North Rocks - Lake Parramatta

As we gathered in Seville Reserve, the conversation immediately turned to the weather - what had been the previous day (scorching would be one word which came to mind) and the very pleasant, almost cool, temperature which had greeted us when we awoke.

This was the last scheduled walk for the year.

For the group it was a “first” - well known to some who live locally, but for many of us it was to be a new experience. We had used different routes and modes of transport - all of which worked well - to travel to the start.

Our route was through the Reserve and then onto a lovely bush track - although it was not obvious to us we were almost on the boundary of the Kings School.

The bush through which we walked was simply lovely. There were early displays of flannel flowers and we could hear lots of birds. The map tells us that we were walking past Hunts Creek which runs into the Lake proper. What a surprise that turned out to be! Di’s photo ( with water lilies in the centre) shows us the walk at this point.

The size and beauty of the Lake was quite amazing. We had had our morning tea along the way, but we chose to have another break at the main visitor centre - good picnic facilities, a cafe, and amenities block.

We had seen many lovely trees on the way but were particularly taken by the beauty of the Cape Chestnut - there was an outstanding specimen close to the cafe.

We continued - passing the dam - which led us to consider the history of the area.

Briefly - the local aboriginal tribes were known as Burramatagal from which Parramatta took its name.

The need for clean water in the 1800’s led to the construction of the dam - using local sandstone.

It was completed in 1856 at a cost of seventeen thousand pounds. The surface area of the lake is 10 hectares and it holds 485 000 cubic metres of water ( this is roughly the equivalent of 9 700 backyard swimming pools.)

Over the years, the water in the Lake, plus the amenities, were not always of the standard of today. The Council has remedied this and it is now a very popular recreational spot.

Our lunch break was taken lakeside, with very pleasant views.

We continued to “circle “ the Lake and made our way back to Seville Reserve.

By this time, the weather was looking a little threatening and in fact some of us travelled part of the way home in heavy local rain.

Our thanks go to the leaders - firstly for suggesting the walk and then making it such an enjoyable experience. We all enjoyed it immensely.

Cook's River Walk : Tempe to Flemington

The title shown refers to our planned walk. However, the weather predicition - VERY hot - led us to think, even before setting out, that we may not choose to go ” all the way”. This proved to be correct.

with apologies to Noel Coward,,,,,,,,,,We all know “only mad dogs and Aussie women go out in the midday sun” -

But...back to the start. We met in the city and travelled by train to Tempe.

After alighting, we were almost immediately beside the river in Gough Whitlam Park and we could see Mackey Park on the other bank.

Morning tea was river side and we walked on through more parklands - we could see Marrickville Golf Course and then Ewen Park. We passed a lovely sandstone building which was formerly part of the CSR Sugar complex. It appears to have been developed into apartments After we crossed Canterbury Road, we left behind the Municipality of Marrickville and we were then in the Canterbury precinct. We saw the perimeter fence of Canterbury Park Racecourse, and then later chose to have our lunch stop at yet another riverside park. Looking at a map of the area, it is pleasing to see just how much “green” is visible.

Anyone who knew the Cook’s River from earlier days, could not help but be impressed when seeing it today. The improvement in the water quality together with the abundant parklands and walking/bike tracks is very pleasing. Di’s lovely photo shows that the birds also appreciate the changes.

There are many rebuilding and renovation projects for domestic housing occurring. We passed some lovely gardens and stopped to look at a few.

Along the way, we were passed by quite a few cyclists, and saw some other walkers and also a skateboarder - all making good use of the very pleasant pathways.

After arriving at George’s River Road, and because of the high temperature, some of the group decided to board a bus to take them to the Burwood Railway Station. Others continued on foot, but also made their destination, Burwood. This part was also very interesting - after we crossed Liverpool Road (the Hume Highway ) we were then in Burwood Road, on the eastern boundary of what is known in local real estate parlance as the Golden Mile. ( The other boundaries are The Boulevarde, Strathfield ; Liverpool Road and the railway line.) In this street we saw some lovely old homes - some in pristine condition, others perhaps needing some work . We passed St Paul's Anglican Church - this is a popular venue for choral presentations - presumably the acoustics are of a high standard.

