BATEMANS BAY BUSHWALKERS INC.

Saturday 20 August 2016

Start at Mackenzies Beach

The view south

South from Pretty Point

North from Pretty Point

Lilli Pilli Beach

Lilli Pilli headland

Photos by Karen M

The spectacular scenery on Saturday’s bushwalk was proof enough to all 19 bushwalkers of why they chose to live where they live! The walk started under a clear blue sky at Mackenzies Beach, and we were soon heading on our way to Pretty Point. A couple of walkers glimpsed a whale out at sea on their walk out to the point, but alas it was not visible during our morning tea break out on this very rocky point. However it was obvious that the day’s slight breeze and relatively calm sea had enticed quite a few fisherman out in their boats to try their luck.

From Pretty Point it was a series of up, over, then down many of the headlands on our way north. Though much of the track is clearly marked, there were enough rough challenging descents to keep us focused on where we put our feet!

Looking down into the water from the higher points on the track, it was obvious that there are plenty of good snorkelling spots along this coast. Lunch was spent on Lilli Pilli Beach, before once again heading north across another headland to the cars at Circuit Beach.

Mary

Wednesday 17 August 2016

Bob leads the troops

Behind Turlinjah

Photos by Karen C

Fourteen walkers made the best of the excellent weather to explore an area of Moruya State Forest near Turlinjah.   Using some motorcycle tracks (thankfully no two wheeled vehicles were encountered), some dirt roads, namely Kays and Triangle, Bob led us around forest close to Coila Creek’s tributaries. As there was no recent rain, the creek crossings  in the gullies were dry, but made for lovely cool ferny areas where the still water reduced the temperature – just right for refreshing us prior to the next upward hill!

We were shown Green helmeted native orchids (easy to miss and step on by the unwary, but thankfully off the track so they survived our visit) and spent some time checking out the animal tracks on sandy parts of the path.

Another lovely walk in the Eurobodalla.

Helen

Thursday 11 August 2016

Mark, with Leaders Mary and Stan

Rob checks his location

Front row seats for lunch

Campsite in the National Park

Photos by Donna and Karen M

Mary and Stan led a group of 11 bushwalkers on a 12 kilometre circuit walk from Nelligen township to Clyde River National Park.

The group walked along well-formed hilly trails with a little bush bashing thrown in for good measure. It was a perfect sunny winter’s day for walkers to take in the sounds and sights of the Australian bush. The group enjoyed a well-earned break for lunch on the banks of the picturesque Clyde River, watching a beautifully restored timber boat from a bygone era cruise past.  Following lunch the group re-entered the bush for the return journey, where walkers were lucky enough to see a glossy black cockatoo flying low overhead.

Thank you to Mary and Stan for sharing this wonderful walk with the bushwalkers.

Mark

Monday 8 – Wednesday 10 August 2016

Ian, Wendy, Bronwyn, Doug and Simon at cold Wog Wog

Doug celebrates Corang Peak

Descending to Canowie Brook

Canowie Brook Swamp

Monolith Valley

Bronwyn looking into the upper Yadboro River

‘Oh, what a feeling!’ on Corang Arch

Photos supplied by Ian

The Club last walked this route, a classic NSW pack walk in rugged wilderness, in June 2012 and a report of that venture can be read on the Club’s web page.

On this occasion five Club members (Wendy, Bronwyn, Simon, Doug and myself) planned to enjoy the walk over three days.  Two of the party had not yet sampled the ruggedness and grandeur of the Budawangs Wilderness and were keen to see it.  And as for the other three – well, they just can’t help themselves but go back, again and again.

On the first day, we departed Wog Wog car park mid morning and cruised along a reasonably trouble free track.  We lunched with magnificent views of Pigeon House Mountain southwards in a large arc to the rugged Wirritin and Currockbilly Mountain ridges.  After lunch we climbed Corang Peak which, thanks to the large bushfire in the upper Yadboro River catchment of October 2013, now has 360 degree views over the mid Clyde and upper Corang River catchments.  Doug celebrated with a handstand and Simon recorded it, making sure Pigeon House Mountain was in the background.

