Murphys Glen walk

The unsealed road leading to the camping ground, near Woodford in the (mid) Blue Mountains, follows a narrow ridge top heathland. I think it is best walked during the week, as it is popular for mountain biking and 4WD on weekends.       Spreading Fan Fern (Sticherus lobatus) (below) on the side of the road.

Murphys Glen is situated in an old volcanic steam vent. The weathering of rocks in the area has resulted in richer soil than the surrounding sand stone derived soils, which supports a tall forest of blue gums and towering turpentines.

We turned off the Murphys Fire trail and followed 'The Turpentine Walk' down to the camping ground.

Corymbia gummifera (right)
(previously Eucalyptus gummifera)
or Red Bloodwood, is seen flowering along the rocky ridge in late summer.


 Note: Murphys Glen campground was closed due to road damage and facilities maintenance when I published this post.

Location map

Kokoda Track Memorial

With ANZAC Day approaching, it seemed an appropriate time to post these photos from our visit to the Kokoda Track Memorial walkway. This 800 metre walk, between Rhodes railway station and Concord Hospital, is a tribute to "the bravery of Australian troops who fought through atrocious conditions against vastly superior enemy numbers, in the Papua-New Guinea campaign of July 1942 - January 1943 "

The centrepiece of the memorial is this semi-circular area, enclosed by granite walls, etched with photographs taken during the campaign. The plants surrounding the area simulate the lush tropical environment of New Guinea.

Brays Bay Ship Building Memorial, Rhodes

The site of the WWII Commonwealth Shipyard No.4, where small ships were constructed for service in WW2, is near the Rhodes end of the Kokoda Track memorial walk. The Brays Bay Reserve site acknowledges the contribution of those who built the ships, and of those that served on them. The public art, in the photo above, is symbolic of a ship’s bow.

 Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway site, with link to brochure
Information about Brays Bay reclamation: ABC 'Gardening Australia'

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.