Feeling the cold
Winters in Kalgoorlie are short and not very cold, but temperature is a relative thing. It does get down to zero in Kalgoorlie but it’s a dry crisp cold and days starting that way tend to warm up nicely.
I only encountered a handful of days when the wind was strong enough and chilly enough to make indoors more attractive than being outside.
Moving back to south-eastern Australia we’ve experienced a very mild start to winter, but there have been a few hints of what’s to come.
Stopping near Ballarat for lunch I wanted to close the door to keep the cold out; haven’t done that for three years. Read more
Mt St Gwinear
I’ve returned from a few days visiting Victoria. I caught up with my parents at Moe and made a short trip to Mt St Gwinear.
Western Australia doesn’t have any alpine country and I miss it. I haven’t been to the Stirling Ranges yet, but they’re as close as it gets in this state and they only climb to 1100 metres.
I haven’t found a mountain stream, or a river of any description, in WA where it’s safe to swim either. Victorians take these things for granted. Read more
Feathertop via Bungalow Spur
The population of Victoria is five million people, but I was the only one of them today on the summit of our second-highest peak, Mt Feathertop.
The mountain was awe inspiring, humbling, powerful and beautiful in a mesmerising package of contradictions.
Normally I have Friday spare to pursue private business, but I swapped it for today to take advantage of the fine weather for my first proper bush walk in nine months.
My last ascent of Feathertop was via the easier Razorback route in November 2003. The forecast for Mt Hotham was six degrees and in the valley we were expecting 20 with a light breeze. Read more
Politically correct sign
While walking at The Gorge near Mount Buffalo Chalet yesterday I saw a tourist sign, presumably erected by Parks Victoria, which read:
“James Manfield was one of the first Europeans to bring tourists to the plateau.”
My comments on this …
Although James Manfield was born in Somerset he spent most of his life in Australia and New Zealand. By the time he was guiding people to Mount Buffalo in the 1890s he could rightly be considered Victorian or Australian.
People born in Britain before the Common Market was established never considered themselves European; that was the “continent”.
The point of the sign was obviously to differentiate between white people and Aborigines. However, there is no evidence that Aborigines ever took tourists up the mountain, so there is no need to establish a point of difference.
Aborigines never had a permanent settlement on Mount Buffalo. Small numbers used to visit there in summer to eat moths. The native heritage is interesting and should be commemorated in a special way, but there is no need for politically correct tokenism.
The sentence should have read: “James Manfield was one of the first tourist guides on Mount Buffalo.”
Clear Creek and Paddys Hill
I went for a 34km hike in rugged country south of Porepunkah yesterday. The eight-hour trek started up the Buckland Valley where the Clear Creek Track joins the main road.
I walked along Clear Creek for 8km until it joins the Demon Ridge Track.
The beginning was easy and interesting along creek flats. There were some cattle grazing in several clearings, I could hear and see the creek (which is nearly as big as the Buckland River) and there was evidence of past alluvial gold prospecting.
After about 5km the track crosses the creek into a wide clearing, where there were some people camping. The track then ascends from 500 metres to 1150 metres in just over three kilometres. Although very steep, it’s a well-made road and I came across two people riding trail bikes.
I then followed Demon Ridge to the Albion Track and took a link trail to the Paddys Hill Track. There was a steep climb to reach an unnamed ridge above 1250 metres in snowgum terrain with spectacular views, including the snowcapped peaks of Mount Murray, Hotham and Feathertop.
A few steep undulations between 1150 and 1250 metres followed. The track here was poorly maintained, with many fallen trees blocking the “road”. Unlike the Clear Creek and Demon Ridge, I doubt there had been any vehicle traffic here for at least the past couple of years.
There was a steep descent from the winter snowline to around 900 metres, followed by a pleasant ridge walk in mountain ash before yet another climb to Paddys Hill, elevation 985 metres.
From there it was a steep and tricky downhill climb back to Clear Creek and my car, which I had left on the other side of the Buckland River, fording the stream in bare feet.
My feet froze in the morning crossing, but welcomed the icy water on the return effort.
I have confidence now in my physical fitness to complete an ambitious walk like this one, and pulled up okay this morning apart from some sunburn and small bruises on my heels.
Not everyone would like the steeper aspects of this hike, but I can strongly recommend the flat section along Clear Creek for a casual stroll in an interesting landscape.
Guys Hut
Guys Hut near Mount Sarah somehow survived the bushfire of January 2003. It’s on the Sarah Spur Track, which is closed to vehicles during winter, about one kilometre from the Tea Tree Range Road.
It doesn’t look all that inviting, but for a cross-country skier caught in a blizzard it’s probably heaven. The inside (pictured) features some abandoned bottles and graffiti, including the sign “Mt Sarah 5 Star Resort”.
Buckland and Mount Sarah
I went bush in Suzie today up the Buckland Valley past Beveridges Station for the first time. I followed the Selwyn Creek Track and Tea Tree Range Road to Mount Sarah, stopping at the helipad after walking the Sarah Spur Track to Guys Hut.
It was a terrific day and the road conditions were better than I expected. The Buckland Valley Road was potholed and ordinary up until where Alpine Shire’s responsibility ends and Parks Victoria takes over. You have to feel sorry for the handful of residents along that section.