We moved on to the Corang Arch and recorded a traditional “Oh what a feeling!” photograph of the group.  Again, the arch ignored us and showed no sign of collapsing to the thud of falling feet.

Under a setting sun we waded through the golden grassy plains of Canowie and Burrumbeet Brooks and got to our camp with enough light to collect firewood for a warm and cosy night.  The usual discussions on future walks, equipment, food and other related bushwalking subjects eventually subsided under a cool, clear, starry night.

Our second day started with deteriorated track conditions.  It was wet, muddy, uphill, and overcrowding scrub.  Not the most pleasant, and tiring on the legs.  Nevertheless, we got to our Mount Cole camp site by lunch time and decided to tackle Mount Owen from the western side.  The steep gully entrance was straightforward apart from one steep rock scramble because the damp conditions made rock gripping a bit more tenuous than usual.  We made a mad dash across the rock pooled and scrubby top of the plateau (it’s big – 100 hectares plus!) but we were cheated of the alleged magnificent views of the Clyde valley by lack of time and thick undergrowth.

Our retreat was a little more exciting.  Under a setting sun and diminishing light, we missed our western exit, lazily following the little rock cairns of the eastern route.  After a quick check of our coordinates and a more thorough search we found our route to the north, down the rock slabs and into the confines of the gully once more.

Overnight the westerly winds growled above us but we were snug in our camp.  The blowy conditions continued the next day but this did not affect our meander through Monolith Valley.  From rocky ramparts we paused to gaze down into the headwaters of Holland Gorge, framed by Donjon Mountain to the west and Shrouded Gods Mountain to the east.  We continued on, paying our respects to the seven pinnacles, the Green Room, the adjacent Emerald Room, the Natural Arch and the coachwood/pinkwood rainforest downstream.

Emerging from the confines of the rainforest, and before exiting Monolith Valley via the chains, we enjoyed a final leisurely view westwards from our vantage point at Eagles Nest.  We soaked up the timeless atmosphere of the surrounding pancaked mountains of Nibelung, Owen, Cole, Shrouded Gods and Mooryan, formidable guardians of the valley.  They are the highly eroded remnants of Pangea’s ancient river sediments of 250 million years ago.  This view is one of the great enduring images of wilderness NSW.

We lunched at the Castle saddle and dismissed any plan to climb the Castle under the very windy conditions prevailing.  After inspecting Cooyoyo camping area we headed down the steep, eroding, convoluted track toward home.  By the time we got to the Yadboro River, and our transport home, we were beat, plodding through the water without even considering taking off our boots.

We didn’t see anyone else in the three days. It was very enjoyable.

A big thank you goes to Goldie and Simon for the transport.  It saved us a big car shuffle!

Ian

Saturday 6 August 2016

The red brigade

Sea eagle nest

A break under the nest

Betty and Pat

A 9 bushwalker sized spotted gum

Kay on one of the horizontal swamp mahoganys

Upper reaches of Candlagan Creek

Photos by Karen M and Donna

20 bushwalkers walked to a little-known and seldom-visited nature reserve on Saturday.  Karen M led the group through Broulee village to The Bower private property which gives access to the Illawong Nature Reserve, a 51 hectare block of land and swamp administered by NSW National Parks.  Mark and Sue from The Bower had kindly given us permission to access the Reserve and also to complete our circuit bushwalk through their property and on to Candlagan Creek.

From Illawong, there are extensive views across the adjoining Illawong Swamp and Longvale Swamp.  There’s also a fantastic sea eagle nest perched high in the fork of a huge spotted gum.

We enjoyed walking through mixed forest of spotted gum, ironbark, woollybutt, blackbutt and swamp mahogany with an understorey of burrawang, saw banksia and wattle.

Emerging from Mark & Sue’s property, we then followed the track beside Candlagan Creek back to Broulee, where there are some magnificent swamp mahogany eucalypts growing horizontally from the bank out over the creek.

This was a 7 kilometre flat, easy walk on good tracks through some lovely bushland which finished just before lunch.

