Saturday 29 September 2018

Ready for some bushbashing

Old farm dam on the mountain

East face mountain track

Keyhole spotted gum

Natural landscaping

Deserted cove at base of mountain

Rest spot on coast track

Photos by Karen and Phillip

Any club member who knows Rob would be happy to go on a walk he leads in rain, hail or shine. For his Durras Mountain walk, seven walkers joined Rob to do all those conditions in the course of one walk.

Under forbidding skies we headed out from Pebbly Beach Car Park toward Snake Bay as a light shower started to fall. The shower stopped by the time we reached the climb up to Durras Mountain through the beautiful spotted gum and mahogany forest, so layers came off. By the time we huffed and puffed our way to the top, the weather had given way to another light shower and light hail as we walked with layers replaced across the sedge grasses along the old road.

After a morning tea break we took off in bright sunshine through dense bush down the slope to the old farm road. Again going on in sunny weather we diverted to avoid the high tide until we reached Snake Bay for lunch. By this time chilly southerly winds brought another change in conditions and layers came back on. Finally we made our way back along the stunningly beautiful coastal track to Pebbly Beach after a great walk lead by Rob.

Phillip

Wednesday 26 September 2018

Climbing through the gorge

Spotted gum hanging in there

Donna’s granite vantage point

Lone flowering rock orchid above the ‘nibble line’

Walking the dry creek bed

Another amazing spotted gum giant bonsai

Photos by Amanda and Denise

Six lucky walkers followed Bob on his 6 km walk to Tarourga Gorge and back. It was hard to begrudge Mother Nature the little bit of rain that fell, as the air smelt fresher and cleaner after the sprinkle.

The scenery once again reminded us of how lucky we are to live in the Eurobodalla. Tall spotted gums and iron barks and large granite boulders along the sides of the gullies leading down to the  Tarourga Creek bed.  There, the rocks were covered with moss, lichen and sometimes rock orchids that were flowering just out of the reach of hungry wildlife.  Walkers could see the “nibble line” where stretched necks could only eat leaves down to a certain level.

The rocks created some fantastic shapes as tree roots spilled out over them to gain a hold that kept them vertical.  It was almost giant bonsai.  The rewards of any physical effort in accessing the gorge were repaid in full on this truly scenic walk. The group were back to the cars by lunch time just as a second sprinkle started.

Thank you Bob for a great morning out.

Denise

Sunday 23 September 2018

Durras Lake

Murramarang tracks

Discovery Trail

Silvereyes having a drink

Leader Lesley

Photos by Carol

Once again 17 of our hearty bushwalkers led by Lesley set off to enjoy the wonderful bushland of the Murramarang National Park.

Leaving our camel train at North Durras Lake (currently closed by sandbanks) we wandered along the lake foreshore – over between two caravan parks and down into the back lake walking trail along the rear corner of  Durras Lake  where the Discovery Trail is located.  The group meandered along the lake shores checking out lyre bird scratchings and listening to other bird calls – ending up on one of the DiscoveryTrail pathways at a pleasant log area for morning tea.

Starting back along the trail some of the group enjoyed going to the top of a timber lookout built among the semi-rainforest CabbageTree Palms and large Spotted Gums to a creek where a flock of twittering silver eye birds were enjoying the water in a small creek pond.  Then onwards and over the hill returning to the lake and our camel cars. A very relaxing experience enjoyed by all.

Bob

Thursday 20 September 2018

Rough country into creek

Granite bed of Spring Creek

Denise and orchids

Rob and more orchids

Well worth the effort

Finding a perch for lunch

What’s left of the creek

Photos by Denise, Rob and Helen

Betty led 20 walkers, including 5 visitors, on an 11 km walk to see flowering rock orchids on the granite outcrops along Spring Creek. The hills along the firetrail leading up to the creek kept us quiet but that soon turned to raucous chatter as we found the first orchids in full bloom. The further we proceeded down the creek the more flowers we saw and I have never seen so many cameras in action on a walk.

While the hills on the firetrail had to be tackled again back to the cars, we were a happy crew having enjoyed such a great flowering event. For future reference Betty says she uses the 2nd half of September as her guide for seeing the flowering orchids. Thanks to Betty for this enjoyable walk.

Rob

Wednesday 12 September 2018

Sunny day on the Shoalhaven

The top deck

Nancy & Dennis

Kay

Imposing sandstone cliffs

Tenancious vegetation

Secret caves

Photos by Judith and Karen

The day dawned sunny and clear and after a 1.5 hour drive north to the Nowra bridge, we boarded the Shoalhaven River Cruise boat for a 2 hour trip upstream.

As we boarded the boat, excitement started to show on most of us and for good reason. The boat itself was clean and well stocked with our morning tea supplies, which was included.

Our cruise included glorious scenery that was backed by the skipper’s commentary, explaining what we are seeing and its historical highlights.

After the cruise we all went to have lunch in the Nowra Servicemen’s Club and the buffet was filled with all the choices of meat, salads, pasta, desserts, etc. No person left that place hungry.

Total of 33 people enjoyed a perfect day that provided glorious weather, great scenery and wonderful lunch.  Thanks again to our hardworking Social Committee for a great day out.

Joe

Sunday 9 September 2018

Descending to Cullendulla Creek

Cullendulla Creek at low tide

Ian with rats tail orchid

Rats tail orchids in closeup

Photos by Carol

On Sunday twenty bushwalkers enjoyed a 7 km walk,  first walking through a spotted gum forest with Burrawangs en masse.  After the recent rains the bush was sparkling.  Stopped along the way to enjoy the views from Square Head Nature Reserve down to Long Beach.   It was a steep descent on a rough track down to Cullendulla Creek, with a break for morning tea to admire the interesting coloured rocks.

We continued along the edge of the creek till we were lucky enough to see the Rats Tail Orchids in flower.  Our lunch spot was on the edge of the creek, very pleasant sitting in the sun.  Then back to the cars – thank you very much Jill for a great walk.

Lesley

Thursday 6 September 2018

Unoccupied lyrebird nest

Oyster farming the old way – on rows of discarded steamship ballast

Low tide on the Clyde

Inhospitable banks of the Clyde

Beautiful Batemans Bay

Elaine collects litter and Denise makes a new friend

Leaving the river

Photos by Denise, Erika, Philip & Karen

Fifteen walkers took on the challenge of a circuit walk along the Clyde River from Chinaman’s Point in cool conditions. The walks organiser had timed the tidal retreat to perfection, enabling us to take to the comparatively easier walk along the waters edge wherever possible after a descent along the access road from our cars

A quirky find along the road was a lyre bird nest, currently unoccupied. The walk was a true medium grade and provided challenges to earn the delightful scenery we saw along the way, including old mangrove trees and remnants of the early oyster industry in the area, where oysters were generated naturally on horizontal rows of the discarded ballast of the steam traders in the early days of European settlement.

After a morning tea at the Beach Camp and lunch on the banks of the river the group climbed through steep and overgrown country to reach an overgrown forest trail leading us straight to our cars.

On the return home we stopped to admire the magnificent view of Batemans Bay from the Holmes Lookout.

Phillip