Maldon - October 2014

Saturday promised to be a bit grey in Melbourne, so seeing I had to pick up a map in the city Sam and I decided to head north in search of some sun. I'd often looked at my notes for a walk around the historic gold mining town of Maldon and thought one day I'll get up there and check it out, well today was the day. Maldon is around ten minutes north of Castlemaine and I was hoping that we would be far enough over the Great Dividing Range that we would get some Blue skies, it turned out to be an accurate prediction.

First up, lunch and the Saturday Paper.

So, after grabbing my map in town we headed on up the Calder highway and pulled up at Maldon at around 1pm, now that's a fairly early start for me but don't be deceived, after grabbing the Saturday Paper I made myself comfortable at Cafe Maldon. Two hours later I'd finished the paper, a couple of coffees and some tasty food so it was time to start the walk. Parking the car on the outskirts of town we set off at about my usual start time of 3pm.

A big Norfolk Island Pine on the outskirts of Maldon.

The memorial cairn.

First up we headed back down the Castlemaine road to check out the memorial cairn for the old gold miners, passing a massive Norfolk Island Pine on the way. Maldon isn't situated on a major highway so walking the roads was a pleasant experience, which is just as well as almost the entire walk was on, or alongside roads. Backtracking a bit from the memorial cairn we started to climb to Anzac Hill, passing through an avenue of pines on the climb. The view from Anzac Hill was OK but we had bigger fish to fry, we now followed a 4wd track up for a couple of kilometres to the summit of Mt Tarrengower. This was without doubt the crux of the walk as in places the track was quite steep and the loose stones made it fairly slippery. From the fire watchers tower on the top of Mt Tarrengower we had a great view over Maldon with Mt Alexander in the distance, Mt Macedon was in the distance towards Melbourne, and to the north and north west the flat farming land stretched into the distance.

Climbing up through the avenue of honour is Anzac Hill.

The 4wd drive track up Mt Tarrengower.

A cairn on the way up Mt Tarrengower.

After getting a couple of photos on top we back tracked back down the 4wd track, dropping off the spur to the north about halfway down, from there we followed another 4wd track into town passing a collection of cairns on the way that someone had put a bit of effort into building. Once in town we more or less followed High Street to the northern end of town checking out the old Anglican Church on the way which was built in 1860, passing plenty of nice old cottages we then headed up to check out the hospital which was  built in 1859, and then the Catholic Church.

Maldon, with Mt Alexander in the distance.

Fire tower, Mt Tarrengower.

The view to the north west.

A lot of the houses we passed had  'no chicken farms'  banners on their gates and fences, and the Anglican Church had a banner up about welcoming the refugees, it seemed we'd stumbled into a town with a social conscience. This was a welcome change as a lot of country Australia leans a long way to the right and social conscious isn't a phrase I'd normally associate with some of these places.

Heading back down towards
town.

Plenty of native bush on the slopes of Mt Tarrengower.

Someone had too much time on their hands.

The Anglican Church, built 1860.

Plenty of well kept cottages in town.

The hospital, built 1859.

Next up we headed out to the Union Hill Mine site, in my notes it said 'former', but obviously the price of gold had made it economical to resume mining again as when I climbed to the lookout to check out the open cut it was home to plenty of modern mining equipment. From the Union Hill Mine we headed back into town, on the way checking out an old gold mine battery, and then heading to my favourite bit of the walk, the historic railway at the old Maldon Station. Checking out the steam locomotives and rolling stock it was then time to start heading back to the car, on the way we detoured to gett a photo of the old chimney at the old Beehive Mine which I think was Maldon's first mine.

The Catholic Church

The Union Hill Mine looks like it's re opened.

A letterbox tribute to a certain bush ranger.

An old mine battery.

Passing through the centre of town it was a lot quieter now than when we were here at lunch time, the late afternoon sun was casting a pleasant light on the old shops in the main street, although I struggle to capture it in a photo. Stopping for a cool drink we then completed the last ten minutes of the walk, getting back to the car at around 7pm, it had been a great day that we had both enjoyed.

Victorian Goldfields Railway.

Maldon Station.

The Beehive Chimney at the old Beehive Mine.

The Dirt.
This walk has a bit for everyone, a bit of a hill climb, views, native bush, introduced gardens, history, great food and drink. I used the notes from 150 Walks in Victoria by Tyrone Thomas and Andrew Close, I think the book is out of print but you can probably pick up a copy on the inter web somewhere. We ate at Cafe Maldon and the food and coffee was great, I'd definitely recommend it if your in the area. According to my GPS we walked 12.57 kilometres and climbed 334 metres, I used the mud map from the guide book which was adequate for the walk. Maldon was a surprise, I'd never been here before and was pleasantly surprised at what a nice place it was, I could definitely imagine us retiring somewhere like this one day!

Almost back at the car.

Every second house had a banner up against a chicken broiler factory.

A community with a conscience.

Frenchman Peak, Cape Le Grand National Park - January 2010

Frenchman Peak should not to be confused with its big brother Frenchman's Cap in Tasmania, and while it is nowhere near as serious a walk, it still offers some great views and a bit of a challenge. So, while Sam stayed in the car and caught up with some reading, I headed up the peak.

Something you don't see every day.

Stakes and paint marked the easiest route up the granite slabs.

Initially the track is fairly easy and level as it slowly gains a bit of height through the coastal scrub, after passing a sign post warning of the danger from bees the track starts to climb the slabs of granite. The route across the rock was marked with stakes and paint and while fairly steep it was easily do able, the difficulty was a little more psychological than physical as climbing up the bare slabs accentuated the feeling of exposure. After less than thirty minutes I was on top of the peak scrambling around to check out the view, it was now that the warning about the bees started to mean something. F&*K, have I mentioned that I'm allergic to bee strings, I'm not sure why they liked the top of this bare granite peak but like it they did! So after getting stung a couple of times on my back I made a quick retreat out of bee central and went down to check out the big cave under the summit.

