Sunday 13 March 2016

Walk cancelled due to injured leader.  Our best wishes for a speedy recovery Val!

Thursday 10 March 2016

Photo by Karen M

Betty led 10 walkers on a very pleasant 8km hike in the Mogo State Forest off Runnyford Road.  The weather was kind to us and remained overcast, keeping the temperature down.  This was an easy paced walk along good tracks and forest roads with only a few small hills.

Spotted gums and dwarf bottlebrush dominate the bush, making it a very scenic walk.  This is a good walk for those who like good tracks with easy terrain and close to home.

Rob L

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Never been here before

So far so good

Impassable reed bed

Getting narrower

Burned out blackbutt

Wetland margins

Photos by Karen M

Sunday 6 March 2016

Upper reaches of the Deua River

Val, Pat, Bob, Elaine and Philip

Pinkwood petals on moss

Camouflaged yabby

Secret gorge

Photos by Bob T

Though the forecast maximum temperature for the day was high, in the upper Deua River and Pinkwood Creek, the air was in the low 20’s and the water in the mid teens – perfect for our excursion.  As we walked and waded, the cascades chuckled, the brook babbled, the Spinebills trilled, and gentle showers of Pinkwood petals fell silently, decorating the rocks like confetti, and forming carpets in the pools.

Beauty was revealed at every turn and we marvelled at the landscape, surrounded by trees of all sizes and shapes, logs of former giants lay about, and the tree ferns added their texture to the scenery.  We saw numerous small yabbies, rich chestnut brown to emulate rotting leaves and bright stones in the pools, as they crawled on the bottom or scooted through the water.  Our fears of teeming leeches were unfounded, as the recent heatwave had forced them to hide, and only a few found us.

As we discussed the walk at the end, we agreed that it is one of our best, and a fine example of mountain watercourses.

Bob T

Wednesday 2 March 2016

Rob, Karen, Mary, Ian and Pat

Shoreline at low tide

Mays Landing

Beach camp

Sedgelands and casuarinas

Skirting the swam

Ascending to the ridge

Batemans Bay from Holmes Lookout

Photos by Karen M

Batemans Bay Bushwalkers stayed close to home on Wednesday and explored the peninsula that juts into the Clyde River off Rotary Drive.  Much of the area is called Clyde River National Park and 7 members walked a 10km loop, along the shoreline at low tide, around the swamp, up the creek, into the forest and back to the start at the top of the ridge.  The views across the Clyde River on a still morning with its oyster leases, mangroves and forested banks are beautiful and walkers took many short breaks to absorb the peaceful scene around them.

The second part of the walk was mostly no track, but by following the margin of the swamp, then the creeklines, they were able to ascend the ridge and follow a long abandoned and overgrown trail back to the start – along the way spotting a pair of glossy black cockatoos with their fiery red tails perched directly overhead.

On the drive home, they stopped at Holmes Lookout in the National Park to cool down in the shade and enjoy the amazing view of Batemans Bay, the bridge, the river and offshore islands.  Many thanks to Rob for guiding us on this one.

Karen M

Sunday 28 February 2016

Morning tea break

Traversing one of the remote beaches

A glimpse of our destination

Photos by Bob M

19 bushwalkers turned out on the weekend for a 9km walk from Maloneys Beach to North Head in Murramarang National Park.  The walk features great views of Batemans Bay from various vantage points, several deserted beaches and forested headlands.

Karen M

Thursday 25 February 2016

Cancelled due to hot weather

Sunday 20 February 2016

No report received.

Wednesday 17 February 2016

Circumnavigating Broulee Island

Barbara with the group

Remains of shell grit loading jetty and tramlines dating from the 1920s

Photos by Karen M

On Thursday 17 February 18 walkers gathered at Barbara’s home to do an afternoon circuit of Broulee Island.  Interestingly, Barbara’s home is on the site of the first courthouse and lockup in Broulee.  Barbara read us some of the history of the area and particularly of the island, before we started to see some of the sites for ourselves.  Unfortunately there is not much remaining of what was a thriving commercial community in the years between 1830 and 1840.

It was a stunning day for a walk around Broulee Island.  Brilliant sunshine with a cool breeze made for a very pleasant temperature.  Before we started the circuit we walked up to the lookout near the Surf Club which offers a wonderful panorama of our coastline, then we headed to the beach, walking past the very pretty Shark Bay and to the island.

Barbara pointed out the various items of interest to us, including the possible site of the original hotel on the island and the remains of the rail that carried shell grit for export.  A barbecue followed in the late afternoon.  All agreed it had been a very scenic and informative walk.

Trish

Erin-Go-Bragh Hotel on Broulee Island

Erin-Go-Bragh reincarnation as the Beehive Store in Moruya

Erin-Go-Bragh transforms into Merlyn

Photos courtesy State Library of Victoria and Moruya Historical Society

Barbara piqued my interest when she showed us a picture of the inn (sketched by John Skinner Prout – see above) perched on top of Broulee Island and talked about its eventual fate, so I did some further research.

The inn was a low shingled weatherboard building built from American redwood by Captain William Oldrey in 1840.  Oldrey was a major land speculator in the Broulee area and he leased the building to Bernard McAuley from 1842 to 1844.  McAuley named the inn Erin-Go-Bragh, which means Ireland Forever.

Broulee’s function as a port disappeared when the dangerous sand bar at the mouth of the Moruya River was washed out by floods in 1841, enabling coastal shipping to navigate the river as far as Moruya township site.  Erin-Go-Bragh was disassembled and moved to Moruya where it was bought by Abraham Emmott and erected in Campbell Street to be used as Emmott’s first Beehive Store (see photo above).

Eventually Emmott built a bigger Beehive Store on the Harris Scarfe site in Moruya’s main street and used the old Erin-Go-Bragh building as his home, naming it Merlyn (photo above).  Emmott then built himself a new brick terrace home (currently the Moruya Museum) in 1875.  The Erin-Go-Bragh/Merlyn building survived as a home for others (including an early Batemans Bay Bushwalker called Lloyd Donnelly) until 1978 when it was demolished(!!) to make way for the development of the new Shire Offices.

This historic information about Erin-Go-Bragh/Merlyn comes from the EXCELLENT Moruya and District Historical Society Blog at mhsociety.wordpress.com and their accompanying Facebook page.

Karen M

Sunday 14 February 2016

At Cliff’s Cliff

Creekwalkers

Simeon at Bob’s Pool

Photos by Bob T

Cliff led 11 walkers from his lovely property on the Western Distributor along an unnamed creek, aptly christened Williams Creek.  We rock-hopped and scrambled up and down the banks, around large pools including “Bob’s Pool”, and stopped to admire a remarkable pancake pile of hardened shale named Cliff’s Cliff.

The temperate rainforest gave us plenty of shade on a hot morning, and we welcomed a swim in Cliff’s pool followed by his famous scones with homemade jam and cream.

Ainslie