This Ancient Land

Wow, time passes. My last blog post was about walking the Coast Track through the Royal National Park. Much has happened since then, including buying a vehicle (Hyundia Santa Fe), leaving on a three week road trip, which, for reasons which will soon be disclosed, turned into a three day road trip, and watching a big storm hit the NSW coast while humpback whales breached off-shore.

The thing with moving to a new country – and, although I grew up in Australia, I left when I was 26 and that was 23 long years ago so coming back home feels like moving to a new country – is that there are so many things to do that it's hard to decide what to do first.

In any case, after much dithering, and with a somewhat uncertain forecast – spring in NSW is proving wetter and colder than we anticipated – we packed up the Hyundia and drove south. As usual for us, we didn't get very far – blame it on an extreme aversion to driving – in fact, at our furthest we didn't get more than 1.5 hours from the cave in Loftus. Our first day was spent on coastal beaches south of Wollongong as a big rain event the night before meant that the crags at Mount Keira that we had been intending to climb were wet and dripping. So, we drove south to Killelea State Park where we had a wonderful walk along Mystic Beach to the Minnamurra River and camped for the night. Next day, we visited “The Farm”, the other beach in Killelea State Park. The surfers were out, somewhere in Australia surfers are always out, and we both conceived an almost overwhelming desire to learn to surf!

Doug on Mystic Beach

We spent the rest of the day climbing at Mount Keira enjoying a full range of grades, although we actually weren't climbing that big a range – it just seemed that way. That evening, we drove west up Macquarie Pass to the top of the Illawarra Escarpment and camped at a deserted NPWS campsite near Carrington Falls in Budderoo National Park. Australia is a funny place where passes are actually routes up to higher ground instead of being a low passage between two heights of land. It's also funny to pay $30 to camp at a State Park yet camp for free (for up to two weeks) in a National Park.

It rained in the night, and the next morning was fogged in – in Canada we would call it a white-out were you on a snowfield - and the fog was actually easily as dense as I've ever seen it on a big Canadian Icefield. We walked through the misty forest with huge gum trees looming overhead and the eerie calls of Australian birds echoing through the forest to a series of look-outs above Kangaroo Valley. Standing out on a rock promontory overlooking – if being totally surrounded by white can be called overlooking – the gorge carved deep into the sandstone of the Illawarra Escarpment was like standing at the edge of the world, and I thought what an ancient land Australia is, with everything worn down to its essence. 

Nellies Glen

Later that day, we walked an 8 kilometre loop through the Barren Grounds Nature Reserve, a heathland area on the Illawarra Escarpment bursting with spring native flowers and the calls of birds. A big storm was predicted and, our telephone search for reasonably priced ($15 each) indoor accommodation for that night was unsuccessful so we drove back to the cave for the night and, sure enough, overnight a tremendous wind arose and lashing rain came in.

On Friday, during a lull in the rain but just as the winds were increasing in strength we drove down to the Kurnell Peninsula to witness the storm. The ocean was a mass of white spume spraying the cliffs for 50 metres and, in the two hours we were out, the wind increased to such a force that walking was difficult and spray from the ocean was blowing inland 100 to 200 metres. We were lucky to see a pod of humpback whales breaching off shore as soon as we arrived. For half an hour, we watched them leaping almost entirely out of the water then crashing back in, before the seas became so rough that they were all but obscured.

The day after (today) dawned clear and sunny with only light winds. For newcomers to the country, used to the (usually) gradually building and dissipating storms of western Canada, the nature of Australian weather, where blue skies become storm clouds rapidly and equally rapidly clear, the weather is hard to read.

The week ahead has lots of fine weather forecast and tomorrow we leave for the “Blueys” (the Blue Mountains) for some climbing and hiking. Hopefully we won't be back in three days. 

Humpback Whales

Spectacular Scenery: The Coast Track

Preamble

South of Sydney, the Coast Track runs for 26 km across the length of the Royal National Park from Bundeena in the north to Otford in the south.  From Bundeena to Garie, the track winds along the top of impressive sandstone cliffs with superb ocean views.  Beyond Garie, the coast line gentles and the track crosses over several grassy headlands, wanders along sandy beaches, and through the vine choked palm forest of Palm Jungle.  At Palm Jungle, the trail climbs 200 metres to join the Cliff Track along Garrawarra Ridge and passes through large stands of eucalpyt, before descending once more to Otford Lookout and the end of the walk.  

