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THE SYDNEY BUSHWALKER MAGAZINE IN FUTURE
e The November 2008 magazine will be sent out by mail and also by email to those who request it.
e December issue will also be sent by email and a print copy. e January 2009 will be an email newsletter only.
e February 2009 will be the first quarterly issue, which will be sent by email to those that request it and by mail to those who prefer it.
e March and April 2009 issues will be emailed newsletters.
This pattern will continue, so, to receive an email copy please contact - for prospective members - Ron Watters - waters@bigpond.net.au OR, for all other membership categories - Brian Holden brian.holden@people.net.au
PLEASE NOTE: As from February 2009 the magazine will be sent by email to those who request it in place of hard copy.
Some of the advantages of receiving email copies are: e Savings for the Club in printing and postage costs e Being able to see coloured photos with the articles
e Conserving the environment by destroying less trees 3 October 2008, Issue 887
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Presidents Report David Trinder Editorial Maureen Carter Letters to the Editor
Walks Notes Barry Wallace
Coolana Notices
The Three Peaks 2008 A Boast David Trinder Cycling the West Coast of America J Mohandas The Simple Life Don Matthews 10 Mid-Week Walkers Bill Holland 11 Book Suggestions 12
2 3 3 From the Committee Room 4 5 6 7 8
Social Program 12
THE SYDNEY BUSHWALKER is the monthly bulletin of matters of interest to members of The Sydney Bush Walkers Inc PO Box 431 Milsons Point NSW 1565.
Editor: Maureen Carter Production Manager: Stephen Brading Printers: Kenn Clacher, Barrie Murdoch,
Alan Sauran Don Brooks Fran Holland
Opinions expressed in this magazine are-the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of The Sydney Bush Walkers Inc.
All material in this magazine is copyright. . Requests for reproduction should be directed to The Editor. moz.carter@pacific.net.au
October 2008 Page 2 The Sydney Bushwalker
October 2008
About Our Club
The Sydney Bush Walkers was formed in 1927 for the purpose of bringing bushwalkers together; enabling them to appreciate the great outdoors; establishing a regard for conservation and promoting social activities. The Clubs main activity is bushwalking but includes other activities such as cycling, canoeing and social events
Our Walks Program (published quarterly) features day walks on most Saturdays and Sundays, some mid week walks and overnight weekend walks. Extended walks are organised in areas such as The Snowy Mountains, the
Warrumbungles as well as interstate i.e. Victorian Alps
Our meetings start at 8pm and are held on Wednesday evenings (see Social Program) at Kirribilli Neighbourhood Centre, 16 Fitzroy Street, Kirribilli (near Milsons Point Railway Station).
Visitors and prospective members are welcome www.sbw.org.au
Office Bearers
Members are welcome to contact the following officers on club matters:
President: David Trinder 9542 1465 (h) dt28@tpg.com.au
Vice President: Ron Watters 9419 2507(h) wattersr@bigpond.net.au
Secretary: Ruth Richter 0403 941 790 Ruth_Richter@opg.nsw.gov.au
Walks Secretary: Tony Holgate 9943 3388(h) tholgate@optusnet.com.au
Social Secretary: Kathy Gero 9130 7263 (h) social@sbw.org.au
Treasurer: Margaret Carey 9957 2137 (h) margaret_carey@bigpond.com
Members Secretary: Brian Holden 4294 3074(h) brian.holden@people.net.au
New Members Secretary: Jodie Dixon 9943 3388 (h) newmembers@sbw.org.au
Conservation Secretary: Wilf Hilder 9587 8661
Magazine Editor: Maureen Carter 9773 4637 (h) moz.carter@pacific.net.au
Committee Members:
Alan Sauran 9488 8367(h) Bill Hope
9960 1646(h)
asauran@hotmail.com
bill. hope@optusnet.com.au
Delegates to Confederation: Bill Holland 9484 6636(h)
Jim Callaway 9520 7081(h)
billholland@bigpond.com
PRESIDENTS REPORT
The hard winter walks are now all complete with the finish of the Three Peaks trip on 20 September. We now have to start thinking about the summer walks program which has to be entered by Tony Holgate before the next committee meeting on the 5 November.
We are looking for new leaders and old leaders to put walks on the program. The spring program had many walks from a few leaders. We dont want to rely on a small number of leaders.
With this magazine you will be asked whether you would like to receive the magazine by email. From the beginning of next year a hard copy will be printed and posted out once every three months only and it is becoming more expensive and difficult to make hard copies. Members will be encouraged to take a soft copy if the can receive it.
The committee has discussed a recognition and incentive system for people who do walks. In the beginning we will try to report on all walks in the new magazine and list the names of the walkers on each trip. We dont want to make it competitive.
The new web site is not available yet; some members are training in the software so they can update it in the future.
- The survey was sent out by Maurice Smith and he
has a few hundred replies. Firstly if you have not replied yet it wont take you long to do so and secondly we need somebody with some time to analyse them.
