March 2021 - Organpipes Track

Bob's plan was to tackle the Devil's Throne track, but the weather was against us, with low clouds, winds, drizzle and it was cold!  We decided to drop down a little, out of the clouds hopefully, and do the Organpipes Track instead.  The group today was Bob, Kat, Philip, Angie, Min, Lyn and Di.  

The first task was organising the car shuffle, so that we only had to the do the track in one direction.  Several discussions later :)  it was done, and we were all at the Chalet, getting ready to go.

 

The track has been upgraded by the City of Hobart, with excellent stonework and drainage.  The walking was easy and dry.

The plants and trees are so pretty.  All the mountain berries seemed to be on display.  Birds heard or spotted included:  Grey Fantail, Cockatoo, Eastern Spinebill.

E. coccifera in the rain

We caught some views in between the drifting clouds.

 The organpipes looked awesome, as usual.

The lower we got, the better the weather seemed, but water was pouring off the mountain.

We reached The Springs, and settled at a picnic table to have our sandwiches.  Then we discovered that the Lost Freight cafe not only provides coffee in proper ceramic cups, but also does table service.  Wow.  Highly recommended!

February 2021 - Lime Bay

Wayne and Gerwyn led our group on a tour of the Coal Mines, at Lime Bay on the Tasman Peninsula.  The Coal Mines historic site is well preserved and presented by Parks and Wildlife Service, with the scattered ruins evoking the sad and brutalised lives of the convicts. In the group were Kat, Philip, Greg and Annie and Lyn.

Starting at the top, the original airshaft is still intact

We did a pleasant 7km circuit.

Commissariat Officer's quarters, 1842

Lunch at Plunkett Point

 

 

 

November 2020 - Echo Sugarloaf

This was a return visit to Echo Sugarloaf Reserve, to see the new addition to the trail that has been built by the redoubtable Friends of Randalls Bay.  The walkers were Caroline and Warren, Wayne and Gerwyn, Bob, Lyn and Kat.

Walking along Randalls Bay from the picnic area.

  Going up was much the same as last time.

It's this way

Flag iris

The frogpond looked lush.

There was a new tree seat to try out.

The new trail on the way down had nice views, and was more interesting than simply returning along the same route.

Randalls Bay and Mickeys Bay in the background.

It was a pleasant few hours, with a BBQ afterwards to nicely round things off!  

October 2020 - Knocklofty Reserve

The planned walk for this month was Knocklofty Reserve, a large reserve of native bushland a couple of minutes from the city suburbs of West Hobart and Mt Stuart. The walk was organised by Bob and led by the local in our group, Wayne, who is very familiar with the many trails in the reserve. 

The weather forecast was for a shower or two in the morning, so we aimed to be flexible with our start time and trail options to adapt time and distance to suit the weather on Sunday 25 October 2020.  We met at  the Forest Road carpark at 10:30 am and  today we had  Bob,Wayne, Gerwyn, Greg, Kat, Philip and Lyn.

We headed off along the Mt Stuart track to the Quarry which we were not allowed to enter . The views from here are out over the northern suburbs.

 

The showers stopped and we continued to traverse the trails in search of more vistas.

We soon came across a glimpse of kunyani

And then we came to Frog Dam which had quite a bit of water from recent rains and some very quiet frogs which was unfortunate as we were unable to discern the specified croaks.

From here we were back to the city views

The sun was now out so we sat at one of the many picnic tables along the route for lunch and headed home a bit after 1pm.

 

      

                                    

 

September 2020 - Buckland Gorge

This month’s walk is to the Buckland Gorge on the East coast.  After recent rain the temperature was expected to be mild on Sunday 27 September 2020 with promises of sun to warm up the day. 

The walk was organised by Bob and we had Wayne, Gerwyn, Greg, Anne, Kat, Angie, Bob and Lyn.  

We set out from Hobart on the A3 at 9.30am.   At Buckland you turn left on Buckland Road and travel about 11kms to Cutting Grass Road intersection and the start of the walk is about 600 metres past that on the edge of a cleared paddock. There are a few small areas to park on the side of the road and they are all taken today!

From the road you take the 4WD track to the east, with the field fence line on your right hand side.

 

  

Keep going right at the sandy fork and after about 25 minutes you need to find another turn to the right to take you down to the edge of the Gorge.  It can be easy to miss but look for the coloured tags which were noted to be fading.  The track descends into the Gorge and takes you along the left side of it.  

Soon you will come across the hidden sandstone cliffs and rock caves swirling with colour above and below. The Gorge is beautiful with fascinating rock sculptures and similar to the Painted Cliffs on Maria Island which is apparently part of the same rock formation.     

                                         

  

 

The track hugs the cliff and is narrow and  steep in places so care needs to be taken. There were little water showers cascading over the rocks above.

 

 

The track descends to the Bluff River and then ascends the cliff again.  There is a fine headland which gives great views over the Gorge, a good place to stop for lunch. We had lunch on the grassy knoll overlooking the river far below

The gorge is a refuge for wildlife and today we saw plenty of birds and an echidna.  

   

Watch out for stinging nettles as we encountered a few and Angie thinks she found a rare variety amongst them. 

From the top of the cliff it is a very short distance back to the west to pick up the dusty 4WD track which takes you back to the road in about 20 minutes.  

                            

 

The walk is approx 8-9kms circuit along the east side and took us a bit less than 4 hours with a few breaks and taking plenty of time to marvel at nature’s spectacular display.!