Karen M

Wednesday 3 August 2016

With wet gullies full of sword grass

Twisted spotted gum forest nearing the coast

Myrtle Beach

Headhunter Mike with quarry (it’s a coconut)

Huge spotted gum

At the base of the big spotted gum

Photos by Karen & Bob M, and Donna

Karen C proposed a “scenic pleasant walk in Murramarang National Park” for a group of 22 hikers and it was delivered.

The initial cloudy cold weather quickly cleared to a sunny warm day. Our hike along roads and tracks was in forest from start to finish and kept our photographers busy. We walked in pure stands of spotted gum, including a few who could rival ‘old blotchy’ and transitioned to swamp mahogany as we got close to the shore and the sandy soils.

Lunch was on Myrtle Beach, and if the whales swam by (as promised) we were all too busy chatting to notice. On the way back we were serenaded by numerous lyre birds who were unperturbed by our group of noisy bushwalkers and kept up a constant melody of bird song mimicry that I’m sure impressed the girls.

This is a great hike, 11km with not too many hills, and should be done once a season to remind us why this a great national park to visit. Well done Karen.

Rob

Sunday 31 July 2016

Swamp Mahogany bushwalker perch

Brou Beach

Mouth of Lake Tarourga

Clifftop lunch at Jemisons Point

View from Jemisons Point

Photos by Karen M

Our weekend walk attracted 20 members on a 10km circuit through Bodalla State Forest and Eurobodalla National Park off Potato Point Road.   Near Lake Tarourga an emu ran across the track in front of us and another ran across the track near Jemisons Point towards the end of the walk.

Lake Tarourga is brimming with water and birdlife after recent rains, and there was a sea eagle perched nearby on a stick in the sand dunes when we emerged onto Brou Beach.  The view from our lunch spot on Jemisons Point is always a treat – alas no dolphins that day.

Karen M

Thursday 28 July 2016

Our two Donnas in matching pink

Offtrack through dry forest

Leader Betty, with exploring mate Rob

Photos by Donna

Twenty members and two visitors participated in a club walk led by Betty on Thursday through the western region of the Benandarah State Forest accessed via Shannons Road.

This walk was mainly undulating along the various bike tracks and forestry fire trails of the area, weaving through the dry sclerophyll forest of stringy barks and bloodwoods, interspersed with burrawangs, descending here and there across small creeks with occasional tree ferns.

After morning tea, two of our members with local knowledge of the area led us to a significant disused mine  a short distance away, something not on the agenda but a welcome contribution. Continuing on, the walk then became considerably off track. Challenging for some, but not a problem and definitely more interesting in content, considering the ” find ” after lunch where one could only speculate on the logistics of such, given the location.

A bit more of a slog through the bush brought us back to the cars.  A very pleasant walk, completed on time. Thank you  Betty.

Lynne

Saturday 23 July 2016

Cool temperate rainforest

Coming off Clyde Mountain

Valley floor

Sugarloaf Creek

View from Misty Mountain Road

Photos by Rob L

You know you are on an Ian B ‘Hard Walk’ when you leave a perfectly good forest road and jump straight into bush bashing in the first five minutes. This was the start to a very interesting and challenging hike for 10 members.

The rainy weather all week cleared to a sunny and windy day for a hike that launched us off Clyde Mountain down a very steep spur 5km to the valley floor 540 meters below. The varying geology of the coastal ranges and steep terrain have combined to produce some really interesting forest vegetation. At the top of the Clyde we started in sparse trees and dense underbrush. As the slopes got steeper the underbrush thinned out and forest cover dominated. Further downslope the surface changes to a scree slope of small brown rocks (shales) that made hiking more of a slide and hang-on to the nearest tree. At the base of the spur we entered a cool temperate rainforest of coachwood and sassafras.

This continued till we hit Sugarloaf Creek which is a great lunch spot. We then climbed 230m up the other side of the valley over a distance of 1km (very steep terrain) and the volcanic geology (breccias) supported very different vegetation types. We emerged onto Misty Mountain Road and enjoyed a nice ‘warm down’ hike of 5km back to the Kings Highway for the car shuffle. The Iron Woman award goes to Erika who carried a large heart shaped rock (for her garden) up the hill. We are waiting to hear how many kilos this rock weighed.

A great hike, well done Ian.

Rob L

Wednesday 20 July 2016

Postponed due to wet weather