We are still looking for somebody to store the archives. They are bound copies of old magazines in a set of respectable shelves.
David Trinder
First of all, a big thank you to Bill Holland for all the work he did in putting the September magazine together in the absence of David and myself. It was good to go away knowing that the magazine was in capable hands.
We had a wonderful walk around Mt Blanc, as well as many other excellent experiences, including canoeing down the Dordogne River.
This month you can read about some super-fit Club members including Margaret and Jan Mohandas, who are cycling from Vancouver in Canada to Mexico and the five who attempted the famous Three Peaks in under 48 hours. Both Karl Miller and David Trinder finished and David deserves to boast about it.
There are also some suggestions for a few good reads and some interesting comments from Frog Hollow.
For those of you that have email | refer you to a recent copy of the Perth Bushwalkers Venturer - www. perthbushwalkers.asn.au_ |! would like to see similar walks reports in the Sydney Bushwalker, especially when we go electronic, as the coloured photographs will enhance the text and encourage more of us to visit the areas reported on and preserve them for future generations.
You will notice that this month the magazine is a rather slim volume. We would love to receive more articles on walks and other outdoor pursuits.
Please take careful note of how and when the magazine changes will occur so that you are not disappointed. As always, | welcome your comments.
Happy walking
Maureen
MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR .
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Good News from Tasmania
Rudi Dezelin who now lives in Ulverstone, Tasmania, writes to tell us about the good news on their new premier which was reported in the Weekend Australian on 21 June 2008. A photograph accompanying the article shows Premier David Bartlett riding his mountain bike which he has obviously enjoyed riding through the national treasure that is the Styx forest.
The Australian comments that the former Premier Paul Lennon is a pro-logging former union leader and political enforcer, who preferred bush bashing to bush peddling.
Matthew Denholm from The Australian also points out that Bartlett is desperate to put as much distance as possible between himself and Lennon, whose dubious conduct in fast-tracking the Gunns pulp mill contributed significantly to the plunging voter support that led to his demise.
Rudi concludes that he is hopeful that the current credit squeeze will stop this unwanted and unpopular development proposal.
Perhaps we can take our new Premier Nathan Rees on a walk in the Wollemi (Ed)
The Sydney Bushwalker
Warwick Blayden, who tells me that he has never been a member of SBW but has been receiving the magazine for over two decades has written a long letter to the editor expressing his dismay at the magazine being distributed by email and has decided to let his subscription lapse.
Warwick should be aware that he could still receive a hard copy of the magazine if he remains a subscriber.
I would like to acknowledge that Warwick sent, along with his letter, some very useful suggestions for articles that members may find interesting in future magazines. The editorial committee considered them and thanks Warwick for his ideas. (Ed)
HAVE YOU PAID YOUR 2008 MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION ?
If you have not paid_ the address label on this magazine will show SUBS OVERDUE. Regrettably, we have to tell you that if your membership subscription is not paid immediately your name will be marked off our membership list and you will not receive magazines and walk programmes after this date.
There were quite a few apologies leaving just over half the Committee present on the night. The mailbox had not been cleared and the absentees had the keys.
The Treasurer was in PNG; the report had been emailed but the cheque book was in the mail so we skipped past that as well.
This made for a quick and easy start to the main items on the agenda,
President David Trinder reported that the Steering Committee had not met last month and he queried whether it had any more tasks to perform. The meeting decided that there were other tasks and he should review and convene another meeting setting topics for discussion.
David also reported that 300 email responses to the recent survey had been received and needed analysis and reporting.
Another matter raised was a suggestion that the club recognise and reward those who participated in strenuous events such as K to K etc. The meeting agreed that the Club should not be seen as competitive and discussed options with the one most favoured being a certificate or similar (as
From the Committee Room
A report of proceedings at the Committee Meeting 1 October 2008
members asking them if they are prepared to have their magazine sent by email starting from the first quarterly issue due next February.
It seems that Bushwalking Australia has joined the Outdoor Recreational Council. This news was not well received as it was felt that the aims of ORC are not consistent with the views of many bushwalkers. There is a possibility that SBW will be seen to support policies it does not agree with. A letter expressing our concern will be sent to the Confederation.
An application for a $8,000 grant for weed control at Coolana has been sent to the Sydney Catchment Authority. Other conservation matters covered the closure and possible sale of Travelling Stock Routes and the deteriorating condition of River Red Gums due to lack of adequate water.
A suggestion was made to combine the Conservation Fund with the Coolana Fund and use the combined income to offset part of expenditure on Coolana. This will be referred to the Coolana Committee and our Hon Solicitor for comment.
