Friday to Sunday - 06 to 08 Mar 2020. Camping weekend to North Haven.

For our annual camping week-end 26 campers got together at North Haven.  We use the description “campers” advisedly, as apart from Liz McCann who chose the tent option, all the rest either brought caravans or chose cabin accommodation.

Our main event was the Saturday walk for which we selected the Diamond Head Loop Walk in the Crowdy Bay National Park.  Unfortunately we found the track closed due to the recent fires, so we walked the shorter Mermaid track.  This was a nice easy short walk with a great view at the end. Along the way we could readily see the devastation caused by the fires.

We then moved to the Kattang National Park and walked the Flower Bowl Circuit and the Perpendicular Point Track. This was a very pleasant walk with sightings of two goannas, one red bellied black snake and hundreds of Blue Monarch butterflies.

Over the week-end we took quite a number of car trips including to North Brother Mountain, Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, and a visit to Ricardo’s Tomatoes.  The Beach Break café at the North Haven Surf Club was a popular option after an early morning beach walk.

A great weekend away to a beautiful part of our northern coastline.  Many thanks to Bob and Sally for organising.

Here is a GPS trace of the path we took at Kattang.

Sunday 02 Feb 2020. Seaforth Oval and Bantry Bay Circuit.

Fifteen heat-resistant souls turned out on what was predicted to be a scorching day for a 6 km walk in the upper reaches of our beautiful Middle Harbour. As it turned out, the weather was not too extreme at all, with a pleasant breeze moderating the heat most of the way.

Our first 20 minutes took us from Seaforth Oval down to water level at Bantry Bay, where across the water we could see the buildings of the disused Explosives Depot. This Depot was the major explosives storage facility in Sydney and operated between 1915 and the early 1970s. Nowadays, it is part of Garigal National Park, and there have been some stabilisation efforts around the buildings and the seawalls.

After morning tea and lunch stops with wonderful views back down the Harbour to the city, our circuit continued up to the level of the Wakehurst Parkway. We left a patiently-waiting crow to pick up any leftovers at our lunch spot.

Once back at the ridge, we finished the last 2 km on a level track back to our cars at the Oval.

Geoff and Ursula’s place at Belrose was next on the program. Everyone cooled off in the pool and enjoyed lunch and a cool drink under the patio umbrella.

To round off the day, we made our way to Rosemary’s place at Curl Curl for the traditional “fish ‘n’ chips” dinner.

A great start to the year. Thanks for Geoff and Ursula for arranging.

Here is a trace of our walk.

Bantry Bay Route.JPG

Our Completed 2019 Program

Scroll down to see photos and stories of our activities.

Feb 3 Sun Walk in Garigal NP

Mar 1 - Mar 4     Camping W/End at Wyangala Dam (Fri to Mon)

Apr 18 - Apr 23  Easter at Kahane, Perisher (Thu to Tue)

May 5 Sun Walk in Lane Cove NP

Jun 2 Sun Lower North Shore Walk

Jun 27 - Jun 30 Summit Tour XC Bus Trip (Thu to Sun)

Jul 7 Sun Walk in Cronulla Area

Aug 4 Sun Walk Cherrybrook Area

Aug 31 - Sep 7 Nordic Week at Charlotte Pass (Sat to Sat)

Sep 15 Sun City Street Art Walk - St Peters and Newtown

Oct 19 Sun Blue Mountains - Empire Pass, Lawson

Nov 8 - Nov 11 4WD/Camping W/end in Abercrombie NP (Fri to Mon)

Nov 30 Sat XC & BW Christmas Picnic Walk (Saturday)

Saturday 30 Nov 2019. Xmas Picnic and Walk, Lane Cove National Park.

On a warm Sydney Saturday we met at Haynes Flat Picnic area in the Lane Cove National Park for our last gathering for 2019, the annual Christmas picnic and walk. 

Rob Failes acted as our scout and arrived early, only to be told at the entry gate that not only was there a total fire ban for that day (fully expected) but also walking in the park was not permitted (fully unexpected).  With a flurry of phone calls, Sally and Bob notified who they could that the day's plan would be limited to just meeting at the Park and having lunch. 

Not content to believe everything he heard, however, Rob sought out "further and better particulars" and learned from a Ranger that there was no ban on walking at all!  More phone calls were made, and eventually a small group of die-hards gathered at the appointed spot and set off for the on-again-off-again walk, starting with a short amble down past the coffee shop and then back via the beginning of the Great North Walk track.

We stopped to admire the two historic cottages along the way and it was also interesting to observe the effect in the park of the drought and recent Sydney storms.

By lunchtime we had 29 festive members and enjoyed our lunch with many stories being told of everyone’s adventure travels during the past year.

After lunch we moved to the grass for the annual cricket match and it must be noted that as Bob Failes approaches his 90th milestone his batting and fielding were much admired by all. This year we introduced real stumps but next year we may need to introduce the DRS!

Many thanks to all who attended.  Special thanks for Bob, Sally and Rob for planning and keeping the day alive.

Friday to Monday - 08 to 11 Nov 19. Abercrombie National Park 4WD weekend.

