Matt and I did a few day hikes as well as our AAWT trip, and in my final couple of weeks back in Oz I hired a car and headed down the south coast of NSW to tick off a few more walks.
Our first day walk was just a few hours walking around the Kambah Hills. One of the beauties of Canberra is how easy it is to be in the bush within minutes of your house. This is also why the whole city is vulnerable to bushfires!!
When our AAWT walk was aborted, Matt wasn't quite ready to head home, so we spent a couple of days around Bright doing some exploring. The first day we headed down the walking track along the Ovens River, enjoying the scenery and some history about the early gold mining along its length.
The second day we tackled The Big Walk up to Mt Buffalo Guesthouse. It's a fairly beefy walk with an elevation gain of 1200m, but without a heavy pack and carrying considerably less water it was pretty easy. The rock formations and views are mostly in the upper half of the walk, but it's well forested so you aren't frequently exposed to full sun. Matt headed off ahead, he does have younger legs after all, and we took a little time to find each other up the top amongst the crowds who got there by motorised transport. The walk down was somewhat tedious, as it's a retrace of the route, but Matt was raring to head home so we did.
Matt still had a few days off before heading back to work so we decided to tackle the Tidbinbilla Peak Loop, a ridge walk across Tidbinbilla Mountain, Tidbinbilla Peak and Johns Peak to The Camel's Hump, and then back down along tedious fire trails to the carpark at Mountain Creek. Much of the ridge walking is on an undefined trail, but it looks like the Park's staff are building a proper track up to Tidbinbilla Mountain.
I caught up with Iain whilst I was in Canberra, who was recovering from a medical procedure and keen to go for some walks. We did the Molonglo Gorge walk, always a perennial favourite.
I then headed down the South Coast, stopping in at Gerringong for a couple of days to visit Neen and Grant, and enjoy a few walks in the area. I have plans to walk the NSW coast with my packraft at some time in the future, so I'm mostly avoiding the coastal walks, instead concentrating on those in the hinterland. Neen and I did a lovely walk in the bush behind Berry to a small waterfall, brushed off the leeches then went for lunch at a local cafe!
From Gerringong I headed south again, with a stop at Jervis Bay to walk out around Beecroft Peninsula. It was a little warm in the sun, nothing a little paddle in the ocean couldn't sort!
I popped in to see an old friend at Bawley Point then drove in to a campsite in the Budawangs, because I was keen for an early start.
Despite living in Wollongong for a couple of years I never managed to climb Pidgeon House Mountain/ Didthul on the southern end of the range. We'd once done an overnighter from Sassafras in to Hidden Valley but The Budawangs are an area I've not explored much at all.
Despite leaving early there were already others at the trailhead. The walk up has had some infrastructure spend, and now takes a zigzagging benched track up the steep initial climb, before a fair stretch of fairly flat terrain precedes the next major climb.
Towards the top a number of stairs need to be climbed to get above the rocky bluffs, where a wonderful viewing platform has been built to enjoy the views.
An international couple had set themselves up, complete with bluetooth speaker for their music. Thankfully they turned it off whilst they were on the summit. Not so for their descent, you could hear them coming for quite a way! My strategy when I encounter these poor sods who can't enjoy nature's sounds without drowning it out with artificial music, is to stop and wait for them to pass, and for their noise to no longer interfere with my enjoyment. One word folks: headphones!! Why the f*&k I have to be assaulted by their noise beggars belief. But if there is one thing I have noticed with younger generations, consideration for others when it comes to playing devices in public settings doesn't seem to be a given.
After Pidgeon House I drove further south, visiting a few beaches, venturing into some National Parks to camp by a lagoon, and then drove back to Canberra via Nimmitabel and Cooma. It's given me food for thought on more hiking in that region as well as exploring by vehicle.
But it was time to head back to NZ, and more adventures there. That's next...