Treasurers Report as at September 2008
has been done in the past). Current Yearto Our Club Archivist advised that he would be Month Date moving away from Sydney very shortly and the Cash Receipts
archives would be dismantled, superfluous Members Subscriptions 325 18,472 material scrapped and remaining items placed in Prospective Fees 764 4,222 the State Library archives. Investment - Conservation - 488 The meeting then moved on to hear a report investment - Cool 1184 arising from a complaint about difficulties nvesiment - Loolana mi encountered on a walk. The attention of the Investment - General - 536 complainant had been directed to the walk Magazine Advertising - 1,010 description which anticipated such difficulties and Accrued Advertising - 370 the matter had been resolved satisfactorily. Donations - Coolana - 200 This also led to a discussion on leadership training Donations - Other - 201 and the need to identify and encourage new Total Receipts $1,089 $26,683 leaders. It was also considered that the Walks Cash Payments
Programmes should be broadened to include more . aoa
easy/medium and qualifying walks. Magazine Printing 624 1,166 Two recent walks; ie Chatswood to Lane Cove and Magazine Postage 415 3,537 Pearces Pass to Blue Gum should be accepted as Coolana Rates 0 1,287 qualifying walks. Coolana Maintenance 214 941 89 members have not yet paid the current Rent- Club Rooms 500 3,700 subscription fee and their names will be Donations - Conservation - 200 considered for deleting from membership if fees Insurance - Public Liability - 2,628 are not paid by the end of this month. Reminder Insurance - Personal Accident - 3,456 letters have been sent. . Affiliation - Confederation - 2,255 The Electronic Sub-Committee have two members Postage. Phone & Internet . 863 under training in operating and managing the new : .
website. tst Aid Certificate - 200 The Magazine Editor reported that identifying thedministration 101 1,079 content of the new magazine format (quarterly) and theExPenditure on Coolana Grant - 2,426 move to emailing was progressing satisfactorily. ATotal Payments $1,854 $23,536 printed copy would continue to be mailed out as usual ,
until end of December. An email will be sent toC@sh Surplus /(Deficit) - $765 3,147 The Sydney Bushwalker
2008
August Page 5
APRIL-MAY 2008 WALKS NOTES
Barry Wallace
Walks notes covering the interval 10 April 2008 to 14 May 2008.
Jim Callaway reported 3 last minute cancellation from his walk in the Royal on Saturday 12“ April. The remaining party of 7 were described as a good lot and the walk most enjoyable in one of the best areas of the Royal. With recent heavy rain there was plenty of water about in the watercourses, and the leeches were available in good measure as is their way in such conditions. Not only did the party find several of these attachments on the walk, they also found several on the train trip home. Not a word to whatever we are calling the relevant transport authority nowadays!
The weekend of 12, 13 April saw Francis Hartigan and a party of 3 on his overnight walk in Morton National Park out from Grassy Gully. Yalwal Creek track was so overgrown they resorted to walking in the creek bed. The portion of the track across Turpentine Range afforded good views of the Shoalhaven with Ettrema away to the East. The presence of trail bike riders and a mangy wombat were noted at Yalwal camping area and they visited an old mine along the way. That same weekend Glenn Draper and a party of 7 set off from Wattle Ridge car park into the Nattai National Park on a walk combining the objectives of 3 walks from a guidebook written by Robert Sloss. The day dawned to cloudy skies with a forecast of scattered showers and the possibility of a late change. The three lookouts, namely Chasm Lookout, Rocky Waterholes Lockout and Ahearns Lookout are not all named on the topo map so there was some slight uncertainty from time to time. They started out following the road along the boundary fence of Wattle Ridge Farm then followed the boundary fence around to where an old fire-trail emerges from the rear of the farmlands. This leads to what Robert calls Chasm Lookout, not so named on the map, though whether Robert named this or whether it is from an earlier tradition is unclear. The party made it in good time and spent a short while taking in the spectacular view that overlooks the junction of Rocky Waterholes and Iron Creeks. The first, brief shower occurred whilst they were so engaged. Viewing done they backtracked along the fire-trail to a point that afforded the possibility of a shortcut across to the trail leading to Rocky Waterholes Lookout. It also, as it turned out afforded the opportunity to practice bush bashing through open eucalypt forest. Lunch was taken viewing the view from this lookout, including sections of the creek of the same name with Mount Jellore and Flat Top Mountain (?) in the background. Aherns Lookout proved more elusive however, but there were splendid views of Russells Needle along the way and they did manage a
turnaround due to pressure of time at another rocky outcrop that afforded great vistas over the Nattai River Valley. As they headed toward the cars a distant rumbling presaged an opening of the heavens, though it was some time later when hughey turned the track into a small creek with thunder and lightning to add ambience to the experience as drowned rats. It seems all survived to tell the tale so all is well.
Don Finch led a well attended mapping instructional walk over the weekend of 18 to 20 April with a party of 11 and some rain. It was raining when they reached Boyd River crossing and put up the tents on Friday night, it was raining when they took them down again on Saturday morning. It rained on and off through to Saturday lunchtime but turned fine for the afternoon. Heavy rain fell overnight and the drizzle persisted throughout Sunday daylight hours. It was a wet weekend made enjoyable by a group of enthusiastic prospective members who applied themselves to the many navigation tasks set over the course (no pun intended) of the weekend. Saturday 19” April saw David Trinder out on an easy walk over a very scenic route from Neates Glen to Evans Lookout via Grand Canyon with a party of 6. The rain that threatened throughout the day held off until all were safely back in the cars and there were no incidents of note.
