The section along the border was the highlight of the day as far as the walking goes I think.
I'd pulled up OK after yesterday afternoon's 20 kilometre warm up walk, although while my body was feeling good my head was in a strange place this morning. There was a lot going on that I normally wouldn't be worrying about when I was out on a walk, the main thing that I was monitoring was the constantly changing Covid situation, I'd deliberately stayed fairly close to home however I still had to be on alert incase an outbreak up in Sydney got worse and the travel restrictions changed. Normally on my Christmas holidays I might spend some time listening to the cricket or some music, however on this trip I was either watching ABC 24 or listening to ABC News Radio to try and keep track of the situation... and this morning it was sucking my Feral mojo away a bit.
I started today at the Horse Park Drive entrance to Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve.
I was feeling a little lethargic this morning.
Waving goodbye to Sam I entered the Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve through the serious looking gate on Horse Park Drive and headed up the Gas Pipeline Track for a few minutes where I re-joined the official route of the Centenary Trail. Once I'd met the official route I started a long section of the walk that followed closed 4wd tracks, the walking for the next couple of hours was very pleasant as the tracks traversed rolling open plains and woodland. After heading north through Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve for the best part of an hour my track arrived at the substantial looking border fence, looking at this electrified border fence I couldn't help think that maybe Donald Trump could learn a thing or two from the guys that built this one... at least they seemed to have a fair bit built.
A few minutes up Gas Pipeline Track I re-joined the official route of the Centenary Trail (coming in on the right here).
Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve
I've just arrived at the border fence for the first time today.
I climbed a little beside the border fence.
After following the border fence for a short while I passed through yet another electrified fence and entered into the Mulligans Flat Woodland Reserve. I was now mostly heading west as I made my way past the sleeping roos to eventually reach the suburb of Forde. Like Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve, Mulligans Flat Woodland Reserve was mostly fairly easy walking through lightly timbered undulating country. The Centenary Trail passes by a couple of nice sized dams along this stretch which I'm guessing may provide for good spots to watch for wildlife at dawn or dusk (and maybe a swim?). Passing by the historic Mulligans Flat Woolshed I suddenly started to meet a few other walkers out and about, a sure sign that I was once again getting closer to a road. Sure enough it was only a few minutes after passing the old woolshed when the flash houses of Forde came into view and only another few minutes until I arrived at the trail head and car park on Amy Ackman Street.
Centenary Trail
More pleasant and easy walking - now through Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve.
It had turned out to be another warm day. The Roos were enjoying the shade.
There are quite a few large dams in Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve.
The Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve Humpy.
The Mulligans Flat Woolshed.
The small car park on Amy Ackman Street made for a pleasant spot for a break.
Back in the suburbs again I followed a shared sealed path north-east along the linear park beside Amy Ackman Street as I headed for Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve. I'm not sure who this Mulligan bloke was but he's got a lot of land named after him! Shortly after Amy Ackman Street peeled away from my route I crossed over the more major Mulligans Flat Road (there he is again!) and started climbing up towards the border fence again. The initial climb where the track stayed beside Mulligans Flat Road was a little ho hum really, however when Mulligans Flat Road swung away to the east and the Centenary Trail started following the border fence north the walking improved immeasurably. The border along here mostly keeps to the crest of a series of medium sized hills and even though I was probably only 100 metres higher than the surrounding land the views were still pretty good, the view north over the rolling rural land in New South Wales being particularly nice.
Following Amy Ackman Street I passed by Forest View Park which would of made an alternative spot for a break I suppose.
My walk along Amy Ackman Drive featured the Mulligans Flat Woodland Reserve on one side...
... and the flash houses of Forde on the other.
After crossing over Mulligans Flat Road the Centenary Trail climbed back up to meet the border again.
Once back more or less following the border again the walking was very good for the remainder of the day.
After walking the hills for awhile the Centenary Trail suddenly started dropping down a shallow gully, with the track shared with mountain bikes the descent was never too steep as the track flowed its way down the hill. I was now dropping down to the only official camp site on the walk, the Northern Border Campground, this campground is in a fairly open grassy area however there is no private vehicle access so the only way in or out of here is on foot or by bike. Apart from a toilet and some flattish ground the camp also has a couple of water tanks, a picnic shelter and an information shelter, all in all this would be a pretty comfortable place to spend the night I guess. I wasn't staying tonight though... so after a bit of a break I grabbed my pack and set off again on the next section of my days stroll across to Hall Village.