The track is variously recorded as being 26 to 30 km long.  Even the National Park and Wildlife Service (NPWS) publishes varying statistics, but, if you take transit to the start and finish of the walk (as we did) the walk is likely closer to 30 km than 26 km.  Apparently, there used to be numerous places to camp along the walk, but currently, NPWS only allows camping at North Era, which means you do one long and one short day, and camp at a location, which, while offering pleasant camp sites, has no reliable water.  The north section of the walk features plentiful water from numerous streams along the walk (we filtered all water) while the southern section is dry with water only available from a very scuzzy looking rill at North Era campsite (we did not use this water), and from the Surf Life Saving Club at South Era.  Bizarrely, if asked, NPWS will tell you that “there is no water available in the park,” and “walkers must carry all their own water.”  This is clearly ridiculous as there are taps at numerous locations along the walk even if the many streams may have run dry in late summer.  You may need to treat water from taps but forcing walkers to carry all their water for the entire walk is nonsensical.  

Heath land and sea cliffs

Bundeena to North Era Campsite

We took the train from Sutherland to Cronulla, then followed sporadic signs to the ferry terminal a few minutes walk away.  The ferry runs every hour on the half hour from Cronulla and offers a short, but pleasant ride.  The ocean swell rolls in during the middle section of the crossing picking up over the large sand bars in Port Hacking.  There are various routes through the small suburb of Bundeena to reach the start of the walk, we took a somewhat convoluted route crossing between small closes via a pathway, and it may be quicker to simply walk up Brighton Street to Scarborough Street and follow it east  to the fire road that runs south to the start of the walk.  

The start of the walk is marked by a large sign indicating that Wattamolla is 8 km away and begins on a broad fire road.  Within 100 metres pass a track to Port Hacking Point and shortly thereafter the Coast Track exits to the east (left).  A short section of sandy track leads out to the coast, where the track turns south to Marley Head.  This section of the walk offers spectacular coastal views and easy walking on eroded sandstone slabs.  Scenic viewpoints are abundant and you’ll find it tough to keep walking rather than sitting on a sandstone slab and enjoying the view.  At one point, a huge gleaming white sandstone slab is detached on all three sides from the surrounding cliffs and looks remarkably like a large cracked cornice overhanging the sea.  Along the way, a number of small rills run over the sandstone slabs and water (treat) could be obtained from these.  

About a kilometre beyond Marley Head, the trail overlooks Marley and Little Marley Beach and then descends to the north end of Marley Beach.  Marley Lagoon is visible inland from just south of Marley Head.  Beach walking leads along Marley Beach – soft and energy sucking sand at high tide – where the waves crash in, and, soon to Little Marley Beach, a delightful little cove sheltered from much of the surf.  The track climbs again to the top of the sandstone sea cliffs and continues south away from the coast, now through a tunnel of heath alive with all kinds of birds, and crosses Wattamolla Creek at a small rock dam.  This is a good place to get water.  A short descent brings you out to the picnic area at Wattamolla, which can be accessed by vehicle and is thus popular.   Wattamolla Lagoon offers warm water swimming. 

At Wattamolla, follow the track up past the toilets to the upper car park, cross the upper car park and pick up the signed track again. 

Doug on Marley Beach

Within minutes, the track is empty of people again and will remain that way until Garie, the next road accessible beach.  After more cliff top walking through heath, descend down to Curracurrang, a delightful little cove with no beach but good water.  Climb up again and follow the cliffs south to where Curracorrong Creek crosses the trail and cascades 30 metres down to the ocean.  Eagle Rock is visible, and, should be named Turtle Rock as it looks remarkably like a turtle which seems, at least to me, more Australian than an eagle.  We filled up with water from Curracurrong Creek and then followed the track through heath on the eastern edge of the Curra Moors  south along cliff tops until Garie North Head where the view opens up and reveals surf pounded Garie Beach and Little Garie Beach below.  Garie marks the end of the big sandstone cliffs and the start of the gentler terrain that marks the southern half of the walk.  

