Settlers Track Walk – Namadgi National Park,  1 November 2020, Report by Luke Mulders, Brindabella Bushwalking Club

Setters Track was an utterly delightful walk led by Bill Gibson in southern Namadgi NP. The weather was cool with fresh wind and no rain. After a drive of 90 minutes from Kambah and a short car shuffle, our group of 12 happy walkers was underway on the 16 km round trip exploring the delightful huts in this totally stunning, unburnt section of Namadgi NP.

The walk was mostly on management trails which enabled side to side walking and lots of socialising. Recent heavy rains provided flowing creeks and waterlogged flats. There were some early wildflowers (billy buttons) and multiple pockets of sprouting mushrooms.

At the walk end, to cap off the beautiful surroundings, we were all treated to delicious banana/passionfruit cake and scrumptious fruit-mince tart. What a way to finish!!

Our club of the month: Brindabella Bushwalking Club

The Brindabella Bushwalking Club (aka. BBC), is based in Canberra, ACT, has around 400 members, and offers a wide range of walking opportunities.  These include half-day and full day walks on Wednesdays, and full day walks on Saturdays and Sundays to suit all standards of walkers.

Bushwalks suitable for families with young children are also offered. Day walks usually take place in Canberra, rural areas of the ACT including Namadgi National Park, and nearby New South Wales. The club is a member of Bushwalking NSW and supports our Policy on Natural Areas.

Contact the BBC today to try out a walk, and discover the pleasures of walks around the ACT. You might also get some cake as a reward!
Brindabella Bushwalking Club

The NSW Nature Conservation Council (NCC) says that up to 1000 hectares of world heritage area and 3700 hectares of national park will be inundated for up to two weeks by raising Warragamba Dam wall. 

The NCC is very concerned about 58 threatened species within the area already impacted by  recent bushfires including the koala, critically-endangered regent honeyeater, greater glider, broad-headed snake, brushtail rock wallaby, eucalyptus benthamii and eucalyptus glaucina. 

In January 2020 the World Heritage Centre asked the Commonwealth Government to provide an update on the state of conservation of the Blue Mountains heritage area after more than 80 per cent was ravaged by fire last summer. 

In response, the Commonwealth Government said Water NSW would re-assess bushfire impacts and include them in the pending environmental impact statement (EIS).  However, to date the draft EIS states Water NSW has no intention of re-assessing the area impacted by fire. 

Ornithologist Martin Schulz said last summer’s Green Wattle Creek blaze burnt most of the southern Blue Mountains leaving only a small unburnt section which will likely be flooded by the Dam. “The ecosystems are different and parts will be in recovery for decades. How can an assessment done before the fires be valid? Dr Schulz asked. The fires changed so many things,” he said. 

The draft EIS shows before the bushfires only 15 hours of spotlight searches were conducted for the koala, greater glider and squirrel glider in the inundation area, despite a 61 hour recommendation. Dr Schulz says this is “bafflingly low” especially for koalas given the area is so vast and how hard they are to find. 

The time spent gathering sample collections of the squirrel glider and brush-tailed phascogale also didn’t meet the guidelines with only 1820 nights completed but 3224 nights recommended. The assessment of the large-eared pied bat was 11 times less the suggested amount with traps laid for 78 nights yet 864 recommended. “The low survey effort for the large-eared pied bat is particularly disappointing,” Dr Schulz said. 

Community group Give a Dam spokesman Harry Burkitt has called on the Federal Government to intervene. 

“The barrow-loads of leaked material now in the public domain show (Western Sydney) Minister Stuart Ayres and Infrastructure NSW haven’t even bothered following NSW guidelines, let alone those required under federal law or by UNESCO,” he said. 

Infrastructure NSW, which oversees the project, says feedback from state and federal governments on the draft EIS is important in developing the final version. “The final decision on the dam raising proposal will only be made after all environmental, cultural, financial and planning assessments are complete,” a spokeswoman said. 

