Thursday 26 November 2020

Rob and Karen on the boardwalk overlooking Depot Beach and the platforms

Leader, Gay, and Donna happy to be on the tracks again

And so the rock scramble begins

Niamh on the Burrawang Track

Deborah enjoying the view from Point Upright to North Durras

A photo of the photographer taking a group photo!

Morning Tea

Jelly Bean team (Bob, Karen, Chris, Gay) – a treat after the rock scramble

Tom and Donna

Rob, Rodney and Chris and the imposing cliffs

A trapped jelly fish with the tide going out

Rock platforms

Studying the marine life in the stress fracture

Our lunch cavern

Tom and Grasshopper Island

Leaving rock platforms for Depot Beach

Photos courtesy of Tom, Amanda, Karen, Brian, Chris and Gay

What a perfect day to lead the last walk of 2020!  The sky was blue, the sea was a bright turquoise and yes, perhaps it was a little warm, but the walkers were treated to a lovely breeze at the top of Point Upright lookout and again down below as they walked back around the point along the rock platforms.

Due to the low tide being at 1p.m., the walkers left a little later than usual at 10a.m. from Depot Beach.  A nice steady uphill walk through the village up onto the Burrawang track to Point Upright brought out some beads of sweat, but it felt good to be out in the open, enjoying the regeneration of the forest.

The lookout at Point Upright is a good solid structure with wonderful views towards North and South Durras.  The group paused for a few photos then tackled the steep downhill track and steps to North Durras beach to find several swimmers enjoying the crystal clear water.

Time for a coffee break before the Walkers cut through some low scrub endeavouring to get as far along as possible around the Point before having to head down to the rocks.  The tide was still higher than expected and some wave sets coming in washing across the rocks meant we had to scramble over the rocks for some distance before we could venture down to the drier rock platforms.  Some members spotted some fossil mussels (Euridesma) on the rocks but a lot had their head down taking it very carefully as they wound their way over and through the rocks.

But what a treat once we reached the rock platforms. After a few jelly beans to boost our energy and with a nice seabreeze, the group took time to study the cliffs and rocks, lots of small pools and stress fractures filled with starfish and sea urchins, small fish and quite a few jellyfish.

The walkers meandered their way slowly back to Depot Beach enjoying the platforms and the views out to sea, with the waves crashing nearby.  Lunch was enjoyed in a large cliff cavern though some of us weren’t too sure about sitting under those imposing cliffs.

All in all a great day out!

Gay

Saturday 21 November 2020

Elizabeth and Gill heading on to the beach

Just the batemans bay bushwalkers on the beach

A new bit of real estate in Surfside?

Looking for those elusive crabs

Jill and Ian on a dry boardwalk

Tea anyone?

Found it! – a little track back to the cars

A bottle tree in the back streets of Surfside

Photos courtesy of Gay

A couple of hours were spent walking in the Cullendulla and Surf Beach area today.  Nine walkers met at the temporary car park in Surfside and headed out to Surfside beach where surprisingly there were very few people around.  The highlight of the walk was the Cullendulla Boardwalk where the walkers tried to be quiet and still so that the crabs would come out but alas they were too smart for us and mostly stayed hidden.  It was hard to believe that when the leader, Jill, did the recce that the boardwalk was under water due to a king tide.

From the boardwalk the group headed into the back streets of Surfside and via a roundabout route found themselves at the Lincoln Resort on the highway before turning back towards the beach and discovering a little known track through a reserve and back to the cars.

Thank you Jill for leading this enjoyable morning walk.

Gay

Wednesday 18 November 2020

Oysters – yum!

Brian and Tom mucking around!

Nicole on the first part of the track leading down to Wagonga Inlet

Leader, Karen, educating us

Lots of trees down

Kaye leading the way

We all wondered how this little bridge would be in a high tide?

Blue tongued lizard on the trail too

Denise on her luncheon throne

Group photo with the Strangler Fig in the Rainforest Gully

Photos courtesy of Tom, Chris and John

Twenty-two members enjoyed an Easy/Medium grade walk of 8kms on the Ringlands Circuit walk today.  The walk is very pretty taking in the oyster farms of the Wagonga Inlet with trails often skirting the edge of the water as we headed toward Flying Fox Gully.  Not a cloud in the sky and the water was crystal clear – shame we didn’t have our togs!  Morning tea was enjoyed on the banks of the Inlet and lunch was held on a higher point with a cooler breeze and some bull-ants to keep an eye on.  The diversion off the path down to the Rainforest was well worth it to see the large strangler fig and of course, an opportunity for a group photo.

