Trig #19 - Davidson Hill/Red Hill

Well I think I’ve found my favourite trig walk!

It had been a bit of a miserable weekend, so I'd been doing a bit of work on the computer, but by the afternoon today I was very restless! And I thought: it's cold and windy outside, and not very nice weather for mid-spring, but it's actually good weather for walking! So off I went. 

I was going to do this walk on Friday afternoon, but went home and did some pre-storm gardening, getting my tomatoes in before the nice rainfalls. So today I made my way to the carpark on Mugga Way and set off along the southern end of the trail loop. 

 

 

From the start I enjoyed the walk. The trail is obviously well-used and firm despite the recent rains (although it's a bit sad to see so much weed growth), and there were some friendly local birds along the way. 

There's a pretty good climb to the main ridge, where you are spoilt by some really lovely views down across Woden to the west

and the Jerrabomberra Grasslands to the east. 

If I thought the views were nice on the way up, they were downright amazing from the trig, with 360° views across all the amazing sites that Canberra has to offer, from the Tower to the city and the lake and all the beautiful green spaces. We really are spoilt!

I kept going along the route, down a little path that, if there hadn't been Parliament House and the city in the background, could have been a little country track. 

And despite all the weeds, there were also some very beautiful trees and non-weed flowers.

I went down a pretty steep hill and came to a crossroads, with about 6 different trails, including one back to my car. I decided I hadn't had enough yet and pressed on up the next hill (again steep) towards the Red Hill Lookout. 

I could see why they call it Red Hill...

I went past the lookout building and towards the stairs down past the tardis, a bit of a Red Hill institution.

The stairs down the hill were oddly sized and awkward, 

so I half staggered, half ran down until I met up with the fire trail at the bottom, enjoying some interesting views into the backyards of the multi-million dollar homes on Mugga Way. 

Including historic Calthorpe’s House. 

It really was a lovely walk, with a little bit of everything, except thankfully the rain that threatened much of the time. 😊

I will certainly be doing this one again.

Davidson Hill Trig to Red Hill Lookout
Elevation - 750m
Time to trig - about 25 minutes 
Difficulty - medium (some steepish bits)
Best part - a very nice all-round walk 

Trig #18 - Oakey Hill

It’s been almost 2 weeks since I’ve been for a decent walk. I’ve been on a couple of shorter (and not really noteworthy) ones, but a combination of big garden projects, school going back, leg issues (knee, calf muscle) and the start of birthday season (my son and partner have birthdays 9 days apart) means I’ve just not been able to get out! So I decided I’d better at least do a little one today before some stormy weather hits this weekend.

I wanted to go somewhere I could do a Bird Count on the way (I think I’ve mentioned before I’m a bit of a bird nerd), so I chose Oakey Hill. I drive past it every day on my way to and from work, but I’ve never walked up or around it.

I parked in a street up the back of Curtin (though Devonport street in Lyons would also work), and walked across the reserve to the base of the hill.

They are putting in a bike path there, which might make some of the walk easier, though tonight it stunk of blood and bone!

The “Oakey Hill Trail” is marked with temporary signage and is a reasonable walk (with a good huffy puffy hill) along a rocky fire trail. There are big power pylons everywhere, so it’s not exactly pretty! 

It’s probably not easy if you’re looking for even ground. Despite the efforts of the local park care group, there are a lot of weeds and it’s a bit scruffy (what is it about the Woden/Weston area?). About halfway up you can join a bitumen road (an access road for the reservoir at the top), 

and then veer off up a little path to the trig.

I wasn’t expecting much with the substation and power lines dominating the early part of the walk, but the view from the top is actually very lovely. 

I think because of the big swathe of green as you look north towards the National Arboretum. 

There are some lovely old trees at the top too.

I sat for a while and did my bird count (I was lucky enough to see a goshawk-something different), then headed back along a little trail where I’d seen someone come from earlier. It led me into the bush and then disappeared, so I picked my way down the steep and rocky slope until I found the fire trail again. 

It slowed me down so much my Apple Watch thought I’d finished! 

