Thursday 1 September 2022

Donna, Glenn and Mary in deep discussion

Up hill with determination

Down hill with dexterity

Dressed for Spring

Down and up through a creek

Donna leads the way

One of the creek crossings

Gay resting at one of the (many) creek crossings

Nice of someone to have left a chair!

Regrouping after a climb

Rob heading into Snake Gully

Mary & Donna

Photos courtesy of Amanda, Tom, Mary, Peter and Karen McL

Ten walkers set out on the first day of spring for a new walk in the Wandera State Forest. The walk initially followed bike tracks, winding up and down some gullies, before tackling various ridges in this mountain range just to the west of Moruya.

Whilst it was a lovely sunny day after so much bleak weather, the novelty soon wore off as it became hotter and the hills ascents started in earnest. The irony of the walk name, Duntroon Road, was not lost on a few as it was starting to feel that we were pushing out drills at Duntroon military college!

This area has quite a prevalence of spring flowers during the season and it was nice to see the very early signs of this beginning. Hardenbergia and various pea flowers are just starting to appear. As known, almost all of the area in our region was affected by the 2019/2020 fires and the Wandera State Forest is no exception. The regrowth is prolific and has completely erased the views that were once available from the ridge lines.

Morning tea and lunch were strategically timed after hill ascents but there was no avoiding the final slog up Eastern Boundary Road. Fortunately, if a little too late in everyone’s opinion, cloud cover arrived for that ascent and we were able to make it back to the cars in one piece with the same amount of walkers that began. Always a bonus in my books!

Donna

Saturday 27 August 2022

The interesting, if not a little rough, drive in

Walking single file on the not so wide new boardwalk

Morning tea amongst the wattle

The morning tea falls

The scramble into Gaolhouse Pass

Glenn in Gaolhouse Pass

Pat, all smiles at the bottom of Gaolhouse Pass

The Gaolhouse group

Back to the track from Gaolhouse Pass

The boardwalk ends

The magnificent cliffs

Wildflower hunters in action

Those wildflower hunters on the cliff top

Before the rain

That view

Rain gear on to head back

Not sure a short sleeve poncho is ‘fit for purpose’

Photos courtesy of Donna, Karen G, Amanda, and Mary  

Fifteen of us headed up to Mount Bushwalker for an easy hike on the Mt Bushwalker walking track. The road in, was itself an interesting journey and by far the most difficult part of the outing.

For most this was the first time back to Mt Bushwalker after the 2019/2020 fires and it was nice to see the area with all its new regrowth. We were also keen to check out the work done by National Parks with upgrading the track after the fires.

The views from Mt. Bushwalker lookout are said (by some bushwalkers) to be amongst the best in NSW. The lookout gives 180-degree views across the Clyde River Gorge and its mountainous backdrop – the Shrouded Gods to the north west, the Castle, due west, and Pigeon House to the south west. We were banking on the weather staying fine to enjoy the vistas, and it seemed promising with BOM’s forecast of a 75% chance of no rain.

We set off in what seemed to be perfect weather. We were greeted by a renewed track of board walks, making the walking more than easy, even if we had to do it in single file! Morning tea had us sitting on the board walk near a waterfall in full flow due to the recent rains. The wattle was also in flower everywhere, providing endless photo opportunities of the yellow against the blackened banksias.

Our notes then had 10 of us detouring on a side trip down Goalhouse Pass. The Pass was a bit tricky to find amongst the regrowth, but well worth the search, and not too hard with only one rock scramble. We descended below the escarpment into rain forest untouched by the fires. There we marvelled at the moss and fern covered cliffs towering around us and, of course gathered for a group shot.

For the 5 that did not take the detour, they ambled to the lookout stopping along the cliff to enjoy the early spring wildflowers and the clear views.

Both groups met at the lookout and settled in for lunch. The weather though, only held out just long enough for us to enjoy the views for a few minutes. A squall came in from the east bringing mist and rain. This was, apparently, the 25% chance of rain!

Not wishing to get drenched, lunch was cut short and we all donned our rain gear (some more efficiently than others) to head back to the cars. But despite the wet, it was an enjoyable outing.

Peter

Wednesday 24 August 2022

The old Durras Road

The blokes lagging behind!

They caught up!

A bridge too far (gone)

Karen and Karen (with Peter in the background) spying the remains of the bridge

Well the notes said there was 400m of ‘no track’

A moss garden

Large wonderful trees

Photos courtesy of Glenn, Mary, Karen M and Karen G

Ten Batemans Bay Bushwalkers enjoyed a pleasant forest walk on a lovely sunny day among the trees and vegetation that one comes to expect to see in Durras. This included part of the original Durras Road and the remains of the old wooden bridge.

Karen M, of course, found orchids, many still not yet in flower. Mary received the ‘leech award’. She collected (unintentionally) the most leeches for the day, whilst most of us got none.

Along the way we enjoyed sightings of abundant bird life – grey fantails, eastern yellow robins, and whip birds, but all too quick to photograph.

The walk ended with an added small loop on the eastern side of Skid Ridge Road, before home for lunch.

