Maureen's Meander to Melbourne

SYDNEY TO MELBOURNE WALK

STAGE SEVEN (17 DECEMBER, 2008)

Otford - Stanwell Park - Coalcliff

Well, off for another early start to meet up with “who ever” at Central for the 7:34 AM train to Otford. Predicted 26 degrees for the coast today and 30 degrees for home (Emu Plains). Met up with the two Jans, Wilf and Lee and headed towards Otford where we connected with Maureen, David, John, Warren; all up nine of us for today's adventure. The day was getting warmer as we headed up the embankment to cross over the Princes Highway, over “the edge” and down towards the fishing cottages at Bulga. However, before going “over the edge” both Maureen and Jan recalled a previous visit to the café and the tame blue-tongue lizards and Jan desired to check the café out to see if they were still in residence (unresolved). Bulga is a very scenic area with a scattering of fishermen's cottages and a couple of flocks of Black cockatoos hanging around picking seed pods off the the trees that were growing around the cottages. Great views back up the coast towards Werrong Heads and also down towards Pt Kembla, although at this stage a sea mist was evident and the view south was a bit hazy. Wilf was able to provide us with some interesting information about the establishment of the cottages, being originally built by and for coal miners from the area. Also that the Royal National Park reaps a good lease fee from them.

Further past Bulga we travelled along the cliff top, which was flat and had a grassy coverage, encountered some fishermen and observed one of them playing out a good battle with a fish that had “taken the bait”. We stayed a while watching the drama unfold but as the fisherman was obviously tiring and the battle was still continuing (the drama would take a bit longer to finalize) we had to make the decision to continue on our way. Ah, once again my fantasies went back to our previous stage of the walk (MMM) and dreams of catching good sized fish for the table!! The views both up and down the coast from here were magnificent, as were the colours and erosion patterns of the sand-stone cliffs.

Moving on through grass and reedy rushes we entered some coastal scrub and stopped for mornos in a shady grove. Fortunately Maureen and David had previously done some reconnaissance work to identify our route along this area of the escarpment and we were able to enter the scrub at the right location to enable us to join up on the track to progress further along the cliff top. In some areas the track ran very close to the edge but safe enough to transverse comfortably. As we got closer to Stanwell Tops the view south became clearer and more of the closer coast line was evident: such as Stanwell Park and the Pacific Highway with the magnificent Sea-Cliff Bridge. This bridge was built as a result of massive landslides many years ago and a requirement to build a substantial structure for the traffic to progress up and down the coast in this area. The name of the bridge came about via a competition for a name and a young local school girl won the competition with the name and the explanation that the bridge spanned the sea and joined the cliffs.

After scrambling down a steep cleft in the cliff and transversing some undulating cliff top area we again entered a littoral scrub environment and headed towards the area of the original rail tunnel for the south coast rail line to Sydney. On arriving at the tunnel Jan exclaimed that Eric was bleeding profusely. On closer inspection a rather plump leech was discovered and appeared to have had his fill and dropped down Eric’s back. It was thought that it had possibly “hitch-hiked” from our morning tea spot when the pack was laid on the ground and then transferred to Eric’s shoulder. Some interesting biology lessons ensued from both Jan and John. It appears that leeches only require to feed once a year and that they are hermaphrodite and also only require the “blood” to reproduce. As John stated, Eric had assisted in the leech's sex life for this year!!

Prior to setting out Maureen had been in contact with one of her friends, Brian Holden, who lived just down the road from the old railway tunnel and who had extended an invitation to partake of a cup of coffee or tea at his home. We lingered a little bit at the tunnel entrance where Wilf was able to tell us a bit of the history of the tunnel and how when it was no longer required for use two bush walkers were nearly trapped when a team of army demolition people blew the entrance in with explosives but failed to tell the bush walkers what was happening as they left, hurriedly from the ignition point!! The tunnel had a disastrous history with partial cave-ins and very bad ventilation problems. It appears that with the wind that came off the ocean the smoke from the old steam engines was blown back into the cabin of the engine as well as the carriages thus causing major health problems for anyone travelling in the trains that passed through the tunnel. Subsequently the rail line had to be re-routed and a new tunnel constructed.

At this point Brian had located us and guided us to his home where we enjoyed his hospitality with a cup of tea and coffee and also partook of our lunch. A good break where a number of very good, funny jokes were exchanged, especially from John. John is visiting from FNQ but had previously lived down this way and knew several of our members including Brian. It is hoped that he will be able to join us on the Malacoota stage of the walk as he will certainly add a good deal of humour to the group. Unfortunately, at this time Maureen had to leave us as she had broken her toe the previous week and had very bravely trekked on during the morning but found the pain to be more intense than expected. Maureen, David, Lee and Wilf left us at this time and caught a train from Stanwell Park back to the city. Brian very kindly offered to guide the remainder of the group over Mt Mitchell and to the three look-out points at the summit.

