Woronora River Walk – 2 November 2017

Posted on November 14, 2017 by Dave Noble

This was a pleasant and interesting walk largely in Heathcote National Park with Digi Dave. Digi wanted to visit Kingdom Come on the Woronora River and he suggested we start from Waterfall, and that way we could visit an interesting Aboriginal rock engraving site that he knew about.

We set off along a fire road and soon turned off and followed a very faint track through scrub to a nice rock platform. Here we found several large rock engravings, a few smaller ones and many sets of axe sharpening grooves. This was quite an amazing site. Continue reading →

Posted in Bushwalking, Wildflowers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Vale – Graham Wootton

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Dave Noble

I was recently sad to hear about the passing of a fellow bushwalker – Graham Wootton. In some ways, Graham’s early days in bushwalking paralleled my own. He was a foundation member of my old bushwalking club – The Springwood Bushwalking Club, and also like me, joined SUBW – Sydney University Bushwalkers. And after finishing university, he also, like me, joined the Kameruka Bushwalking Club. But in all of these, he was a few years ahead of me, and I didn’t meet him until the late 1970’s after he had moved to Tasmania.

Graham Wootton – Photo by Cecilia Wootton

It was at a Kameruka Bushwalking Club meeting that I first met Graham. He was on a short visit from Tasmania and at the meeting showed some of his very beautiful slides of Tasmania. What stood out to me were his slides of Fagus – the native Deciduous Beech and also their location – The Traveller Range. This was a revelation to me and I made up my mind to go to the Traveller Range and also experience Autumn in Tasmania and see for myself the beautiful leaves of Fagus as they change colour. I think I achieved both objectives a few years later in the early 1980’s. Continue reading →

Posted in Bushwalking, Wilderness Photography | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Birds at Bicentennial Park and the Foreshore Walk to Cabarita – 1 November 2017

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Dave Noble

I spent a very enjoyable walk, partly spent at Bicentennial Park at Homebush Bay photographing birds and then finished off with a walk from there to Rhodes and along the Foreshore Path to Cabarita.

Welcome Swallow

I started by catching a train to Concord West and then walking the short way into the park. I then strolled along some of the tracks in the park. I first went of a dirt path I had not noticed before that runs along the east side of Powells Creek. I soon came to a large pod full of birds – Spoonbills, Ibis and Cormorants. Later in the day, I returned to this pool -and there were no birds at all. Perhaps it is where many spend the night? Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Sydney | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Nature Along Wolli Creek – 31 October 2017

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Dave Noble

It was time for another walk along the Two Valleys Track at Wolli Creek. I started at Bexley North and walked down to Turrella. Along the way I encounter a reasonable amount of Nature. Not that many birds – it was perhaps too hot and I was walking in the middle of the day.

Little Wattlebird

Here is some of what I saw –  Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Bushwalking, Nature, Sydney | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Gundungura Guide – Now Online

Posted on November 5, 2017 by Dave Noble

When I was starting bushwalking one of my treasured possessions was a small guidebook – The Gundungura Guide. It was produced after a lot of research by members of SURC – Sydney University Rover Crew. This guidebook covered a large part of the Southern Blue Mountains – in particular the area between Kanangra Walls and the Wollondilly River including Yerranderie and the Kowmung River.

At first I used this guide for its notes on the Kanangra Canyons and walking routes to the Kowmung River. Later, I appreciated it more for its background material – in particular the notes on geology and geomorphology. The principal author of the guide was Athol Abrahams, who later went on to a career as a distinguished academic geographer in the United States. Continue reading →

Posted in Blue Mountains, Book Review, Bushwalking, Canyoning, Conservation | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Colo River Walk 28 – 29 October 2017

Posted on November 4, 2017 by Dave Noble

Wendy had organised a walk for the weekend. Martin, Steffy and myself were keen to join her. Now all we had to do was to work out where to go. Steffy had suggested a walk along the lower part of the Colo River and that sounded nice.

We started from Mountain Lagoon. Some of the party (all except Wendy) had visited the first part of the walk a few years ago. On that occasion we had walked from Mountain Lagoon along Mailes Ridge to Colo-Meroo campground and returned the same way the next day. This time we intended to walk in via the same route to Colo Meroo, and then walk up the Colo River, camp part way along, and then next day keep going to the junction with Tootie Creek where we would climb out and walk back to the car via the T3 Track. Continue reading →

Posted in Bushwalking, Wollemi National Parks | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Sculpture By The Sea – Bondi to Tamarama – 26 October 2017

Posted on November 3, 2017 by Dave Noble

I made a visit to Sculpture By The Sea on the morning of 26 October 2017. I caught an early train to Bondi Junction, then walked down to Tamarama Beach, arriving just before sunrise. Getting up early was worth doing, it was a nice atmospheric sunrise with a big cloud bank adding some drama.

Photographing works of art – the sculptures is perhaps a bit like “meta-art” if you try and make your photos a bit artistic. At an event like this one, just about every visitor is wandering around with either a camera or a phone taking pictures. So it is challenge to try and record the artworks in a way that is a little bit different to a typical record shot photo. Continue reading →

Posted in Photography, Sydney | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Nature Along The Cooks River – 25 October 2017

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Dave Noble

I spent a few hours cycling along the Cooks River Cycleway looking for birds and other wildlife to photograph. It was quite a hot day, and that may have meant that a lot of creatures were hiding in the shade.

I first visited the Tawny Frogmouths with their two chicks that I had been observing for a while now. They seemed to be doing well –  Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Nature, Sydney | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Canoe Creek – Colo River – Photo Walk 23-24 October 2017

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Dave Noble

David Hufton invited me to join him on a walk to the Colo River via Canoe Creek. It had been a fair few years since my last visit to this area that I was pleased to be able to go along.

On the way up, we made a short detour to visit an Aboriginal art cave. It was one that I had not visited before and it was quite impressive with lots of hand stencils (mainly in white, but also some in ochre), and boomerangs and axes and also some charcoal drawings. Just outside the shelter were several sets of axe grinding grooves and also some small wells. This was a very interesting and special place. Continue reading →

Posted in Blue Mountains, Bushwalking, Wilderness Photography, Wollemi National Parks | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

“Wayfaring in Wollemi” – New Book

Posted on October 30, 2017 by Dave Noble

I was very please to attend the launch of a new book by Andy Macqueen called “Wayfaring in Wollemi”. The book was launched at Mt Tomah Botanic Gardens on 22 October. It tells the stories of 28 people – explorers, surveyors, cattlemen, bushwalkers, conservationists, travellers and other people that have had a deep connection with the greater Wollemi Wilderness.

It is a 352 page hard cover book that has been meticulously researched by author Andy Macqueen. Not only has the historical research been very thorough but also the author, being a very well known bushwalker, has linked the tales of the wayfarers with his own journeys into the Wollemi. So far I am only half way through this excellent book. I will add a full review at a later date.

Copies can be obtained through the Colong Foundation online shop ($40 including postage) or from bookshops in the Blue Mountains.

Posted in Blue Mountains, Book Review, Bushwalking, Conservation, Wollemi National Parks | Tagged , , | 1 Comment