It may be that lan Rannard has a superstitious streak, for he counts the party on his one-day-early- due-to-raitway track-work Friday 25 April walk at 13 plus 1. In all other respects the event went to program with cool wet conditions in the morning and dry, cloudy weather in the afternoon. Heavy rain in the area the night before resulted in all the waterfalls and cascades along the route looking their spectacular best. All up it was an enjoyable day in the mountains.
The weekend of 3, 4 May saw a cast of 18 under the baton of Richard Darke setting off on Sunday morning in the quest for good cappuccinos along the route from Spofforth Street Cremorne to Quakers Hat Bay; in an anti-clockwise circumnavigation let the record say. The party set off at 0900h in a jovial mood and attained good progress to Bradleys Head where a more sombre note intruded with the awareness of a tragic boating accident a few days earlier that had taken the life of 6 young people. The queues at Chowder Bay precluded testing the product there but they were rewarded at a new establishment that had recently opened at the refurbished barrack buildings on Georges Heights. The government appears to have spent a small fortune on improving Sydney Harbour National Park around Mosman. From here the group were able to . enjoy splendid views, both up and down the harbour. Thence to Balmoral and on, rock-hopping Page 6
at low tide around Chinamans Beach, where they also lunched sprawling in the grass to eat. On, on they pressed to The Spit and the assault on nearby Mount Mosman, the rocky outcrop that dominates the landscape about The Spit and provides great views up Middle Harbour. The party took time to traverse and enjoy the peace and beauty of the less travelled track around Hat Hill Bay. It was all
to be paid for of course, with the climb back up to Military Road. They attained this objective by 1600h and then some of the party repaired to the leaders house for tea and other stronger beverages to round out what had been a most pleasant days walk.
That seems a good note on which to close for now.
conditions.
Maintenance and Bushcare at Coolana Coolana is looking great and warm conditions in the coming month creates pleasurable working
Coolana is a beautiful property with diverse vegetation that needs constant tender care. You can help perhaps with the cutting and weeding or simple help with our tree planting.
Its not all work. We have great social times around a blazing campfire and lots of opportunity to smell the flowers and watch the birds and other wildlife.
Watch the Summer Walks programme for more details and simply come along. No need to phone.
in their wills. addressed
The Coolana Fund
Donations to the Coolana Fund are very welcome and will be used to provide income to assist with the maintenance of this wonderful property. Please note that the club is legally required to add Coolana donations to the Coolana Fund and not use these for general purposes
Many thanks to those who have already donated or have indicated an intention to include the Coolana Fund Please send in your donation, with cheques made out to Sydney Bush Walkers Inc,
The Coolana Fund The Sydney Bush Walkers Inc Po Box 431 Milsons Point NSW v 1565
Training Weekend 8th ,9th November
You are invited to join us at the Clubs property in the beautiful Kangaroo Valley.
This weekend provides an ideal opportunity to learn map reading, first aid and bushcraft..
As you can see from this photo there are ample opportunities to relax and enjoy the bush surroundings. Assistance with camping gear and transport can be arranged.
Members are very welcome to attend and assist with training and social activities around the campfire Please phone or email :
Bill Holland 9484 6636 _billholland@bigpond.com Patrick James 9567 9998 pjames28@bigpond.net.au
UPCOMING QUALIFYING WALK
Prospective members please note: Nigel Weavers traverse of Mt Solitary on 23 November is a Qualifying walk. The Spring program accidentally left out the Q against this walk.
The Three Peaks 2008, a Boast by David Trinder
During the 1930s a group of walkers dubbed the Tiger Walkers were out every weekend doing colossal feats of endurance, like 85 miles in 48 hours. Some of the names were Gordon Smith, Jack Debert, Max Gentle, Alex Colley and Dot Butler. During the 40s a walk from Katoomba, Kanangra and return was completed in 48 hours. Then there was the Three Peaks era. In the magazine of May 1958 Geoff Wagg wrote an article to drum up enthusiasm for a Three Peaks trip. It was completed by an all male group and the next year by an all female group led by Heather Joyce. David Rostron led a Three Peaks walk in 1967 and David, Don Finch, Doone Wyborn and Brian Harding completed it. They were all a lot younger than 70.
The Sydney Bushwalker September of 1981 records a Three Peaks trip that David Rostron led on 9 and 10 May 1981. The party was David, Fazeley Read, Gordon Lee, Tony Marshall, Richard Winthorpe, Jack Eltiott (a visitor from Canada), Warwick Blayden and Spiro Hajinakitas, who wrote the article. The walk started and finished at the beginning of Narrow Neck and was completed in 48 hours. They took a different route than we took and probably had less efficient gear. Around the same time Gordon Lee won a bet which was placed by Billy Burke who said that nobody over 40 would be capable of completing the Classic Three Peaks walk in 48 hours. He walked it with Bill Capon at the age of 57.
