Cowan - Jerusalem Bay - Taffy's Rock and return

Long! Challenging! Beautiful! Rewarding!

All of the above describe our walk.

However - let’s take a step back.

We made an early start from Cowan Station and began our descent to Jerusalem Bay (this is part of the Great North Walk ).

There has been some improvement to the track in this part - man-made steps have replaced some of the natural stone ones. Steady rain overnight had made some parts a little slippery, but they were quite able to be managed.

Annette’s photo captures the peacefulness of the Bay.

We climbed( around 180 m) to our morning tea spot on Govett Ridge.

Not far along the track, we left the Great North Walk and took an unmarked path to head to Taffy’s Rock. For some time this was reasonably level - there were lovely boronia and wattle bushes all along the way. The “challenges” were simply that our path took us down, up and over quite a few huge sandstone rocks. These required a little bit of scrambling, but we made it!

Along the way we looked on one side across to the Hawkesbury River and on the other to Cottage Point - this is where Coal and Candle Creek meets Cowan Creek. There were many yachts moored at the marina.

Taffy’s Rock - was it worth the effort? Most definitely - the views were simply magnificent. We looked across to Lion Island with the Central Coast beyond. Because it was a perfect day weatherwise, everything sparkled in the sunshine. Although not a lot is known about “Taffy”, we understand that she was an inveterate bushwalker, who apparently visited the spot many times.

Our lunch break was shorter than usual as we were facing a lengthy return walk.

This went well - arriving back at our cars, however, was nice!

A change of footwear, a drink, a sugar hit, and off home.

We owe a special vote of thanks to our leader - her local knowledge, enthusiasm and encouragement made it all possible.

Waterfall - Heathcote

Our walk today ( in beautiful weather) took us to the Royal National Park.

The Park is very big - 15080 hectares, and it is the oldest established national park in Australia, and in fact, the second in the world ( Yellowstone Park in USA was the first.)

The Park is 32km south of Sydney and is bordered by the ocean in the east and the south coast rail line on the west. The northern boundary is Port Hacking and the Park stretches south to Otford.

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There are over 150 kms of walking tracks within the Park. We chose the Uloola and Karloo tracks, starting from Waterfall station. The walking, in the main, was quite easy. The many wattle trees along the fire trail sections were in full bloom. Our lunch spot was at the top of the Uloola Falls and then quite shortly after our break, we could see the city and Bondi Junction skylines. Our path then took us down to the Karloo Ponds. (Denise’s photo shows this beautiful spot.) We crossed without mishap, and on the upward stretch were aware of many birds - able to be heard, but not to be seen, or positively identified. The remainder of the walk was along the Goondera Ridge which led us to Heathcote Station.

Unusually, we met up with some fellow visitors to the Park. We hope that the young American enjoyed his two day walk - this entailed one night’s camping out, for which he was very well prepared. The youngsters playing at the Karloo Ponds ( being supervised by their Mums) were taking advantage of the lovely weather in their school holidays. We also sighted other walkers.

The return trip to the city by train was very pleasant and rounded out a great day.

Girrakool ( Central Coast )

We met at the Girrakool picnic area, which is delightful and has good facilities. It is not accessible by public transport, but is relatively close to the Pacific Highway. There is a choice of walks – some of the group chose to do a round trip, returning to their parked cars, whilst others set out with the intent to walk through to Wondabyne and then return to Sydney via the train. That was only possible because of the generous action of some spouses who drove those ladies to the start.

We set off , walking south through the Brisbane Water National Park.

The track crosses some long rock flats and climbs to the top of Scopas Peak – from here there are views right across the Park. The ascents are not too strenuous and all the walkers coped well ( there were a few rumbles about the “ups” being more “up” than was remembered! ) Officially, we climbed 437 metres. There were a few flowers in bloom and the bush is quite lush on this walk. Nearing Wondabyne, the track is a fire trail – a little rough, but quite manageable. Then we made the steep descent to the station. This part is well maintained and is in much better condition than it was a few years ago. The total length of the walk is 9.2 kms. Wondabyne station is unique ( or certainly in this area) - it has a one-carriage long platform ( see Annette’s photo) and only a few trains are scheduled to stop there.

On the day, the weather was very pleasant and this helped to make the day most enjoyable.

Our photos show Girrakool Falls ( these are quite close to the picnic area) and Wondabyne station– the end of our walk.

The Northern Beaches - Mona Vale, Turimetta, Narrabeeen

The weather gods were on our side again! It was beautiful day – clear blue skies, and lovely sunshine. We had had some unpleasant weather in Sydney in the previous week, so that was a very pleasing surprise.

Our meeting place was about 600m from Mona Vale beach, and we quickly reached the start of the coastal section of the walk. . The beach here has good facilities, including a rock pool, picnic area and playground equipment. Mona Vale is renowned for its good surf.

We walked south, partly on the edge of the golf course, and came to the small Warriewood Beach . We climbed up from there and arrived at Turimetta Head – a delightful spot for morning tea. Looking at the view to the north was amazing – we could see back to Warriewood and Mona Vale, then further north was Newport and in the distance, Avalon.

The next section was up on the cliffs and we soon had Turimetta Beach in view. It is only small – just 350m long, and is backed by high shale cliffs. There are no facilities and the beach is not patrolled. It is known for both good swimming and body surfing - and even on this winter’s day some intrepid surfers, in their wet suits, were enjoying the moment. Annette’s photo,(at the top) looking southwards, captures the scene.

The track then took us on to Narrabeen - the walking was easy, and as often is the way, we met very few others. Before we went down to the camping area, Denise’s photo (on the r.h. side) shows the outstanding view. Then for a short distance, the path was alongside the busy road, skirting Narrabeen Lake.

Our leaders had chosen a pleasant lunch spot in the very large Jamieson Park. Later we made our way to the Narrabeen shops, from we dispersed, in various directions, and by differing means, to make our way home.

P.S. one small disappointment on the day - no whales were sighted - but perhaps we will be lucky another time.