Thanks Karen for stepping in and leading the group on a very enjoyable bushwalk.

Gay

Sunday 15 November 2020

Candlagan Creek and a popular kayak launching spot

Lucky dog

Rodney taking a break under a shady tree

Rodney, Mike, Lesley, Lyn and Barry found a great seat for a break

Leader, Lesley, chatting to the walkers

Mossy Point jetty

Lesley and Geoff social distancing on the Mossy Point headland

Photos courtesy of Mary and Ainslie

Twenty three walkers turned out for the easy grade 6kms walk around Candlagan Creek and Mossy Point on Sunday. It was a glorious day weather wise.

Walkers were rewarded with great views from the Mossy Point headland and there was plenty of time for this big group to chat and catch up while wandering along the river and creek tracks.

Thanks to Lesley for leading the walk.

Thursday 12 November 2020

Heading into the forest

Rob supervising Rodney’s rock climbing

Beach Break

Karen taking on the “leap of faith”

Rock Scrambling

Majestic rocks

250 million year old mussel fossil

Photos courtesy of Karen, Amanda and Barry

Starting from the Durras Ocean Boat Ramp, this walk begins in the Village, before turning into the forest and by back-tracks emerges at Myrtle Beach. The forest paths involved quite a bit of scrambling across fallen logs, uncleared since the gales earlier in the year, and the gullies were still muddy from recent rains. The group enjoyed a sunny morning break on the grassy bank above Myrtle Beach before turning north along the beaches and rock platforms that make up the coastline.

As we dropped onto the basaltic black sands of Dark Beach our geologically inclined leader waxed enthusiastically over the unique geological features of this area which marks the Southern tip of the Sydney Basin. Indeed, combined with striking coastal scenery, the coastline geology here make this a fascinating day out. A fair amount of rocky scrambling followed until the group reached the “leap of faith” where a dike intrusion has been eroded away leaving the sea foaming beneath the bushwalkers feet. At low tide this is more like a step than a leap – but it is followed around the headland by more interesting geology. In the cliffs opposite Wasp Island are pieces of fossilised wood and further on are signs of humanity:  remains of an ancient metal boiler and iron stakes set in the rock platform where the timber barges of 100 years ago moored to take their cargo on board.

It was a fascinating, varied morning out with a range of interesting forest and coastal scenery. Thanks to Rob for stepping in to lead at short notice. His expertise made it all the more interesting.

Rodney

Saturday 7 November 2020

Ross and Pat on the trail

Elizabeth Maleber’s grave on Broulee Island

Coming back around Broulee Island

Photos courtesy of Bob and Karen

A last minute change of route because of forecast very strong southerly winds, ensured Batemans Bay Bush Walkers still enjoyed their walk at Broulee Island last Saturday.  First the view from the headland before walking around the southern side of the Island first, followed by morning tea on the sheltered side, then up onto the top where a tiny track was followed to the lonely early grave of Elizabeth Malaber.  Along the way we admired flowering native trees, large twisting wooden vines along fallen tree trunks and branches and were quite curious about some abnormal growths on some of the Pittosporum tree trunks.

Back down on the way to the beach Bob’s sharp eyes spotted a very delicate black cicada emerging from its shell on a blade of grass.

Over-all a nice pleasant walk thanks Bob.

Pat

Wednesday 4 November 2020

Cabbage Tree Creek

Morning Tea on the Monkey Rock walk

Monkey Rock

Photos courtesy of Rob

Nine club walkers explored the bushfire ravaged Mogo State Forest. Being a ‘Betty Richards Walk’ it included lots of bike tracks, old forest roads, creek crossings and hills. Since the fires of early 2020 we have had significant rains including a heavy downpour last week. The creeks were flowing and had encouraging vegetation regrowth.

Navigation was tricky as the bike tracks were often well hidden under bark debris from the spotted gums damaged in the fires and new growth of grasses and Eucalypt seedlings. Thankfully this walk was GPS mapped so we were able to successfully find our way.