The World Heritage Committee, which selects sites for UNESCO’s world heritage list, has expressed concerns over the project and will review the EIS before the Federal Government’s decision. 

A piece of our history by Colin Wood, Armidale Bushwalking Club

Rae Else-Mitchell CMG QC (20 September 1914 – 29 June 2006) was an Australian jurist, royal commissioner, historian and legal scholar.

Rae Else-Mitchell at Byrnes Gap, 1932

Rae Else-Mitchell was an active member and office bearer in a number of community organisations concerning history, arts, libraries, medicine, education, financial and public administration and town planning. Rae’s obituary in The (London) Times described him as being “among Australia’s cleverest postwar judges and administrators, accomplishing two distinguished careers of almost equal length.”

However Rae Else-Mitchell was also a man well known by the bushwalking fraternity.

Else-Mitchell lived in Springwood and loved the magnificent Blue Gums across the street from his home. He was shocked when one day in the early 1950s he found the land owner showing logging contractors around the property.

Else-Mitchell was determined to save the trees and so he donated enough money to Council to purchase the blocks of the land for a public park. A neighbouring landowner, Mr Miller, donated part of his property and Else- Mitchell Park was created.

Development of the Springwood industrial estate in the 1970s resulted in the loss of a large area of Blue Gum Forest on part of 40 hectare granted to explorer William Lawson in 1834. In 1978, when a townhouse development was planned for the last 13 hectares of this patch, concerned members of the community pointed out that the site had considerable ecological and historical significance and extraordinary natural beauty. Council eventually purchased the land to preserve the forest and this became Deanei Reserve.

Rae Else-Mitchell also wrote many stories about the Australian bush which can be seen here.

Guest Post by Colin Wood, Armidale Bushwalking Club and Greenaissance Concepts

“What does one do as a leader when 32 walkers want to come along? Talk to Carmel who says “Yes I’ll help out”. What does one do as a leader when the number of walkers increases to 42? Ring Heike K. and you know what the response will be “Of course I will be glad to help you”.

So, on a sunny Sunday three walking parties set off at Evans Head with 2 going the “normal way” and my lot going anticlockwise through the wildflower heath first. The Boronias were in full bloom, lots of them.

We arrived at Chinamans Beach Picnic Area for morning tea before walking through heathland towards the bombing range. On arrival there was no aerial bombardment so we progressed quietly on the sand dunes to Goanna Headland.

There appears to be different names for South Evans Coastland features but Uncle Google calls it Goanna Headland so I will too. Here we passed the two other walking parties who were socially distancing.

After a short break to take in the view we headed off along New Zealand Beach back to the picnic area where we enjoyed lunch sitting at the sheltered picnic tables.

The final part of the walk was on the coastal paths. We stopped at a couple of the small headlands starting at Joggly Point and were almost mesmerised by the pristine blue sea gently breaking on the rocks. It proved to be a real highlight and, in the end, it made me think that going in our direction for this walk was better. We saved the best the walk had to offer to the end.”

Our club of the month: Northern Rivers Bushwalking Club

The Northern Rivers Bushwalking Club (aka. NRBC), runs a variety of bushwalking, cycling, kayaking and abseiling activities each week in the National Parks, State Forests and coastal areas of the NSW North Coast Region, and beyond!

This friendly club has activities to suit everyone and welcomes new members. The club runs regular inter-club trips in Australia, and organises overseas trips for members (covid-permitting).

Contact the NRBC today to have a chat, join an activity, and learn about the beautiful northern rivers region of NSW!

Northern Rivers Bushwalking Club

October, and we are well into spring. I thought I’d open my few words with a pithy quote about spring, something that might enthuse bushwalkers everywhere. How about Robin Williams’ declaration that “Spring is nature’s way of saying, Let’s Party”? Let’s get out into the bush and party! But then I discovered Margaret Atwood telling us that “in the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt”. I suspect little did she think she was addressing a bunch of bushwalkers who, after a good hike probably do smell a wee bit like dirt. So there it is, get out there and party, and whatever you do, come home smelling of the great outdoors.

