Sunday 3 March 2024

Beach View

Ed and Rob on the track

Morning tea at Meringo

On the sandy track

Lunch on Grey Rocks

Walkers at Grey Rocks

Photos courtesy of KarenG, Peter and Mary. Walk report courtesy KarenG.

Eleven bushwalkers set off on a sunny morning to walk one of the most scenic sections of the Dreaming Track. It was perfect weather – the bush and landscape green and the sky and ocean the bluest blue. The group encountered swimmers, fisher folk and a large group of horse riders on the beach.

The 7 km track included good dirt tracks through undulating bush, a small amount of sand walking and a number of spots to take in the magnificent views stretching from the Bay in the north right down to Gulaga in the south.

The group had morning tea at Meringo, soaking in the views and later lunched at Grey rocks perched on the rock platform and appreciating a bit of cooling sea spray.

The required car shuffle worked splendidly, thanks to the efforts of both Peter (with his algorithm) and the walks leader Ed. A relaxed half-day walk enjoyed by all.

Sunday 25 February 2024

Rob at the mine opening showing Jim (visitor), Jenny and Glenn a map of the mining area.

Currowan Creek causeway flowing well after recent rains

Goldmine shaft

Another gold mine shaft

James (visitor), Kate, Rob , Jenny, Glenn, Donna and Amanda (photographer)

Photos courtesy of Rob and Donna. Walk report courtesy of Walk Leader Rob.

The weather was perfect for the 6 kms walk to the Black Diamond Mine. We followed old logging roads down to Currowan creek and what was probably a track built by miners in the late 1890’s to the Drive close to the creek. The Drive, a horizonal shaft into the hillside, was tall enough to walk into but had 15cm of water and mud so we just admired the diggings from the entrance.

We then headed uphill with some bushbashing to 5 vertical shafts. Using the “timed dropped rock technique” we estimated that the deepest shaft could have been 15-20m deep. Quite the effort for ‘pick and shovel’ effort. The dropped rock bounced off metal at the base of the shaft.

We then proceeded along forest roads to a property boundary that had been bulldozed in 2019, probably as part of the bushfire efforts which made our hiking down into a steep gully a lot easier than the club walk back in 2018 who had to bushbash this section of the walk. We then returned on a long abandoned logging road back to the cars.

When I started to write this walk report I did some internet research and looking at the Ulladulla Metallogenic Map Sheet found that we were actually at the “Phoenix” mine site. The mine was active from 1890 – 1915 but there is no record of how much gold, if any, was extracted from the area.

Wednesday 21 February 2024

A welcome tree

Sharon and Glenn

Picture courtesy of Mary. Walk report Courtesy Walk Leader Patricia.

It was good to see quite a few walkers turn up for the very pretty walk in the Murramarang National Park last week.
Nineteen people enjoyed the meandering track between Emily Miller and Myrtle Beaches through the beautiful spotted gums’ tall-straight trunks, with lush green understory beneath, plus a few native flowers.

A longish morning tea on the grass at Myrtle Beach followed which saw old friends catching up on each others news.
Then it was up the steps again and along a little track through the coastal bush and down onto Dark Beach, where we looked at the different types of ancient rocks that are now attracting geologists to see the sequence of rock formations that span more than 150 million years.

Overall a very nice walk.

Sunday 18th February 2024

Rest stop for the crew

Mary on the Pole

Rodney crossing the creek

Bushwalker muster

Photos courtesy of Mary and Donna. Walk Report courtesy of Donna.

Sharon had a great turn out for her walk. Although the weather was humid, everyone was keen to get back out of the trails. The walk begins at Kings Point and meanders along the shores of the beautiful Burrill Lake within the Ulladulla Wildflower Reserve. Being a Sunday, we witnessed boats towing enthusiastic water skiers and ski tubers. Whilst total serenity was not achieved on this part of the track, it was great to see families out enjoying themselves on the water and having a great time. We then continued on the lovely bush tracks, past an old massive sea eagle’s nest, high in a tree and down to a beautiful, quiet lakeside spot for morning tea.

Following morning tea we made our way uphill along the bush tracks though some stunning forest. The flora within this reserve was certainly looking its best following the wet summer. The scribbly gum trees were also looking good and certainly lived up to their name. Lunch was taken down on another waterfront position on the lake with beautiful views.