Sam's waiting in the little green car.

The view out to the southern ocean.

It looked like a fire had recently been through the area.

The cave is what had piqued my interest in Frenchman Peak, I'd seen a photo of the cave in 'Wild' magazine years ago, complete with a girl streaking through the shot, so I was imagining a cave full of naked mountain nymphs, just my luck all I got was a cave full of rocks and a few bees. The view however was still pretty good, and I would imagine if the sky was clear my photos would have been a bit better. So after scrambling around the surrounds of the cave for awhile trying to do it photographic justice I decided it was time to head back down to Sam and get a couple of antihistamines into me.

The wind scoured summit rocks.

The cave on top of Frenchman Peak.

No naked mountain nymphs only rocks, just my luck.

The Dirt.
I walked around three kilometres on the climb to the peak, as far as I know there are no guide books that feature the walk, however nothings really necessary as the walk is easy and you can basically see the car park from the whole route. Frenchman Peak is in Cape Le Grand National Park about 100 kilometres to the east of Esperance, the park is worth exploring if your in the area, the beaches are particularly spectacular.

Pleased to have finally checked this place out after many years.

Wilpena Pound Circuit, Flinders Ranges National Park - August 1999

Wilpena Pound.

Spring 1999 and Sam and I took off to South Australia on a bit of a bushwalking  holiday. We decided to head first to the Flinders Ranges and then head down Mount Remarkable National Park, this post is my somewhat hazy recollections of our two day walk in and around Wilpena Pound. At the time we owned our 'troopie' so we had a cheap place to sleep on the road trip over, I remember pulling up somewhere between Orroroo and Hawker in the early hours of the morning. After a few hours sleep we awoke to be greeted by the vast open country of the southern Flinders Ranges.

Sam, climbing the outside of Wilpena Pound towards Tanderra Saddle.

The view on the climb to St Mary's Peak.

Day 1.  22 kilometres.
A quick trip to the visitor centre at Wilpena to get our camping permit and we were on our way, We were using some notes from Lonely Planets Bushwalking in Australia, 3rd edition, so we walked the circuit in anti clockwise direction as it was described in the book. This meant that after a short undulating section the walk started to climb. First up we headed through the dry sandstone country towards Tanderra Saddle, this meant we were climbing slabs of rock on the outside wall of the pound. it reminded me of the cartoon 'the Flintsone's' with all the rocks around. Stashing our packs in the saddle we then headed for the top of St Mary Peak, the track in those days had a lot more scrambling than the current route that reaches the top from the south. There was one section were we traversed a narrow ledge and I seem to remember another section that was quite exposed that had a bit of fencing wire for protection.

Sam on the old track up St Mary Peak.

Anyway we made it to the top safely and enjoyed an extended break before retracing our steps back to Tanderra Saddle. Retrieving our packs we now headed down into Wilpena Pound towards Cooinda Camp. The route now contours the slopes of Mount Boorong providing a well graded route into and out of the pound, back in 1999 the track dropped straight off the saddle into a dry creek that provided a quick but rough route down to Cooinda Camp. Arriving at camp in the early afternoon we soon had the tent up and, after stashing all our gear in the tent we set off for a side trip out to Edeowie Gorge. After scrambling past the first falls Sam decided that she would rather stay put and wait while I explored downstream. So I took off down Edeowie Gorge as far as Glenora Falls, the gorge getting wilder the further down I went, there is no track in the gorge but it would be very hard to get lost with red rocky cliffs hemming you in. Eventually I started back, meeting Sam near the Malloga Falls, we then enjoyed a relaxing walk across the western part of the pound in the late afternoon sun back to Cooinda Camp, crawling into our tent just after dark after a fairly big day.

Now, where are we?

Looking down into Wilpena Pound from St Mary Peak.

The old track up St Mary peak was a little more exposed than the current one.

Day 2.  9 kilometres.    31 kilometres total.
During the night we had a bit of rain so we were happy to hear that it had stopped by the time we we climbed out of our tiny tent, Sitting on a couple of handy rocks we enjoyed our breakfast with one eye on the sky, it looked like the clouds might still have a bit left in them for us, oh well at least it wasn't cold. Sure enough after packing up and heading off we copped a few showers, the low cloud and the native pines giving the place an alpine feel, not what you normally expect in the Australian outback.

Walking through the native pines.

Our trip out of the pound back to Wilpena was a slippery affair, the clay surface becoming extremely slippery with the passing showers, the walk punctuated by the need to stop frequently to scrape the accumulated mud of our boots. It was a privilege to experience the normally arid landscape like this. After slipping and sliding for a couple hours we made our way through the gap created by Wilpena Creek and completed the last section back to the resort on a gravelled management road, arriving back in time for lunch at the cafe. All that was left to do now was to get a room and clean up a bit before heading down to Mount Remarkable for our next walk, but that's another post for another day.

That's the long distance Heyson Trail heading off to the left.

The Dirt.
We used the notes from the 3rd edition of Lonely Planets Bushwalking in Australia written by John and Monica Chapman. The book is long since out of print and the Chapman's now write their own books. The walk is in the Flinders Ranges National Park, its a good, easy walk that I'd recommend. We carried all our water on this walk but you can sometimes find water in a rock hole beside the Edeowie Gorge track, you also need a permit to camp at Cooinda Camp from the visitor centre. I did the walk again a couple of years ago, here's the link if you want to check it out.

The outside walls of the pound.