Descend steeply to Garie Beach and walk along the beach through soft sand to Little Garie Point where a trail runs under short broken cliffs just above high tide mark to Little Garie Beach.  The old trail used to follow the shore line underneath Thelma Head but has been closed due to rockfall danger, so now you must climb about 80 metres up and over Thelma Head and descend again to reach North Era and the campsite.  The track is a little difficult to find at the south end of Little Garie Beach, but once you find it, it is well marked with track posts and the final climb to Thelma Head is on steep wooden steps.  Crossing over the grassy Thelma Ridge, North Era campsite comes into view tucked into a grassy meadow surrounded by palm trees and is a welcome sight after walking all day.  

Morning at Era Beach

The camping at North Era is delightful – grassy flat meadow – but the only water is a stagnant looking rill, and searching up both drainages behind camp yielded only more scuzzy looking water.  A better option would be to walk over to the surf club at South Era for water.  Fall asleep to the sound of frogs, crickets and the unending surf rolling onto the beach nearby.  

North Era Campsite to Otford

Pick up the track next morning at the back of North Era beach and walk over a low headland to South Era beach where the trail descends through shacks to the Surf Club (water available from a tap outside).  Pick up the track again on the ocean side of the Surf Club and climb up a grassy slope to Burgh Ridge.  The track becomes indistinct as you cross Burgh Ridge and you may have to walk west and uphill to locate an indistinct junction where Burgh Ridge trail runs west and climbs to Garrawarra Ridge and the Coast Track traverses palm forest and descends through palm trees and shacks to the small beach at Burning Palms.  

Climb up through palm forest south of Burning Palms, cross another grassy headland and then enter the dark environs of Palm Jungle, a feisty humid jungle of vines and palm trees that stretches for perhaps a kilometre.  We took a short break on a large sandstone rock overlooking the ocean near where the trail begins the final climb up to Garrawarra Ridge.  A pleasantly shaded jungle climb up steps leads up onto the escarpment where the palms gradually decrease in number and the eucalypts increase.   A large sandstone outcrop near ridge top affords one further view of the coast as well as sandstone bluffs in the surrounding bush.  A half kilometre of fire road walking along Garrawarra Ridge through attractive eucalpyt forest follows and then the fire road becomes a track again and a gradually steepening descent leads to Otford Lookout.  The best views north up the coast to Eagle Rock and south to Wollongong are actually north of the road accessible Otford Lookout along the final section of coastal cliff.  

From Otford Lookout, cross Lady Carrington Drive and walk south a short distance to a fire trail that leads downhill and east to an ambiguously marked junction.  After deliberating at this junction we took the downhill and incorrect branch, and, after descending steeply, had to walk back along a beaten in track – undoubtedly made by other lost walkers – to the train station. The correct way is to travel south from the junction to locate the stairs down to Otford Station.  Board the train at Otford Station after a wonderful two day walk down picturesque Australian coast line.

Spectacular walking along the Coast Track

Walking and Climbing

Today Doug and I went climbing at Bangor Crag. A pleasant one hour walk from Loftus leads to the crag, almost all of it through the bush with a bit of easy, but unavoidable bushwalking. A good trail leads down from Loftus – complete with steps cut into the sandstone – to the Forbe River, and from there out to the Wonorora River, where you can cross the River on a very sturdy footbridge. Bangor Crag is up above the river at the top of an escarpment, but we could find no trail going up through the bush, so wacked up through light bush. Easy wacking by Canadian standards, except that the piles of eucalpyt leaves everywhere are surprisingly slippery underfoot. At the top of the escarpment we picked up a track widening to a fire track and walked to the top of the crag. There are two ways to scramble down to the base, east and west, west is easiest and we went down east and up west. Both have a few moves of low 5^th class.