Monkey Rock (a granite outcrop with an obvious face) is usually a great place for lunch but the lack of shade due to the burnt trees forced us to head downslope and find some unburnt logs for seats. The recent rains combined with the 30 degree temperatures made for very humid hiking conditions and saw some very weary walkers arrive back at the cars after cutting a few kilometres from the planned walk distance. However it was good to see lots of regrowth in the forest and very noisy birdlife activity.

Rob

Saturday 24 October 2020

Brian’s camel

Creek beside Bevian Road

Walking among fuzzy trees

Dianella

Kennedia rubicunda

Creek at North Rosedale

Beach at South Rosedale

Guerilla Bay

Morning tea at Blacks Beach

Philip contemplates

Chris’s high fashion in the field

One of many beautiful old Banksias

Photos courtesy of Helen, Erika and Philip

Meeting at Barlings Beach, thirteen walkers headed inland along Bevian Rd, keen to see how the bush was recovering from the fires, whilst sighting an echidna, a camel, various birds and dodging heavy vehicles en route to Rosedale Beach. The cool ocean breeze was a welcome relief as we wandered along the beaches and rock platforms to Blacks Beach for morning tea and a quick swim.

The sky was beginning to look menacing as we reached Guerrilla Bay and the views on the beautiful cliff top section from Burrewarra Point through to Franks Beach were dramatically grey and punctuated by brief light showers. Wildflowers were still highlighting the path through the banksias as we picked up the pace towards Franks Beach where we decided to skip lunch and finish the walk before the showers turned to rain.

Back at the cars and feeling well exercised by our 15 km hike we had no sooner said our thanks to Brian for a most enjoyable day than the sky began to clear again, briefly, just as forecast!

Chris

Sunday 18 October 2020

Walking along the overgrown sidetrack

Admiring a Staghorn encircled Burrawang

A Staghorn/Burrawang combo

This is what bushwalking is all about !

Entering dryer open forest

Rock covered with intricate lichen

Off track descent

Boardwalk to Lewis Island

Tidal zone around Lewis Island

Native Clematis

Photos courtesy of Philip and Erika

The small pocket of state forest adjacent to North Narooma is not an area previously explored by Batemans Bay Bushwalkers.  However, we had heard about the location of some old mine shafts and infrastructure so we went in to take a look on Sunday.  Unfortunately the area has been used as a car dumping ground for many years – we came across at least 6 rusting vehicles, one quite a recent addition.  We were also dismayed to see a high point overlooking the inlet currently being used for dumping rubbish. 

We managed to escape the interfering hand of man by leaving the main tracks and cutting through the bush to the mining area.  This consists of several horizontal shafts, as well as some concrete structures probably used as footings for machinery.  There are also 2 areas of vertical shafts, fenced in to prevent people from falling in.

Finally we walked to Lewis Island, connected to the mainland by a boardwalk, to enjoy the clear waters of Wagonga Inlet.

Karen

Thursday 15 October 2020

Track down to Durras Lake

Leader, Sharon, beside the lake

Sharon raising the bar for Morning Tea.

Here’s to Val!

Ten flower spikes with Sharon, Pat, Bev and Ron

Bev with a Kangaroo Apple plant

Karen M and an upturned tree

Karen G negotiating a fallen tree

Benandarah Creek – the final destination

Photos courtesy of Brian, Karen and Bob

The predicted forecast of thirty degrees did little to deter the thirteen determined walkers who gathered for this lovely stroll among the forests and waterways on the western edge of Durras Lake.

Leader Sharon had proposed that we take advantage of the morning coolness and attempt to complete the nine kilometre course before lunch. With this in mind, we set a brisk pace, yet slow enough to enjoy a forest environment blackened, yet regenerating at a surprising rate. The tall gums provided all the shade we needed, while the understorey teemed with thriving Burrawangs and flowering Grass Tree Xanthorrhoeas.

Our arrival at the lake edge provided a new type of beauty and the perfect backdrop for a special moment – a tribute to our recently departed friend Val.

Sharon had come prepared with wine glasses (plastic) and sparkling wine (non-alcoholic) and so we were able to raise a glass and reflect on the contribution of one of the club’s most loved members. Pat shared some memories and more Val stories were told over morning tea by the lake.

The walk continued along to Benandarah Creek where we turned and headed into the forest again and eventually back to the waiting cars.

Many thanks to Sharon for leading and sharing with us this peaceful part of the world.

Brian