Trackwork on the Northern Line caused a slight change of routine for me, needing to drive to Gordon Station and picking up Candice at Wahroonga on the way. At Central we got off that North Shore Line train and waited on the same platform for the Blue Mountains train to Mt Victoria which was only 5 minutes behind (unusually starting from North Sydney due to more trackwork at Central). Here we…
The Friday morning started off with my Samsung mobile phone dying as it stubbornly refused to recognise that it had a SIM card installed. With a vital need for a working mobile phone for contacting walk people later that night, the morning was spent buying and then figuring out how to work an Apple iPhone. So the…
As can be seen, a good turnout including some who joined up in 2nd Semester. We all met up at Woy Woy Station and I got everyone onto the bus for Umina Beach. All that is except Gong who had dozed off on the train and forgot to get off at Woy Woy, so he got carried on to Gosford! It was fortunate for him that I had decided to drive to Woy Woy instead of taking my local train there, so I was able to collect him off a Sydney bound train 5 minutes after the bus had gone. So I,…
In the leadup to this trip I was expecting subzero temperatures at Newnes on the Friday night and a frigid but clear night on the Saturday. But in the end surprisingly mild conditions awaited us at Newnes when we arrived late on the Friday evening. A train delay meant that my carload arrived rather late, and it was midnight before we settled into our sleeping bags. Next morning…
6 people was not a bad turnout for a saturday walk in the middle of exam period. I originally had 11 sign up but 3 pulled out for health reasons, and 2 just pulled out – didn’t give a reason. At least there were no “no-shows”. It was not really “mid-winter”, being just 3 days after the winter solstice (June 21), but that’s the name given to the festival at Katoomba on the closest saturday to the winter solstice. (Some people…
Some mountains are so remote , they can remain on your “to do” list for a long time. Such is the case with the Cobberas Mountains in far north east Victoria. Although the area can be accessed by road, it’s a long way from pretty much everywhere. But the Queen’s Birthday 3 day long weekend allowed just enough time to drive down there, have a go at the summit of Mt Cobberas Number 1, then get back home again. Having found…
It all began with a random phone call from an engineer friend – a Usyd research team is looking for someone to retrieve a high altitude research balloon that crashed in the Blue mountains. A moment later, a GPS coordinate was sent to my phone. I plotted it in, well, not too bad, just a few kms northeast of Mt Hay. After studying…
The group met at Blackheath station bright and early, a bit smaller than anticipated with 2 pulling out in the days leading up and 2 no shows. With a lot more space in the two cars than anticipated, we set off down the megalong road, managing to avoid some enormous potholes on the way. Arriving at…
We all met up at Strathfield and set off in Victoria’s car and mine for the drive to Mount Victoria. The railway station loos were used for our comfort stop. After a short break there we then set off for the start of the track which was once a narrow gauge oil shale rail line to the top of the escarpment above Hartley vale. This was…
Most of us met up wuth me at Wondabyne Station – except Natalia, who found herself in the front 4 cars of the train and couldn’t get off at this small station. She was unaware of the requirement to be in the last car, and also the usual recorded announcement about having to be in the last car was not played by the train guard. So Natalia…