Thanks to all participants.

Glenn

Sunday 21 August 2022

Flowering orchids cascading from on high

A big specimen at eye level

Detailed study of these tiny flowers

Photos Karen McL

On this fine Sunday morning a small group of Batemans Bay Bushwalkers, opting not to do the scheduled medium/hard walk this day, instead headed to a nearby creek to scout for flowering Bridal Veil Orchids . These orchids are variously called Bridal Veil, Pencil or Rats Tail orchids. Even the botanic name has recently changed from Dendrobium teretifolia to Dockrilla teretifolia.

We were in luck. There seemed to be more orchids than ever flowering on the casuarinas lining the creek – possibly due to all the rain. These only attach to casuarinas and in some cases were flowering all along the trunk of the trees to the very top.

On the path to the creek, we noticed a number of burrawangs with dieback similar to that the Bay Walkers had seen on previous walks at Dark Beach in Murramarang NP. The dieback seems to be caused by a white scale covering the underside of the affected leaves, causing them to yellow and eventually die. The burrawang understorey is extensive throughout our forests on the south coast and we were concerned to see that the dieback seems to have spread to this new location.

Thank you, Joan for leading this walk.

Karen

Sunday 21 August 2022

Following Rodney

A few ups and downs

Di on the steep rough track down to the Bimberamala River

Thigh high crossing – reeds show the way

Rob testing the depth

Navigating the crossing

Mogood Trig

Photos courtesy of Amanda and Rod

The Bimberamala River lies in a deep valley between the Western Distributor and the Clyde Ridge Roads in the Currowan Forest area. It is difficult to access and, for bushwalkers, any walk in ends with a long climb out.

Four intrepid walkers set out from below Mogood Trig on a cheerful sunny Sunday enhanced by excellent walking temperatures.

After a long gradual descent the River proved to be a watery paradise with green rushes stretched out just below the surface in the current. With clear water it was easy to pick a route across the channel through knee to thigh deep water. Although chilly the river was refreshing as the day slowly heated up.

The looping walk took the group through areas in the centre of the 2019 bushfires. While a lot of regrowth had taken place the effects of the fire were still visible if patchy. Down by the river the impact was minimal, indeed more obvious was the vegetation and trees flattened by recent floods. On the ridges some areas appeared badly burned on one side of the road while on the northern and eastern sides burning was much less obvious.

Down by the river again, where the group stopped for lunch, it was obvious that the leech population remained healthy. However, overall there was little wildlife to be seen or heard, apart from a group of five trail bikers. Recent vegetation regrowth was dramatic, clearly enhanced by two years heavy rain and a few spring wildflowers were popping out in the wetter areas.

After a long and taxing climb the group reached the top of Mogood Trig where 4×4 drivers were celebrating a sunny afternoon. The views from the summit in all directions were magnificent!

Rod

Thursday 18 August 2022

Karen enjoying the track

The lake track was mostly above water level

Except in a few low lying spots

Looks more like a bayou

Karen, Rob, Donna and Simeon

Simeon and Rob at the Discovery Trail

And encountering a small obstacle

Durras Lake closed to the sea

Photos courtesy of Karen, Donna and Glenn

The purpose of today’s excursion was to walk the entire length of Durras Lake. The lake track starts on Mt Agony Road and joins the lake at its northern extremity. It then follows the lake all the way to where it meets the sea. Although at the moment, it doesn’t meet the sea and consequently the lake is overflowing its banks. The track was under water in a couple of spots, but not deep enough to worry our walkers.

We made a quick detour to explore the Discovery Trail located halfway along the walk. Judging from the amount of cleared timber, National Parks have spent a lot of time trying to keep the trail free of obstacles, but we still had to detour around a couple of fallen trees, and there is one giant spotted gum across the track which looks way too big to be removed. We found the location of the old observation tower and axe logged tree, which is now a pile of burned debris and fallen logs.

The walk ended at North Durras Beach where we paused for lunch and watched a pod of dolphins floating around near the shore.

Karen

Saturday 13 August 2022

Photos courtesy of Rob

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Seven walkers, including two entertaining visitors, braved an uncertain weather forecast for what turned out to a lovely day of walking around three historic gold and silver mines close to the township of Moruya.

Silver and gold was first reported in the area in 1839 however it was not made public for fear of sparking a gold rush. Word did eventually get out in the 1860’s and the first silver mine was opened. This mine yielded not only silver but also gold to a lesser extent. The ore was heavily impregnated with sulfides so it was sent overseas for both sale and processing. In later years the ore was able to be treated at a smelter in South Australia and an unsuccessful attempt was even made to treat it locally in Moruya. A concrete smelter was built for this purpose but abandoned soon after, in 1914. This roaster was our first stop and it was amazing that it was still in a remarkably good condition, having stood there for just over a hundred years. Although vines and fallen trees have now made their mark upon it.

We then visited another mine site where a ten head stamper, various sheds and a miners cottage were all located in reasonably good condition. Extensive mullock heaps and large holes reminded us of just what a thriving area it would have been in the day. It was great to see that the 2019/2020 fires had stopped just shy of this area, thus saving the wooden and iron constructions from becoming a pile of rubble like so much other mining infrastructure has sadly become after burning to the ground in the surrounding districts.

