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Currockbilly Mountain – Logbook 50th anniversary celebration

By on 10 December, 2020 in Bushwalking history

By Phil Meade, Sutherland Bushwalking Club

Fifty years ago, on 14 November 1970, nine members of Sydney Bush Ramblers (renamed Sutherland Bushwalking Club in 1977) placed a visitors’ logbook on the top of the 1132m Currockbilly Mountain, in the south west Budawang Ranges (east of Braidwood).  The logbook, still remarkably intact in its metal container, had been rediscovered earlier in 2020 after the devastating bushfires, by David Poland from the Canberra Bushwalking Club.

David, having seen the name Sydney Bush Ramblers in the first logbook entry, contacted Shaune Walsh, our president and invited the club to join a small COVID-safe group to celebrate this 50-year anniversary.  The plan was for four from SBC (Shaune, Ken Newman, Tony Larkin and Phil Meade) to meet on Saturday morning 14 November 2020 with a group from the Canberra Bushwalking Club for addresses later that day by David and Shaune to commemorate the anniversary at the top of Currockbilly Mountain.

David Poland also circulated to Shaune, the notes sent to Canberra Bushwalking Club members, providing details of the proposed walk. These notes included the following:

“What to expect.

This is an “R” or ROUGH walk. Whilst not long in distance (8 km return) please don’t be fooled. This walk does involve a 400 m elevation climb and descent. In parts it is very steep. Most of it is off track, ie there is no path or animal track to follow at all. It takes me 2.5 hrs to walk the 4 km up and another 2 hrs to walk down plus an hour to explore on the summit. So, for some people this will be a long day. Whilst the scrub is light, as most of it was burnt in the 2019/2020 fires, there is a lot of loose rock underfoot. You will need to be sure footed. You will need to expect to get sooty and black from the burnt sharp sticks and legs so wear old tough clothes. There is no water.”

After an overnight stay in Braidwood, with the above in mind we set off from the cars past Mongarlowe at 9.00am, with a short rest mid-way, reaching a point very close to the top in 2.5 hours after the 400m ascent.  We then diverged a short distance south to an overgrown stone mound trig. Here David carefully opened a small metal container left at the trig, inside of which were details of people having visited there dating from the 1960s including the famous Colin Watson OAM.  The records were very fragile and a decision was made that David should deliver the container, including contents, to the National Museum in Canberra. Something suitable will be put there in its place.

At midday David made a short address providing some background to the walk.  An invited botanist also explained some of the key features of the area, including a nearby temperate forest, which he said was unique to the area.

Shaune’s address followed and included:

  • SBC’s history – originally “Sydney Bush Ramblers” but following confusion with the name, it was changed to Sutherland Bushwalking Club;
  • 1970 was the Bicentennial year (of Captain Cook’s voyage along the east coast of now Australia) and the year we became a formal club. Don Rice our founding club president organised the commemorative placement of containers and visitor log books on Pigeon House, Talaterang and Currockbilly;
  • The containers were made in the workshop at the Atomic Energy Commission – unofficially of course! – club members included employees of AEC (now ANSTO) at Lucas Heights
  • On 14th November 1970 they made a 2-day hike and they arrived at the trig first (this was also the point visited by us and referred to above), then placed the metal container and logbook in a clearing nearby and stayed for an hour.
  • Our club did multi-day hikes through this spot again in 1973, 1991 and 1993 and the names of a few current members are in the logbook.

Shaune, in closing, thanked David Poland and his club for organising the celebration.

After the ceremonies, we looked through the logbook and noted the following names (in the order in the log), from 14 November 1970: J Stevens “I carried the cement!!!”, L Watters, R Stewart, Don Rice, Don Mercer, Ewan M Lawson, Neil W Barclay, Laurie Braithwaite and Ross McKenney. The logbook entry records their intended route: “Sawmill – Currockbilly – The Sugarloaf – Yadboro Creek -Wog Wog – Cockpit Swamp”.