Karl Miller completed the Three Peaks last year in 36 hours and took on the task of training and organizing a group to do it this year. At times he had 10 people interested. He led some hard training walks, like a day walk to Mt Guouogang and another to Mt Cloudmaker. He also lead night walks to train us to walk in the dark.
On Friday morning at 3 AM on 19 September the classic Three Peaks walk started with five people, Karl, Yvonne and Stephen Brading, Melinda Turner and myself. We arrived at the Coxs at 10 AM on schedule and on the way up Mt Guouogang Stephen was stopped by cramps and Yvonne, who had an injured ankle from a week earlier was also suffering. They pulled out and went back down to Konangaroo to camp for the night.
That left three. Guouogang is a long hard hilt, with a net height of 1,150 m. There are several downhill sections which makes the total climb about 1,300 m. At the top we signed the book beside the big cairn and headed off to find Nooroo Buttress. It was slow going down the narrow ridge, climbing over rocks and logs and we did not arrive at Whalania Creek until 7 PM, too late to make our planned overnight camp site at the top of Mount Paralyser. We started in the morning at 5.15 AM before first light and headed up the steep 800 m slope to Mount Paralyser. We arrived at the top at 8.30 AM and Melinda informed us that it was all too hard for her and she could not continue. One condition that Karl set for doing the walk was that each person had to be self sufficient in navigation. This was her test to navigate herself out to the Kanangra Road alone and Karl organized Skye to pick her up.
That left two and Karl declared that we would have to go like the clappers to make Katoomba station by 3AM the next day. From then, 8.45AM, until 2.30AM the next day we did go like the clappers and without stopping for more than 5 minutes anywhere. Karl navigated faultlessly and at the same time sent messages and photos using his Blackberry back to his Blog. There were a dozen people in Sydney following our progress as we walked. We made Cloudmaker at 2 PM, the Coxs at 5.10 PM, Yellow Dog at 6.45PM, the top of Tarros at 11.05 PM, the Narrow Neck gate at 1.15 AM and Katoomba Station at 2 20 AM.
During the later stages of the walk Karl was telling me to eat, he was right but I had trouble digesting food while walking. Karl carried some V drinks, both of which he gave to me. I was sick at one stage before Medlow Gap, but a 5 minute rest fixed that. Karl supported me well and fortunately my strength improved closer to the end. Karl is a faster walker than I am. During the walk he would stop for navigation or to make an entry in the Blog then he would catch up and go ahead to stop again. He was a great support to me.
I believe that I am the oldest Club member to complete the Three Peaks in under 48 hours. The event was close to my 70th birthday, in fact 38 days before it. I have checked with Don Matthews, Spiro and a few others and they think so. Don collected information from old magazines and the book of the First sixty Years. From his research and mine I can boast that I am the oldest to complete the classic walk in 48 hours.
CYCLING THE WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA
Jan and Margaret Mohandas, both long term members of SBW, are currently completing an amazing cycle trip from Vancouver in Canada to Mexico which has taken them along Highway 1 and other coastal roads in the USA.
! heard about their plans whilst we were all walking in Kakadu National Park in June/July this year and was not envious (for once) of their intentions for this mammoth ride. | am only sorry that | did not get onto their email list earlier so that | could have given you more inspirational messages from their amazing trip. Anyway, here are some extracts from the latter part of their ride and, hopefully, they can give us a condensed version of their epic journey in a_ future magazine. (Ed.)
Our third layover day today and we are all enjoying the break. This rest day came after 9 days of continuous riding, with lots of steep and long hills through some of the most beautiful Redwood forests. It was just wonderful looking at these very tall and large trees on both sides of the roads and riding through the long shadows from these magnificent redwood trees. Yesterday we came back to the coast and it was beautiful too. Luckily we have had sunny weather during the day, but cold in the evenings and mornings. Yesterday we had to do the highest climb of about 450 meters straight up Leggett hill which we did with ease after all the training over many hills during the last four weeks. One month has passed since we arrived in Vancouver on the 25th of August. We have done 21 days of cycling and 17 days to go with 6 rest days. The half way mark came 3 days ago and soon we will have done 1000 miles of the 1823 mile cycling tour. Everyone is having a marvellous time now, even though riding along the very busy 101 highway without any shoulders with logging trucks going past us too close for comfort make us feel pretty frightened. On many occasions, going up a steep hill with logging trucks creeping behind us is not very comfortable.
