Great North Walk: Cowan to Brooklyn
Categories: australia, bushwalking-hiking
Date: 04 October 2007 10:46:24
My 12 kilometre walk of the 250 kilometre Great North Walk. I may look at doing other parts of it in the coming months: it was rather enjoyable, if not a bit tough in parts. The "difficult" rating by the NSW NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service was reasonably accurate.
It was a nice sunny, and rather hot and windy, day, as I set off from Cowan railway station. The first 5 or so kilometres featured some rather rough terrain, and some rather steep ascents and descents: generally over rocks. But seeing Jerusalem Bay was some consolation: quite a bit in fact, it is rather beautiful. A few boats were out, either for fishing or for relaxation.
As well as the bush, and the associated plant life, and walks between rock walls and creeks, there were also a number of interesting rock formations, some, as in the photo on the right, with striking patterns.
After several rather large climbs, and a number of stops, I reached almost half-way. The path widened, and also became a bit more level and less rough, which was a relief. The walk went quite a while at quite a high level, giving a good overall view of the surrounds, including glimpses of civilisation.
After finishing the walk, and enjoying a nice lunch of hot chips and grilled prawns on skewers, I boarded the Dangar Island ferry for a trip to Dangar Island for a look-a-round. No vehicles, save emergency vehicles, are allowed on the island now: people, and bikes, are all I saw along the narrow, but picturesque, roads.
Going back to the wharf to catch the ferry back, via Little Wobby, the winds had picked up quite a bit and a few boats had come loose from their moorings. A couple were trying to get their boat back under control -- see photo on left -- and did quite a good job getting it back. A nice, if a little bumpy, trip back, and then it was back on the train for me to Cowan [one station...11 minutes of air-conditioned comfort], before collecting my car. Slightly tired, and quite a bit red, I made my way back home, to a nice bath and plundering some aloe vera from the back garden for my red neck and face.