CENTRAL COAST - BRISBANE WATER NP - ROCKY PONDS - MTB/HIKE - 3 december 2014

I parked at the speed camera in Woy Woy Road. It was an early start as it was predicted to be a hot day.



The ride started well along the service roads. The quarry is always a welcome watery break from the dry scenery. There are a number of pools in the quarry remains. On a previous ride, there was a group of girls swimming in the quarry pool. During a conversation, they informed me the water was nice and clean and that they had swam there a number of times.

Further along the ride, there were a number of steep and rocky descents. The second descent ended with a flat tyre. It took 10 minutes to change the tube. Later, I stopped at the top of one descent and admired the flowers along the edge of the service road and the hussle and bustle of the ant colonies.

Finally, I reached the turnoff for the track to Rocky Ponds. I rode for a short distance but found the going too hard with large water filled ditches. I put the bike into the bush and continued by foot.

It was a pleasant hike along a narrow, rough and vegetation clogged track. It had rain the night before so the bush was very damp. By the time I reached the start of the cascades, I was drenched.

The cascades were pretty and very slippery. The water flowed shallowly over the flat sandstone then fell over the drop to the next tier.

The highlight was Jeannies Pool. The water fell about 10 metres to the rocks then flowed into the pool. The pool is surrounded by thick vegetation and a concave cliff. The cliff dripped of water and could be walked under.

I put my wet gear on a sunny rock and waded into the water. The bottom of the pool was sand and gradually got deeper closer to the rocks at the base of the falls. It was a pretty sight and I enjoyed sitting on various rocks and soaking in the vista.

Not much in the way of birds toady... heard a lot but saw only a couple briefly. There were a few flowers about in various locations where they could get enough sun.

I did see a small lizard!

The journey back was harder. The hike section was hard due the damp bush and me now becoming the steamy bush and the steamy me. Once I was back on the bike, the temperature was quickly rising and there were a number of places where I had to push the bike due the service road steepness.

All in all, a great ride and now I'm a mite tired.

bike - 14.8 km
hike/swim - 1:14
bike - 1:25
av bike speed - 10.45 km/h
max bike speed - 33 km/h

CENTRAL COAST - BRISBANE WATER NP - THOMMOS LOOP – MTB - 14 OCTOBER 2014 - 'ROCK, WATER AND VIEWS'

I drove to Brisbane Waters National Park and parked near the speed camera just down from Staples Lookout.

I’ve done this ride a number of times. The solitariness, quietness and bush scenery is quite an attraction for me.

I rode down the service road to the quarry. At the quarry, I rode around over the rocky paths, pools of water and soft sand. The various surface terrains were a challenge to cycle over.

I then rode along the service road and took the turnoff onto Tommos Loop. This was another service road. At times the road surface was hard sandstone with rivulets of water intersecting the rock. The views over the bushland were amazing. It just seemed so untouched and endless.  At one stage, an area of the road had been blocked as a large Australian Aboriginal rock carving had been unearthed by the recent rains.

The track ended at a gate and the main road. I rode downhill back to the van.

distance - 7.52 km
elevation range - 71m
average speed - 10.8 km/h
max. speed - 45.9 km/h

A great ride with awesome scenery.

AUSTRALIA - Budderoo National Park - 3/4 January 2013

Next, we drove to Budderoo National Park and camped at Blue Pool. I think that the water is rarely if ever blue. The camping area was isolated and pretty.

WALK

 

In the afternoon, I had a walk to Nellies Glen, Warris Chair and Missingham Lookout tracks.

5.75km
1hr 34m
Av pace 11.81 min/km
88m elevation range

We met a nice young couple couple – Alex and Emma.

BIKE

The next day, I was up for an early bike ride to Warris Chair, Nellies Glen and Carrington Falls. At the falls, I had a walk around the cliff edges.
 

2.95km
15 min
av speed 11.2 km/h

max speed 18.7km/h

After breakfast, we drove to the Carrington Falls track and walked to the falls.

We went to the Illawarra Fly Walk but at $24 we thought it a bit expensive for a walk. We drove distance and had a good view of the coast from Jambaroo Lookout.

WALK

Next stop, Minnamurra Rainforest. It was a hot and humid walk to the falls. The last section was very  steep. We met Nela from the Czech Republic.Later, we gave her a lift to Kiama.

1.57km
1hr 05min
155 m elevation range

CENTRAL COAST - Popran National Park – Mount Olive, Emerald Pool, Donovan’s Forest - HIKE - 5 July 2011

I set the GPS for Ironbark Road.  The road was labeled sealed and unsealed but the last 200 metres were 4w drive to national park car park.

