Potato Point Forest, Lake and Beach

Sunday 31 July 2016

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

 

 

Benandarah Forest

Thursday 28 July 2016

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

Clyde Mountain to Misty Mountain

Saturday 23 July 2016

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

 

Downfall Fire Trail

Thursday 14 July 2016

Photos by Ian, Donna, Bob T

The Downfall Firetrail follows a ridgeline parallel and south of the Kings Highway between Black Flat Road and Western Distributor.  The climb to the ridgetop and a few ups and downs along the ridgetop open up the arteries, but otherwise the route is pleasant.

Most of it is an open spotted gum forest with occasional rocky sections.  The ridgetop itself, protected by the rock, is undisturbed by human hand so there are lots of large trees, many showing ample signs of the occasional intense wildfire which has swept through the area every half century of so.

On this 7 kilometre walk we enjoyed the company of 12 walkers, including two guests and two recently rejoined members.  The weather was sunny, with an occasional light breeze, ideal walking conditions.

Soon after commencement of the walk, we inspected the impressive dry stone wall which, to this day, still holds up a part of the original Nelligen to Braidwood road constructed in the 1850’s.  A Dusky Antechinus (Antechinus swainsoni) zipped past us, possibly a male launching into its annual breeding season; then again, possibly a female hoping the season is a short one!

As we climbed the 250 metres elevation to the ridgetop we passed through a significant area of Maiden’s Gum (Eucalyptus maideni).  It is one of the southern blue gums and found in southern NSW predominantly on granite soils on higher ground with good rainfall.

Further along the ridge the forest changes to Spotted Gum in which we saw two Yellow Bellied Glider (Petaraus australis) feed trees.  One has a unique pattern where the V notches overlap and form a chequerboard pattern.  This is rarely seen.

We lunched in the sun on a large sloping rock slab.  Tracey, the eternal wanderer, discovered a Death Adder (Acanthopis antarcticus) under the litter (also, almost under her foot) at the base of the slab.  That small discovery kept the rest of us on the slab!

Ian B

When Ian leads a walk, in addition to the social and physical benefits, is the extra dimension of his information and insight.

On 14 July, as usual, he gave us the benefit of his extensive knowledge of the ecology, geology, flora and fauna of our forests.  On his walks, he generously explains the effects of the various soil types on the species of trees and shrubs, and subsequently, the animals.

Not only does he identify a bewildering array of trees , he also explains how and why they grow where they do.  As well, he points out interesting features, such as the granite retaining wall, still supporting the first track built from Nelligen to Braidwood

While doing so, the bonus sighting of a small mammal allowed him to identify it as an Antechinus, and tell us some of their life history.  (I now feel a little more tolerant of them eating my kumera, as I thought they were just “bush rats”)

Further on, he showed us the V-shaped scars on the bark of a tree and described how the Gliders scar the bark to feed on the sap.  That the scars on this tree were highly unusual only added to the interest.   It was a privilege to be there.

Bob T

 

 

18 Mile Peg – Big Spotted Gum

Sunday 3 July 2016

Photos by Joan

Joan led 14 walkers, including 4 new visitors, on a very enjoyable 4km hike to visit ‘Old Blotchy’, the giant Spotted Gum in the Murramarang National Park. The 18 Mile Peg turnoff signpost at the Princes Highway is gone and we suspect the National Park Service feels the best way to save Old Blotchy is to not advertise its location. James Woodford, a local nature writer, wrote in 2005 that Old Blotchy is 2.92m at DBH (that’s Diameter at Breast Height for the non-foresters) and has a canopy 50m above the forest floor. With a growth rate of 5mm per year it is estimated the tree is over 500  years old.

As a mark of respect we formed a ‘tree-hug’ circle around its base that took 12 of us to complete. We then hiked some local tracks and had to stop when we reached an old dilapidated timber bridge over a creek on the abandoned logging road. Joan issued a challenge for someone to open the track over the bridge which is now very overgrown and complete a circuit back to Old Blotchy. This will make a good 10km hike for a future walk leader with a great attraction draw hikers.

Thanks to Joan for a very enjoyable hike.

Rob L

 

Maloneys Beach Square Head Circuit

Thursday 30 June 2016

Photos by Donna

On a cold overcast day 7 bushwalkers scrambled around rocks of different shapes, sizes and colours just below the cliff line of Maloneys Beach. The recent heavy storm had taken away sand and revealed more protruding rocks than normal as well as household items including 2 outdoor chairs which had  stuck hard amongst them.

When we reached Long Beach we continued on the sand with Square Head Nature Reserve in sight.  A short climb from the beach up the hillside got us to the top of the reserve where we circled around looking down onto the Cullendulla Creek below us.  Meanwhile the weather had begun to get windy up top and we made sure we had plenty of warm clothes on to keep the cold chill away.

We spent some time walking around the reserve looking across to Batemans Bay and watching the yachts bobbing about in the water before heading back to Long Beach to walk along the clifftop which was above the rocks we had scrambled on earlier, and continued back to Maloneys Beach where we started.   The walk had taken us 11 kilometres from start to finish and we thanked our leader Donna for guiding us along the way.

Carol

 

Waddell Mine and Shoebridge Track

Saturday 25 June 2016

Unfortunately I did not get anyone contacting me saying they would join my Waddell Mine walk.

I filled in the day by doing some more exploring in the area. Weather was perfect for this exploration. At one of the mine sites I found an old hut site with the remains of metal items and bottles.  I discovered  that  the old bench track to the mine that already had a few obstacles in the way of fallen trees across it is now further obstructed by a huge gum tree that has fallen lengthways along the track. I was able to work my way around the steep hillside to get around the tree.

David