Bridgewater Adelaide Hills Walking Group

Walk #900: Aldgate and Mylor

📍 Distance: 8.5kms
🕒 Time: Two hours
🏞️ Grade: 2/3
🌥️ Weather: Breezy; partly cloudy
⛑️ AED/Snake Kit: many thanks to Helen🙏

Today is a significant event for the BAHWG - we have reached our 900th walk! This is a fantastic milestone, made possible only due to the amazing work that Adele
does to keep the group running - or more accurately, walking! Many a friendship has been formed, many kilometres have been traversed exploring this wonderful region, and it is all thanks to Adele. We are beyond grateful for all you do for the group Adele.

A sea of pink shirts set off from Candlebark Reserve on Strathalbyn Road, Aldgate, with the group heading down Nation Ridge Road. There are a number of native plants currently in bloom, including the wattle, Australia's national floral emblem, it's bright yellow flower easy to spot. We joined up with the Bandicoot trail, and walked through beautiful scrubland, crossing over creeks as we went. Once we reached Stock Road, the group took the trail that runs alongside the road, passing Warrawong. We were looking out for dingos through the fence!

At the corner of Williams Road, we had our group photo taken with Warrawong in the background. There was a slight (!) deviation from the planned walk; instead we walked down Shanks Road and rejoined the Bandicoot trail through Aldgate Valley reserve alongside the creek. Despite the creek receding considerably, you could still see where the water level had reached, and part of the embankment had also been washed away.

Out onto Aldgate Valley Road but not for long, as the group ducked into Blackwood Lane and then along Dalton Avenue where a tree divides the road. This took us out onto Strathalbyn Road and to our cars at Candlebark Reserve. Thank you everyone for taking part in our 900th walk, it is a group that I am proud to be a part of and I know this sentiment is echoed with lots of others too. Congratulations BAHWG, you are an amazing group of people - and doggos! 🎉

☕️ And of course… the 'must do' post-walk café catch-up was at the Stirling Hotel 😉

Not a bad way to spend an hour or two in the Hills ❤️

❤️ We are part of the Heart Foundation Walking
👉 Join our walking group here: https://www.heartfoundationwalking.org.au/fundraiser/id-vz7ued/bridgewater-adelaide-hills-walking-group

📱 FB page: click on 'More' tab then click on 'Events' to locate upcoming walks

⏰ Currently Sun & Tues 08:30am* | Thurs 4:00pm*

‼️ Always check FB for updates before heading out for the event

🎉BAHWG 900th WALK! 🎉

Wow, tomorrow we will be completing our 900th walk! Way to go BAHWG!! This number doesnt include our reccy walks or bonus walks. I dont include those as they are extra walks. So in actual fact we have walked alot more.

Who would have thought when the Bridgewater Adelaide Hills Walking Group began back in April 8 , 2021 that one day we’d be celebrating this incredible milestone! We have come a long way! Im so proud of this group of walkers' you are the best! ❤️

We have walked all over the beautiful Adelaide Hills and occasionally beyond and have discovered so many places you would never see from a car. Its been interesting and wonderful.

A huge thank you to everyone who has walked with us, whether it’s been once, occasionally or hundreds of times. You are what makes this group so special.

Here’s to Walk #900 and the many more to follow! 💪

We will be celebrating this milestone at 1000 Reasons in Echunga next Saturday. 🍷🎉🥳👏🎊🍾🍻

Walk #899: Old Bullock Trail, Crafers West
�🔗 https://facebook.com/events/s/walk-899-bridgewater-adelaide-/1738862627253186/

📍 Distance: 5.41km�💪 Elevation: 160m�🕒 Total Time: about 1 hour 15 mins�🏞️ Grade: 2�⛑️ AED: many thanks to Sooz, much appreciated! 🙏

Well here we are just 1 walk away from our 900th walk! Yahoo!

What another cracker of a morning it was today! Even a jacket wasn’t required. The sun was shining, there were beautiful blue skies above us and the birds were happily chirping away in the trees. It really did feel like spring had arrived early!

We have walked the Old Bullock Trail many times and it remains another firm favourite of ours. It’s not a difficult walk, but there are a couple of "slight inclines" with the final one just before we get back to the cars giving the heart one good final shot of blood whooshing around the heart.☺️

As we made our way along the trail, there was lots to see. We were high enough above the bushland to see some quite remarkable views on both sides of the trail. On one side we could look across the beautiful bushland of Cleland National Park and see down to the Heysen Tunnels on the South Eastern Freeway, then when we looked to the other side there was Mt Lofty with its towers standing high above the surrounding hills, lots more of Cleland National Park spreading itself about and we could even see a few cars winding their way up Greenhill Road.

It’s one of those trails where you find yourself looking from one side to the other and saying "wow how beautiful is all of this", there is always something amazing to see.

We often spot wildlife along this trail, particularly koalas and kangaroos but unfortunately not today, however we did see a couple of bike riders and other walkers enjoying the trail.

