On a rather cool August morning, twenty-two of us set off from the Cherrybrook home of our leader Ron McCann.
It was not long before quiet suburban streets gave way to the beautiful Callicoma Walk in the upper reaches of Berowra Valley National Park. There were plenty of Acacias out in flower, and the noise of sulphur crested cockatoos was quite deafening at times. We were lucky enough to spot a couple of these beautiful birds feeding their young ones nesting in a rather large tree stump.
We all followed a tributary of Berowra Creek, happily chatting, before half of the group missed an inconspicuous right turn, and continued on along the flat for about 15 minutes. The error became clear when the straying group emerged from the bush onto busy Boundary Road!
Mobile phones worked to reestablish contact with the front-runners, and soon those who had made the small navigation error were on the right path, following the track uphill to a wonderful sandstone platform with views back down the gully - a perfect morning tea spot. The front-runners had, by now, done with morning tea and continued on ahead of the second group. Now it was midday, and the weather had warmed up so that we could discard some layers as we continued on this most pleasant walk.
Ron was now guiding the second group, so there were no short cuts home, despite that possibility arising! So eventually, three quarters of an hour after the front-runners made it to Ron's place, we all met up for wine, cheese and biscuits before a BBQ lunch.
Incidentally, this walk is named after Callicoma, an Australian genus with only one species, Callicoma serratifolia, whose common name is (rather misleadingly) Black Wattle.
Many thanks to Ron for organising the walk today and for having us all back at his place for BYO lunch.