Although the weather had governed the distance we covered in our walk, we still enjoyed our day. For our efforts, we chose a reward in the form of coffee, taken in the main shopping strip. We returned to our homes by various train routes.

Rose Bay - Watson's Bay & South Head

After meeting at the Quay, we travelled by bus to Rose Bay, alighting at a stop on what is

known as Heartbreak Hill ( referring to a difficult part of the City to Surf route.) At this particular point, the view is quite magnificent - it takes in the harbour with the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge in the background. A tourist coach was just ahead of our bus , and we saw passengers alight for their photo stop - Denise took one as well.

The footpath (on aptly named Bayview Hill Road), alongside one of our well known girls’ schools, took us to the harbourside. The track wound around the Hermitage Foreshore Reserve, Queens Beach, Hermit Point and Bay, and Milk Beach. We were able to see nearby Shark Island and in the distance, Bradleys Head. Di's photo shows one of the small, almost private, beaches along the way.

We reached the reserve near Strickland House for our morning tea break.

Strickland House - an imposing building, was built in 1854-6. Its extensive grounds and gardens are open to the public during daylight hours.

It was originally called Carrara and during the ensuing years has been a grand formal residence, a health care facility and an old people’s home.

Today, it stands empty.

We walked on, with Steel Point on our harbourside, and extensive Nielsen Park on our right. This is a very popular spot during the summer, as it has a very large netted swimming area and excellent picnic facilities. After leaving the Park, we did a short spell of street walking - well-known Wentworth Road and surrounds providing us with the opportunity to view some lovely residences. We took a path down to Parsley Bay which again provides a very large netted swimming area. After passing Village Point we reached Watson’s Bay. The large Robertson Park has seating which we used for our lunch break. it was a busy spot - we saw two separate school groups enjoying the beautiful weather - playing on the edge of the water and generally enjoying themselves.

After lunch, some of the group continued alongside the harbour, passing renowed Doyle’s restaurant. After rounding Laings Point, we passed Camp Cove - (eyes straight ahead please, ladies ) with some nudists enjoying their specially designated beach.

Reaching South Head we were able to view the ocean, and across to North Head, Manly and also Middle Harbour. The weather was such that the outlook was close to perfect. We continued past the Hornby Lighthouse and then returned to Watson's Bay using the same path as our forward trip. We chose to use the ferry to return to Circular Quay - this trip gives one the opportunity to view many beautiful harbourside suburbs.

This is a very beautiful walk - not strenuous - and for those reasons, one which features each year on our programme.

La Perouse - Malabar

We began our walk at La Perouse which is on the northern headland (Cape Banks) of Botany Bay - having travelled by bus from the city.

La Perouse is named after Jean-Francoise de Galaup, comte de La Perouse ( maybe Frank for short?). La Perouse had sailed into Botany Bay in January 1788 - just 6 days after Capt. Arthur Phillip. Phillip moved the 1st fleet around into Port Jackson after finding Botany Bay unsuitable for settlement. So that short period is all that was between white settlement by the English and not by the French.

Before setting off we looked across to the southern headland ( Cape Solander) and we could see Kurnell - the spot where Captain James Cook landed in 1770. His "discovery" led to the white settlement eight years later.

We followed the shoreline - passing Congwong Bay, with the Botany Bay National Park on our land side. We chose a morning tea spot with great views to the north, south and east.

Shortly after that we were on the perimeter of the NSW Golf Course ( not terribly busy on Mondays). The walking was quite easy - a mixture of tracks through scrubby vegetation and paths which were part of the golf course.

Di’s great photo shows the rocky shore - looking southwards.

Our lunch spot was reached by crossing a small bridge and we were able to sit in a sandstone cave, which again had very pleasant views. We remembered that on a previous walk in that area, we were almost blown off the cliff face and yet another time, when it had been an extremely hot day. We felt that we had been very lucky with the weather for this walk.

After lunch we passed through St Michaels Golf Course which adjoins the Coast Golf and Recreation club course. Then comes the Randwick Golf Course - the whole area is paradise for lovers of the little white ball.

We reached the small beach which used to be used by the staff of the Prince Henry Hospital (colloquially known as the Coast Hospital) before its demolition. A flight of steps took us up to the roadside - having passed a very large series of housing developments - many with water views.

We returned to the city, again using bus transport, after a very pleasant day