BATEMANS BAY BUSHWALKERS INC.

AINSLIE & MIKE joined BBBW in June 1994, and led their first walk -an overnight camping trip from Maloneys Beach to Kioloa – shortly thereafter in November 1994.

From that flying start they have been leading walks every quarter – 90 of them over the past 24 years.

Mike and Ainslie also introduced combined paddles and walks to the Program back in 1996 – mostly on Durras Lake and at Shallow Crossing on Clyde River.

But they are best known for their bushwalking camps and safaris, and the list is impressive:

• Overnight camp in Morton National Park – Summer 1996
• Bush Camp at Tuross Falls, also visiting the Big Hole and Marble Arch – Summer 1998
• Bush camp at Coolaman Caves in the Snowy Mountains – Summer 2000
• Victorian Safari to Little Desert NP, the Grampians, Lower Glenelg NP, Otway NP, and Wilsons Prom NP – Spring 2000
• Camping Safari to Queensland (southern section) – Winter 2002
• Christmas Mini Camp at Swan Haven near Sussex Inlet – December 2003
• Christmas Mini Camp at Mandeni Resort near Bournda National Park – December 2004
• Christmas Mini Camp at Sawpit Creek in Kosciuszko NP – December 2005
• South Coast 4 Day Walk from Tabouri to Maloneys Beach – Autumn 2007
• Victorian Goldfields Camp to Castlemaine and Bacchus Marsh in Autumn 2009
• Kiama Weekend – Autumn 2010
• East NSW Camping Safari to Dunns Swamp, Coolah Tops NP, Warrumbungles NP, Mt Seaview, Trial Bay, Crowdy Bay NP and Kuringai NP – Spring 2011
• Blue Mountains Camp – Spring 2013
• Christmas Mini Camp at Kangaroo Valley – December 2014

Ainslie has served on the Committee as Assistant Secretary, Publicity Officer, Vice President and President.

Mike has held the positions of Publicity Officer and President, and was also the Club’s Public Officer for a number of years.

Ainslie’s knowledge of native plants and local history, and Mike’s knowledge of geology has enhanced many a walk over the years.

Mike has also recorded our bushwalking camps with his trusty video camera, and edited the footage for posterity – currently saved on DVDs in our Library.

Ainslie climbing Mt Gower

Wrestling a Providence Petrel

Going up

Going down

Ainslie ascending The Castle

Entertaining the troops with Bob

Lunch

Mike at Christmas

Wet weather leaders

Surfing the sandstone

Lunch

Mike takes the high road, and Ainslie the low road

Ainslie with wildflowers

Mike with his video camera

Ainslie and Mike and their 25 year anniversary badges

Sunday 6 September 2020

Group photo social distancing style!

Passiflora Cinnabarina (Red Passion Flower)

Elkhorn ferns growing along the track

Rock orchids near the summit

Rob on the top of Little Drom

View towards Montague Island from Little Dromedary

Erika at the summit

Descending past Bobundara Swamp

Looking back to Gulaga across Little Lake

Lunch on the beach

Photos courtesy of Rob, Tom, Karen, Erika and Philip

11 hikers enjoyed a pleasant hike to Little Dromedary in sunny weather conditions. We started the walk at Sherringham farm and were met by the owner at her cottage. She appreciated the fact that the Bay Bushwalkers contacted her for permission to hike across her farm to Little Dromedary. She said that a lot of people have been turning up and crossing her farm to visit the mountain with no consideration for the fact that it is private property.

The Eurobodalla Shire has been active in spraying the persistent Lantana problem on the Mountain. The track winds its way through a forest of dead lantana up to 2m high. The view from the summit of Little Dromedary is quite spectacular and you get full 360 views west to Gulaga, north to Narooma, south to Bermagui and east down across the dairy farms to the coast.

Retracing our path we headed past Sherringham Farm along a dirt road to the coast. We had a standoff with a herd of dairy cows coming up the road who were being moved from one paddock to another. We stared at each other for a few minutes out of respect until the bull stepped forward and led the cows through the open gate into the paddock.

Lunch was on the beach with a great view across Little Lake up to Gulaga.

Rob

Thursday 3 September 2020

Darelle and Bev admire orchids hanging over the track

Denise spots an orchid growing high on a sheoak

Darelle, Kaye, Denise, Lesley and Bev hunting orchids (hanging off the branch next to Bev)

Photos courtesy of Karen and Bob

Thirteen members met at Cullendulla Nature Reserve on Square Head for a 5 km stroll over the headland and down to the beach on Cullendulla Creek.  There are views of Long Beach and Maloneys Beach towards Murramarang National Park to the north and to the south you see the township of Batemans Bay and southern suburbs.  A few early Spring flowers lined the track – most notably a good sprinkling of the delicate pink terrestrial Ladyfinger orchids (Caladenia carnea).

