Haycock Point to Barmouth, Ben Boyd National Park - December 2010

Sam and I were up in Eden a couple of years ago doing the Light to Light walk in Ben Boyd National Park, with an afternoon to spare before we set off on the Light to Light walk I thought I'd go and check out a section of the park to the north of Eden. The Haycock Point to Barmouth walk at around six kilometres sounded like it would fill in the afternoon, so that's how I came to be parking the ute at the carpark and picnic area above Haycock Beach.

From the headland above Haycock Point looking south along the wide expanse of Haycock Beach.

The first point of interst on the short walk was a side trip out onto the rocks at Haycock Point, with the tide being fairly low I was able rock hop out a fair way. The views down the wide expanse of white sand on Haycock Beach looked particularly tempting but I was hoping to find a quieter beach later on  the walk. After scrambling around for awhile I retraced back up onto the headland above the point and took off towards Barmouth.

About as far out on Haycock Point I can go without swimming.

A rough route leads down of the headland.

The next section of track more or less followed the low cliff line, there were plenty of views to the north. The native bush also seemed to provide a perfect home for Eastern Grey Kangaroo's as there were mobs of them. There was also no shortage of Lace Monitors on the walk, although they climbed the nearest tree as soon as I got close, which I suppose is better than them trying to climb up my leg with their massive claws.

Mobs of Eastern Grey Kangaroos on this walk.

A few Lace Monitors as well.

After around half an hour I reached the turn around point at Barmouth Beach on the mouth of the Pambula River, heading back over some slabs of red rock I got to a tiny beach that I had passed above on the walk in. Seeing that the place was deserted I stripped off and enjoyed the water for awhile, we live in a great country where you can find such a pristine little beach between our two most populous cities and find it deserted in the middle of summer.

Barmouth Beach.

The red rock slabs between Barmouth Beach and my little swimming beach.

After drying on the rocks I pulled on my clothes and boots and climbed up onto the outward track, from there it was only thirty minutes back to the car. The only people I bumped into on the walk were in the car park at Haycock Beach.

My little beach.

The Dirt.
I walked around 6 kilometres on this walk and according to the guide book I climbed a massive 35 metres. Speaking of guide books I used John Daly's Take a Walk in Southern New South Wales & the ACT book. The book had an adequate map for such an easy walk. If you want to spend a day at the beach bring water as there is none on the walk.

A few shags.

Haycock Point in the distance.

The little joey didn't look to stressed with my presence.

Wog Wog to The Castle, Morton National Park - November 2014

Well I've finally finished writing up my crazy guy journal so I thought I'd write up a quick synopsis on the blog. Morton National Park is north of Canberra so as usual the trip started with a bit of a road trip, a ten hour road trip, and as usual with leave being at a premium I headed off after work on the Thursday for the drive. I pulled up at the Wog Wog camp ground just before midnight, so it wasn't too bad. After grabbing a few hours sleep in the tent I was woken reasonably early by the sound of logging trucks rumbling along Mongarlowe Road, from where I was lying it sounded as if they where about to rumble over the tent. After ascertaining that I hadn't pitched the tent in the middle of the road I tried to snatch a little more sleep with limited success, eventually I decided to get up and have breakfast. By around 9 am, after procrastinating as long as I could I decided that I'd better start the hard work for the day and start walking.

Heading up the Hume after work.

The camping area at Wog Wog.

Day 1,  19.6 kilometres.
Day 1 is really a story of two halves, the first half over a elevated plateau and the second half through some heath filled valleys. Leaving Wog Wog the route quickly drops to cross Wog Wog creek, the last water for the next three or so hours. Once leaving the creek the route takes an undulating u shaped route arcing to the south and keeping to the higher ground. The walking starts off very easy through dry eucalypt forest and gradually gets harder as the forest slowly turns to scrubby heath land. After awhile I found myself pushing through scrub using my head as a battering ram, every now and again I'd break out onto rock slabs which provided a reprieve from the scrub and also a bit of a view. Nearing Korra Hill I arrived at an area that had recently burn't in a bushfire, this had knocked back the scrub a bit but meant that I was quickly covered in charcoal. After climbing over Corang Peak I descended to probably the most photographed feature of the walk Corang Arch.

Getting into the area burn't by the bushfire around Korra Hill.

There as plenty of wild flowers out.

Pigeon House in the distance.