Some 300m north of the area, where the logbook has been placed, there’s a lookout.  It’s well worth visiting as it provides spectacular views to the north and east, including views to Bibbenluke Mountain, Mt Owen, The Castle and Pigeon House.

We left Currockbilly Mountain retracing our route taken earlier that day (yes – it was rough and steep) to where Shaune had left his car; we returned to Sydney that night.

I very much appreciate and I know I also echo the sentiments of Ken and Tony, the time and effort Shaune put into organising the club’s participation in the day and we appreciate the opportunity to take part in this historic event.

Currockbilly Mountain Visitors Logbook 1970

Shaune 50th anniversary logbook celebration talk

Currockbilly Trig logbook from 1964 with David Poland

Tony, Ken, Shaune, Phil – SBC and David Poland – CBC with 1970 Currockbilly Logbook

 

 

Help Reclaim Kosci this summer

By on 10 December, 2020 in Conservation

Got walking shoes and a camera? You can help Reclaim Kosci this summer.

The Reclaim Kosci campaign would like bushwalkers to help record sightings of feral horses, pigs and deer in Kosciuszko and nearby areas – especially areas which have been previously considered horse-free or low density. These areas include the Main Range from Mt Kosciuszko north to Mt Selwyn, parts of the lower Snowy, Bimberi Nature Reserve, and parts of Namadgi.

Reclaim Kosci want to see if the horses’ range is expanding and need photos of animals, dung, or other evidence such as crystal-clear hoofprints or pig-rooted soil, with locations and dates, taken this summer or in the past.

Please email photos to Linda Groom or, even better, join the iNaturalist project and upload them through the citizen science app iNaturalist.  More information on how to contribute, plus downloadable maps, can be found here.

Some parts of Kosciuszko and Namadgi are closed for fire recovery. Please check the NPWS and ACT Parks web sites for up-to-date information.

Questions? Visit our website for full details or email project co-ordinator Linda Groom at lindagroom@invasives.org.au

Photo Competition Winners Announced!

By on 9 December, 2020 in Awards & Recognition

Thank you to everyone who entered the Bushwalking NSW 2020 Photo Competition. Thank you also to Paddy Pallin for providing fantastic prizes.

Your shots were so good it was tough for us to judge! Congratulations to the following winners –

Robert Croll for Sunset from Mount Townsend.

Cristina Stange for Drip Gorge Lookout.

Maria Pace for Kamay National Park.

Brisbane Waters Outdoor Club

By on 8 December, 2020 in Affiliated club news

Brisbane Water Outdoors Club is located on the Central Coast of NSW. The Club began in January 1978 with a membership of about 30, mostly couples with young children, who enjoyed camping and had a love of the outdoors. We generally have a membership now between 130 and 150.

Our activities include abseiling and canyoning, cycling and mountain biking, kayaking, cross country skiing, snow shoeing and walking. Social activities such as dinners and movies are also popular.

Some of our trips are local but we travel far and wide to find beautiful places to have adventures. Most activities are on the weekend but there is a regular mid-week exploratory day walk, some overnight mid-week walks and multi day activities. Pre COVID times many trips were interstate and overseas. However lately we have concentrated on the local area and are so lucky to be surrounded by many beautiful National Parks and beaches.

The following is a trip report for a local Day walk along a beach, over rocks and return via a walk through a National Park.

Rock Ramble 11th November 2020

Participants: Ash Baweja (Leader) Grant Bradly, Paula Bradly, Robyn Logan

We met at Shelley Beach on a beautiful, sunny morning with a gentle, cool breeze blowing – perfect! After walking along the beach, we rounded the headland and ambled along Bateau Bay Beach and the rock platform, investigating all the little rock pools for Ash’s mulberry whelks. These little chaps are cute to look at but are hated by oyster farmers

The Mulberry Whelk, or Black Oyster Borer preys constantly on other molluscs and barnacles.