And talking of the great outdoors, I hear that clubs across NSW are getting out and about more these days. The winter hibernation – a generous interpretation of the Covid lockdowns – has passed. We in NSW have been fortunate to be able to roam more widely and in larger numbers than our bushwalking counterparts in Victoria. Do spare them a thought. And so it is that we are able, in this State, to reexplore our own back yards. Perhaps you might be doing a little of what I have been doing recently, exploring parts of the State I haven’t visited for many years. Before the Queensland border was closed (again!), I decided to take the long route to Canberra from the north coast, avoiding Greater Sydney so that I could get across the border for a bit of grandparent duty without having to declare I’d been in the dreaded hotspot. The result, a fine bit of hiking in the Warrumbungles, and a reminder of what the western districts can offer us. Return trips to the New England Tableland, Mount Kaputar, and the Pilliga are in the offing, and no doubt several other choice destinations will delight. Thank you, by the way, to the bushwalking clubs whose web sites I have perused to help my planning.

But we all have our own backyards. And this year, our backyards are all looking pretty good. Everywhere I have been there is fine spring green growth, the flowers are popping out, and in my own sub-tropical rainforest clad mountains we are getting views! Yes, views! Bushwalking in rainforest is rewarded by glimpses rather than views, and often precious few of these. As the burnt forest recovers, we are rewarded with more expansive views – although hardly expansive in a Snow Mountain sense – and on recent walks we have all been able to understand the lie of the land better.

Talking of flowers, who has had an opportunity to take a walk or two along our wonderful coast recently? The coastal heath is looking good these days, and for the twitchers amongst us, the birds are out. One of the groups I was out with recently was determinedly warned off by a couple of kites guarding their chicks. And if you are lucky, you will still be able to spot a few the whales. They are still migrating south. On the same walk, progress was delayed considerably as a couple of whales put on the most impressive display of tail and fin slapping, rolling and generally having, dare I say it, a whale of a time. And all within easy view from the shore.

So, let’s get out there and party! Happy bushwalking everyone. Bill

While walking volunteers mapped the northern section of Western Sydney Parklands a few years ago, they have recently mapped the Parklands southern section from Prospect Reservoir to West Hoxton. Walking routes are now available on their “Sydney Walking Tracks” online map.

If you haven’t walked the Parklands before, you are in for a welcome surprise!

South of Prospect Reservoir, the Parklands run along Devils Back Ridge with some wonderful views east to the City and west to the Blue Mountains including one of the best ridgetop panoramas in Sydney at The Beauty Spot.

Since 2008 the Parklands Trust have re-generated 13 square kilometres of Cumberland Plain bushland with 350,000 native trees and plants. Many of these plantings have matured into wonderful treescapes that provide shade on the bitumen shared paths network and walker-friendly slashed paths.  The Trust has signposted several walking loops but the walking volunteers map will keep you on track if you want to venture further afield and stay off the shared paths.

Now is the perfect time to walk this brilliant parkland!

If you have already downloaded “Sydney Walking Tracks” map onto your smartphone, tablet or PC these routes will automatically appear. If you haven’t downloaded the map yet, it is available on the Walking Volunteer’s website .

The Parklands Trust is running a “Get Back on Track Challenge” in conjunction with NAB Runwest. See here for details.

Guest Post by Keith Maxwell

It’s almost the time of year for the annual Chardon Award.   The Award recognises those who have made a significant contribution to the bushwalking movement. However you may be wondering, who inspired the Chardon Award?

Harold Chardon, Left of 2 standing men. Photo by Alan Rigby.

The Award is named after Harold James Chardon. The bushwalker we remember for the “Chardon Award” was born in Queensland on 7 May 1905, the child of Alice Jane (Tatton) and William James Chardon.  Early on they settled in Bondi. Harold Chardon would become a surf life saver, a ‘tiger’ bushwalker, public servant and conservationist. In 1932 he played a pivotal role in the foundation of Bushwalking NSW (BNSW) and the Blue Gum Forest campaign.