Corang Arch is just off the track to the west and it provided a good excuse to drop the pack for awhile, scrambling around I tried to find an angle that I hadn't seen before with no success, I did find a nice cave to sit in for awhile out of the sun. Leaving the arch I soon descended the conglomerate rock ramp down to Canowie Brook, which provided a great place to re fill my water bottles and have a late lunch. I was now walking along heath filled valleys and the track was fairly level, although very braided. From Burrumbeet Brook the route slowly climbed up the valley to eventually sidle the northern slopes of Bibbenluke Mountain, eventually I came to a benched unmarked track heading to the north which I figured had to be the track to the Bibbenluke Mountain camp, sure enough after a few minutes I got to the small flat area that I would call home for the next two nights. After setting up camp I was in the tent nice and early as tomorrow promised to be a bit of an epic.

Corang Arch.

Looking down on my on going route, Canowie Brook is in the valley.

The Canowie Brook valley.

Day 2,  23.4 kilometres,  43 kilometres total.
I was up early today as I wanted to get to The Castle before a promised front came through with its predicted showers. After a quick breakfast I was off with just a small day pack, quickly descending through the scrubby saddle between Bibbenluke Mountain and Mount Cole, from the saddle the route skirted below the cliffs of Mount Cole almost circumnavigating the mountain to the north, for some reason I'd imagined that the track would be a little better through here but in reality it was a scrub bash all the way until I dropped into the moist environment of the canyon in Monalith Valley. The rainforest didn't last long though and after passing the route to Mount Owen I quickly climbed back up into the scrubby heathland again. Around lunch time I found myself at Castle Saddle, now the fun would begin.

Descending into the canyon in the Monalith Valley.

Monalith Valley.

More weid shaped rocky turrets in Monalith Valley.

Pigeon House from The Castle.

Climbing away from the saddle on the unmarked pad I kept just below the crest of the ridge on the east side, after passing a couple of camping caves the route got serious. The climb of The Castle involved a lot of scouting around looking for a safe route, some spots had climbing ropes left attached but being a fairly hefty bloke and not knowing the condition of the ropes I wasn't to keen on trusting them, instead I trusted my myself on the rock faces but it certainly focussed my mind, particularly the last exposed section. Almost as soon as I reached the top the predicted front came through, I was now having trouble even standing in the gusts of wind so after a quick call to Sam to tell her 'all was well' I made a hasty exit from the summit plateau. Luckily for me the showers held of until I was back in the Monalith Valley. The next leg involved climbing over a saddle between Mouint Cole and Mount Owen, after finding my way out of the Monalith Valley by a series of ledges it quickly became apparent that this was going to be slow going, the route was marked by a vague series of cairns meandering around a rocky labyrinth and it involved a lot of scouting around looking for the correct pad, Sitting down on top of one of the rocky turrets I had to make a decision, push on and risk not getting back to camp before dark or turn around and head back down to the Monalith Valley and retrace this mornings route back to camp. In the end it wasn't a hard decision and I headed back the way I came arriving back at camp around 7pm.

The 'tail' of The Castle, with Mount Owen and Mount Cole in the distance.

The bit that looks like a cliff is the descent route.

At the bridge in the Monalith Valley.

The route over Mount Owen had its share of scrub bashing, note the cairn.

In the saddle between Mount Owen and Mount Cole

Heading back to Bibbenluke Mountain camp late in the day.

Day 3, 19.1 kilometres, 52.5 total kilometres.                                                                                Once again I was up early, today I was going to walk out and then hopefully complete the ten hour drive home. So after finishing my breakfast and having a chat with Ann-Marie and Judy, a couple of local ladies who had shared the camp with me, I set off. The track seemed easier today, probably because the pack was lighter, and I made very good time back to Canowie Brook where once again I had an extended break and re filled my water bottles. Canowie Brook really is a beautiful spot with the lush green growth post bushfire giving it a park like appearance.

Ann-Marie and Judy at Bibbenluke camp.

Mount Tarn at sunset from camp.

Climbing away from the brook I headed up the conglomerate rock ramp which got the heart rate up a bit but in reality it wasn't too bad, Once back on what I've loosely termed the plateau I bypassed Corang Arch and Corang Peak, the later on a section of new duck boards which provided fast easy walking. Reaching Korra Hill I stopped to take in my last extensive view for the walk, soon after leaving here I reached the scrubby section that hadn't been burn't and once again found myself pushing through the vegetation. As I was retracing my route from a couple of days ago I at least knew that there was light at the end of the scrub tunnel which is probably why it didn't seem quite so bad on the way back. With some relief I started to get back into the dryer eucalypt forest which, with its open under-story, provided quick easy walking. I was back at the ute, washed and packed and heading to the bakery in Braidwood before 2 pm, arriving home around 11 pm that night.