It is able to bore a neat hole into their shell, and use its rasping tongue which is called a radula to cut up the animal and suck out the pieces.

It is believed that the Mulberry Whelk is able to use a sulphuric acid from its salivary glands to dissolve and bore its way through the prey’s limy shell. It is believed that this may only take two high tides.

We passed a spring, said to originate in the Blue Mountains, soaking out of the cliff face. After testing its purity, the hard work started. From there till Forresters Beach we clambered, slid, balanced, hopped and jumped over huge boulders in an amazing array of colours.

After lunch on the beach we walked up Cromarty Hill and along the Wyrrabalong track back to the start for a much needed cold ice cream – 15km loop.

 

Check out the Brisbane Water Outdoors Club today

Contact the Brisbane Water Outdoors Club today to have a chat, join an activity, and learn about the beautiful Brisbane Waters region of NSW and beyond!

A few words from the President

By on 8 December, 2020 in BNSW Committee news

As we reach the end of 2020, I am sure everyone is taking some time to reflect on the Year We Didn’t Expect! Understatement of the year! Having said that, despite everything the world has had to deal with, bushwalkers in NSW have been relatively fortunate. After the false start to the bushwalking year, and several months of restricted activities, bushwalking has taken off again. I hear that many, if not all, our clubs have been active – maybe making up for lost time, back on the bush tracks of our wonderful bushwalking State. My own club, for example, is up to its former frenetic form, and I am hard pressed to keep up with all that the members are doing. Fortunately, I am my club’s newsletter editor, so I receive reports on everything. It’s a great way to keep up to date and contribute back to the club. This is my roundabout way to encourage everyone to think about contributing to your club. I do appreciate that club committee work is not everyone’s cup of tea, but don’t forget that all our clubs (and indeed Bushwalking NSW itself) relies on volunteers. If meetings and treasury and secretarial stuff do not appeal to you, then you might find other roles – newsletter editor, social secretary, events, walks, kayaking, coordinator, etc. etc. Just check in with your club and see how you can contribute to your local bushwalking community.

This is also my roundabout way of sending out a great big Thank You to all the volunteers to run clubs, events, manage club web sites, edit newsletters, lobby, etc. etc. Our own office relies on volunteers also, and I am sure you will join me in thanking them for their quite self-less behind-the-scene work. How did this newsletter come together? Volunteer …

Many of you will now be aware that Bushwalking NSW has finally refreshed its Constitution. Yes, we have a 21st century constitution. After a bit of hard work, it is updated to better reflect the way Bushwalking NSW works, to better represent the demographics of our member clubs, and to ensure we meet legal and other statutory requirements. I send out another huge big Thank You, this time to everyone who has, over the last couple of years, engaged the Bushwalking NSW Management Committee with reviews, suggestions, arguments one way or another. It has made our job much easier to hear what the members have to say. Many thanks, also, the members of the Management Committee who have worked hard and long at finding ways to accommodate all the requirements for the new Constitution. And finally, another Thank You to everyone who attended the Special Meeting to finalise and approve the new Constitution.

I expect, however, that many of you at the Special Meeting were more interested in hearing from our guest speaker, Hugh Flowers, on how to raise $7.5m to develop a long-distance walking track. His insights into the patience and perseverance required to develop such a thing was impressive. His talk was another reminder that bush walking facilities don’t just appear out of nowhere. They require vision, hard work and effort. Hugh, your talk was an inspiration to us as Bushwalking NSW looks at its future goals. Thank You, Hugh.

