Springwood (2)

Our walking group returned to Springwood recently to visit some reserves and parks in the area. 

The photo below was taken on the Fairy Dell walk after rain the previous day. You can view more photos of this walk in my earlier post.

The Deanel Forest Reserve (below) features these beautiful Blue Gums, part of what is termed the Blue Mountains Shale Cap Forest. The soil here provides the rich fertile clay that these trees need.

Deanel Forest Reserve, Springwood

  
Fairy Dell walk (above) is only a short distance from the town centre. Frazer Memorial Presbyterian Church, (right) is on Macquarie Road, Springwood's main street.
Springwood, the second largest town in the Blue Mountains, is around 70 Kms from Sydney, and is the commercial centre for the lower mountains area.

I loved this sandstone sculpture (right) of a lizard, in Else Mitchell Park

My thanks to our walk leaders, and the local Bush Care group.             


  Location map

[Another sandstone lizard I saw in Sydney's Bicentennial Park]

Gunnamatta Bay - Cronulla

We again ventured to the south of Sydney for this scenic walk, starting only a short distance from Cronulla railway station, around the foreshores of Gunnamatta Bay and Port Hacking.

View from Gunnamatta Park

Checking the tide chart proved useful to follow this section of the shore line, past waterfront homes, to Darook Park.

  Location map 

On another occasion we missed the low tide and had walk via Nicholson Pde. & Darook Park Rd.   GPS trace 

Darook Park

Our 6km walk continued around Bass and Flinders Point, following 'The Esplanade' back to Cronulla Beach, a short distance from the station. 
The train trip to Sydney's only beach accessible by train, took us around 50 minutes from Central Sydney.          

Woodford Academy

Woodford Academy, dates back to the 1830s, making it the oldest group of buildings in the Blue Mountains. It's first use was as an inn called the 'Woodman', which served travellers on their way between Sydney and the western plains. It has had many owners and has served many other uses since then, including: a school, a guest house and a private residence.

The the railway station, adopted the name Woodford in 1871, after the renamed 'Woodford House', then owned by Alfred Fairfax. It latter became 'Woodford Academy', a school for 'young gentleman'.

In 1979 it was gifted to the National Trust of Australia, which has renovated and maintained the heritage property.

    Woodford Academy Open Days                Mid Mts Historical Soc.                      Location map

My thanks to the volunteer guides from Friends of Woodford Academy

Ref.  'A Brief History of Woodford Academy' - Friends of Woodford Academy

Toongabbie Creek

 in the Upper Parramatta River catchment.

Unless you visit the area, or are a local, you are unlikely to have heard of the 'Redbank Track', which runs along the upper reaches of the Parramatta River and Toongabbie Creek, behind the Westmead Health Precinct.

The photo above was taken at the junction of the Parramatta River, with the Darling Mills and Toongabbie Creeks.

The concrete piers, on both the Westmead and Northmead sides of the Toongabbie Creek, are probably all that remain of the Parramatta to 1923 - 1932 Rogans Hill Railway Line.

The Mons Rd bus bridge is part of the North-West T-Way, which provides a bus only corridor between Parramatta and Rouse Hill.

Location Map

Darling Mills Ck 

Toongabbie Creek

North West T-Way





Our walking group started and finished on the Westmead side of Parramatta Park, near the Wisteria Gardens in the Cumberland Hospital grounds. (This is where they hold their fete in September). We crossed the creek at Redbank Rd. and Mons Rd. to complete a loop. Plant communities along the creek are varied, as it lies in a transition zone between soil types and rainfall areas. While I didn't find the walk along a section of the creek particularly scenic (plastic bags from urban runoff, were snagged in trees along a section), I thought it was worth doing.