Re filling the water bottles, Canowie Brook.

Climbing the conglomerate rock ramp near Corang Arch.

The Dirt.
The walk as I did it is almost exactly as what's written up in Lonely Planets 'Walking in Australia' edition 5. I didn't quite complete the section over Mount Owen and returned via the Monolith Valley. I also used the Corang 1:25,000 topo map and the Budawang Committee sketch map. The walking in the Budawangs can be anywhere from an easy stroll on duck boards to a bush bash through thick scratchy scrub, and it can change in a very short distance. The climb up The Castle involves very steep exposed scrambling and is not for everybody. The route over Mount Owen was slow going as the cairns are very sparse and the topography means that they take a fairly convoluted route, having said that I'll be back with a bit more time up my sleeve one day to have another go. If you want to see more photos, or want some more detail check out my crazy guy journal.

Looking back towards the Pacific Ocean from near Corang Peak.

The memorial near Wog Wog camp celebrating the inclusion of the Corang Peak addition to Morton National Park.

Woolleys Beach, Crib Point - November 2014

This will be a very short post, I'm still writing up my crazy guy journal so haven't been doing a lot of walking. After breakfast with Sam on Saturday I figured that I'd try and fit in a short walk in the afternoon to give me something to post. Wanting a quick walk meant that it also had to be reasonably close to home, it kind of defeats the purpose if I do a short walk but have a three hour drive to get there. So after consulting my library of guide books I decided to head down the Mornington Peninsula to Crib Point and do the Woolleys Beach walk.

This pretty much sums up what today's trail was like.

Parking at the picnic area near he old Crib Point jetty I basically headed along a sandy path southwards until I came to Stony Point Road, where I turned around and retraced my steps. The path led through lots of native bush  and although The Esplanade was never far away it felt reasonably remote. After walking for about five minutes I realised that I'd left my wallet in the ute so had to back track and get it, developing dementia will do that. Looking at the bright side I figured that at least the extra distance would add a bit of respectability to the stats for the walk.

Plenty of wild flowers.

A bit of native fauna.

Setting off for the second time I soon passed another picnic area, this one with an old boat ramp, however with the tide in Westernport Bay out about 100 metres you'd need a 4wd to launch anything here. The sandy track continued on inside the coastal bush, for a walk along the coast there were virtually no views as the route kept far enough inland and the topography was that flat that it didn't allow me to catch more than fleeting glimpses of the sea. There were a lot of wild flowers on display however so I spent a little time mucking around taking photos of them. There was also an Echidna that tried to bury itself in the soft sand when it heard me coming, I could only get a shot of his spiky bum as he pointed it towards me, the head being well and truly buried.

I'd like to caption the names of the flowers but I've got no idea!

My turn around point, I scrub bashed a little to try and get a view. No wonder I was eaten by sand flies

My turn around point, that's Stony Point Road through the gate, the pad on the left led into the scrub towards the water but there was no real view.

After passing by a few pads leading up to the suburban streets of Crib Point I got to the end of the walk at Stony Point Road, it was now a matter of turning around and retracing my route. I'm not a big fan of the retrace but I improved it a little by taking to the beach at the boat ramp and walking the last section along the beach, the eucalypt's lining the shore adding a bit of interest. Westernport Bay suffers a bit scenically compared to its neighbour Port Phillip Bay, but if you look closely there is enough to hold your interest, just don't do this walk if you want to have a swim as the mud flats aren't very conducive for that.

Looking down towards Stony Point from the boat ramp.

The Dirt.
I used the notes from walk number 63 in 'Walks of the Mornington Peninsula' by Ken Martin, he doesn't appear to have a web site so I can't link it. I walked a grand total of 6.4 kilometres and climbed a whopping 35 metres, its definitely a flat walk, I think most of those metres were me crouching down to take photos of flowers. As I write this the next day I'm scratching at about twenty sand fly bites so take some nuclear insect repellent with you, the little bastards are very hard to see so I didn't realise I was getting attacked at the time, oh well at least its good preparation for my up coming trip to New Zealand!

Walking the beach back to the ute.

The picnic area near the Crib Point jetty.

Looking out to Westernport Bay from the picnic area, it doesn't look to bad, does it?