The day was sunny but strong wind was predicted. The wind increased through the walk but it wasn’t a problem.

The planned walk entailed Mount Olive, Emerald pool and Donovan’s forest.

The walk started as a trail with a variety of wild flowers growing along the edges. The bottlebrushes were in full bloom in shades of red and yellow.

Turning off the trail, I followed the track to Mount Olive. It was an easy climb with a nice view over the national park.

Returning along the track, I followed the trail to the turnoff for Emerald Pool. This was fun track that ran beside a small creek that skirted to Hominy Creek. Hominy Creek had a flow of water running over sandstone. In parts it funneled, formed small pools or cascaded widely over the sandstone.

A track leads down 50 metres to Emerald Pool. It was a very pretty sight. The pool is a light green and deep. I thought about a swim but he water was icy cold. I sat down on a sunny slab of sandstone and enjoyed the serenity.

I backtracked a short distance, then followed the track to trail 248. At junction of the tracks I took the trail to the carpark via Donovan’s Forest. The forest in contrast with the surrounding area of open bush to a shaded forest that was floored with bracken fern that swayed in the breeze.

I continued along the trail to the carpark.

Thoughts

This walk would be better by cycling along the trails.

AUSTRALIA - QUEENSLAND - Burleigh Heads National Park - october 2010

 

The headkland at Burleigh Heads is a national park.

The walk is easy and diverses into a number of directions.

The coastline is pretty and there are greaat views along the shoreline of the north and south of the gold coast. These views contrast strongly when looking at the skyline of buildings representing Surfers Paradise while within a few metres of this view point is a male brush turkey attending to his nest.

AUSTRALIA - Bonnie Hills - January 2009

 

We camped at Bonnie Hills for about a week. The beaches were great and there were lots of places to visit.

Bonny Hills is situated on hills between North Haven and Lake Cathie. The nearest large town is Port Macquarie. From the south turn off the Pacific Highway at Kew.

Bonny Hills is a small, quiet town on the NSW mid north coast. There are two nearby beaches – Barletts Beach , which is small, surrounded by small cliffs and rocky points and Rainbow Beach, which is a beautiful, long sandy beach. The southern corner of Rainbow Beach is a patrolled beach.

The town is quiet with a general store and petrol.

Camping accommodation

There are two camping areas:

Bonnie Hills Caravan Park – www.beachholidayparks.com – 0265855276. This park has a great view over the ocean but most camp sites are sloped. It is a short walk down to Rainbow Beach.

Beachfront Caravan Park – 0265599193. This park is just of the beach and has leveled sites

Activities

There are many activities in the area:

Stroll along Rainbow and Barletts Beach.
Beach/river fishing
Surfing – Bonny Hills, Middle Rock, Dunbogan, Grants Beach, North Haven, Lighthouse Beach
Queens Lake State Forest – walks and views
Katang Nature Reserve – walks, lookouts and great beaches
Lake Cathie NR - can only be visited with a ranger
Grants Beach
Port Macquarie
Broken Bago State forest – views and walk
Wilson River reserve - short walks
River cruises/boat hire/canoe hire/ – based at North Haven/Laurieton/Port Macquarie
Kooloonbung Creek Nature Park’s Wetlands - an oasis at the heart of Port Macquarie.
Timbertown Hertiage Theme park, Wauchope - a re-creation of daily life in pioneer days
Bellbrook Historic Trust Village - Bellbrook – beautiful mountain and river scenery.
North Brother Lookout – can drive to top.
Ellenborough Falls
Crowdy Bay National Park
Horseriding – www.bellrowanvalley.com.au
Mini and hydro golf – 65833200
Go carting - 02 65863555
Billabong Koala and Wildlife Park – 0265851060
Jet ski hire - 0265838811

More information at:

www.camdenhaveninfo.org.au
www.visitnsw.com

AUSTRALIA - Warrumbungles - Fan Horizon Trail - HKE - september 2008

Fan’s horizon – 2 hours

It is steep ascent along a track with the buzz of insects. The track is mainly log steps. At times there are rock hewn steps amongst boulders. It eventually levels out and the walk follows a ridge. Many lizards were seen at this point. The first lookout is Fan’s Horizon, which was named after Fanny Gould 1902 to 2004. It is a panoramic view of sharply-cut mountains with greenery filling the bare rock gaps. The greenery is various dark shades of green laced with the yellow blossoms of wattles. Sit for awhile and enjoy the silence, the stillness of the wind and the murmur of insects and birds.