Date: 26/1/2025
Trip leader: Paul Griffiths
Party: Georgia, Isabel, Terese, Weiyu, Sabs, Aidan, Jin
Wondabyne Station is a halt on Mullet Creek on the north side of Hawkesbury River. The tiny platform is only long enough for one carriage so you have to sit in the back carriage and tell the guard you need the extra stop at Wondabyne. There is no other way to get there and apart from bushwalkers the halt seems to exist only for people with water-only access houses on the Hawkesbury. The tiny station has an equally tiny wharf for their dinghies and tinnies. Everyone managed to get on the same train at their nearest station so when the last group joined at Epping, the guard simply said ‘your friends are waiting for you’ before we could say anything! There were eight of us in the back carriage, which was the number I had wanted for this trip, although one of the people who had been told it was full decided to turn up anyway, but as one person had dropped out that morning I did not make a fuss about it, although it’s not something to be encouraged.
The bush track from the little station is steep and by the time we got to the firetrail on the top of the ridge it was clear we had some very different speeds in the group. So we decided that since we had three experienced trip leaders on the walk, a fast group could do a side-trip to Pindar Cave while a slow group carried straight on to Kariong Falls.
A couple of kilometers after the Pindar Cave turnoff the firetrail along the ridge crosses the Great North Walk (GNW) from Sydney to Newcastle. The trail along the ridge becomes the GNW north and a small side-track is the GNW south, and also the track to Kariong Falls. There is a signpost here with a map of the trails, of which more later. The slow group set off down the GNW south, a lovely bush track over rock platforms that winds down to Kariong Creek. Pretty soon they found a small creek with a pretty waterfall and a big swimming hole, where they stopped to wait for the others. It was getting really hot, so a swim in the lovely cool water and a ‘spa’ under the little falls was very welcome indeed. Three hours later they were still waiting! The fast group were going so fast and talking so much that they walked straight past the signpost at the turning and set off north on the GNW for a few kilometres before realising there was no waterfall in sight and consulting their map. It was also very hot up on the ridge and one member of the party as showing early signs of overheating. Appropriate first aid was administered (wet clothes, drink, rest in shade) and when they eventually reached the creek a long, cold swim sorted things out with no lasting ill effects.
Meanwhile the slow party had made some tea, done some sketching of plants and generally had a lovely time in a pretty bushland setting. After reuniting the two groups we all decided it was way too hot to climb the 200 vertical metres to Mt Wondabyne, so people who had early commitments back in town set off for the station while the rest of us walked on to the main Kariong Falls, where many locals were swimming, had another swim, and then retraced out tracks to the station, arriving a few minutes before a train home.
Despite the heat this was a nice day in the bush and Wondabyne Station once again proved itself a real asset for bushwalkers.
