Kilcare Beach – Maitland-Bay – Mt Bouddi

Kilcare Beach – Maitland-Bay – Mt Bouddi

The walk plan didn’t get off to a good start, with the possibility of showers forecast earlier, and also my home internet losing its connection twice (found to be due to a jumper cable link pulled by possums!) causing difficulty in contacting walkers (and prospective walkers). Then the…

An Urban Walk on Middle Harbour

An Urban Walk on Middle Harbour

We met at 9.30 on a warm but overcast morning under the Roseville Bridge in Forestville. At that point 22 people were registered. Seven people texted to drop out and we had two no-shows (you know who you are!), so thirteen of us set off down middle harbour. The Harbour to Hawkesbury track runs through big gum trees under some very pretty sandstone cliffs, with views across to the harbourside suburb of Castlecrag designed by Walter and Marion Burleigh-Griffin, who also designed Canberra. Castlecrag is…

Helensburgh – Burning Palms – Otford

Helensburgh – Burning Palms – Otford

Although I had expected a few drop-out because of the weather outlook, in fact we only had two people withdraw due to weather and health concerns. And indeed it did not look to be a promising day. Although there was a mere 2 or 3 spots of rain when I left home, by the time I was passing through West Ryde the rain had become heavy. Also the…

Umina – Pearl Beach – Patonga

Umina – Pearl Beach – Patonga

Although I woke to blue skies, the weather forecast looked a bit worrying, promising showers and maybe a storm. Despite that, 10 intrepid adventurers decided to take the chance with the weather. With the numbers reduced due to sickness, sleep-ins, missed train, and unfortunately one “no show”, 10 of us met up at Woy Woy Station, and we all bundled into David’s care and mine, eliminating the need for a bus trip. So we…

Mt Solitary traverse

Mt Solitary traverse

Just a brief report with thanks to the SUBW members who offered advice for our walk, and to those who came and made it a lovely weekend. We walked the classic Solitary traverse in the end, with a car shuffle that worked brilliantly thanks to our three drivers (Martin, Mark and Sean). We even…

Beginners canyoning, Empress canyon

Beginners canyoning, Empress canyon

Expected to be cloudy for the whole day according to the weather forecast, again they successfully fail to predict the weather, it was a bit of shade very early in the morning, the sky clear out once we arrive at springwood. As my aim was to organized a big beginner canyoning trip to let more firsttimers experience the charm of bluemountain exclusive features, it was pity that almost half group of people dropped out before the trip with whatever their reasons, 4 other members contacted me in the morning to quit because they missed the train. I personally…

Thornleigh – Fishponds – Hornsby via Great North Walk (mostly)

Thornleigh – Fishponds – Hornsby via Great North Walk (mostly)

We all met up at Thornleigh Station and headed off along the Great North walk (GNW), which for the first km goes along suburban streets, so the first (and only) non-reptilian animal we saw on the GNW was somebody’s cat. Then it was into the Eloura Bushland reserve which then reaches a concrete fire access road which leads down to the upper reaches of Berowra Creek. There we…

Claustral Canyon

Claustral Canyon

This was always likely to be a slow trip, as seven is a large party for Claustral and we had some relatively inexperienced trip members, including our guest, an overseas academic with interests in conservation biology who had joined us at the last minute. As trip leader I was happy to go slowly, as the previous time I joined a small, fit group through Claustral it took seven hours and I was really exhausted by the end. The plan…