Finally, might I indulge in few personal thoughts on how we present bushwalking to the broader public? Visual messaging is extremely powerful, so what we show the public about bushwalking is important if we, as I expect all clubs seeks to do, wish to maintain and grow our membership. I have just returned from a trip which included hiking in the Mt Kaputar National Park. This has to be one of NSW’s great secrets! An amazing landscape, interesting walks, high country, fascinating geology, and wonderful views. And so well managed by the local NPWS guys – well done you. But why were there not the crowds I encountered almost next door (100 km away) in the equally impressive Warrumbungles? Me thinking out loud … could it be because the latter are advertised with images of grand landscapes, huge skies, impressive peaks, expansive views? And the former by a photo of one single cliff (albeit a rather impressive one), no images of the much higher and in some ways more spectacular mountains? It got me thinking about the ways we communicate with the public about national parks, bushwalking, the great outdoors. The images we choose to share could draw people in or perhaps be less encouraging. Back to Mt Kaputar and the Warrumbungles: do I want to drive five hundred miles to explore an amazing mountain range or to visit one cliff …?  Just a thought.

And with that, it, of course remains for me to wish everyone all the best for the festive season. I do hope that you are able to celebrate whichever version you choose, and that part of your celebration can be in the great outdoors. Looking forward to a wonderful 2021!

Cheers, Bill Boyd, President, Bushwalking NSW

Settlers Track Walk with Brindabella Bushwalking Club

By on 13 November, 2020 in Affiliated club news, Walks
Settlers Track Walk, Namadgi National Park,  1 November 2020 walk report by Luke Mulders, Brindabella Bushwalking Club

Setters Track was an utterly delightful walk led by Bill Gibson in southern Namadgi NP. The weather was cool with fresh wind and no rain. After a drive of 90 minutes from Kambah and a short car shuffle, our group of 12 happy walkers was underway on the 16 km round trip exploring the delightful huts in this totally stunning, unburnt section of Namadgi NP.

The walk was mostly on management trails which enabled side to side walking and lots of socialising. Recent heavy rains provided flowing creeks and waterlogged flats. There were some early wildflowers (billy buttons) and multiple pockets of sprouting mushrooms.

At the walk end, to cap off the beautiful surroundings, we were all treated to delicious banana/passionfruit cake and scrumptious fruit-mince tart. What a way to finish!!


Our club of the month: Brindabella Bushwalking Club

The Brindabella Bushwalking Club (aka. BBC), is based in Canberra, ACT, has around 400 members, and offers a wide range of walking opportunities.  These include half-day and full day walks on Wednesdays, and full day walks on Saturdays and Sundays to suit all standards of walkers.

Bushwalks suitable for families with young children are also offered. Day walks usually take place in Canberra, rural areas of the ACT including Namadgi National Park, and nearby New South Wales. The club is a member of Bushwalking NSW and supports our Policy on Natural Areas.

Contact the BBC today to try out a walk, and discover the pleasures of walks around the ACT. You might also get some cake as a reward!
Brindabella Bushwalking Club

Raising Warrangamba Dam Wall Impacts

By on 9 October, 2020 in Conservation

The NSW Nature Conservation Council (NCC) says that up to 1000 hectares of world heritage area and 3700 hectares of national park will be inundated for up to two weeks by raising Warragamba Dam wall.

The NCC is very concerned about 58 threatened species within the area already impacted by  recent bushfires including the koala, critically-endangered regent honeyeater, greater glider, broad-headed snake, brushtail rock wallaby, eucalyptus benthamii and eucalyptus glaucina.

In January 2020 the World Heritage Centre asked the Commonwealth Government to provide an update on the state of conservation of the Blue Mountains heritage area after more than 80 per cent was ravaged by fire last summer.

In response, the Commonwealth Government said Water NSW would re-assess bushfire impacts and include them in the pending environmental impact statement (EIS).  However, to date the draft EIS states Water NSW has no intention of re-assessing the area impacted by fire.

Ornithologist Martin Schulz said last summer’s Green Wattle Creek blaze burnt most of the southern Blue Mountains leaving only a small unburnt section which will likely be flooded by the Dam. “The ecosystems are different and parts will be in recovery for decades. How can an assessment done before the fires be valid? Dr Schulz asked. The fires changed so many things,” he said.

