In what was essentially 3 separate trips over 3 weeks, we walked through (most of) the Blue Mountains! Leg 1 Setting off from Mt Victoria station at 10:47 22/06/24, the first leg of the traversal was afoot! With our party of 6 (myself, Liam K, James Z, Jin, Tera, Patrick) we headed for “The Great Blue Mountains Trail” which would take us through to Katoomba. The trail…
Katoomba to Leura via Prince Henry Cliff track. Sunday 12/5/2024. There were some concerns that this walk might have had to be cancelled because of the long stretch of rainy weather we had, which didn’t look like ending soon. What’s more, delaying the walk until the following weekend (18 &19 May) was not possible beause there would be no trains to the Blue Mountains that weekend. So it…
Jimmy had a few days off from uni and thought it would be a cool idea to do a weekday camping trip. In early May the bushwalking season for Jagungul is edging towards its end, about to step into snowy winter, but forecasts weeks ahead look alright and we’ve decided to give it a go. Also on…
Brooklyn Area walk on ANZAC Day, 25th April 2024. It was a nice day for this walk (or rather a series of three walks), and we all met up at Hawkesbury River Station. A check of names showed that I had one person who initially I thought was a “no show”, but an email she sent at 11.20pm the previous night showed up, stating she was unable to come (more later). So with…
This was a lovely walk through the western side of the blue mountains. Our group took a 7:30am train from Central Station and arrived at Blackheath Station at 10:15am. We walked through the neighborhoods and onto Perry’s Lockdown Road after a little while. We enjoyed the views from the lookout points, despite the fog covering much of the mountains. We made…
Fernleigh Track and Glenrock Conservation Area, Newcastle area. 23/3. It was going to be good day for this walk, with weather not too warm, and a friendly quite low tide mid-afternoon making the beach and rock platform sections a lot easier. It’s quite a long day for the group; from start to finish at Sydney being just over 11 hours, but it still seems to draw members each time it is done. Anyway, most…
Helensburgh to Stanwell Park Beach 10/3/2024 A rather early start was required by me as locally buses were replacing trains as far as Gordon Station, from which I got an all stations train to Central. Still, I was up early enough to cacth the sunruise. At Central, eight people caught up with me there, with Sean getting on later at Sutherland. Shibo just…
At 9am we met and set off from springwood station. Unfortunately, I received a message from eric that he might be 30 or 40 minutes late due to traffic. I told him about another option. Park at martins park and then we could probably meet at shark’s head cave or lost world. The five…
This was the second trip that I ran this weekend, after the first one filled up really quickly. Even though I had just done a trip to Wentworth Falls yesterday, this trip had also filled up in less than a day, and I took a group of almost 20 people! I had asked everyone to meet at platform 5 at Central for our Blue Mountains Intercity, but when I got there, there was no train! The helpful staff there let me know that the platform had changed to number 3. This caught…
We had a big group today, with almost 20 people! I led two trips this weekend, and both got completely filled in under a day! This walk was originally going to meet at Central at 9:30, but due to forecast rain in the morning, I moved the meeting time later. Unfortunately, Xuying didn’t realise that the meeting time had been changed, so she did not end up attending the trip. Joe, who…
We found out that going to Yamba would be too rainy, so instead we went to Mt Hotham to do some of the Australian Alps. Thanks to Nam for coming up with this plan and also thanks to Facebook guy who gave us a suggested route. Day 1 drive to Mt Hotham (8 hours) camp and diamantia hut Day 2 walk to federation hut, walk up Mt Feathertop. Go to…
It’s midday and the group met up at Cronulla Wharf. A casual easy walk like this allows for a later start where other plans can be made in the morning or at night. The coastal track starts at Bundeena which is 20 minutes away from Cronulla on a ferry, running once every hour. Some T4…
Halloween walk: Dover Heights to South Head & Camp Cove. With a 30 degree C day earlier (and with a total fire ban), I was wondering what the weather would be like in the late afternoon for this walk. The five of us got to Christison Park at Vaucluse next to Macquarie Lighthouse in a rather cold southerly wind which had developed from a gentle seabreeze earlier that day into something fairly strong and cold by 6.30pm (50 minutes before sunset). In fact…
Otford to Burning Palms Beach/Figure 8 Pool, then Helensburgh, Sunday 29/10/23. This day was chosen because it supplied a combination of good swimming weather, and a very low tide in the mid afternoon. This would make a trip to Figure 8 Pool fairly safe. There was however a moderate 1.7 metre sea swell forecast, which meant that we would still have to be careful there. With people…
A “bit” late but here we go (blame exam season) This was definitely the oddest timed trip I’ve led. We met at Central at 11:00 pm to catch the 11:24 Blue Mountains train. Although I would have usually joined from Blacktown, I thought it would be better to be with everyone at the start given the time of night. Turnout surpassed…
Royal National Park: Uloola Falls and Karloo Pool tracks, Sunday 15/10/2023. The walk started on a nice day with everyone meeting me at Central Station for the 45 minute train trip to Loftus. As mentioned in the walk description, the plan was to take a tram from here to the Royal National Park entrance to save a 45 minute walk along Rawson Road (which is strictly speaking a dirt fire trail). The prior…
Umina to Pearl Beach & Warrah Lookout, Saturday 7-10-2023. It will be a surprise to some that this walk was advertised as “Mount Wondabyne” on the trip list, but the closure of the Great North Walk where it passes through Brisbane Water National Park required an urgent change of location. I decided…
This was my first time leading a trip since I moved out west, so it was also the first time I led a trip without actually meeting everyone at the start. Thankfully this went without a hitch, everyone caught the 10:24 Blue Mountains Intercity from Central, and I got on later at Blacktown, and we all got together once we got off the train at Wentworth Falls. The ride,…
Centennial Glen & Porters Pass Loop, West Blackheath. Saturday 16/9/2023. Because I have to get up quite early to go on a Blue Mountains bushwalk, I was up early enough to see Venus shining very brightly in the pre-dawn sky. As I walked to my station, I passed a flock of cockies (White Cockatoos) with the rising sun giving a golden sheen to their feathers. (See Photos)….
Newcastle – Fernleigh Track and Glenrock Conservation Area, Sunday 10/9/2023. Most people got on the train at Central, and a couple at Hornsby, to settle in to the two and a half hours train trip to Adamstown. Tiantian only just made it because of a late running bus, yet another example of the unreliable Inner West bus service post privatisation. I got…