Then walkers followed Cullendulla Creek west through mangroves and sheoaks, and found the last of the Rats Tail Orchids (Dockrilla teretifolia) flowering on sheoaks overhanging the water.  We also put up a small group of kangaroos who skidded into the shelter of the forest to watch us pass.

Karen

Saturday 29 August 2020

Group crossing the wetland at low tide

Mary and Rob with a flowering rat-tail orchid

Ian, Bob, Rob and Stan on the shores of Tuross Lake

Photos courtesy of Rob and Karen

In balmy, pre-spring weather 9 members of Batemans Bay Bushwalkers  descended down a steep track to the shores of the Tuross River. The chatter and song of birds welcomed the group and when reaching the river bank,  they stood admiring views of mirror flat, glistening waters framed by bushland and mountains.

The ground was relatively dry, allowing for attentions to be diverted from footwear to vegetation. Several clumps of rat-tail orchids were seen on the casuarina trees along the pathway so that soon cameras were clicking whilst, other walkers went in search of more “hidden treasures.”

The marshy, mangrove area wasn’t nearly as muddy as had been anticipated and when the morning tea destination was reached, a sharped eyed walker pointed out a seal swimming in the river. The seal settled on a sandbank about 10 metres from a tinnie and tried to befriend the fishermen that the small boat contained. It didn’t seem to work but, there is no harm in trying.

The return journey was just as enjoyable and leisurely as the first leg and a group of 10 white winged choughs were seen scratching on the ground just before walkers ascended to the roadside. It was a short but, really enjoyable 3.5 kilometre hike.

Denise

Saturday 29 August 2020

Warden Head Track

A happy bunch!

Bev and Lesley at Ulladulla Light Beacon

Photos courtesy of Ainslie and Lesley

Karen led sixteen members of Batemans Bay Bushwalkers, including two new members, on an Easy Grade 6 kms walk around Warden Head at Ulladulla. I was asked if I had led this walk with husband Mike previously as we had led a three headland walk from north of Ulladulla to here, but we had not actually followed the track closely around the headland.

Karen had promised lots of stops, and all of them were worth while, as they offered marvellous coastal views of beaches, the extensive rock platform around the whole Headland, many more headlands, and distant views towards Bawley Point and Pigeon House poking up in the distance.

We stopped at the Ulladulla Light Beacon, a fine old white lighthouse. Some of us had lunch at South Pacific Heathland Reserve, and we were delighted to see the masses of Flannel Flowers just coming out in flower. This headland is the best place to see the Sydney Sandstone spring wildflowers, especially now that the recent bushfires have burnt out Little Forest Plateau where we usually go to see the masses of Boronia.

Ainslie

Wednesday 26 August 2020

Geoff, new member Elizabeth, Heather, Bob, Susan, Kaye, Barry and Lyn

Photos courtesy of Lesley

Strange as it may seem for a relatively short local walk, Lesley’s stroll around the Cullendulla beach and boardwalk was a delight.   Perhaps like a little food to a starving person, the pleasure of joining a group of friends for a walk and talk after so much absence made it sparkle for me.

The first surprise came as we walked onto the beach.    Masses of ash and debris lay piled at the high tide mark, including stumps of large trees; reminders of fires & floods, with the water still brown, carrying brown-stained foam from the reaction of fresh and salt water churned by rough seas.

Then our eyes were drawn to the sparkling jewels of thousands of shells, with the population dominated by pippies of all sizes and colours.   As we walked along, a greater variety appeared, with grim dark mussel and cone shells, brighter clam and delicately patterned snail, large abalone and river oyster, whelks and conches of many sizes and colours jostled for room on the crowded sand.   The stand-outs to my eyes were the little scallop shells sparkling like bright gold in the morning sun, a few rare “razor clams” and the long thin shells of tube worms (known by kids as “finger nails”).

I could not resist collecting some of each species, and the group patiently indulged my childish delight.      A harmony of tinkles added to the sensual pleasure, as many shells were rolled in the small waves.   I could have spent hours looking through this treasure trove, as I haven’t seen such variety of sea shells for decades – easily over a dozen species.

We left the beach to join the boardwalk, meandering through forest with a large pond beside, until we came to the abrupt change from casuarina to mangrove.    Then Heather quickly spotted delicate sprays of rat-tail orchids in flower,  pointing them out as we went along.    Back on the beach my eyes were everywhere, hoping to add another species to my collection, and then an easy walk back to the cars.   In all, a very pleasant experience.

Bob

Wednesday 26 August 2020

Tree burned out in fires then smashed in the subsequent winds

Water flowing in the creek after recent rains

Sharon and Rodney emerging from forest recovering from bushfires

Photos courtesy of Karen and Amanda

Thirteen walkers, including two new members, took advantage of some beautiful weather to take a lovely walk in the Benandarah State Forest.   The forest is one of the forests, if not the only forest, in our area not to have been detrimentally affected by the terrible bushfires of last summer.  It has, however, been subjected to some hazard reduction burns since summer and the evidence of that was seen at various times throughout the walk.