In 1922 Harold started a career in the NSW Public Service as a Junior Clerk, Stamp Duties Office.

Bondi must have been a great place to grow up as he became a strong swimmer and life saver but also showed an early interest in organisation.  On 29 January 1926 Bondi and North Bondi Surf Clubs held a combined surf carnival.  Harold was the Secretary of the Bondi Club.

Harold became keenly interested in the outdoors and in 1929 was appointed an Honorary Ranger in Wild Flowers and Native Plants and in 1930, Birds and Animals.  All this as part of the newly formed Sydney Bush Walkers (SBW – formed October 1927) where for a short time in 1928 he was the Club Secretary.  It was an exciting time to go bushwalking.  So much of what we now take for granted around the towns of the Blue Mountains was being explored and mapped. In stamina he was able to join the SBW ‘tiger walkers’ who would cover big distances by travelling both light and fast.  With Wally Roots (a.k.a.Orang Utan) he joined another ‘tiger’ walker in the first bushwalker descent of Orang Utan Pass into the Grose Valley.  In 1930 he was invited to join the exclusive Mountain Trails Club.  In the lower Hollanders River, catchment of the Kowmung River, is the granite “Chardon Canyon”.

Yet in 1931 dark clouds were forming in the Grose Valley – Blue Gum Forest seemed to be in the gaze of an axeman.  Harold as SBW President was part of the delegation that negotiated with Mr Hungerford of Bilpin who was prepared to sell his rights in the forest for £130 (down from £150 but probably in excess of $15,000 in 2020).  Harold was then one of four SBW members as part of the subsequent Blue Gum Forest Committee.  The Blue Gum Forest Campaign is a long story where many groups had to come together, especially the bushwalking clubs.  As a respected bushwalker (and a past SBW President) he called the bushwalking clubs to a meeting on 21 July 1932.  From this meeting the “Federation of Bush Walking Clubs of New South Wales” (now BNSW) was formed.  Harold was very much the delivery man to BNSW as the meeting Secretary.  (This is why the Chardon Award has been named in his honour).

“Wilderness” was a term in the future of 1930s Australia.  Myles Dunphy formed the “National Parks and Primitive Area Council (NP&PAC)” to push for new National Parks.  In August 1934 the Katoomba Daily produced a supplement from Myles Dunphy that included a proposal for a Greater Blue Mountains National Park.  Harold as Chairman of NP&PAC assisted in preparation of this supplement.  (This dream was mostly finally realised in 1976 with the creation of Wollemi and Southern Blue Mountains National Parks.)

1936 was a busy year.  In Bexley Harold married fellow bushwalker Win (Winifred) Lewis.  Then, in October he was part of the first (informal) search by the Search and Rescue Section of Federation – now SES Bush Search and Rescue NSW.  It was an extremely strong party of eleven bushwalkers who entered the Grose Valley almost as a “who’s who” of bushwalking.

During WWII Harold served in the Second A.I.F. (army) in New Guinea as Chief Signals Officer Lines of Communication.

Post War Harold continued to rise up the Public Service fulfilling valuable roles in Workers Compensation and in 1958 as an Accountant moved from the Department of Labour and Industry to the Department of Agriculture.  He retired from this Department on 6 May 1965.  His final years were spent at Connells Point on the Georges River and he died on 26 June 1993.

Harold James Chardon is remembered as a surf life saver, strong bushwalker, public servant, ex-serviceman, strong conservationist and a guiding hand in the formation of BNSW.  BNSW is proud to have an award named in his honour that recognises outstanding bushwalkers.

Guest Post by Keith Maxwell

The recent unprecedented bushfire season disrupted our outdoor adventure plans and devastated national parks and wildlife. Unfortunately, with rising temperatures and drier years, this is only the start of a new trend of more frequent and destructive bushfires.

Bushwalking NSW is excited to welcome Professor David Bowman to talk at the Bushwalking NSW General Meeting about new bushfire conditions and the surprising things we need to consider to adapt to them.

