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…
Video trip report available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJJXvzUoLdM Our annual pilgrimage to Tasmania’s Southwest National park started as usual with a Friday night out in Hobart, followed by a 7.30am pick up by Tasmanian Wilderness Experiences. TWE specialises in transporting bushwalkers to and from trackheads and the business is for sale if anyone is looking for a tree-change! Day 1. With breakfast…
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…