The draft EIS shows before the bushfires only 15 hours of spotlight searches were conducted for the koala, greater glider and squirrel glider in the inundation area, despite a 61 hour recommendation. Dr Schulz says this is “bafflingly low” especially for koalas given the area is so vast and how hard they are to find.

The time spent gathering sample collections of the squirrel glider and brush-tailed phascogale also didn’t meet the guidelines with only 1820 nights completed but 3224 nights recommended. The assessment of the large-eared pied bat was 11 times less the suggested amount with traps laid for 78 nights yet 864 recommended. “The low survey effort for the large-eared pied bat is particularly disappointing,” Dr Schulz said.

Community group Give a Dam spokesman Harry Burkitt has called on the Federal Government to intervene.

“The barrow-loads of leaked material now in the public domain show (Western Sydney) Minister Stuart Ayres and Infrastructure NSW haven’t even bothered following NSW guidelines, let alone those required under federal law or by UNESCO,” he said.

Infrastructure NSW, which oversees the project, says feedback from state and federal governments on the draft EIS is important in developing the final version. “The final decision on the dam raising proposal will only be made after all environmental, cultural, financial and planning assessments are complete,” a spokeswoman said.

The World Heritage Committee, which selects sites for UNESCO’s world heritage list, has expressed concerns over the project and will review the EIS before the Federal Government’s decision.

Rae Else-Mitchell: Blue Gum Forest Protector

By on 9 October, 2020 in Bushwalking history
A piece of our history by Colin Wood, Armidale Bushwalking Club

Rae Else-Mitchell CMG QC (20 September 1914 – 29 June 2006) was an Australian jurist, royal commissioner, historian and legal scholar.

Rae Else-Mitchell at Byrnes Gap, 1932

Rae Else-Mitchell was an active member and office bearer in a number of community organisations concerning history, arts, libraries, medicine, education, financial and public administration and town planning. Rae’s obituary in The (London) Times described him as being “among Australia’s cleverest postwar judges and administrators, accomplishing two distinguished careers of almost equal length.”

However Rae Else-Mitchell was also a man well known by the bushwalking fraternity.

Else-Mitchell lived in Springwood and loved the magnificent Blue Gums across the street from his home. He was shocked when one day in the early 1950s he found the land owner showing logging contractors around the property.

Else-Mitchell was determined to save the trees and so he donated enough money to Council to purchase the blocks of the land for a public park. A neighbouring landowner, Mr Miller, donated part of his property and Else- Mitchell Park was created.

Development of the Springwood industrial estate in the 1970s resulted in the loss of a large area of Blue Gum Forest on part of 40 hectare granted to explorer William Lawson in 1834. In 1978, when a townhouse development was planned for the last 13 hectares of this patch, concerned members of the community pointed out that the site had considerable ecological and historical significance and extraordinary natural beauty. Council eventually purchased the land to preserve the forest and this became Deanei Reserve.

Rae Else-Mitchell also wrote many stories about the Australian bush which can be seen here.

 

Guest Post by Colin Wood, Armidale Bushwalking Club and Greenaissance Concepts

Evans Head Spring Flower Walk with NRBC

By on 9 October, 2020 in Affiliated club news
A walk Report By Ian Pick, Northern Rivers Bushwalking Club:

“What does one do as a leader when 32 walkers want to come along? Talk to Carmel who says “Yes I’ll help out”. What does one do as a leader when the number of walkers increases to 42? Ring Heike K. and you know what the response will be “Of course I will be glad to help you”.

So, on a sunny Sunday three walking parties set off at Evans Head with 2 going the “normal way” and my lot going anticlockwise through the wildflower heath first. The Boronias were in full bloom, lots of them.