As we rounded the bend near the Mt Lofty Golf Course, another stunning view suddenly greated us. In the distance we could clearly see the Adelaide CBD and, beyond that, all the way across to the ocean. The air was so clear today that everything seemed incredibly sharp. We really could see far and wide! And the views just kept getting better.

By the time we reached the top of Mt Osmond, we had one of those wonderful Adelaide Hills panoramas spread out before us. After walking along the trail with native bushland on both sides then suddenly turning a corner and being able to look right across Adelaide and out towards the coast was pretty spectacular. When we reached the top of Mt Osmond we all took a moment and took it all in. It really was special.

Twenty-seven human walkers and 9 doggos joined us for today’s beautiful walk, a fantastic turnout once again.

I will organise another one of our “sunset walks” along here sometime this year. We did one last year and it was very popular. Watching the sun go down and the lights of Adelaide twinkling below us makes this trail feel very magical.

☕️ And keeping with tradition, we of course headed off to a café after our walk for something to drink and nibble. Today we chose one of our favourites, the Organic Market Café in Stirling. There are some traditions one simply does not mess with. Omg...those muffins were to die for!!

We are part of Heart Foundation Walking ❤️

👉 So if you would like to walk with us then join our walking group here:�https://www.heartfoundationwalking.org.au/fundraiser/id-vz7ued/bridgewater-adelaide-hills-walking-group

📱 FB page: click on the ‘More’ tab then click on ‘Events’ to locate upcoming walks.

⏰ Currently we walk:�Sun & Tues 08:30am*�Thurs 4:00pm*

‼️ Always check our FB page for any updates before heading out for the event.

Today is the day! Go for it, put your walking shoes on and off you go!

Walk #898: Waters Road, Mt George

🔗https://facebook.com/events/s/walk-898-bridgewater-adelaide-/4655020344731425/

📍 Distance: 3.36kms
🕒 Time: 50mins
🏞️ Grade: 1
🌥️ Weather: perfect, sunshine and blue skies
⛑️ AED: thanks Ann W, much appreciated! 🙏

This is a pretty relaxed walk, although there is a bit of a “slight incline” walking back up Darpuna Road, but absolutely nothing like the inclines Vicki and I walked up earlier today at Mt Lofty! 🤣

This lovely walk is a nice, pleasant country wander past houses, large paddocks, horses and farm animals, with kangaroos lazing about watching us go by. It has that lovely feeling of being way out in the countryside without actually having to travel very far at all.

Today, really felt like Spring, with blue skies, warm sunshine and the brilliant yellow of the wattles everywhere. You could even smell the wattle as we walked past. Sadly, not everyone is quite so happy when the wattles come out! 🤧🤧

Seventeen humans and 12 dogs attended tonight, which is a large number for a Thursday walk. Welcome back to the “other” Ros! It was lovely to see you again as we haven’t seen you for a while. Also a big welcome to Caroline’s daughter Anna and dog Ruby. ☺️

It was a very relaxed evening walk, good company, happy dogs and fresh Adelaide Hills air. What better way to finish off the day? ☺️

We are part of Heart Foundation Walking.

👉 If you would like to walk with us, join our walking group here: https://www.heartfoundationwalking.org.au/fundraiser/id-vz7ued/bridgewater-adelaide-hills-walking-group

📱 FB page: Click on the ‘More’ tab, then click on the ‘Events’ tab to locate upcoming walks.

⏰ Sun & Tues 08:30am* | Thurs 4:00pm*

‼️ Always check FB for any updates before heading out.

Really.... now I vividly remember saying to myself, and anyone else who would listen, “That’s it! Never, ever will I do the Mt Lofty Waterfall Gully walk ever, ever again"!

Well, apparently I dont listen to myself because there I was again today, questioning my life choices! 🤦‍♀️ Seriously Adele, don’t you ever learn! 😂

Today Vicki B somehow persuaded me to walk with her from Mt Lofty down to Waterfall Gully, and then all the way back up again! What was I thinking? 😳

On our way back up we stopped to talk to a 79-year-old gentleman who was walking with poles and limping because of arthritic knees. After talking to him, I quickly changed my attitude!
He told us he does the walk every week, starting at Waterfall Gully and walking all the way up to Mt Lofty. Once he gets there, he has his lunch and then catches an Uber back to the Waterfall Gully carpark because walking downhill hurts his knees. Nooooo!
What a legend!! 👏👏

Later, when I was struggling on the climb back up to Mt Lofty, I kept thinking about him. If he could get himself up there every week with arthritic knees AND he was a lot older than me, surely I could get myself into gear and keep going! How he does it just amazes me. It's incredible how much the mind can influence the body. There is no such thing as cant!

And he wasn’t the only impressive person out there today! We saw one mum carrying her child on her back as she headed towards the top, another carrying a child on her hip, and lots and lots of people of all different ages tackling the walk. Quite a few we met twice, once as we were heading down and then again as we were making our way back up! Everyone was encouraging each other.

Despite using some rather colourful language whenever another one of those famous “slight inclines” appeared in front of us 🤬😂, I’m very pleased to report that we both conquered the walk without the assistance of a retrieval team! We were very happy not to make friends with any 1st responders!