Mt Mitchell was so named as Thomas Mitchell was the surveyor General in NSW and had been an original resident of the Stanwell Park area. As we ascended Mt Mitchell great views were observed over the Stanwell Park valley and north of the coast towards Werrong Heads. The path followed was the original Bullock track and much evidence was seen on how the original timber cutters had built the track up with sandstone rocks from the area. The timber cutters had felled cedar from this area over 100 years ago and unfortunately no seeds ever remained to re-afforest this area. The trees at this level consisted of Sydney Red Gum (Angophora costata) and Black wattle. We were able to observe the different shades of green of the canopy of this forest area as we looked down over the trees onto the township of Stanwell Park and the beach area. The green colour ranged from verdant green through to a deep bronze green with a distinct line at the edge where each type of eucalypt tree stopped their growing and another cluster began. Also a magnificent arched rail-bridge structure could be seen crossing the valley. The significance of this bridge is that it is the largest single-brick structure in Australia; a magnificent feat of engineering and probably not likely to be able to be reproduced today. Brian was able to point out significant geographical points and pose a question on how did the bullocks pull the large logs over some very sharp-edged, large boulders. After some interesting answers he explained that the boulders were not there when the track was originally used but that they had slipped down the mountain some time after logging had ceased.

Progressing up the remaining side of Mt Mitchell the Sydney Red gums presented a personality and character of their own. Incredible shapes, colours and deformations of trunks and limbs gave these wonderful species a life of their own and a vision that could be feasted on for hours and retained in the memory for a lifetime. As we neared the summit the landform flattened out a little and large quantities of Banksia and Gymea lilies were encountered. We came upon the first of three look-outs that Brian took us to and wonderful scenic views were observed over Stanwell Park Beach as well as the valley below and the coastal edge back up-toward Werrong Headland. Incredible! The second and third look-outs gave us panoramic views down the coast over-looking Coal Cliff, Wollongong and Port Kembla. The sea mist had cleared a little and the view was magnificent. Included in the view from these points was that of Sea Cliff Bridge, another great icon of the recent engineering feats along the Princess highway. We could also see very clearly the beach and salt water swimming pool of Coal Cliff which looked very inviting. A short time to soak in the exotic and breath-taking views and then turn around to head back down Mt Mitchell via the Wodi Wodi track. This track basically runs parallel with the Bullock track but is narrower and no steps were encountered. Again we passed through the flora that we encountered on our ascension of Mt Mitchell but observed from a different direction. It all seemed to be new ground and new and different trees which again presented some very special views and memories of our native trees and plants. As we descended the eroded sandstone formations provided us with very interesting formations and colours. Again an area that more time could be spent just sitting and observing these wonderful results of the forces of nature which have probably occurred over hundreds of years.

Well, back at the bottom of Mt Mitchell and a quick “thankyou” to Brian and a fast walk to Coal Cliff station to catch the 3:04 PM train back to the city. Our sincerest appreciation is extended to Brian for his insightfulness in leading us up and back over Mt Mitchell and to Maureen for arranging the meeting with Brian.

Our trip back on the train was also eventful as John told us the story of Bundy Bear and how it had started as an advertising gimmick back around 1935. As rum was considered a beverage to drink in cold climates to warm people up the producers needed a way of selling the product to the Queenslanders. For this, Bundy Bear was invented with a slogan that “you don’t have to be a polar bear to drink bundy rum”; well the rest is history, and a great drop as well!!! Also John explained how he had worn out two pairs of walking shoes just getting to the start of this walk. There is a story, can it be his keenness to join one of Maureen’s renowned walks or is there some other sinister explanation. Those reading this missive, and who weren’t on the train, will have to attend one of Maureen’s walks to find out the enthralling story!!

Post Script
Unfortunately we had another casualty of a sex attack on Maureen's walk (stage 7). As learnt on the day, after Eric's leech attack, leeches are hermaphrodites and rely on blood for assisting in their reproductive cycle. Well, as has been heard, Jan "M" also was attacked by one of these marauding sex maniacs but did not realize the damage done until she arrived home and was preparing to soak-away the days aches and pains. Unfortunately for Jan she was attacked on the derrier and has experienced some terrible itchiness. Ouch!!Have also heard that Jan R, Maureen and Wilf also had leeches on their person!!