Trip Report ? Otford ? Burning Palms ? Helensburgh April 10, 2012
Walkers: Bruce, Mollie, Sophie, Dimitri, George K, Shayna, Michael M, Hayden, Tee, Emma, Jenifer, Abhisht, Sarah, Jacklyn, Eva, Isabela, Robert S, Nathan, Jali, Michael J, Anne, Ben T, Luck, Parastoo, Ankit, Katerina, Rebecca, George W. (Although, if you count the people in the photo on Otford Station there are 30 ? more about that in a minute ? read on).
After collecting most of the walkers outside the coffee place on the main concourse at Central Station, we headed off at a smart pace to platform 25 where the train to Otford was waiting. It was a close call, as we delayed our leaving the main concourse as one potential walker had left it to the last minute to get his ticket. In fact we had to leave him behind as he discovered the ticket machine wouldn?t accept his Visa card.
Anyway, once on the train we had a leisurely hour trip to Otford, picking up a couple more walkers at Hurstville, and got off at Otford Station. At the station I gave directions to two Austrian girls who were looking for the way to the National Park (more about them later). We then walked up the hill (the steepest part of the whole walk) to the Otford Pie shop, where some of us got coffee and apple pies. At this point four of the French walkers decided to stay behind to wait for their friend (the one left behind at Central who couldn?t get his ticket), saying they would join us later on.
So with the walkers reduced to 26, we set off for Burning Palms, stopping along the way for a photostop to view the South Coast escarpment, and Werrong Beach below.
After about 20 minutes we left the ?Coast Track? to start the descent to Burning Palms Beach along the ?North Era? track. This winds through heathland at first, then descends in rainforest and the ?Palm Jungle?. Right from the start the track, normally reasonably dry, had long muddy stretches and in some places had actually become part of a stream, so paddling in the water was unavoidable. (Read Emma?s Trip Report about her Bundeena walk the previous Saturday to get an idea of the conditions). This had been caused by the recent heavy rain. After a while the walk suddenly bursts out of the Palm Jungle and its sodden path into an open area dominated by Lomandra. The track at this stage is deeply eroded and looks more like a WW1 trench than a path. Someone pointed out the ?shortcut path? to Figure 8 pool, but it goes across an environmentally sensitive peat bog and really shouldn?t be used ? and we didn?t.
So on it was until reaching the outskirts of Burning Palms Beach, which again was under palms but less thick than the previous section. Still very waterlogged though.
On reaching the beach one of the girls discovered she had acquired some ?hitchhikers? in the form of a couple of leeches. Many other walkers then got into swimclothes and got into the water, while others settled down to lunch.
At this point a Lifeguard came to me to advise that the beach was closed to swimming due to the rough conditions (and in fact a rip could be seen at the northern end of the beach). Therefore we had to warn the swimmers that they mustn?t go out too far.
Around 40 minutes after we got there, the 4 French guys arrived (the group who had waited behind at Otford for their friend. Their friend was not with them, having got the next train but got off at
Helensburgh instead of Otford and had to abandon the walk). They eventually decided to stay behind at Burning Palms Beach instead of leaving with us, and effectively they were never a part of our walk. They returned afterwards back to Otford.
Around 1.30pm almost everyone was ready to commence the last leg of the trip to Helensburgh. The two aforementioned Austrian girls had meanwhile also arrived at the beach, and asked to join us for the rest of the trip, as they weren?t familiar with the area and were afraid of getting lost. Thus the walk grew to 28 in number for this last section. We walked past the Lifesavers? hut, through the huts above the beach, and along a tin walkway to reach the junction with the Coast Walk to Garie Beach. The track then heads up the ridge to the top of the escarpment to Garawarra Farm carpark, offering great views on the way of the South Coast as far as Port Kembla.
At the Garawarra carpark we then looked for the track to Helensburgh, on the northern side of the carpark, which is not well signposted and the sign could be easily hidden if a car was parked in front of it (remember this for future walks). The track then passes through bush and crosses a small creek until rising up again and then going down to eventually meet Lady Wakehurst Drive. The track appears to be little used now, but it is mostly easy to follow, with wooden steps every now and then, The spiderwebs we encountered across the track however, told us that no other walkers had used the track that day.
At Lady Wakehurst Drive we waited for everyone to catch up, then proceeded along a rather indistinct track which eventually crossed the Hacking River. There are stepping stones, but after the rain the river was up and the ?stepping stones? were well and truly submerged. There was nothing to do but just wade across, and given the very wet conditions of the ?Palm Jungle? earlier, most people?s shoes were already wet and so it didn?t matter much.
After leaving the river the track rose slightly and entered an area where it disappeared altogether for about 100 metres. Therefore I went ahead on what seemed a logical direction and found a sign saying ?to Helensburgh?. The track became more obvious after this and eventually come to a fire trail which was the way to Helensburgh town. At his point it became apparent that 5 or so walkers were consistently falling behind, requiring a wait at each junction so that they didn?t take the wrong path and get lost. What was happening was that they were stopping every 50 metres or so to take off their shoes to check for leeches! After explaining to them that every time they did this, they were just making it easy for leeches to hop on them (as well as on the rest of the group who had to stand still for several minutes to wait for them to catch up), they abandoned this practice. In any case the track was now out of leech territory as it climbed the ridge and headed for Helensburgh. At its end it reached the fence of the local tip, and swung hard right to skirt the fence and eventually reach a street in Helensburgh. By then train time was approaching fast, leaving just 7 minutes to get to the station about 1 km away. Just then Nathan called on my mobile to say that he and 4 others were now just above Helensburgh station! I asked him how he got there, and he said that he and the others had fallen behind, took a “wrong? turn where the track met the street, and that track had let straight to the station.
Anyway we started to walk quickly to the station and about 500 m on a couple of local teenagers showed us a shortcut through the bush to the station. Thanks to them we arrived a minute before departure time, only to find the train was running 10 minutes late!
Unfortunately we didn?t have time to have a look at the Metropolitan Tunnel, which actually passes under the shortcut the local lads showed us ? maybe another time.
On the train back, two of the leech-seekers explained that they thought that leeches buried into people once attached, and that?s why they got so obsessed with checking for them.
Also, the two Austrian girls turned out to be exchange students at Sydney Uni, and were interested in joining the Club.
This walk was a valuable experience and a steep learning curve for some of the walkers. For example, one person discovered that 500ml of water is not enough for a 12km walk. And of course that leeches are relatively harmless and they don?t drill into your brain!
Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/118404097080236061977/OtfordBurningPalmsHelensburghMarch112012?authkey=Gv1sRgCIqgxqvj1ru6kgE#