The Centenary Trail staring its descent down to the Northern Border Campsite (you might be able to see one of the red roofs from the camp in the trees - if you squint).
The Centenary Trail approaching the Northern Border Campsite.
Northern Border Campsite
I was getting a little tired by now, although thankfully just as I running out of juice a little the track provided - the shared use track from the Northern Border Campground to Hall Village is a peach. I've never been a huge fan of shared Mountain Bike / Bushwalking Tracks however I've got to say it works pretty well along here. The open country with no super steep grades probably helps as the Mountain Bikes generally didn't sneak up on me at a great rate of knots, being really picky I suppose the only negative was the track flows a lot so I found myself covering a little more distance than I would of on a more direct bushwalking track.
Leaving the camp the great walking continued.
I figured that I'd better get this bloke off the track in case he got squashed by a mountain bike.
Centenary Trail
Centenary Trail
Looking north into the rolling rural land in New South Wales from the border.
I was still pretty well tracking along the Australian Capital Territory - New South Wales border and the border was still mostly keeping to the crest of the hills, so the views were still a feature. Now views can be good however when you've already got well over 20 kilometre beneath your boots and the next hill looks a long way away it's sometimes better not to look! I was heading for One Tree Hill now and I indeed could see it in the distance for a long time, still progress was being made and apart from some fairly sore feet I was feeling pretty good really, I'm thinking that this was my first walk over 30 kilometres since my time over in Sweden at the end of 2019. What I'd never done before though was to walk more than 30 kilometres in trail runners, I'd always warm boots on all my other big days out. Looking back I think the trail runners contributed to my tender feet on my time on the Centenary Trail... but I digress...as usual!
More animal rescue action.
When I looked up I could see that One Tree Hill still looked a bloody long way away!
Centenary Trail
Centenary Trail
The Centenary Trail approaching One Tree Hill - check out the flow of the track.
The signposted side trip to the One Tree Hill summit was worth checking out.
With the Centenary Trail contouring the steep eastern slopes of One Tree Hill I took the short side trip up to the top of the hill. While this side trip is only short it's also probably the steepest climb along the whole Centenary Trail I think, that said it was worth the effort as the views from the bald summit are pretty extensive, only really marred by a communication tower. The view east was a little sobering though as the sprawling suburbs of Canberra had now reached the base of the hill... that's progress I suppose. After enjoying another break on the summit I retraced my route back down the hill to re-join the main track and set off for Hall. With the Centenary Trail dropping gently all the way down to Hall I made reasonable progress this afternoon, helped by the fact Sam would be meeting me in town and I'd heading into Canberra for a hot shower and a soft bed - yes, if only all my multi day walks were this civilised! Arriving at the outskirts of Hall I zig zagged my way through the streets making my way to Victoria Street, where it looked like everybody had gone home for the day so I was able to poke around and check out the historic buildings. The lure of a cold drink was pretty strong by now though, so after dropping down Victoria Street I turned into Gladstone Street and almost immediately arrived at the small park and my waiting ride.
The walk up One Tree Hill certainly had me warmed up at the tail end of a fairly big day out!
The Centenary Trailhead on One Tree Hill.
One Tree Hill Trig.
Canberra's sprawling suburbs at the base of One Tree Hill.
Back on the main Centenary Trail and dropping down towards Hall the flowing single track continued.
The Dirt.
According to my GPS I walked around 31.1 kilometres and climbed around 801 metres on what I'd call a medium-hard grade days walking. Over the two days of my Centenary Trail walk I've walked around 53.4 kilometres and climbed about 1475 metres according to my GPS. Once again today's walk was on a selection of different types of tracks, everything from closed 4wd tracks to sealed paths and single track. It was the flowing single track along the border section around the Northern Border Campsite and One Tree Hill that was the most enjoyable walking of the day though. This was a fairly big day, a lot of people break it up by camping at the Northern Border Campsite apparently, however with a reasonably early start it was still fairly do-able - I was probably on the track for around 8 hours today. I used the notes and maps out of the Woodslane book Walking & Cycling Canberra's Centenary Trail by Nina Hvoslef & Tallis Didcott, along with my GPS topos today.
Relevant Posts.
Looking back towards One Tree Hill as I approached the outskirts of Hall.
Arriving at the outskirts of Hall I just had to zig zag my way into town.
Hall was deserted by the time I shuffled through tonight.
Hall Village
No comments:
Post a Comment