We arrived at Chinamans Beach Picnic Area for morning tea before walking through heathland towards the bombing range. On arrival there was no aerial bombardment so we progressed quietly on the sand dunes to Goanna Headland.

There appears to be different names for South Evans Coastland features but Uncle Google calls it Goanna Headland so I will too. Here we passed the two other walking parties who were socially distancing.

After a short break to take in the view we headed off along New Zealand Beach back to the picnic area where we enjoyed lunch sitting at the sheltered picnic tables.

The final part of the walk was on the coastal paths. We stopped at a couple of the small headlands starting at Joggly Point and were almost mesmerised by the pristine blue sea gently breaking on the rocks. It proved to be a real highlight and, in the end, it made me think that going in our direction for this walk was better. We saved the best the walk had to offer to the end.”

Our club of the month: Northern Rivers Bushwalking Club

The Northern Rivers Bushwalking Club (aka. NRBC), runs a variety of bushwalking, cycling, kayaking and abseiling activities each week in the National Parks, State Forests and coastal areas of the NSW North Coast Region, and beyond!

This friendly club has activities to suit everyone and welcomes new members. The club runs regular inter-club trips in Australia, and organises overseas trips for members (covid-permitting).

Contact the NRBC today to have a chat, join an activity, and learn about the beautiful northern rivers region of NSW!

Northern Rivers Bushwalking Club

A few words from the President

By on 9 October, 2020 in BNSW Committee news

October, and we are well into spring. I thought I’d open my few words with a pithy quote about spring, something that might enthuse bushwalkers everywhere. How about Robin Williams’ declaration that “Spring is nature’s way of saying, Let’s Party”? Let’s get out into the bush and party! But then I discovered Margaret Atwood telling us that “in the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt”. I suspect little did she think she was addressing a bunch of bushwalkers who, after a good hike probably do smell a wee bit like dirt. So there it is, get out there and party, and whatever you do, come home smelling of the great outdoors.

And talking of the great outdoors, I hear that clubs across NSW are getting out and about more these days. The winter hibernation – a generous interpretation of the Covid lockdowns – has passed. We in NSW have been fortunate to be able to roam more widely and in larger numbers than our bushwalking counterparts in Victoria. Do spare them a thought. And so it is that we are able, in this State, to reexplore our own back yards. Perhaps you might be doing a little of what I have been doing recently, exploring parts of the State I haven’t visited for many years. Before the Queensland border was closed (again!), I decided to take the long route to Canberra from the north coast, avoiding Greater Sydney so that I could get across the border for a bit of grandparent duty without having to declare I’d been in the dreaded hotspot. The result, a fine bit of hiking in the Warrumbungles, and a reminder of what the western districts can offer us. Return trips to the New England Tableland, Mount Kaputar, and the Pilliga are in the offing, and no doubt several other choice destinations will delight. Thank you, by the way, to the bushwalking clubs whose web sites I have perused to help my planning.

But we all have our own backyards. And this year, our backyards are all looking pretty good. Everywhere I have been there is fine spring green growth, the flowers are popping out, and in my own sub-tropical rainforest clad mountains we are getting views! Yes, views! Bushwalking in rainforest is rewarded by glimpses rather than views, and often precious few of these. As the burnt forest recovers, we are rewarded with more expansive views – although hardly expansive in a Snow Mountain sense – and on recent walks we have all been able to understand the lie of the land better.

Talking of flowers, who has had an opportunity to take a walk or two along our wonderful coast recently? The coastal heath is looking good these days, and for the twitchers amongst us, the birds are out. One of the groups I was out with recently was determinedly warned off by a couple of kites guarding their chicks. And if you are lucky, you will still be able to spot a few the whales. They are still migrating south. On the same walk, progress was delayed considerably as a couple of whales put on the most impressive display of tail and fin slapping, rolling and generally having, dare I say it, a whale of a time. And all within easy view from the shore.

So, let’s get out there and party! Happy bushwalking everyone. Bill