We climbed a dozen routes or so, from grades (Australian scale) 13 to 19, which, could be roughly from 5.5 to 10b, but none of the routes felt like 5.5 to me. The easiest I would likely have graded 5.7. Unfortunately, mixed in with good new ring bolts are lots of dodgy old Australian carrot bolts. Carrot bolts are regular machine bolts hammered into a hole drilled into the sandstone that is slightly narrower than the bolt diameter. They have no hangars, and you need to carry a hangar plate to fit over the carrot. Bizarre, yes, dubious, incontrovertibly. For some strange reason, despite a lot of retro-bolting to replace old carrots – very scary looking – there were virtually no ring bolts for top anchors. All the top anchors were carrots, some looking very rusty. We used trees for anchors. I called up a climbing store when we got home and found out where to buy bolt plates for carrots ($5 each), but, I'm not altogether sure I want to start climbing on carrots. 

Carrots aside, we had a great day, although we both felt weak and stiff after not climbing for a long time.  It was awesome being able to walk to the crag, particularly as the entire walk is along really nice bush tracks.  

Pool along the Forbe River on the walk to Bangor Crag

First hike, First Impressions

It's almost a week since we arrived in Australia and, in some ways much has happened and much hasn't. We've been in the 'burbs all week, laid low with viruses for a few days, but also running about the city on the excellent railway network doing essential chores like getting Medicare cards and drivers licenses. Although Australia is very much a developed nation, the city – and suburbs – have a much different feel to Canada or the USA. For starters, the country is highly multi-cultural with good representation of all kinds of nationalities. Secondly, small shops rule and big box stores are virtually unknown. There are some large department stores clustered together in a few big malls, but, otherwise, there is just a plethora of small shops selling a variety of items. It feels almost like a third world country walking down the main street of any suburb in Sydney because of the diversity of stores. Thirdly, there are so many workers – every small train station has half a dozen people working there, where in Canada there would be none. We are staying with my Mother who lives right by the cemetery (beautiful walking) and there has to be 50 people employed in the place.

Today we actually got out into the Australian bush and did a nice short walk from Heathcote train station to Waterfall train station through the Royal National Park. That's another thing that is nice about Sydney, you can access all kinds of National Parks and reserves via public transit. Our walk took us along the Karloo Track to Karloo Pool (a small waterhole on what I presume is the Karloo River) and on to Uloola Falls – which was a small and rather unimpressive (if you come from Canada) trickle over a 15 metre high sandstone cliff. From Uloola Falls we took Uloola Track out to Waterfall train station. This section of the walk was less enjoyable as it was all on a fire trail. Not too hot today but I imagine this section of the track would be baking in summer.

Our next major goal is to buy a vehicle and we start on that tomorrow. 

Doug on a small sandstone bluff overlooking 

the Royal National Park

Shell Shock, Culture Shock

Today was our first full day in Australia. A fairly prosaic day. We went shopping for groceries in the morning and, in the afternoon, I walked down to a bush reserve to check out a little climbing crag. Seems commonplace enough, but already I notice huge differences between Canada and Australia.

In Australia, you go to a bunch of different shops to buy your groceries. At the supermarket, you can get dry goods and dairy. Then you go to the butcher for meat and chicken, the fish shop for fish, and the green-grocer for fruit and vegetables. A lot of people have these super handy wheeled shopping carts so you can do what we did – walk to the stores, load your groceries in your cart and wheel it home (you drag it behind you). Very convenient and so awesome to be able to do everything without a vehicle.

After lunch, I walked a couple of kilometres through residential streets – amazing flowers in all the gardens – to where a fire road (looks like a BC logging road) led down into a bush reserve. Australians call anything remotely forest like “bush”. There was a small stream with some billabongs (small pools) running through the base of the reserve and the most incredible vegetation everywhere. Big tree ferns, huge eucalpyts, orange, pink, white, yellow flowering plants (none of which I know), and big Gymea Bay Lillies with their huge red flowers atop a 6 metre stalk. The air is full of the sound of bird-song – from the raucous cries of cockatoos to the delicate ringing of the bell-birds. Superb.

Looking forward to climbing some Sutherland Shire sandstone tomorrow. 

