird. Some wombat holes were in evidence
but most appeared old and overgrown.
Fortunately we had two very good navigators on the trip as we did some cross country walking to get back onto the rail trail. We came very close to accessing the trail over the edge of a quarry but stopped short of breaking our legs.
We had heard tantalising tails of scones, jam and cream at the Grand Ridge Brewery, thoughts of which kept us going throughout the day. Unfortunately this was not to be, but we were able to sample some great beers. I can recommend their 'super shine', although at 11% it's not to be taken lightly. As designated driver Rachel tolerated our imbibing, even though she doesn’t drink.
This is an easy, beautiful walk suitable for prams/young children. Rachel did a great job organising and guiding us on her first led walk. We look forward to your leadership on future walks.
Cathy Almond
Date: Tuesday 15th June
Leader: Michael Haynes
Participants: Ron and Jenny
Cann, Rod Catchpole, Julie Parker, Jan Garden,
Alistair Carr, Heather Haynes
The eight of us met at the central park in Fish Creek, and were happy to warm up to the day with a hot drink and one of Heather’s freshly baked Anzac biscuits. After a car shuffle, we headed off along the rail trail, passing what used to be the station and siding in Fish Creek.
The Great Southern Rail Trail runs between Leongatha and Foster. It comprises approximately 50 kms of previously abandoned railway land which was converted to crown land and set aside for public ownership in response to community requests. All but 3 kms of the trail has been completed. The original railway took five years to complete. The section from Korumburra to Toora was built using 2000 men, 200 horses and 700 oxen at a cost of 322,693 pounds, 17 shillings and
10 pence. It was opened in 1892, providing a welcome link to settlers in South Gippsland, until it was closed in 1992, a hundred years later.
The trail is a wide,
well graded gravel path, providing a good walking
surface. It passes through
The old Fish Creek station and platform dairy cattle farmland and
remnant bush of the Gippsland hills. The vegetation
lining the trail changed frequently as we walked,
including eucalypt, pittosporum, melaleuca, tree
ferns and numerous fungi; a linking corridor for
wildlife. Julie, our resident botanist, was able to
provide us with the names of much of the vegetation.
We reached Lowry’s Road and at this point Michael and Ron retrieved the car from Fish Creek. Making for a different “walk” we all belted up in the cars and enjoyed the drive to a point near the summit of Mt Nicoll, several kilometres to the south of the trail. It was a short steep scramble up to the summit, and the reward was well worth the detour. We had spectacular 360˚ views including Wilson’s Promontory, Corner inlet, Snake Island and the farmland between. We had question marks about the ‘snowgum-like’ eucalypts on the way up. Julie has since identified them as E. kitsoniana or Gippsland Mallee.
Back to the rail trail and another car shuffle, and we declared lunchtime at a picnic table which had been colourfully decorated by a local school. We then set off once again towards Foster. The track continued to climb and then descended along the eastern side of the Hoddle Range. The numerous cuttings and embankments with the varied vegetation made for an impressive walk.
We chose to leave the rail trail before the old Foster Railway Station, to walk the several hundred metres into Foster, while Michael and Ron did the final car shuffle. We held with tradition by finishing a most enjoyable walk with “coffee and cakes”.
Many thanks to Michael and Heather Jenny Cann
Base Camp - Mitchell River Walk, Angusvale.
Date: 12-14 June, Queens’ birthday weekend
Leader: Andy Runciman
Participants: Megan Major, Rachel Davies, Ed Dyt, Michael Haynes
We
all met up at Traralgon McDonalds, and while waiting for
a couple of people, had coffee and muffins from the
McCafe. Once everyone was there we drove to Billy Goat
Bend in the Mitchell River National Park, with a small
stop at the Angus McMillan memorial stone. Ed explained
that Angus McMillan was one of the explorers of the
Gippsland
region.
After we arrived at Billy Goat Bend we had a quick look around the camping grounds, set up our tents, had dinner and relaxed around the campfire, where a couple of friendly possums came and said hello. Billy Goat Bend is an excellent camping ground. It has a couple of big square tables with bench seats, campfire which also had bench seats around it, 2 small camp sites and 1 large one for groups, and also had 2 toilets, 1 with wheelchair access.
Sunday morning started about 7.30 with breakfast and organising ourselves for the day’s walk. Our first stop was about 100 meters from camp at the Amphitheatre Lookout, which looks down onto Mitchell River. We followed the track south listening to birds. There was not much wild life to see but a lot of evidence that they are around.
We had a morning tea stop at the junction of the walking track and West Weir Track, and then continued on to Deadcock Den, which is one of the special places for the Gunai/Kurnai Tribe, the local Aboriginal people. We passed through different types of forests as we went downhill, dry rainforest with some Kurrajongs, and warm temperate rainforest in the gullies. Parts of the track were a bit overgrown but we were still able to keep walking without too many problems.
After we had a look around Deadcock Den and filled our water bottles up from a trickling waterfall we headed up hill to Den of Nargun Picnic Area for lunch. Once lunch was finished we walked down rocky steps and had a bit of a rock scramble to reach Den of Nargun, which is another special place for Gunai/Kurnai people. We then continued along the Den of Nargun Loop Walk and followed the track back to camp. Unfortunately it was mostly uphill.