A few days ago we stayed in a State park with special bear proof storage boxes for food and items like toothpaste, deodorants etc which attract bears. We did not hear any bears that night. As we are now cycling towards San Francisco along the coast, we probably won't stay in any State parks with bears. San Francisco is only about 200 miles away. We have done a number of 100 km rides during this tour so far and on those days we don't get to the campsite until about 5 pm, starting the ride at 8 am. As two participants take care of the dinner for the night and breakfast and lunch for the next day, it usually does not matter if we cycle in after 5 pm. The other day when it was the turn of one of us (Jan), we had the first flat tyre in the trailer and we did get held up late for doing the dinner. Somehow or other everything went well and we managed to have a nice dinner
cooked and it was only late by about an hour that evening.
We are very near San Francisco and will get there in two days and get a chance to ride our bikes on the Golden Bridge. Today's weather is just fabulous, sunny and warm with gentle head winds. Yesterday was a hard day with one and half days ride in one in order to give more time to the riders to see San Francisco. As we had to do 110 km with many many steep and sharp hills with strong head winds, we took 9 hours to cover the distance. Luckily no one had to get the dinner ready as we ate out in a local restaurant. Most of yesterday's ride was along the coast with good views of the ocean, but the heavy mist which arrived in the late morning stayed during the whole day and spoiled the opportunities for excellent photos of the coast. We could see, but the availability of light for photography was not so good. As we are closer to San Francisco, there was heavy traffic worrying us all along the route. Most of this traffic was due to the fact that the people from San Francisco were returning home after their weekend away from home as it was Sunday yesterday. We are continuing our ride along the US 1 highway today, but the traffic is very light and we are not so frightened to be on the highway today as much as we did yesterday. Even as far south as we are now, we could hear the sounds of seals and sea lions along the coast as we cycle along. The ride today is away from the coast and along an inlet and there are many Eucalyptus trees along both sides of the road and made us feel as though we are back somewhere near Cooma on the way to the Snowy mountains.
We enjoying a much deserved rest day in one of the really pleasant cities on the west coast of US, Monterey. We just visited the famous Aquarium in Monterey and enjoyed immensely. We spent only about 2 hours in the Aquarium rushing through. It would take a whole day to look at everything well, but we have many things to do on the rest day, which only comes once in every week. Another 11 days to go to reach the Mexican border south of San Diego. We do feel that we have achieved a great deal in the last 33 days, getting here from the Canadian border. We had the first rain period last night and this morning after 33 days of dry weather. The weather has certainly warmed up to
. such an extent that it is difficult to sleep inside
the sleeping bag. We can easily manage to sleep in the silk inner bags, a big change from the start of the ride when we had to put on all the thermals to keep warm in the night. 2000 km south of Vancouver, in Monterey it certainly is warm. Although we saw a large group of about 100 seals resting on a wooden platform about 20 km north of Monterey. We cycled on a cycle path along the sandy coast for about 15 km to reach Monterey and the cycle path continues on through the town of Monterey. Tomorrow will be the hardest day for this Pacific coast cycling tour when we had to climb about 3000 meters (total for the day) and cover 100 km and we expect to reach the campsite
around 6 pm after starting at 8 am tomorrow morning. We are promised take away pizzas and salad tomorrow night as there may not be enough time to do the cooking tomorrow evening. We will go over the BiG SUR, south of Monterey. Before we finish the ride we will have two 120 km days to do to reach the campsites, but not too much climbing. We are feeling fit and well and should be able to manage these hard rides without a great deal of difficulty.
It is hard to believe that only 5 more riding days left to reach the Mexican border. The weather has turned very hot in this part of the tour. On the 5th of October, we managed to do the BIG SUR climb and the 100 km ride without much trouble and reached the campsite at 5:30 pm after starting the ride at 7:45 am. We felt very pleased with the ride on that day even though the climbs took for ever to finish. The scenery along the southern california coast was just magnificent. Some other riders saw a couple of Condors flying low on that day, but we were not so fortunate to see them. But we saw many colonies of sea lions very near the roads we were cycling through. They were only about 20 or 30 meters away from us and there were hundreds of them having a great time in the sun. It was one of the best days of the entire ride for the fantastic views of the beautiful Californian coast. It did get very hot on that long and hard day in the BIG SUR area with many high mountains near the coast.
The next three days were even more difficult as the temperatures steadily rose up to 37 to 40 C. We did suffer on those days due to the intense heat along the route and also for the fact that there were very spots were we could get under some shade to cool down. The next day after the BIG SUR ride we rode into San Simeon area, again along the coast watching the sea lions. San Simeon is famous for the castle built by Hearst on a high hill top and there were hundreds of visitors to see the castle. Most of the cyclists took the special bus to have a look at the castle for the 1 hour and 45 minute trips. We visited the visitors centre for the Hearst castle and watched a movie for 45 minutes which clearly showed the history, the periods of building and various locations in the magnificent castle. It is a huge castle and the whole of America is very proud of this famous landmark.