I stopped where the Selwyn Creek track reaches the ridge of the Great Dividing Range and hiked for a couple of kilometres towards Mount Selwyn. The Twins road was closed. I climbed steeply along part of the Australian Alps Walking Track to a summit and decided to turn back after seeing the trail plunge downwards before presumably ascending again to Mount Selwyn.
Suzie took me to Mount Sarah, with only the last 200 metres causing any difficulty. The vehicle scraped the bottom three times, which surprised me and suggests the clearance isn’t as good as it might be. I’ll have to take that into account for future expeditions.
Mount Sarah is 1553 metres high. It offers good views towards Mount Hotham on one side, and to what I think is Mount Howitt on the other. The higher peaks were snow capped. I expected to see patches at Mount Sarah, but there weren’t any. The snowline last Sunday was around 1400 metres, so it’s retreated quickly in seven days to about 1600 metres.
I tried returning via Mount Selwyn, but a log across the road cut me short and I had to backtrack. I pulled in at Beveridges Station for a coffee and to read the paper beside the Buckland River.
It was a very enjoyable day and I now have some ideas for camping spots. I’d also like to explore along the Mount Murray Road when it re-opens.
Mount Buffalo ride
For the third Sunday in a row I ventured up Mount Buffalo, this time with my trusty bike secured to the back of Suzie.
I completed three different rides, starting with a dirt and gravel track to the Reservoir and continuing along the Rocky Valley Trail.
The track doesn’t appear to have been graded since the fires and was in shocking condition for riding. I carried or walked the bike nearly as much as I rode it. The boggy sections and snow patches were to be expected, but flood scouring and total rock cover caused most of the problems.
The snow has nearly all melted now, but still covered the track in a few places. I found it’s impossible to cycle through soft snow, and again had to push the bike or carry it.
It was very enjoyable though. The snowplain doesn’t attract many visitors at this time of year and I had total solitude in which to appreciate the natural beauty.
I want to fire a broadside at Parks Victoria, however. They still haven’t finished repairing tracks that were damaged by bushfire in January 2002, despite the government pouring millions into rehabilitation.
Their communication of track closures is also ordinary, to say the least. I wanted to try and reach the Rocky Valley camp site today, but the track is closed about 3km from the Reservoir. Likewise, last week I wanted to walk to Andersons Peak, only to find the track closed.
Notices should be placed at the beginning of walks, instead of halfway along them. Newsletter updates should also be given when you pay $9.50 to enter the National Park.
Having cleared the air on that one, I can return to today’s ride. After cycling back to the car I completed two shorter trips on the main road.
Firstly I went to The Chalet, which was about 2.5km from where I had parked, or 5km return. Then I went about 3km in the other direction to Dingo Dell past Lake Catani (6km return).
I’ve only ever driven through this area, so it gave a new insight to see familiar features from the bike instead.
The weather started fairly mild and I abandoned my jumper to soak up the sun. I like to gain a bit of color early in the season.
Later though it turned cold and some light drizzle started. All up, I rode about 26km, which isn’t a lot except when you consider I carried the bike for perhaps two or three of them.
I passed a few road cyclists on the way up, awestruck at their fitness to climb over a 1000 metres. I found the 100 metre climb to Dingo Dell challenging enough.
I guess if I had the right sort of bike I could give the big one a shake. I also have to admire sport cyclists for how they handle the downhill runs. It was scary enough staying in control of my Repco hybrid doing 40kmh around the downhill bends.
Og Gog Magog
I went for a three-hour bushwalk this morning up Mount Buffalo. I started near the park office and walked along the Reservoir Track, which is still closed to vehicles.
The snow had mostly melted, although several patches remained and it was quite deep at the higher levels. I walked to Og Gog Magog (pictured above), which is an interesting rock formation.
I thought it a curious name and tried to discover its meaning. I now know that Gog was a king and Magog was his kingdom, from the Book of Ezechiel.
The walk wasn’t physically hard, but the track was poorly marked and I became briefly lost on one occasion. I sank to my knees in snow a couple of times, and with sore feet from new boots I didn’t go too far, looping back to the Reservoir via the Rocky Creek trail.
Despite the annoyances, I really enjoyed this walk. Spring is an ideal time to explore Mount Buffalo. Melting snow enhanced the visual aspect and the creeks were flowing rapidly with crystal clear water.
Toboggan fun
I took Kathleen up to Mount Buffalo yesterday for some toboggan play. It’s unusual to still have such good snow at Buffalo so late in the season.
There was 5cm of fresh snow from an overnight fall and 45cm altogether at Cresta. For some reason they’ve closed the ski run and lodge, but the car park was full and dozens of people enjoyed the toboggan run.
I crashed twice and went down with Kathleen a couple of times. It was a good father-daughter experience.
Recent comments
- delmer: I downloaded Chrome about 10 minutes ago and am using it now. It seems pretty zippy.
- Emily: I remember learning the meaning of the Greek fish symbol in Greek school. I think it had to do with the the...
- rgeo81: hey there, the other day i was riding my bike to work…i have never in my life been swooped by a...
- Michael: Hello Gerhard, rental accommodation can be difficult to find. If possible, you should travel ahead of your...
- Gerhard: Hello I have the opportunity to be transfer to kalgoorlie from South Africa. Is housing a promlem and do i...
Links
Random posts
Archives
Subscribe
Enter your email address here to receive a weekly email newsletter.Useful stuff