Back at camp we said goodbye to Michael and Ed, as they were just doing the day’s walk, had dinner and started the campfire and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Monday morning we were up, had
breakfast, packed up and started our car shuffle to
Angusvale Camping Ground by 9.00am, where we left Andy’s
car and Megan drove us back to Billy Goat Bend for our
12km walk.
The sign to Angusvale said 6 hrs but we thought we could do better than that, so off we set. The first part of the track was down a very rocky slope, and we were all glad we weren’t doing the walk the other way. After the rocky area the track flattened out and we could pick up our pace. There were a few ups and downs along the way but it was very comfortable walking. We stopped for morning tea on the bank of a river just off the Mitchell, and had a lovely time sitting in the warm sun. We crossed the river by walking along the rocks, and continued along the track up hill.
There were more ups and downs as we followed the track but there were also a lot of flat areas. The track follows parallel to Mitchell River so most of the time when we looked to our right we could see the water sparkling in the sun. There were also a lot of deer tracks and the grass was short in few areas. We only saw one deer and that was when we were driving.
Our lunch spot was on top of a hill overlooking Mitchell River with the sun shining through the trees, it was very relaxing. As we wanted to keep going we had a quick lunch and recharge and continued on, stopping every now and then looking at the Kurrajongs and other interesting plant life.
The rest of the walk was on the flat and level with the Mitchell, and while we were walking along we noticed debris in the trees about 3-5 meters up from previous floods.
We arrived back at Angusvale Camping ground around 2.30pm and were happy with our effort in doing the walk in 4 hours instead of the advertised 6. Andy drove us back to Megan’s car and it was time to go home.
The weekend was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed themselves. Thanks Andy for a great time.
Megan Major and Rachel Davies
Emerald – Belgrave (or the gourmet food and wine tour of Belgrave, with an incidental walk!)
Date: Weekend 5/6th June
Leader: Ed Buller
Participants:
Cathy Almond, Rachel Davies, Denis Nagle, Jack de Vries
Denis and I arrived at Ed's Friday night and were able to experience the delights of Oscars Ale House; although I piked early the boys had a late one. They were still bright eyed early the next morning to greet Rachel and an overcast cold Saturday, at Ed's house in Belgrave. We warmed up quickly with a short walk to the bus stop.
A lovely bus trip through green vegetation and around windy roads ensued. It seemed a long way when we finally exited at Emerald (it was)
It was very foggy and cold but not (yet) wet. Ed led us along a few roads but most of the path was well maintained bush tracks, although a lot of the walk was beside roads and houses, the vegetation is such that you were not even aware they were there. The paths were relatively flat and easy to walk on single file, most of the way.
Morning tea was in a large clearing beside the road, lunch at a park beside Monbulk indoor pool. The weather threatened after lunch and it eventually bucketed down and we got thoroughly soaked.
Despite
the rain, Ed took us via Sassafras waterfalls. There
wasn't much to see as it had been fairly dry until this
point. We ‘hooned it’ downhill towards Oscars, where
warmth (internal and external) beckoned.
The genial host of Oscars (Brad) gave us bar towels to attempt to dry ourselves. The internal warmth came from the alcohol. A man who knows his products well, even managed to find a beer that Rachel (a confirmed non-drinker of such substances), tolerated. Jack de Vries joined us for drinks and dinner.
Dinner was another Ed find; a quiet, well populated place named Lyrebird, run by Vidas, who offers amazingly simple food at bargain prices. Ed is on first name terms with proprietors of both establishments, indicating how good they are.
We contemplated a return to Oscars after dinner but opted to return to Ed's for some 12 year old Scotch, which sedated us sufficiently to sleep.
Sunday morning dawned wet and cold and completely unmotivated us to walk. Breakfast, glimpses of blue sky and Ed and Jack's urging got us up and going again for a short, easy hike around Birdsland reserve.
It rained (again), but we were mostly better prepared this time, and it wasn't quite as heavy. We were disappointed not to get on a ropes course that was an option for Sunday (it was privately booked), however Ed has promised to organise this as a future one day walk, finishing at Oscars (of course).
Thanks Ed for a great weekend, we look forward to the ropes course and a return visit to Oscars.
Cathy Almond
Chainsaw Course 5th June
3 Strzelecki BWC members, Rob Bentvelzen, Megan Major and Michael Haynes recently attended a training course in Drouin supported by Bushwalking Victoria on the use of chainsaws. It is now a requirement that participants on Bushwalking Victoria events (eg track clearing) must be qualified before using a chain saw. As some of you may have heard, the willows clearing program had to be postponed this year because the pilot, Andy Gilham, chief ranger of Baw Baw NP (who has been flying workers in to the areas involved for 20+ years) didn’t have the right navigation qualification and was unable to find a vacancy in a course to do so. Denis Nagle from the Friends of Tyers Park said all their workers now require a ‘white card’ i.e. the OH&S qualification which gives permission to be on a worksite. Red tape and bureaucracy!! Anyway, the day was very interesting. The first part involved some instruction videos and “classroom” work, then some hands-on stripping, servicing and reassembling of saws. After lunch we went ‘bush’ and practiced what we had learnt. Since the course cost BWV quite a lot, it was a condition of participation that we undertook to support some of their working parties when possible. &