All in all, this walk was thoroughly enjoyable and one that we look forward to doing again in the future. Thanks Sharon.

Thursday 15th February 2024

Barry at old Gold stamper, note the thickness of the wooden beams.

The base of stamper rods where crushed quartz and hopefully gold were extracted.

Gears that controlled stamper rods

Mary, Rob, Bev, and Donna.

Mine shed next to the stampers.

Enclosure next to the roaster.

Sulphide Roaster overgrown with vines looking like Ankor Wat.

Photos courtesy of Rob, Tom, and Kate. Walk Report courtesy of Walk Leader Donna.

Fourteen walkers turned up for our first walk of the year. The walk also doubled up as our social walk for the program whereby three further members joined us for lunch afterwards. This walk is an abbreviated version of the Moruya Three Mines walk, a shorter and easier version with, of course, just two mine sites.

The first site that we visited was a large long concrete furnace that was constructed around 1914 but abandoned soon after. The intention was to roast sulphide contained in the ore. However this method of extraction proved to be unsuccessful and the furnace was abandoned soon after. Other than looking like a relic from Angkor Wat, covered by a fallen tree and gradually being claimed by vegetation regrowth, the furnace is still in reasonably good condition. However, it’s still mystifying how this long maze of concrete chambers actually worked. Perhaps that’s why it just didn’t! Following our short bush bash out and back to the furnace, considerable time was then taken to remove numerous leeches from our legs, the only real extraction that we were interested in by this time.

We continued on to our next mining site at the nearby Francis Hill. Historical records indicate that gold and silver were first reported to be found in the area in 1839, however this was no longer a secret by the 1860’s when the gold rush was in full swing. We inspected the remains of a hut and a stamper, both still standing. The stamper is a ten head gravity stamper that had been built around 1890 by Francis Guy, a saw miller from Batemans Bay.

After a break it was time to return to the cars as the Chicken Schnitties and Chicken Parmies were calling us. Once at the cars our President Rob Lees informed our group that the walk would be the last for Bev Brazel, whom was present, with the Club. Bev has sold her house and purchased another one in Canberra to be closer to her family. Bev has been a member of the Club for many years and has made a wonderful contribution. Not only has Bev been a Walk Leader who has always been obliging and led too many walks to count, but she informed us that she has attended virtually every Camp that the Club has held whilst she has been a member. Following Rob’s words, we headed to the Waterfront Hotel and had a nice lunch and catch up.

We’ve all enjoyed the company of Bev, we appreciate her contribution and wish her well in the future and like Rob said, Bev you can join us on a few Monga walks, it’s kind of not too far from Canberra!

Friday 26th January 2024

High water on the Clyde River

Paddlers on the Clyde River.

Photos courtesy of Mary T.   Paddle report courtesy of Mary T.

The Nelligan to Clyde is a regular and popular paddle each year. Due to the tide times, 7 paddlers did it in reverse to take advantage of the incoming water and the promised southerly later in the morning. We set out from Korners Park beach in the Bay, and unfortunately the promised southerly was not as strong as we had hoped, giving us a lift for only a short time.

However due to the heavy rain and run off from the Budawangs, the flow of water counteracted somewhat the incoming tide. The Clyde River was very high despite the low tide. Finding a spot to land and sit for morning tea proved a challenge and lunch had to wait for our arrival in Nelligan. We were accompanied on the river by many other water craft enjoying the day.

This was our last paddle for the current program. We all look forward to the new program in the near future.

Saturday 13 January 2024

Ian and Max

Nancy, Lin and Rodney

Paddlers from the shore.

Photos courtesy of Mary T.    Paddle report courtesy of Max W.

Our paddling group descended on Lake Durras on Saturday January 13th on what was to become quite a nice but hot day, and after launching and paddling out some kilometres to the open expanse, the group was soon preoccupied with looking for shady areas along the banks.

Persist we did however, and after some exploration of the different inlets a suitable spot for morning tea appeared and we happily indulged in some culinary refinement.

Enticed by the offer of refreshments at Rod’s place, we headed back to the boat ramp, loaded up our gear and enjoyed Rod and Gillian’s hospitality, having done approximately 9 kilometres paddling for the day.