The walk was previously put together by the irrepressible Betty Richards and has all the hallmarks of a typical Betty hike.  Some good hills (best described by the walk leader as deviations of terrain so as not to scare off potential walkers!),  bike tracks, picturesque gullies, obligatory bush bashing and even a long abandoned marijuana cultivation site complete with Seasol containers, wire barriers and recently  melted pots!

Recent fires have revealed some beautiful views off to the east over the water, one of the few advantages of the fires.  It  was also great to see water flowing in the creeks after recent rains.  There was lots of new regrowth of beautiful ferns and the various understories in general.  All in all it was a great day to be out in the bush.

Donna

Thursday 20 August 2020

Jimmies island in the distance

Rock platforms at low tide

Glorious day to be bushwalking

Photos courtesy of Barry

20 walkers (perfect COVID19 group size) enjoyed a very pleasant 9km hike around Guerilla Bay and Rosedale. The weather was very kind to us with sunshine and light winds. With so many walks cancelled due to poor weather this group was keen to get out and enjoy the landscape and catchup with hiking friends. This a great hike to experience the variety of landscape features of our local area. The walk started at Burrewarra Point with clear views at the headland, south to Gulaga.

Heading north into Guerilla Bay we hiked through tall spotted gum forests, along the clifftops and down onto the beaches. We then sneaked around the headlands on the rock platforms on a well timed low tide to end up at South Rosedale and a view of Jimmies Island. There are a myriad of small bays and secluded beaches in this section of the coast some of which are inaccessible and others I’m sure the locals consider their own.

The hike finished just as noisy as it started with some very happy walkers all 1.5m apart chatting away. Well done to our walk leader Barry for a very enjoyable day.

Rob

Wednesday 12 August 2020

Helen, Donna and Karen getting some mental stimulation

Mummuga Lake

Gay and Chris enjoying morning tea

Together, yet distanced

Socially distanced logs!

Swamp Wallaby

Lunch and Brou Lake open to the sea

Barry and Brian inspecting nature’s regeneration

Photos courtesy of Brian, Chris and Karen

Bushwalking is a great all year round activity, supporting both physical and mental exercise. And today, thirteen of us got our fair share of exercise, with plenty of mental stimulation (lots of talking!) and a feeling of wellbeing on completing the 13kms Mummaga Lake and Brou Area walk.

After the wet windy weather of the weekend, everyone was keen to get back on the trails and while some areas of the tracks and bush were soggy and larger bodies of water had to be detoured, it was surprisingly pretty dry under foot.

The first part of the walk followed the signposted Mummaga Lake walk from the Bodalla Park Rest Area off the Princes Highway.  While there is plenty of water in Mummaga Lake, it was pretty brown due to the recent run off from the heavy rains on the weekend.  Eventually the walkers diverted from the marked track and used fire trails and old indistinct bush tracks to head north to Brou Lake.  There were a few sprinkles of rain mid morning, but the group ignored it and continued on and were rewarded with rare views of the water in Brou Lake being very low.  General consensus was that the lake had opened to the sea.

The group followed Brou Lake around to the point where it had indeed opened to the sea and decided to take advantage of a lovely dry grassy spot overlooking the beach, for a well-earned lunch break.

The walk continued south, parallel to the beach, where some early wildflowers were spotted and two swamp wallabies.

The final few kilometres were back along the Brou Lake Road which for a weekday had quite a few vehicles using it, then on trails through the bush to the Bodalla Park Rest Area.

A good walk to get the body and mind active, while still easily able to observe social distancing rules.

Gay

Thursday 6 August 2020

Andrea, Karen and Ros enjoying being back out on the trails

Liz, Bob, Elaine with Leaders, Stan and Mary

Photos courtesy of Karen

Sixteen Batemans Bay bushwalkers formed a very large circle at the “Sunlit Waters” turn off, in compliance with social distancing. Mary had to use her loudest voice to be heard by all as she read out the COVID -19 requirements for walkers,  prior to commencing the hike.

The morning was crisp but sunny as the group strode along Sheep Station Road before turning up hill and onto a fire trail.

Everywhere walkers were confronted with signs of the havoc of the recent fires but, there was also abundant regeneration commencing along with the sounds of birds. It was uplifting to see how resilient our wonderful bushland can be. There were also areas still wet after recent rains and water in the small creek that hikers crossed on their 6.5 kilometre circuit.

Walkers paused at the top of a hill to take in views westward to the mountains. These views will eventually be obscured once nature has had  more time for regrowth.  Everyone felt the joy & rejuvenation that fresh air & exercise can bring.

It was a short walk that finished at lunch time so, some club members drove to the Clyde River picnic area at Nelligen to eat their sandwiches & enjoy more sunshine.

Thank you to Mary and Stan for such a lovely outing.

Denise