It most certainly is a challenging walk, but once we finally made it back to the car, we felt pretty darn good about ourselves. 💪 It did help that the weather was absolutely amazing. We had a beautiful sunny day and Cleland National Park put on a fabulous display, with gorgeous waterfalls, wildflowers popping splashes of colour all over the place and some pretty stunning views along the way.

We even made a couple of detours to check out for other walks along the way.

So… am I glad I did it again?
Yes!

Will I ever do it again?
A big NOOOOOO! 😂😂

Walk #897: Saddle Hill Road Loop, Belair NP
�🔗 https://facebook.com/events/s/walk-897-bridgewater-adelaide-/1526524425293227/

📍 Distance: 7kms
🕒 Time: just over 2 hours
🏞️ Grade: 3/4
⛑️ AED: many thanks to Leanne W and Graham, much appreciated! 🙏

This is the first time we have tackled this particular walk as a group and although it is a Grade 3/4 walk, it had nothing that we couldn't handle. That’s one of the great things about walking with this group, we take our time when we need to and there’s always someone around to lend a hand.

Today’s walk began from Gate 11 on Sheoak Road and we made our way into the Belair National Park, which was dripping wet and glistening and sparkling with raindrops post the heavy rain.

Our walk this morning was exciting, exhilarating, loads of fun and, by the end of it, quite an achievement! We certainly managed to overcome a few obstacles along the way.

Firstly, we missed the Curta Track and had to walk all the way back UP Saddle Hill Road. Note the word HILL! 🤦🏼‍♀️ This was where 7 walkers and 1 dog decided they’d had enough adventure for one morning and they left us, whilst 13 warriors decided to continue on and master the wet and slippery Curta Track, with torrents of water flowing down it.

During our walk today we bravely mastered a steep descent - happy to report mishap free, forged our way over, through and around raging waters and almost had to resort to white-water rafting. 🤭🤣 We climbed up the side of a mountain (ok perhaps a hill), although it was relatively short it most certainly was NOT A SLIGHT INCLINE! Thank goodness for the fence line, which gave us something to hang onto along the way.

We walked in rain, then sunshine, then some more rain, climbed over a huge fallen tree and slopped our way through plenty of water. Thank goodness I wore my cute pink Merry Boots today! Smart thinking!

Was it worth it? Absolutely it was! It was loads of fun and not one mishap, so how good are we?! 💪

When we arrived at Cherry Plantation Road, we decided not to take the Melville Hill Track as originally planned because getting “creatively rerouted” at the beginning of our walk had eaten into our time, so Melville Hill will have to wait until next time!

So we walked to the bottom of Cherry Plantation Road where we joined the RSL Walk, and I researched and found an interesting little bit of history about both.

Cherry Plantation Road takes its name from the Japanese flowering cherry plantation established here in 1922 as a living memorial to those who died in WWI. Sadly, most of the original cherry trees are now gone, with many lost in the 1955 Black Sunday bushfires.

The RSL Walk continues the remembrance theme. Along the walk is an avenue of giant sequoias planted in 1962 as a memorial to Australian and American servicemen who served together during WWII and the Korean War.
A lovely little piece of history tucked away in Belair National Park.

We weaved our way through the beautiful RSL Walk until we reached the Adventure Loop Trail. And yes true to name, we discovered it most certainly was a bit of an adventure! The complete trail is roughly 13kms, but today we only walked a part of it.

Earlier on we were walking on wider tracks, but now on the Adventure Tail it changed to a narrower track and we found ourselves walking single file through native bushland. The trail twisted and turned as it followed the natural contours of the hillside. We found there were patches of rough and uneven ground, plenty of rocks and roots, lots of water, a huge tree down, and, of course, the odd “slight incline” but they were very manageable .

I thought this section and also the RSL walk was the most beautiful part of the walk. The adventure trail loop made me feel like we were on a proper little adventure! We saw and heard white cockatoos sitting high up in the trees laughing at us, they thought it was a huge joke seeing humans slosh their way along the trail. 😂

The Adventure Loop took us back towards Saddle Hill Road, which we crossed before picking up the trail again on the other side. From there it wasn't long before eventually we spotted our cars, well we were hoping they were our cars! 🤣

It definitely is another one to add to our growing collection of walking adventures.

☕️ And following on with our after-walk tradition, we of course headed off to Miss Perez Café in Stirling for the café catch-up! Some traditions simply can’t be messed with, even when you’re soaking wet! 😂

We are part of Heart Foundation Walking ❤️

👉 If you would like to walk with us then join our walking group here: https://www.heartfoundationwalking.org.au/fundraiser/id-vz7ued/bridgewater-adelaide-hills-walking-group

📱 FB page: click on the ‘More’ tab then click on ‘Events’ to locate upcoming walks.

⏰ Currently we walk:
Sun & Tues 08:30am*
Thurs 4:00pm*

‼️ Always check FB for updates before heading out for the event.

Looks like it will be raining for the first 1/2 hour of our walk tomorrow. So bring a walking pole if you have one as it might be a bit slippery on the trails tomorrow.