I might go back again in a few months when the path and the construction is finished. 

Oakey Hill
Elevation - 684m
Time to trig - about 24 minutes (It would be quicker if you parked in Lyons somewhere)
Difficulty - medium - rocky trail
Best part - the surprise view across to the arboretum

Not a trig: Great walk #3 - Goorooyarroo Reserve

I’d been sitting down all day in a professional learning course so I felt like a nice walk. I found Old Joe Hill trig on a map and thought I’d see if I could find it. It looked like I might be able to get to it via Goorooyarroo Reserve, so I headed over there.

I parked just off Horse Park Drive, and entered through the big gate. There is a big, wide fire trail right from the start, so nice level ground, though there were quite  few big puddles from the recent rains.

The Reserve appears to be completely (electric) fenced all the way around, I think mainly because of the legless lizards that live in there. I seem to recall bettongs live out that way too, though I didn’t see either. There actually wasn’t much wildlife to be seen at all; a few birds (magpies, rosellas, peewees and cockatoos) and a very small mob of kangaroos. There were signs on the gate about shooting, so perhaps they were even in danger...

I walked along the main trail for a while, turning off at a small depot-type site and up a bit of a hill until I hit the eastern fence. I walked north along next to that up another small hill, 

where I was rewarded with some very lovely views over Gungahlin and back towards the city. 

I eventually came to corner in the fence where it turned back towards the west. Just beyond the fence was the big hill (which was on the other side of the fence). I couldn’t immediately see a way through and a trail up the hill (the legless lizard signs had warned about staying on the trail, and I’m absolutely a rule follower!😬), so I started walking back towards the main trail. I had already walked 2km by then and my knee was sore so I decided to just loop back to the car.

Despite giving up on the trig, it was a really lovely walk, with views that were even better on the return journey. The trail is wide and unless you choose to take some more hilly parts, quite flat. There are also some magnificent trees that have obviously been there a very long time. I’m a bit of a fan of trees. 😊

(This tree looked like it might have had a big tantrum and thrown its branches down in disgust!)

I will definitely go back, and perhaps try for the trig again, but there is enough of interest in the reserve to come back when I’m on that side of town!

Not a trig: Great walk #2 - Coogee to Bondi

My partner Anthony and I have popped up to Sydney for the weekend, and we are staying in Coogee Beach. I’ve never visited before and I must say this is a lovely part of Sydney.

I was prepared to do this walk by myself, but Anthony was happy to come along. 

The walk starts at the north end of Coogee Beach, with a short uphill walk through Dunningham Park 

to Dolphins Point where you can enjoy a panoramic view out over the pacific.

We saw a couple of whales (no dolphins!) in the distance, but they didn’t get close enough for us to identify them.

From the point, there’s a walk through the reserve, and then down a very pretty and green path  to the gorgeous Gordons Bay. 

I must try and get back there for a swim. The water was so beautiful and clear!

From there it was back up another hill (via stairs this time) and around to Clovelly,

which is a funky little beach with concrete on both sides.

After that, there are some ups and downs, including a boardwalk section (with quite a few stairs) past the Waverley Cemetary.

What an incredible place for a cemetary! Apparently, I have some family (on my paternal grandmother’s side) buried there. We wondered how long it might be before someone decides the land is worth something...

From here there is a walk down to Bronte Beach, which is really quite lovely. I quite liked the look of the little shopping strip opposite the beach.

From Bronte it was up again and then down to Tamarama

and then back up the hill. By then we were pretty close to Bondi; just a walk around Marks Park, where we could see the beach (and all the people on it - socially distanced of course!).

We went down some steep stone steps, 

and wound our way down the path amongst the rocks

and past the Bondi Icebergs pool until we got to Bondi Beach.

There were quite a few people there, but we managed to find a spot for a swim. The water was very cold!

We had a really nice lunch at the Bondi Hotel to finish it all off. It was a lovely few hours and we had a great time! 6.3km but it did feel a little linger as there were many ups and downs! I definitely recommend this walk.