Following morning tea at the site, we commenced a walk along the nearby creek. The Myrtle trees and moss covered logs provided a lovely backdrop and almost made up for the treacherous creek crossing that consisted of slippery slimy rocks. One wet shoe was, thankfully, the only casualty. After leaving the creek we followed a ridge where we arrived at our third site. This site contained further artifacts and infrastructure from the mining era. Of particular interest was a boiler that had been part of HMAS Sydney (WW1) which was decommissioned in 1928 and scrapped the following year.

After spending some time investigating the area it was time to head back down the ridge to the creek where a pretty lunch spot was waiting. After lunch we followed the creek where further diggings were spotted. Then it was time to walk up the inevitable hill and back to the cars to complete a nice days walk.

Donna

Wednesday 10 August 2022

Heading down

Three amigos at the helm

There is a trail here, I know

Is there?

Tooth ache tree

Lush tree ferns on the ridge

Photos Peter 

With noisy friar birds warbling in the treetops, ten Batemans Bay bushwalkers set out to hike 8kms just south of Durras Drive. The group immediately plunged down a steep track into a section of forest that had been spared by recent fires and its undergrowth was lush.

What goes down must go up, well that’s the case in bushwalking, so soon the hikers were all getting a cardiovascular workout as they ascended the gully’s other side.

Trees species were an interesting mix. Iron bark, spotted gum, stringy bark and black butt gave the forest much visual appeal.

The next decline was bottomed by a small, briskly flowing creek that walkers crossed whilst admiring the many varieties of fern.

The trail sometimes petered out, but our leader’s navigation skills led us to the road above, a comfy log for morning tea and a short rest. Bird song was loud, and one wonders just what they are “talking” about. Perhaps the coming spring, building nests, the pros, and cons of last year’s decisions.

The group’s return hike used some of the same trails, but as the walkers paused to admire a spectacular strand of tree ferns lining the top of the ridge, some commented they had not noticed them at the walk’s beginning. How different a view can be when seen from the opposite direction.

It was a morning well spent in a beautiful part of the south coast, getting exercise, in good company. What more could you want?

Denise

Sunday 7 August 2022

Walking through the mangroves.

View back down the river

Our own Robinson Crusoe, Lesley with beach drift wood.

Soldier Crabs on the march

Crossing from the island on low tide

Heading back around the Island past remains from the old wharfs

Karen explaining the history of the graves on Toragy Point

Photos courtesy of Mary and Peter

Bushwalkers explored another pocket of Eurobodalla National Park on a sunny Sunday morning. This was an Easy 5 km walk at Moruya South Head, starting at the Quandolo Island carpark. The carpark is adjacent to a backwater of the Moruya River which was once a thriving port before the granite breakwalls were built. There you can still find the rusting remains of an old jetty.

It was dead low tide so we were able to walk across the river mudflats and through the mangroves to Quandolo Island to circumnavigate it before heading over to Shelly Beach for a morning tea break on the grass above the beach. Then it was up the hill to Toragy Point, stopping on the way at the lookout to admire the view north to Guerilla Bay.

We paused at the historic cemetery at Toragy Point where we found the headstone for the first burial on the Point – that of Mary Jane Wyatt who died in 1858 aged 3 months. Her father was a punt operator, then Agent for the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company, and lived near Preddy’s Wharf. The Wyatt family buried another child, Sarah Ann 4 years later.

The best-preserved headstone is that of Joseph Loutitt who died in 1895. All of the headstones were badly vandalised in the 1970’s, and the Loutitt family rescued the broken stone, reinforced it, re-erected it, and put a plaque on the back of it detailing Joseph’s life. He was the original Loutitt to travel to Australia and eventually settled in Moruya where he owned and ran the southside granite quarry. This information comes from the excellent Moruya & District Historical Society website at mdsociety.com Search for Toragy to find the story of Toragy Point Cemetery.

After leaving Toragy, walkers descended on the coastal bushtrack with views south along Dolphin Beach, and then turned inland again to the carpark.

Karen

Saturday 30 July 2022

Heading out to explore

Sharon leading the way

Explaining Burrawang biology

Viewing Deep Creek dam from the new lookout.

The group heading for the arboretum

Photos courtesy of Brian and Helen

A warm sunny day drew out 17 walkers on a visit to the Eurobodalla Botanic Gardens.

The Gardens were devastated by the 2019 fires. The Shire and Gardens volunteers have done a fantastic job resurrecting the trails and botanic displays for its visitors.

We were very fortunate to have Sharon and Di, two of our members who are Gardens volunteers, accompany us on our travels along the 5 marked trails and give us a history of the Gardens and answer all of our obscure questions.

For those of you who have not been to the Gardens since the fires it is well worth a visit and a mandatory stop at the gift shop and café afterwards. There are about 5kms of trails which took us 2hrs to complete. The Gardens are open Wed-Sun 9am-4pm.

Rob