Glenbrook Lagoon

Glenbrook Lagoon, in the lower Blue Mountains, is a rare upland wetland within the Hawkesbury-Nepean system, and provides habitat for flora and fauna species that are otherwise unusual in the area.

 


The lagoon was described during the historical crossing of the Blue Mountains by Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson. In the late 1860’s the lagoon was resumed from the lands of Barnett Levy by the railways, and the storage capacity increased with the construction of a low dam (see road photo below) to provide water during the construction of the railway across the Blue Mountains. During the 1870’s water from the lagoon was used for the mountains (steam) trains.



Purple Swamphens (right) live in the marshes around the lagoon.

The lagoon is about 25 minutes walk from Glenbrook and Blaxland stations. There is a walking track around the lagoon, with parking off Glenbrook Drive near Olivet Street.
                            

It is a further 2Km walk to Lennox bridge (above right), via Kodala Lane which connects Glenbrook Road to Kedron Steet. The photo above (left) shows the rough trail from the end of High Street to Lennox bridge on Mitchell’s Pass. The bridge built by David Lennox from sandstone quarried nearby, is the oldest stone arch bridge on the mainland, completed in 1833. 

Location Map

There is a Lennox bridge both in the the Blue Mountains and also in Parramatta, as Joan Elizabeth pointed out in a comment to my Parramatta post.


A small shopping centre with restaurants, take away shops and a hotel is located near the lagoon at Kidman Street, off the Great Western highway.  Blue Mountains buses (route 690) is the local bus service.

Glenbrook Lagoon Bushcare Group.

Bicentennial Park

    Badu Mangrove Board-walk and Coastal Saltmarsh

Sydney's Bicentennial Park is just west of Concord West station (about 15Kms from Central station) and is adjacent to Sydney Olympic Park. The Badu Mangrove boardwalk enables people to walk through the largest remaining mangrove ecosystem along the Parramatta River.

A coastal saltmarsh is a salt-tolerant plant community that lives between high and low tide, often behind mangroves.


On our visit, the air had a smoky haze from hazard reduction burning in the Blue Mountains the previous day.




The parklands contain diverse habitats for many plants and animals that are significant locally, nationally and internationally. These include rare saltmarsh communities, breeding populations of insectivorous bats and endangered Green and Gold Bell frogs. Species of migratory birds protected under international treaties also often roost and feed in saltmarsh during their stay in Australia.

Further information about Coastal saltmarshes: pdf download from NSW Dept of Enviroment

Homebush Bay

   The Brickpit Ring Walk

The Ring Walk is within Sydney Olympic Park,  was opened in 2006. It is an elevated circular walkway which allows visitors access to view the former brickpit area without disturbing the habitat of the endangered Green and Golden Bell frogs.

The Ring Walk, is 550 metres in circumference and is 18.5 metres above the floor of the Brickpit.
The original audio has packed it in, but the informative panels around the side are in good condition. They give a history and geology of  the Brickpit and information on the frogs.

Location Map
 

   Bicentennial Park Info 

Sydney Olympic Park post

My thanks to Jean B. for leading us on this interesting walk

Kings Tableland - Wentworth Falls

Bushwalking in the Blue Mountains on cloudy or misty days can yield some interesting variations from those photos taken on sunny days. On this walk, we started from Wentworth Falls station and followed Darwins Walk, to cross Jamison Creek above Wentworth Falls, then onto Kings Tableland.

An Acacia sp.(left) growing in tough windswept conditions on the edge of Kings Tableland.

The Kings Tableland area is known as a ancient Aboriginal cultural site, with some artefacts from a cave having been dated to 25,000 years old.

Kings Tableland above Jamison Valley

Creek crossing above Wentworth Falls

                        

Queens Cascade (left) on Jamison Creek, just above Wentworth Falls.


            Location map

'Wildwalks' information 

Our thanks to John Masser our walk leader

Parramatta Park (2)

Parramatta River in Parramatta Park

A useful map showing a walking route along Parramatta River, mostly within Parramatta Park, can be viewed on 'Step Where'. - thanks to contributor 'MnM'

The Governor's Dairy - Parramatta Park

The two front rooms of the Dairy Cottage (above) were built by an ex-convict, George Salter and represent the earliest surviving worker's cottage in Australia. The Cottage was sold to Governor Macquarie in 1813 and was converted to a diary by the addition of two wings.
The Parramatta Park Trust run tours of the dairy twice a month.

Transit stones (left) from the Parramatta Observatory  built in 1822 by Governor Thomas Brisbane, who was a keen amateur scientist.
It is not far from Old Government House, and was used by early astronomers and surveyors before it's demolished in 1847.

There is a marble memorial obelisk and an information display nearby, and the Park Trust is currently working to conserve the site.
I have read that Sydney Observatory, houses relics from Parramatta including a telescope and clock.

The surveyor Thomas Mitchell used these transit stones, which supported a transit circle telescope, as the initial mark for the first trigonometric survey of Australia (1828)

A detailed history of the observatory  can be found on Andrew James Southern Astronomical web site

Macquarie St Gatehouse

Parramatta Park has six gatehouses including the Macquarie Street Gatehouse (above) and the much photographed Tudor style George Street Gatehouse.

We didn't stop here on this walk, but Parramatta Park Café has a pleasant location  near the river (see map) 


For more information on Parramatta Park please see my earlier post.




Self-guided walking tour brochures of the park's historic areas can be downloaded or obtained from the Park Administration Office.