Date: 25/8/2024
Trip leader: Bruce Stafford
Party: Aurora, Cornelia, Ember, Fredo, Peiyan, Ruiqi(Rickie), Tim, Xun, Yiwen.
Helensburgh, Stanwell Tops, Kellys falls to Stanwell Park.
Initially the weather didn’t look too promising, with possible rain forecast, but as it turned out, the day turned out to be OK with no rain although cloudy all day. The rain had gone north to the Hunter Region and left us alone.
Most of us met up at Central Station, at the Main Station this time, sparing us from the incessant noise from the advertising screens on the normal underground platforms, a good omen for the day. Rickie got on at Hurstville, and all ten of us gathered on Helensburgh Station with the usual toilet break before heading off to Old Helensburgh Tunnel about 10 minutes away.
Old Helensburgh Tunnel is the third of the original 8 railway tunnels built on the Illawarra Line to Wollongong; all except the eighth tunnel were closed by 1920 and replaced by the present rail line. It is only 80 metres long so not so exciting (and no glowworms). In the third photo you will see a refuge, which is where someone can go for shelter if they were in the tunnel when a train came; they are 50 metres apart in all tunnels.
Then it was across the road to Metropolitan Tunnel, which does have glowworms. It is the fourth tunnel in the series, and is 624 metres long, but closed at the southern end by a coal mine wall. We went in, noting that we could go a fair way in this time before coming across the sticky muddy section. After torches were off and allowing our eyes to adjust to the darkness we could see some glowworms on the ceiling of the tunnel. Satisfied that we had seen some, we then headed back to Helensburgh Station bus stop to await the bus to Helensburgh Temple. (I took a couple of photos in the tunnel with my iPhone, but for some reason I can’t send them to my email – very odd).
The bus took us through the main street of Helensburgh, which is quite a distance from the railway station, and then to the Helensburgh Sri Venkateswara Temple (Hindu). We decided to visit the Temple and we spent a good 20 minutes inside. The staff there were very helpful and will run guided tours for free is you need it; it is well worth a visit. There are certain important rules you must observe when visiting the Temple: – No footwear to be worn inside the inner grounds and buildings, no photography inside the buildings, and no loud talking within the Temple (that last one is also a good rule on bushwalks!).
After the Temple visit, we set off on the most dangerous part of our walk: walking along the 250 metres of Walker Street which is narrow and has no footpath at all and has a fair bit of traffic. Then we reached Lawrence Hargrave Drive which does have a footpath and then left onto the access road to Kelly’s Falls Picnic Area where we had lunch.
We sat down at a picnic table which just fitted all ten of us in, and I demonstrated cooking eggs and boiling water on a portable gas stove of the type sometimes used on overnight walks. Also by accident (pun intended) showed what not to do with these portable stoves. The group were surprised that I had two eggs to cook which were dated 24/8 (the previous day), and wondered how I got them; the answer to that is shown in the last photo of one of my chooks. The main problem with these portable little stoves is that as they are a tripod they are inherently unstable, and the slightest brush of a just a sleeve can cause it to tip over, and that’s what happened on the table. Fortunately the stove was on my side of the table, which also had slots in its surface through which most of the water went, but a very small bit of hot water just reached Ricki’s shoe but fortunately no harm was done. The lesson is (and I will also need to follow it) is NOT to put portable camping stoves high up or where they can easily be knocked over. Incidentally, the container in which you put water or food is called a “billy”, so if a walks leader asks you to bring a “billy” on an overnight walk, now you know what it is. Also, NEVER use these portable gas stoves inside a house or a tent, as they can give off poisonous Carbon Monoxide.
After the egg cooking it was Yum Cha (drink tea) time, and instead of making “coffee” with sachets as I usually use on walks, I used a teabag of Twinings “Russian Caravan Tea”, which I find is mild enough to give a satisfactory picnic tea without needing milk. Then when lunch was finished we set off for the Kelly’s Falls Track, which provides some views of the top of the Falls, but not of the complete Falls. Then we reversed back to the picnic area and then on to the Princess Marina Track. I don’t know much about the history of this track, but judging by some old associated stone work it seems to be a quite old track. It has lookouts which might have had good views in the past, but now they just show views into the valley which is actually the source of the Hacking River.
Princess Marina Track exits at Lawrence Hargraves Drive on a bend, so care has to be taken as this road sees a lot of traffic. Then there is a road bash for 300 metres along Stonehaven Road until reaching the track which goes down from Stanwell Tops to Stanwell Park Station. It is called the “Wodi Wodi Track” but this is the section which is presently open (unlike its branch to Coalcliff and the Forest walk, which is presently closed for repairs). The track goes level for a bit and crosses Hargraves Creek on a makeshift bridge and then starts to drop down steeply.
The track here has a few branches without any signposts to tell you which is the right track to Stanwell Park, but as long as you always take the left track you will be OK. At one of these junctions the Wodi Wodi Track started dropping down roughly and steeply, and further along there is a tricky section where someone has put a ropehold to aid the descent (or climb). This track is only one kilometre long but is fairly challenging in some sections. Eventually it ends right at the platform at Stanwell Park railway station. We arrived there about 35 minutes before the next train. We made our way back on the train, ending up back at the Main Station.
Everyone said that they had enjoyed the walk a lot; it provided a lot of variation within a fairly short time including a challenging downhill track for some new people to try their bushwalking skills. And it helped that the lengthy uphill section was done in a bus and not on foot!
Two people missed the train and as they sent me an email instead of text, by the time I checked the email it was too late for them to catch the following train which would get them to the bus but miss out on the tunnels. There were, however, two “no shows’ who have still made no contact with me.
Bruce Stafford.
