Wendy was keen on a multi-day walk over the long weekend and she also had a few extra days off. Options were limited by national park closures. She decided on part of the Great North Walk as it had not been burnt by bushfires nor was the track closed. She invited me to join her.
The forecast for the first day was for very hot weather, so we spent that day at the Reptile Park at Gosford. From there, it was a short walk to the Girrakool Picnic Area in Brisbane Waters National Park. This was where we started our walk.
We spent a very hot and stormy night at the picnic area. The picnic area is closed to cars after dark, but the toilet block is still open, and they have running water.
Next morning, we started walking down the track which follows Piles Creek from high above. It soon crosses the creek above Girrakook Falls.
And then it goes down towards Mooney Mooney Creek – but mots of the time it is quite high up. A few lookouts offer “filtered views”. This is pleasant walking on a good track.
We soon reached the Great North Walk track. We followed it south over an interesting rocky area.
We looked for Aboriginal Art and sharpening grooves. We did find quite a number of circular features. I have seen many of these before on Popran National Park and I think they are likely to be of Aboriginal origin but am no expert. Perhaps they were used to grind up seeds?
We climbed over some low hills and then joined a fire road near the Gosford Rifle Range. We walked a short way along it and then turned off along a track to Kariong Falls. I had walked this way previously, and knew it was an interesting track. Lots of trees growing in weird shapes.
At Kariong Brook, we could fill our water bottles once again and also enjoy a swim in the pool below the falls.
We then climbed up on the far side and soon reached another fire road. We followed this one towards Patonga before turning off and following a track over Mt Wondabyne. On the way we crossed more open rocky areas. On one of these we did spot quite a few Aboriginal sharpening grooves.
The track then climbs and crosses a high shoulder of Mt Wondabyne. It was a short detour to the summit. On the way we passed a small camp cave.
The summit views were spoilt a bit by bushfire smoke.
Back down, the track soon reached a fire road and a campsite. We continued along the fire road, and soon turned off and followed the Rocky Ponds Fire Road.
Easy walking – but it was a hot and steamy day. Just before this road dropped down to a creek, we turned off and followed a taped route along a very eroded fire road down to Tanks Creek Campsite.
We reached Tanks Creek, crossed it and then looked for the campsite. But it was not on that side! We crossed the creek again and after some searching found a nice campsite about 50 m from the creek.
Too cool off, we sat in pools in the creekbed.
Another very hot night.
Next morning, we knew we had only a short day to walk down to Little Wobby and the first ferry to Brooklyn was at 2 pm. So we delayed our departure. Quite a few nice birds were in the vicinity.
We then continued on the taped track that sidles around a small peak and hen follows the ridge above Little Wobby. This was slow at first because of the fallen trees. But the ridge was a lot more pleasant with great views of the Hawkesbury River.
We followed the track till it went under a power line. Here we knew of a route down to Little Wobby near here, but we continued on a short way, then followed an old track marked with police tape that went down to a bay. This took us to a tar road near the water.
From there it was s short walk to Little Wobby. We followed a public access path through the settlement to the wharf. We didn’t have long to wait for the ferry.
The ferry took us to Brooklyn. As it was a another hot day, we called in to the Anglers Rest Hotel for a late lunch and some cool drinks. This was a very pleasant interlude. We then, reluctantly left the hotel and followed the fire road to Brooklyn Dam, our next campsite. Here we met some other walkers – the first other walkers we had seen.
We managed to get some clean water our of a side creek, and then I cooled off with a swim in the dam. Another very hot and sultry night. The next day was another very hot one. We left early and climbed up along the fire road. More nice views of the Hawkesbury.
The next section was track, it soon crossed a creek and then another climb and then a descent to Jerusalem Bay.
Here, there were lots of boats and lots of people. We called off with a swim and then continued on to find a shady place for a rest. The climb up to Cowan is not too bad – the climb is quite gentle, probably following an old road or pack horse track.
After crossing the railway line at Cowan Station, Wendy noticed sign pointing to “The Great North Walk Cafe”, 200 m up the old highway. We spent an hour at the cafe – consuming cold drinks and ice creams. That was our lunch that day.
Then more hot walking from Cowan to the ridge above Berowra Waters. Several times we stopped walking and sat in caves to avoid storms. The rain that fell was very brief however.
We also stopped at the two creeks the track crossed – cooling off in pools. At the second one, we filled up with water for our camp on the ridge above. This creek had some houses above – so I filtered the water.
The last climb was short, to reach our high camp. I had camped here before and it offers fine views. Another hot and sultry night.
Next morning, our last on the walk, we descended down to the hamlet of Berowra Waters, and refilled our water bottles at the taps at the public toilets. After crossing the road near the ferry, we climbed up to eventually reach a fire road.
Further along is a nice lookout.
Not far past the lookout, I farewelled Wendy. She was determined to walk all the way to Hornsby. I was looking forward to escaping from the heat, so I had decided on the much shorter walk to Bewowra Station.
Wendy completed her walk – but found it hot going when the morning clouds burnt away.
Thanks to Wendy for inviting me to join her. We visited some nice country – and it was unburnt! But conditions were quite trying – hot days, high humidity, and lot of mosquitoes in the evenings. Our tents had mosquito nets – but the mesh also stopped any breeze. I carried sleeping bag on the walk but never unpacked it.