Thomas Hill and Mount Misery

Apparently in the UK it is generally agreed that a mountain is of a height of at least 2000 feet (610 metres) . I couldn't find one for Australia  but we did discuss how Thomas Hill felt like a mountain when we did Graham's walk the other day. 

I took a few pictures and thought I would share them with the group. Sorry I don't have much time for words as we are getting ready for a trip away.

the walk route

There are some interesting sculptures based on the names of the mountain bike tracks.  This one is Ballistic.

Morning tea break at the top of Thomas Hill with a great view. Still some fog curling in some gullies.

Sculpture on Thomas Hill

Mt Misery. (our lunch stop) 

Graham promised some echidna sightings and sure enough...

I think these were the ones he was promising though. 

Lovely property that we passed on t he way up and down.
A perfect sunny day.

Para Wirra, Devils Nose and Barossa Goldfields with Four Seasons 12/3/19

Graham led us on a lovely walk in ideal walking weather.

We started at the small car park to the right just after the entrance to Para Wirra Park and walked in. It was a bit cool as we started and rain was predicted, but we only got a few tiny sprinkles over the whole walk.

Last night I was feeling  a bit tired and I feel it was justified as the walk was (according to my tracker) 15.29km long and involved a climb in elevation of 513m!!!

We finally made it to the Devil's Nose, after many years of driving past the car park and seeing the signs for the walk as we orienteered through the park. The view from here was amazing, as was the walk along the spur to get there- with stunning views on either side.

 Despite the dry weather the bush was still lovely.

Many agreed that this walk again, or one like it,  in cooler weather (say August/ September) might be a very different and also enjoyable experience.  We might need to miss the slippery slopes on the Barossa Goldfield end though, which many found rather challenging (rounded small rocks acted like ball bearings as we tried to walk up and down the slopes- the bush on the sides of the road was much safer) .

The orienteers among us enjoyed the experience of walking on the tracks (unscathed by the scratchy bush) while remembering past experiences finding controls nearby (or not finding them) .

We enjoyed morning tea sitting on fallen trees as we entered the Barossa Goldfields area.

One walking pole was left behind here- only to be found on the way back still waiting to be reclaimed by its rightful owner!!!. (not shown in this photo)

We walked past the old tunnel for the tramway in the goldfields and also the old battery ruins.

old tramway tunnel.

Steep slope.  We had spotted this road from the Devil's Nose, and looked up at the Devil's Nose from it.
"Wow... Did we come from up there??"

We had lunch at the Knob - looking down over a delightful slope and enjoying what shade we could find,





then proceeded along the Lizard Hike, admiring the Lizard Rock itself

lizard rock

and the flowering Xanthorrhoeas, which the bees were also enjoying,

chimney rock

more photos on the way back

Sometimes something just tickles the funny bone.. In this case we wondered "why??"

We returned to the carpark to enjoy cake leftover from the weekend birthday celebration in honour of Yvanna's birthday. Doug supplied the hot water and tea and coffee facilities, as he is currently the holder of the equipment.  Next time we agreed that he should bring a washing up bowl and we would all wash up our own to save the work a little. Thanks Doug for taking on this role for the moment.

We missed some of our members who were unable to attend due to sickness and thought of those who are no longer able to walk with us on a walk like this, so this blog is just a little way of sharing the walk with you guys.

A brochure for the lizard hike can be seen here.  It contains some interesting information.

Sturt Gorge Walk 6-3-18

Walking back up the hill from our shady morning tea break beside the gurgling creek. 

Yesterday we walked in Sturt Gorge.
A group of 18 walkers headed off for a lovely walk in just about ideal conditions (a lovely 23 degrees C was predicted)
Gary was our leader and he took us past some of the spots we have orienteered and into some countryside we have never seen before. I had no idea there was a huge lake just below Craigburn Park.

our route (in red)

We have found this walking group to be very pleasant company and there is always someone to chat to as you walk, or you can just enjoy being out in the open countryside and the ever changing views. 

We parked at Blackwood Football club and shuttled to the start of our route, finishing the walk back at the football club and then moving on to Gary's home where he showed us his amazing "bike shed man cave'' with choice of bikes (he is a riding fanatic) and entertained us on his lovely shady deck. 

Today we met Dianne (who manages the walking roster) and Richard (who manages the money) along with Leila (who is a lovely french lady). 

We are starting to remember names, but spent some of the walk checking with each other and practicing who was who. 

There is always a back marker to make sure we are all OK as well as the leader at the front.  I'm not sure what would happen if someone was badly failing to keep up. 

We started the walk heading uphill fairly steeply (there were lots of zig zags which the keen ones cut off just for fun). Here the gorge was to our left as we walked, and construction of new housing was to our right. Some of the latest additions will be very close to the walking track we travelled on. The track was clear to walk on, though you did have to watch for uneven surface which was a bit of a trip hazard. Grass had been slashed on either side, or stood chest high if not yet slashed, but we didn't pick up any grass seeds due to the cleared tracks. 

Early in the walk.

looking back along the gorge - can't see much due to vegetation

 the moon still showing over the lovely old trees

 all smiles about walking down to the creek for morning tea... a bit of a climb back up afterwards to this spot.

morning tea beside the creek

 lovely trail

Which way will we go next? 

 The Lake

 heading on after lunch

beautiful gum blossom

We surprised this fellow up in the tree.  He just wanted us to go away and leave him alone again. 

Another very enjoyable time spent with a lovely bunch of people seeing some of our wonderful countryside.