Once again I found myself working over the Easter break this year. Last year when I worked we were in one of our numerous lockdowns so walking was off the agenda anyway, this year though I was free to travel so spending time at work this morning was a little harder to swallow. Once I'd finished work just before lunch time I decided to head back up to Castlemaine and walk another version of the old Welsh Village - Expedition Pass Reservoir. Versions of this walk have featured on my blog more than once and there is a reason for that, yes the walking up here is pretty good. There are numerous historical sites, nice tracks, open bush and it's all topped off with the opportunity for a swim at the reservoir.
I set off from the Garfield Wheel near Chewton this afternoon.
Leaving the water wheel I climbed up to meet an old water race.
I started this afternoons walk at the old Garfield Water Wheel in the Castlemaine Historical Reserve just outside of Chewton at the end of North Street. Pulling on my boots and re-setting the GPS it was around 2pm when I trudged off into the afternoon heat today. First up I took the obligatory photo of the historic water wheel before climbing up the hill for around hundred metres to meet the water race that would be my ongoing route for the next half hour or so. This water race made for some nice walking as it contoured along the side of the ridge, swinging in and out of various gullies - quite a few of which had reminders of the gold mining history here mostly in the form of mine shafts and old ruins. While the water race was fairly level and pretty easy to walk along it is a little on the narrow side in spots and there are a few reasonable drop offs, so if that kind of thing worries anyone then maybe this walk isn't for you.
Arriving at the old water race the climbing was over for awhile.
My return walk would be down the track on the right - for now I stayed on the water race.
The water race made for easy walking, although it is a little skinny at times.
You need to be a little careful of all the open mine shafts up here.
This old mine site was just below the water race.
More mining history.
These old rock piers use to carry the water race across Sailors Gully - I left the water race here and climbed the gully.
After passing through an area that had been intensively mined my route left the alignment of the water race and climbed easily up Sailors Gully (I wonder if anyone has ever tallied up the amount of Sailors Gullies there are up here in the Goldfields?). Once again my walk up here was enlivened by more mining history, this time in the form or ruins and mullock heaps. After climbing for ten minutes or so I emerged onto a 4wd track and started off on what was a convoluted route over to the old Welsh Village. Basically I went right, left, left, right, right in fairly quick succession along series of 4wd tracks to eventually drop down the gully into the Welsh Village site. There are tracks everywhere up here (and open mine shafts!) so it's not hard to get where you need to go, even if it may not be on the exact track that you planned on.
The climb up Sailors Gully was pretty gentle.
Sailors Gully featured its own ruins...
.... and some mullock heaps.
Once out of Sailors Gully I followed a fairly convoluted series of 4wd tracks over to the Welsh Village.
The introduced pine trees were a good hint that I was getting close to the Welsh Village site and sure enough I soon arrived at the ruins in this evocative little valley. Having been here quite a few times over the years I didn't linger to long this afternoon, I was more interested in a swim by now and I still had a bit of walking to go before that was going to happen. Climbing away from the ruins I was still in familiar territory as I weaved my way through an area full of mines, the land here is literally pock marked with mines. Between the Welsh Village and the spot where I met up with Welsh Street around 500 metres away there wouldn't be any ground that hasn't been disturbed by the old miners, the undoubted highlight of this bit of the walk for me is the huge open cut that has basically taken off the side off the hill.
The Radiator Pines were a bit of a give-away that I was approaching the old Welsh Village.
The Welsh Village.
The open cut on the hill above the Welsh Village is pretty impressive.
Dropping down to meet Welsh Street - this was about the extent of the long range views this afternoon.
Once down on Welsh Street it was time to make a mile this afternoon, trudging down Welsh Street I turned left onto Chapel Street and headed north along this quiet dirt road for ten minutes or so. After avoiding a side road that headed out to the main Chewton - Sutton Grange Road I spied the rocky spillway for the Expedition Pass Reservoir through the trees. It was also about now that I came to the realisation that I wouldn't be enjoying a quiet swim this afternoon, yes it appears that the local council was running a walking festival that featured - you guessed it - Expedition Pass Reservoir. So with a quiet skinny dip now not likely to be happening I left the road and headed across some informal pads before climbing the rocky spillway up to the reservoir. Once on the edge of the reservoir I turned left and headed off on a clock wise circumnavigation. The crowds here this afternoon were quite jarring really, I've only every shared this place with a handful of people before so the sights and sounds of hundreds of people out enjoying this magic spot took me a while to get my head around. Passing by the throngs at all the normal swimming spots I shuffled my way around to the less popular western side of the reservoir, the pad that I was following is a bit rougher on this side and the water is generally harder to access so it was a lot quieter. Thankfully almost directly opposite the dam wall I found small opening in the reeds that came complete with a shady Casuarina to sit under and some handily placed rocks to sit on - my swimming spot was sorted.
