Trip Report: Gooch’s Crater Hike from Old Bells Line of Road (near Clarence) I recently embarked on an exhilarating hiking adventure to Gooch’s Crater with likeminded people, starting from Old Bells Line of Road near Clarence. The journey took us through gravel roads, fire trails, and off-track bush bashing, leading to fascinating pagodas, caves, and ultimately, the breathtaking Crater Lake. Here’s a…
Castle Cove view to Middle Harbour and Bantry Bay From the bus stop we met at before the Roseville Bridge, we walked to a bush track that descended to Middle Harbour. After our short walk to Echo Point Marina we entered the hidden track that followed the shore line and exited at Willowie Road in Castle Cove after a number of ascents and descents. We then…
Katoomba Winter Magic Festival walk, 24/6/2023. Note: My photos are below (with 3 by Matthew where shown), and Matthew’s are in the link above. As I have to catch a somewhat earlier train at 7.30am from my station, I was up early enough to see the planet Jupiter rising in the morning sky (yes, it’s large and bright enough to been sighted shortly before sunrise). See the…
This was a repeat trip of the one I did on Thursday, since there was high demand for it. Unfortunately however, out of the nineteen people that had originally signed up, only nine actually showed up on the day! Ten people either pulled out last minute or failed to show up. I had…
This was my first time leading a trip! 14 people met at the meeting point in Central Station, unfortunately with two no shows. I assume this is expected for a trip of this size and considered it lucky that there were only two. Two people brought guests as well, one without notice, but luckily I had already printed out the guest waiver so it was alright. But for…
Wondabyne to Mt Wondabyne and Woy Woy, Sunday 28th May 2023. I got up early this morning and I took the opportunity to spot the planets Jupiter and Mercury in the predawn eastern sky, as per the first 2 photos. Before I get into the trip report, I will mention to any students who are from the Northern Hemisphere for this Semester only, to get up early and have a look, as it might be your only chance in your life time to see Mercury. It is…
Cowan to Brooklyn Walk ANZAC Day 2023. With earlier worries that adverse weather might cause the walk to be shortened to just around Brooklyn (like last year’s) the weather turned out almost perfect on this ANZAC Day, not too hot and no rain at all. A dozen members arrived at Cowan Station and off we set for the walk to Brooklyn along this section of the Great North Walk (GNW). Some people…
A Saturday was chosen for the walk despite the less optimal weather conditions. A cloudy day with a lower temperature made it easier for a long walk without all the hot summer conditions. The group was quite diverse with some exchange students from the US and New Zealand and some international students. Most members…
Helensburgh to Stanwell Park Beach Sunday 26th February 2023. The recent run of very warm weather limited where we could go in this walk, with areas away from the coast predicted to be 30 degrees C (and even 26 C in Katoomba). This walk, with its cool tunnels and largely shady tracks (except for the beach) provided a good choice on a hot day, as the predicted temperature on the coast was 27 degrees C. So many…
Umina – Pearl Beach – Patonga Walk Sunday 4th December 2022. This walk is similar (but not exactly the same) as the one on 19th November; this one put on for people who couldn’t attend the earlier one because of exams or whatever. We all met up together at Woy Woy Station, and I decided on a small change of plan to save us some time waiting for a bus to Umina Beach. Instead of…
Stanwell Park Beach Helensburgh to Stanwell Park Beach SATURDAY 26/11/2022. Another nice day picked for this trip, with a warm sunny day but not too hot. We caught the 9.33am train from Central, this time from the open air platform 22 due to trackwork, and thus spared the incessant bombardment of noise from ads from the big screens at the normal underground platforms; a good omen for the day. And it…
Umina – Pearl Beach – Patonga Walk Saturday 19/11/22 Industrial action by train staff that weekend required a change of plan made with a day’s notice to everyone, as train services were reduced to one per hour at Woy Woy. With the walk starting half an hour later than planned, I decided that a car transfer to Umina Beach, and then a car shuffle leaving one at Pearl Beach would save us some time at the end of the walk. So I…
Hallowe’en walk: South Head & Camp Cove. Another lucky break with the weather on my walks, again! Although showers and a possible thunderstorm were forecast for the afternoon, they didn’t eventuate until about 9pm, by which time evryone was on their way home. Also, because of the forecast, the walk was cut short to start from Macquarie Lighthoues at 5.30pm, then further back to start at Watson’s Bay at the same time. This made…
Combined Hike & Bushwalk: Newcastle – Fernleigh Track and Glenrock Conservation Area. First of all, thanks to this group who took a chance with the weather to come, and got rewarded. I was concerned that I had made a mistake in changing the day of the walk to Sunday instead of the previous day, as the rain radar showed Saturday as being mostly free of rain in the Newcastle area, but a rain front was approaching overnight. And on…
Mt Victoria-Fairy Bower-Mt Piddington- Pulpit Rock tracks walk (a more accurate description of the direction we took). Most of the group got on the train at Central for the 2 hour 15 minute trip to Mount Victoria, although I got on at Strathfield. We got to Mt Victoria Station at 11.07am, which is a later start than normal for walks in this area, as the plan was to do only 5 hours including lunch. A couple…
Wondabyne to Mt Wondabyne and Woy Woy 18/9/2022. I planned this bushwalk (NOT “hike”) for early spring to take advantage of the mild weather as well as the wildflowers being out in display at present. Anyone who has done this walk in summer knows how hot and exhausting it can get then. I made…
Helensburgh to Burning Palms & Figure 8 Pool and then Otford. With the earlier weather forecast looking like a fine day, it changed just 24 hours prior to being “partly cloudy with 40% chance of showers”. The following day’s forecast had changed from showers to sunny. That’s the…
Royal National Park: Uloola Falls and Karloo Pool tracks, 28/8/2022 Because of trackwork on the Illawarra Line, the origial plan had to be reversed. Instead of starting at Loftus, we started at Heathcote and ended at Loftus. This was because trackwork would mean a 20 minute wait at Sutherland waiting for another train to go just one stop to Loftus, then another 20 minutes doing nothing waiting for the tram. That wasted…
Awe – Inspiring Cliffs Socheat Soth Sunday 14 August 2022 (T) = paragraphs by Terry, the trip leader When two cars full of hikers leave different parts of western Sydney and arrive at the destination three hours away at the same time, I know I am going to have a good day of bushwalking. Logistically, the…
Written By: Socheat Soth I visited Magdala Creek in the winter of ’22, which turned out to be a glorious day with four other outstanding individuals: Sunil Jassal (trip leader), Nicholas Whyte (Nic), Rachel Ng, and Kwun Ming Shum (Ming). I wanted to do something different that day because my life had become too repetitive. I misread…