Date: 1st May 2016
Walkers: Bruce (leading), Amir, Hiswaty, Eliane.
I took a punt on this Sunday being OK weather-wise even though there was a forecast if showers at some time. I was worried that maybe no one would join this walk, but 5 eventually did and got rewarded for it.
And indeed I woke up to leaden skies and continual rain that morning. It didn’t look promising, until I checked the rain radar and saw that the rain band had already cleared Sydney. Even so, my walk to my Central Coast station was in pouring rain, which stopped as soon as I reached the station – of course!
My train got to Berowra somewhat earlier than the train bringing the others up from Sydney so I took the opportunity to get a coffee at the local cafe while I waited – it makes good coffee.
Eventually the train from Sydney arrived, and Amir, Eliane and Hiswaty got off. There was no sign, however of the fifth – Stuart Lawrence. He hadn’t registered his mobile phone when he joined the Club so I had no way of finding out where he was. As the next train from Sydney wasn’t due for 45 minutes, we couldn’t wait so we four set off.
I also decided to do the walk from Berowra to Mt Kuringai, not vice versa, as we would have had to wait another 20 minutes for the train to Mt Kuringai. It also meant that the steepest part of the walk was downhill, not uphill!
The walk along the Berowra Link track was uneventful and passed through nice open woodland. The ground was damp form thr previous night’s rain. At the point where it meets the Great North Walk’s Benowie track, the steep downhill section starts, but before that, we went straight ahead 150m to Naa Badu Lookout for a nice view over Sams Creek and its junction with Berowra Creek. We then retraced our steps to the steep downhill section which took us to beside Sams Creek. At a side creek crossing there was some confusion as it is not well signposted coming that way and after the rain the rocks worn smooth from footsteps looked the same as the others not stepped on. After one false track we found the right one, which took us on a path on the east side of Sams Creek.
Also at this section a couple of leeches took advantage of our momentary stop to hop on board. They were soon removed.
We walked beside Mangroves and Casuarinas for quite a distance, and I think that in a king tide part of the track would be under water.
We crossed a wide sedge-covered salt marsh on a boardwalk (which I bet would be full of Tiger snakes in summer).
Eventually we came to the junction where the track to Mt Kuringai leaves the Benowie track (which crosses the new steel bridge built to replace the wooden bridge washed away in a flood a couple of years ago). We crossed the bridge just to check if there was a good lunch spot on the other side, but there wasn’t. So we re-crossed the bridge and kept walking along the Mt Kuringai track, which follows the east side of Calna Creek at this stage. We happened on a good lunch spot which had a couple of large stones to sit on as well as a plastic chair!
So we had lunch here amid the Casuarinas, listening to the wind making that characteristic soft roaring sound that wind always seems to make in Casuarinas.
After lunch we resumed our walk alongside Calna Creek, and by this time the sun was out and the creek looked very shiny and pretty in the sunlight, with leaves glistening on the trees.
Then we were overtaken by a couple of guys who asked us if we were from Sydney Uni Bushwalkers. We said, yes, and they said that they had met further back a guy who was looking for us. Said his name was Stuart. He looked rather lost, they thought – had no phone. So they decided to direct him to Crosslands (on the Benowie track) as there were plenty of people walking that track, and he might be able to get a lift from there back to Hornsby (or a long but direct road bash along Somerville Road to Hornsby).
We decided against reversing back to find him as he would be at least 45 minutes ahead of us and we probably wouldn’t find him if he kept going or got a lift. Even so there were concerns that instead of road bashing back to Hornsby or getting a lift, he might try the Benowie track and be trying to navigate its many side tracks after sunset. I made a mental note that if he wasn’t home by 7pm to maybe get the Police at Hornsby to start looking for him….
Anyway we continued along the track back to Mt Kuringai, still following Calna Creek, and at one point came to a pool with many juvenile fish including Bream and Whiting (it is still salt water her, and Amir did a taste-test and declared it to be “not as salty as the sea”.
Just shows how important these Mangrove-lined streams are as fish nurseries.
Eventually the track started getting rougher with a few ups and downs and rocky stream crossings. At one of these I slipped on some slippery rocks and got a muddy behind and a few scratches, but otherwise all was well.
We passed by a couple of large overhangs (a lady we saw earlier on called them “caves”), and they would make good shelters in the rain.
Then the track started to climb fairly steeply until reaching a gate and a tarred section. The sound of a freight train close by told us we were close to the end of the walk, and soon we were out on the Pacific Highway. We had to dodge traffic to cross over to the station and then it was a 15 minute wait for the next train back to Sydney via the North Shore Line. I got off a Hornsby as I needed to change there for my Central Coast train, and took advantage of a 20 minute wait to pick up a coffee there, and look at the rather crazy clock at Westfield (see photo).
I got home a bit after 4pm and left a message on Start Lawrence’s home phone to call me as soon as he got home so we would know he was safe. By 7pm I had still not received a call from him, so I called him again and he answered. He said that he had missed the train at Central, went to Berowra, and eventually had doubled back to Berowra (from Crosslands I guess) and returned home from there (he had probably beaten the rest of the group back to Sydney!). He said he has a mobile phone but had left it at home.
Anyway, we had a good walk in good weather and everyone enjoyed themselves.
My photo link, and the last four are by Hiswaty: https://www.flickr.com/photos/brstafford/albums/72157667814769465