Gum tree reflection

The Last Time, Really

On Saturday, while Doug was enmeshed in the Brown garage sale - "50 years of stuff, everything must go" - I snuck out for what really must be my last time into the high alpine.  I know I keep saying that, but, as I write this, the day before we fly to Australia, I really think it was my last trip into the alpine - at least for a while.

There were four of us, and two dogs, two from Nelson (who invited me) and one super friendly guy from Surrey.  Predictably, I got lost getting to the meeting place - couldn't find a way onto Highway One - and was about 10 minutes late.  Luckily, we were meeting early - 6 am - so my lateness had no significant effect on our day.  We drove south across the Canada-USA border and up a short logging road to a trailhead that led into the Mount Baker Wilderness Area. 


A good hiking trail leads to some tarns to the west of the diminutive Yellow Aster Butte.  At this point, you have hiked about 8 km (or so) and Tomyhoi Peak, our destination for the day, is still a long way away.  In fact, the summit is only just visible peaking over the horizon to the north.  At the tarns, we left Will and the two dogs behind, one of which immediately began to bark, and bark, and bark, and bark...  Frightfully embarrassing as there were many people around the lake who I am sure did not appreciate the serenade.  Eva, Andrew and I carried on along a good trail that basically leads all the way to the top of Tomyhoi Peak

There are a few ups and downs along the route,  probably 60 metres or so, for the longest down, that I thought might feel annoying on the way up, but, generally  this is ridge line hiking at its finest.  There are peaks, meadows, valleys, glaciers, all around.  This is an area that I don't know very well, so really could only identify the Cheam group to the north, the Rexford Group to the northeast, and, of course, Mount Baker prominent to the south. 

When you get closer to Tomyhoi, the trail contours around the east side of the peak, then a short stretch of glacier must be crossed before a scramble up a rocky gully to the ridge.  The trail then switches to the west side of the ridge for a short distance and then onto the ridge proper and a false summit before the real short summit tower.  The summit tower is an easy scramble up shallow gullies on loose rock.  The way is very obvious beaten in by the boots of thousands of climbers. 

We had a short break at the top, then headed back to the more capacious false summit for our lunch, and then the long walk back.  Eva was having trouble with her feet, and I think was also feeling tired, so  Andrew and I ambled along ahead.  At the tarns, Will was waiting patiently with the two dogs.  We let Eva soak her sore feet for 10 minutes or so, and then began the long dusty walk back down to the trailhead. I took one of the dogs with me as I thought Eva was getting tired of dealing with two dogs.  Descending the trail I found quite slow and I was wishing Alanna was there as together we would have bombed down the trail in no time. 

Mount Baker

Escape

After only four days in Vancouver – White Rock to be exact (although in my mind, the entire lower mainland is just one big built up area) – I was going rapidly crazy. Leaving Doug to sort through the mountains of stuff his parents have accumulated, I took off for a couple of hikes.

I drove out Highway 1 – what a nightmare – to the Skagit Range where I found a little bit of peace in the midst of the metropolis. I hiked up the Elk Mountain trail and carried on to Mount Thurston, surprising a black bear chewing on berries along the ridge top. The trail is steep to the top of Elk Mountain, then an easy ramble along a ridge line to Mount Thurston. After coming back and checking Bivouac, I realized that you could carry on and also hike up Mount Mercer. With some kind of car shuttle the three peaks would make a nice easy traverse.

After hiking down, I enjoyed big city anonymity and had a hamburger for dinner at a fast food place along Vedder Avenue – another wildly built up busy street, then drove out to Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park where I camped for the night.

Next morning, I was on the trail to Flora Lake, my original intention being to hike up Flora Peak from Flora Pass. Another typically steep trail which gains almost 4,000 feet in about 4 km. At Flora Pass, Flora Peak looked disappointingly bushy so, instead of turning left for Flora Peak, I went right and followed a beaten in trail to a 6,100 foot highpoint. Stunning views from this highpoint. I only had the segment of map I was on, so couldn't even hazard a guess as to all the peaks around me, but, they were beautiful, it was a peaceful and wild place and I was happy. Perhaps that's all you can hope for in life. In any case, that's enough for me. 

Mount Baker From Elk Mountain