Welsh Street makes for easy walking.
A sluicing gully beside Welsh Street.
I walked Chapel Street north above Forest Creek - I'd walk the creek side flats on my return journey.
I climbed beside the spillway up to Expedition Pass Reservoir.
Expedition Pass Reservoir.
I passed the Expedition Pass Humpy on my circumnavigation.
Expedition Pass Reservoir.
The pad along the north-east side of the reservoir is a little rougher.
After enjoying a nice swim I emerged to drip dry on the rocks and contemplate the rest of my afternoons walk. I still had a fair way to go to get back to the ute and the day was getting fairly late so with some reluctance I pulled on my sweaty clothes and set off again. First up on my return journey I had to complete the reservoir circuit before I dropped down a path on the south side of the spillway before picking up a faint pad along Forest Creek. Following the grassy Forest Creek Flats south I soon arrived at the derelict old bridge that signalled the end of Welsh Street, this was the spot where I left the creek side flats and climbed back up to meet my outward route along Welsh Street which I followed up to reach the turnoff for the Great Dividing Trail.
I managed to find a spot for a swim.
The author in his natural environment in Expedition Pass Reservoir.
I dropped down this un-signposted but significant track on the south side of the spillway.
After walking the grassy creeks side flats beside Forest Creek for awhile I arrived at this old bridge - this is the closed off continuation of Welsh Street.
The old closed section of Welsh Street is still easily followable.
Leaving Welsh Street the Great Dividing Trail climbs south, undulating a little before intersecting with a 4wd track that stayed fairly close to the crest of a ridge for awhile, this was the ridge that the water race that I'd followed on my outward journey had contoured. The only thing really slowing me down now was the early evening light as I tried to capture it on my memory card. I was now following the route of the Great Dividing Trail all the way back to the Garfield Wheel so navigation wasn't an issue and at the same time the walking was pretty easy as well. It wasn't long before I arrived back at the water race and a couple of minutes later I was down at the Garfield Water Wheel, once again trying to get an original photo of the waterwheel, although having been here so many times it's a little tough finding a new angle now! Eventually I gave up on the photographs and shuffled the last few metres back to the car park, climbed into the ute and headed for home after another big - but rewarding day.
Leaving Welsh Street I climbed up onto a ridge top along the Great Dividing Trail.
Once up on the ridge it was only the late afternoon light slowing me down now.
After a very pleasant walk along the ridge the Great Dividing Trail dropped back to the water race that I'd walked on the way out earlier this afternoon.
The Dirt.
According to my GPS I walked around 11.5 kilometres and climbed 284 metres on what I'd call a medium grade days walking. This walk follows a variety of tracks, traversing everything from water races, 4wd tracks, walking tracks and a couple of rougher pads. Things are a little hit or miss when it comes to signposting up here, the Great Dividing Trail is well marked - everything else, less so. Now even though all the tracks aren't signposted (or mapped sometimes) I generally find it easy to get where I need to be getting to, it's just not always along the exact route that I'd envisaged that I'd be using. There are a couple of issues that I need to talk about on this walk, the first thing to be aware of is that there are a lot of un-covered mine shafts scattered around the scrub so if stepping off the tracks you need to be very careful. The second issue to be aware of on this stroll is that if you decide to swim at Expedition Pass Reservoir then you need to critically assess your ability, this is deep water and even at the end of summer it can be a little cold - and help could be a long way away. The walk as I did it today was based on the House of Chapmans notes and map out of their Day Walks Melbourne book, I pretty well kept to the route in the book only really freelancing a bit as I left Expedition Pass Reservoir. I also used my GPS topos.
Relevant Posts.
Arriving back at the Garfield Wheel just before sunset I tried for another photo...
... with limited success;)
Time to head off home after another big day out.