The two days of riding after San Simeon made us all feel almost dehydrated towards the end even though we drank plenty of water and sports drinks along the way. As it did get very hot reaching above 37 C, and doing 90 km on the 7th of October and climbing 1000 meters and on the following day, the longest of rides so far, a 120 km ride and doing 2000 meters of total climbing made us pretty exhausted towards the finish. We were very pleased that on the day we did the 120 km ride, we reached the campsite at 5:30 pm after starting at 8:00 am.
The dry inlands of the southern californian region have many hills which looked very bare and climbing them in the hot sun was pretty demanding. We kept climbing looking for some shade, but there were not many. Whenever we could find shade, we stayed under the shade for a while to cool down before continuing. The tong hills, one of them went on for about 15 km, looked as though they went for ever. Anyway, we are glad that that very hot weather is now behind us as we enjoyed relatively cooler conditions for our ride yesterday. With only 600 meters of climbing to do for the whole day we had an easy ride of 90 km and enjoyed the ride through the beautiful Santa Barbara town, with many palm trees everywhere and with excellent bike lanes on busy major and minor roads and felt pretty safe. Now we are in the region of southern California with beautiful mansions and golf course along the way.
In Santa Barbara we could see thousands and thousands of housed built on the foot hills of the mountains around. We are also back to ride along the ocean as we could feel the cool breeze as we ride along. Yesterday's easy ride without much climbing after many days of serious and long climbs, gave us an opportunity to recover a bit and today we are enjoying a layover day in Ventura. Ventura is also a nice small town and at this moment sitting in a library with 25 computers provided free for visitors to use for the use of internet. We rode in from the campsite, about a 10 km ride to take it easy, enjoy some nice coffee and use the internet. Tomorrow we will continue our journey to San Diego, past Los Angeles. It will be a relatively easy trip including another 120 km ride on the 13th of October.
We ail had a good night sleep last night and feeling much better. We will be ready to face another long ride tomorrow to go to Malibu beach to camp tomorrow evening. Last night Margaret cooked a nice Thai dish - Chicken and vegetables for most of us and Tofu and vegetables for the vegetarians with rice. Everyone enjoyed it as it was spicy red curry with coconut milk, both with fresh coriander leaves. We have no reason to complain about the camp food at all.
Page 10 The Sydney Bushwalker October 2008
THE SIMPLE LIFE
On the creek here at Frog Hollow lives my amphibian friend Freddo. We got talking some years ago about bushwalkers and their ilk and he was grateful for their efforts over the years in helping to preserve the habitat of his forebears, and keen to repay the debt with advice about The Simple Life, which, he observed, we humans appeared to be abandoning.
This obsession with gadgetry is unhealthy, said Freddo. You should do something about it. Not me, | replied, I am strictly an observer and recorder of the passing scene. No matter, said Freddo, I can give you some ideas, and you can work them up for publication in your Club Literary Journal.
Our first collaborative effort, in Freddos name, was an exchange in verse with the Editor about the problems facing contributors who are computer illiterate. The historically minded can find this engaging dialogue in the Magazine for July and August 1998. Later came a Reunion Campfire Song of Protest along the same lines (Magazine April 2001), then an unpublished Song of the Times about the perils of too much introspection. It ended with the rousing exhortation:
The answer is quite plainly
Give theorists the push Put on your trusty Volleys And get out into the bush!
And so we continued, with Freddos influence showing through here and there at Campfire gatherings, as in St. Coolanas Day (2002, 2005), a Campfire Classic if ever there was one. Freddos thinking has been shaped by the common sense in Alex Colleys article on Social Capital (Magazine May 2001) which, naturally, | read to him, and by learned dissertations in the print media about Sensory Overload and the like, and we hope to continue with our philosophical interest for some time yet. Frogs, provided that they maintain a healthy lifestyle, and hone their skills in evading predators, can attain a ripe old age. Our latest piece is yet to be performed, but we think it is about time that we gave it an airing. Appropriately, it can be sung to the tune of Goliath of Gath, from an SBW Songbook of the 1950s the one in the red cloth cover.
Toss out your computers, your cellphones and all Those shiny new Gizmos that hold you in thrall, Embrace simpler pleasures before its too late, Your brain wilt then last till a much later date.
Create for yourself an oasis of calm For you can do this without worry or qualm, Your neurotransmitters will sigh and relax A thing that cant happen with Email or Fax. You ll thank us you will, in the years lying ahead Youll feel energetic and rest well in bed, Your Social Intelligence Index will climb, All thanks to the singing of this simple rhyme.
Freddo labels his interest in our affairs as A Study into the Social Phenomena of the Electronic Age. Not bad for a humble Frog, eh! Don Matthews
A True Story!
On 20July 1969, as commander of the Apollo 11 lunar module, Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon. Everyone remembers his first words after stepping on the moon, thats one smail step for man, one giant leap for mankind, which were televised to earth and heard by millions. But just before he re-entered the lander he made the enigmatic remark, good luck Mr Gorsky. Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs.
Over the years, many people questioned Armstrong as to what the good luck Mr Gorsky.. statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled.
