I decided to ramp up the degree of difficulty today and test out my leg a bit. This walk up The Thousand Steps Track is a really popular walk now, where initially the track was conceived as a tribute to our soldiers that fought over in New Guinea at Kokoda in World War 2. Now it looks more like a shrine to lycra however, I was definitely looking like a real bushwalking dork today in my old boots and with my camera around my neck. Now I knew that this track gets very busy so I decided to visit mid week thinking that it would thin out the crowd a bit, well it may have been a little less crowded than on the weekend but I couldn't help wondering if there was anyone out there actually doing any work as the seemingly endless procession of lycra clad arses headed up the hill, and by the way there's only 745 steps not 1000.
 |
|
|
This walk starts off heading up past the picnic area to some memorials to our soldiers, the picnic area has a bit of a 1960's feel about with its big palm trees and old buildings. After having a poke around the Kokoda Memorials I started off up hill, the track initially is a wide gravel fire track that gains height steadily up the damp valley. On reaching the start of The Thousand Steps the track gets a lot narrower and a lot slipperier, the numerous concrete steps are particularly slick, not my idea of a great path to jog up, let alone down. I was happy to plod along taking photos and checking out the wildlife. The ferns along the gully that the track climbs are very lush, if I closed my eyes I could almost imagine being back up at Binna Burra, although with a temperature in the low teens I was struggling with that bit of fantasy a little bit.
 |
This is a nice walk if you want to check out some towering eucalyptus trees.
 |
The Thousand Steps Track is surprisingly damp and ferny.
|
|
After around twenty minutes I arrived out of the dense forest at the top of The Thousand Steps, passing by the turnoff to Link Track, which would be my return route, I continued climbing up to the summit of One Tree Hill. Now there are two things I remember about One Tree Hill, the first one is that it used to have a fire spotters tower on its 501 metre summit and the second one is that the summit was reputedly home to a few satanic rituals back in the day, you know sacrificing virgins on the altar kind of stuff. With a distinct lack of virgins around today and no altar to be seen I wandered around the wooded summit picnic area for awhile, checking out the patchy views through the trees of Melbourne's sprawling eastern suburbs.
 |
 |
The top of The Thousand Steps, my return route is on the right.
 |
| Even the summit of One Tree Hill has a Kokoda Memorial, and is that an altar? |
|
|
With my post op leg going good I set off back down to Ferntree Gully Picnic Ground and the ute. As I mentioned earlier I made it into a bit of a circuit by heading down via Link Track and then onto Lyrebird Track, these wide fire tracks stick to the side of the valley as the descend, sometimes fairly steeply, so they are not as damp and ferny as the climb up. Parks Vic have put in quite a few steps on the verge of these two fire tracks so its not the knee buster that it could of been. I was still getting passed by every man and his virgin as I made my way down, but hey two weeks ago I was under the surgeons knife at about this time, so I can't really complain about the progress I guess. Arriving back at the car park I was happy that the leg had passed another test, the only real concern I have now isn't with my leg but with my ankle, its still very bruised and tender and gives me a real hard time if I'm standing still.
 |
If you squint you may be able to see Melbourne's sprawling eastern suburbs through the trees.
 |
Hey hey I even got a couple of patches of blue sky on my way back down to the ute.
 |
| Descending Lyrebird Track there are even some distance markers. |
|
|
The Dirt.
I walked 5.3 kilometres and climbed 339 metres on this easy stroll. You wont get lost on this stroll but if you want notes then I used Tyrone Thomas' notes out of his
40 Bushland & Park Walks In Metropolitan Melbourne, although the book is long out of print. This walk has also been written up in the Woodslane book,
Melbourne's Best Bush, Bay, & City Walks by Julie Mundy. These notes don't go all the way to the top of One Tree Hill, just keep heading north at the top of the steps and all will become clear. To be honest though you really only need to check out the
Parks Vic site, they have heaps of free stuff online, easily enough to do this walk safely. Finally give this walk a wide berth on the weekend unless you've got a lycra fetish, actually come to think of it.....
Relevant Posts.
 |
| The Ferntree Gully Picnic Ground has a bit of a 1960's feel to it. |
No comments:
Post a Comment