Nine campers join us in the Abercrombie National Park, for probably one of the hottest and windiest weekends we’ve had there we started coming.  At the outset, there was total fire ban affecting the park, but by Monday conditions were so hazardous that the park was officially closed.

We still managed to get a few jobs done and all enjoyed the traditional camp oven dinner on Saturday night.

Many thanks, Jacqui, for your hospitality.

Sunday 19 Oct 2019. Empire Pass, Lawson.

The forecast for the morning of 19th October was for a particularly windy day. Nonetheless, thirteen keen walkers met our leader Andy Cairns at the end of St Bernards Drive, Lawson, for what turned out to be a most enjoyable circuit in almost perfect conditions.

Highlights were Dantes Glen, St Michaels Falls, Empire Pass, Frederica Falls, Echo Bluff and, in case we thought we had seen all the falls, right at the end of the walk came Fairy Falls. Much of the walk followed the clear running Blue Mountains Creek which we crossed three times on well-placed stepping stones. Bird calls abounded and spring flowers delighted.

Lunch was taken at stunning Echo Bluff, where some of our party tested the name with loud coo-ee calls with results varying because of the ever increasingly noisy wind.

This walk was well timed, as Bob and Sally were just back from their latest trip overseas, and Harm and Sharon are about to go walking in their much loved New Zealand. Ron McCann at 85 years kept up a cracking pace, while others followed at a more sedate rate. There were no straying stragglers today, thanks to Marion’s skilful management of the tail-enders.

To top off a wonderful day, we all gathered on the verandah of the Cairns’ place for Marion’s magnificent afternoon tea. Here we were not only treated to fabulous food, but also enjoyed Marion’s lovely garden.

Many thanks to Andy and Marion Cairns for organising and leading the walk today and for having us all back at their place afterwards.

Bob kindly mapped our route today in real time, as shown below.

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Saturday 14 Sep 2019. St Peters and Newton Urban Walk.

After meeting at St. Peter’s railway station at 10 am, about a dozen of us spent an hour exploring nearby Sydney Park. This historic site was originally the first brickworks in the colony and then a landfill site known as Tempe Tip. Sydney Park is now a superb, well established blend of open space, sporting and youthful entertainment, a fabulous wetland full of abundant bird life and the historic landmark tall chimneys.

King Street was the venue for our morning tea and coffee. Parliament on King is a tiny coffee shop that serves up a fabulous cuppa.

We then embarked on a leisurely 2.5 km stroll through Newtown investigating street art, not graffiti. Of special interest was a muralist, Fintan Magee, who has given Newtown much to look at, enjoy, laugh with and think about. Lunch was in the Young Henry boutique brewery.

Behind King Street is the historic St Stephens church, with a cemetery dating from the 1850s. This was of interest to several members of the walk who visited their relatives.

Some of us finished up at Newtown railway station and others extended the walk to admire a interesting mixture of architecture at Lifehouse, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, the Perkins Centre, and the Great Hall at Sydney University. By then we were exhausted so jumped on a bus to Broadway and home.

Thanks to Annette Fitzallen for doing the research to make this an interesting and different outing.

Saturday to Saturday - 31 Aug to 07 Sep. Nordic Week, Charlotte Pass.

Another successful week away at our beautiful lodge at Charlotte Pass.

Here’s a day-by-day summary of our XC Nordic Week activities:

  • Sun 01 Sep - Spencers Ck, Betts Ck, Betts Camp, Johnnies Plain - 10.6 km

  • Mon 02 Sep - Kosci Rd, Clarke Trees 1, The Junction, Snowy Gorge, 2nd Rd Ck - 11.1 km

  • Tue 03 Sep - Foxhole Saddle, Restaurant Ruin, Trapyard Ck (contour descent) - 10.1 km

  • Wed 04 Sep - Stilwell Saddle, Kangaroo Ridge, Spencers Cairn, Andys Cairn, Merrits Ck, Middle Ridge, Andys Leap - 14.4 km - good firm snow

  • Thur 05 Sep - Trapyard Ck (climb spur), across to pole line and down Wrights Ck - 7.9 km

  • Fri 06 Sep - deteriorating weather - 250 mm new snow o'night

Show these snaps to your skiing friends and get them to join SASC if they haven’t already. This terrain on the Main Range and Snowy River valley is the best XC skiing in Australia.

All photos David Dalwood.

Sunday 04 Aug 19. Callicoma Walk, Cherrybrook.

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.

Sunday 07 Jul 19. Royal National Park - Wattamolla and Marley Beach.

Sunday 7 July started with thick fog blanketing much of Sydney. However, that didn’t deter 24 keen walkers from heading to Wattamolla in the Royal National Park for the July bush walk.

A beautiful clear sky revealed itself by the time the group commenced walking at 10.15 am heading north for Marley Beach. Just about half of the walkway is on constructed platform allowing easy walking. The group stopped on the cliff tops for morning tea and for the balance of the cliff top walk to Marley we experienced viewing of countless whales as they headed north. Some breached, while others splashed tails or simply blew spray into the air.

Lunch was taken on the rocks nearby Marley Beach overlooking enthusiastic surfers catching tubing noisy waves.

The return journey back allowed more whale watching and viewing of the spectacular coastal scenery. Overall it was a great day which we all thoroughly enjoyed.