On 5 July 1995, in Tampa Bay Florida, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26 year old question. This time Armstrong finally responded. Mr Gorsky had died, so Armstrong felt he could finally explain the remark.
In 1938 when he was a kid in a small mid-west town, he was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit the ball which landed in his neighbours yard by the bedroom window. His neighbours were Mr and Mrs Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs Gorsky shouting at Mr Gorsky:
Sex! You want sex? You'll get sex when the kid next door walks on the moon! The Sydney Bushwalker August 2008 Page 11
The Mid-Week Walkers Bill Holland
Each month | send out an emailed newsletter to a group of members (about 50 members) informally identified as The Mid-Week Walkers. These are people who have time to spare for mid-week activities, some of which are shown on the Walks Programme and some organised at short notice. The purpose of this newsletter is to remind these members about coming mid-week activities, especially the extended mid-week stays that require advance bookings.
In September, we went to Brian Holdens house at Stanwell Park. Twelve people attended, some for the whole five days and others for a night or two. Brian had a programme to keep us busy; a walk and bicycle ride along Lady Carrington Drive, a visit to the Hindu temple, two ascents to the escarpment ridge, a bicycle ride along the beaches and a walk through some rainforest and wild flowers along the Walumarra Track to Garie Trig in the Royal
National park.
Thanks Brian for a great week! We had to cancel the planned stay in Jindabyne, scheduled for this month, as the lodge is undergoing significant
renovation.
The following month however has Dunns Swamp (November 24th to 28th). This proved to be very successful last year with provision for canoeing and walking. There is ample room for camping and midweek at the Swamp is not at all crowded compared with weekends and school holidays.
Next year is still being planned. Brian Holden is happy to host a limited number at his house again. The lodge at Jindabyne will be ready by the start of the year. lan Debert and Joy Hynes have offered accommodation near the Glass House Mountains in Queensland. Don and Liz Wills similarly would like to lead us on a week from their property in Timor (Upper Hunter Valley). A return to Canberra for autumn colours and perhaps another beach stay at Berrara or similar may be suitable for the hot months.
Fishing
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The Sydney Bushwalker
October 2008 |
HELP!
As a retirement project | am planning a journey from Sydney to Melbourne via the coast in easy stages - Maureens Meander to Melbourne (MMM). We will begin with day walks/cycles and (probably) south of Shellharbour do 2-day walks; then, from around Ulladulla, we will most likely do walks of between 3 and 7 days duration. In Victoria, the Gippsland area has some bicycle rail trails and, of course, Wilsons Prom to walk in. | also hope that we can paddle in some places. In order to suit the bushwalking program | will do some of the sections out of order.
However, as you can tell | have not planned the whole program yet. I would appreciate any help on the exact route to follow and support persons are most welcome. if you have a non- walking/cycling partner, they might like to come and camp with us whilst enjoying their days in the local areas. This would also save lengthy car swaps in some places.
Please contact Maureen Carter on 9773 4637 or 0409 453 230 or email moz.carter@pacific.net.au
BOOK SUGGESTIONS
Rudi Dezelin has again made a few suggestions for books which members may find interesting, and indeed, inspirational.
The first is Jack Thwaites - Pioneer Tasmanian Bushwalker & Conservationist by Simon Kleinig published by Forty Degrees South.
Rudi says it describes in wonderful details some great walks that Jack pioneered and led for the Hobart Walking Club back during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Jack was also one of the men who started the Tasmania Youth Hostel Association (YHA) in the immediate post-war years around 1946-1947 and the book describes how much Jack helped in getting these Youth Hostels established.
Rudi comments that the book should be a must for all serious walkers in Tassie, wanting to know more of the history of the fabulous national parks in this State.
He also recommends the book for the photographs dating back to the 30s, 40s and 50s.
All those members who have walked the Eastern Arthurs will know Jack Thwaites for the plateau that is named after him. (Ed)
Rudi also recommends the following as good reads: James Lovelock - The Revenge of Gaia;
Garry Weare - A Long Walk in the Himalaya, (Transit Lounge, 284pp $32,95;
Will Chaffey - Swimming with Crocodiles: An Australian Adventure, (Picador, $32.95);
Bill McKibben - The End of Nature, (Viking, 1990); Bob Carr - Thoughtlines (published 2002)
SPRING SOCIAL PROGRAM
All meetings are held at the Kirribilli Neighbourhood Centre at 8pm unless otherwise indicated.
OCTOBER
22 Oct New Members Training Night Please contact New Members Secretary for details and time.
NOVEMBER
5 Nov Committee Meeting
7pm Observers welcome.
12 Nov New Members Training Night Please contact New Members Secretary for details and time.
19 Nov Antarctica - A cool place to paddle
8pm and camp SBW member, Patrick McNaught, will amuse and enthuse us with slides on his recent trip to Antarctica. 26 Nov New Members Training Night Please contact New Members Secretary for details and time.
REMINDER - The famous SBW Christmas Party is happening on Wednesday 17 December.
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