David is Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania, and Honorary Professor Archaeology and Natural History at the Australian National University. His research is focused on the ecology,­­­ evolution, biogeography and management of fire. David is exploring the relationship between fire, landscapes and humans and has an incredibly deep and broad understanding of:

• how bushfire affects our natural environment,
• what future we can expect for national parks and wild places that we love to walk in, and
• how to adapt to new conditions to continue enjoying outdoor adventure.

David is establishing the new transdisciplinary field of pyrogeography which understands landscape burning from a multi-time-space-and-disciplinary perspective and considers human, physical and biological aspects at local to global scale over the geological past into the future. David is also a bushwalker who can provide first hand insight into the future of outdoor adventure. David recently made a submission to the NSW Independent Bushfire Inquiry.

The Bushwalking NSW General Meeting will be held online on Tuesday 19 May at 7pm for a 7.30pm start via Zoom or telephone. The full agenda is here and RSVPs are essential.

Learn more about Professor Bowman’s work here.

We are all spending a lot of time indoors due to COVID-19.

So we thought it was a good time to revisit our awesome alternate activity ideas!

No need to do them alone! Connect with the group you were planning to head outdoors with online using programs such as Zoom or Skype. Have fun and feel good about these ‘indoor adventures’ together!

1. Find and schedule the walks and activities you want to lead when life returns to normal
2. Not a leader yet? Call a current club leader and ask if you can buddy up to learn to lead later – they are friendly folk!
3. Read the Bushwalking Manual – a great read for everyone doing all kinds of outdoor adventure ?
4. Get started on a first aid course – you can do the pre-reading online for free! https://pfa.stjohn.org.au/
5. Connect online with a club buddy to plan a club activity together for later
6. Read our Risk Management Guidelines – it is truly worthwhile
7. Learn all about our insurance – consider becoming an insurance officer – ask us how
8. Start planning and coordinating a risk management online training session for your club. You don’t have to know it all – ask club members with special expertise to talk on their area.
9. Run a online navigation theory session for your club and friends
10. Learn how you can help our suffering wildlife: WIRES & NWC
11. Write to members of parliament to ask for a climate action leadership: Federal Ministers, NSW Members, ACT Members.
12. Brainstorm how to engage more youth in your club
13. Organise your photos and send in some great ones to us so we can share them through our newsletter and website – email to admin@bushwalkingnsw.org.au.
14. Contribute your photos and descriptions of the great walks of NSW & the ACT to manual@bushwalkingvictoria.org.au
15. Check out all the resources available for you on the Bushwalking NSW website
16. Ask your club management committee if they need any help
17. Sign up for a Bushwalking NSW working group
18. Help Bushwalking NSW develop a Hot/Extreme Weather Policy that can help all our clubs – contact us now!
19. Schedule club social events for the new year
20. Look for great speakers for your next club meeting
21. Call elderly neighbours, relatives and friends and find out how they are coping with the COVID-19 crisis
22. If you haven’t done it yet – put your Bush fire survival plan at the top of your list!

The Colong Foundation for Wilderness have raised concerns about inadequate koala field assessments completed in relation to raising Warragamba Dam Wall.

On 18 March 2020 the Sydney Morning Herald reported on a leaked document that showed the NSW Government’s biodiversity assessment of the 5,700 hectare proposed World Heritage Zone was rushed with ecologists having only eight weeks to complete the task.  The Herald reports that the search for koalas during the assessment lasted only three hours and forty minutes when the search should actually have taken 112 hours.

It is extremely alarming that such little regard has been shown for the wellbeing of koalas and other species given the fight the our wildlife now faces for survival after the recent bushfires.

Colong Foundation is asking concerned readers to send a short email to Environment Minister Matt Kean telling him that he should demand a proper survey of this iconic Australian species in the Blue Mountains. The following points have been provided by the Colong Foundation to help you write your message:

• The leaked document showed a total of 3 hours and 40 minutes was spent looking for koala’s over an impact area the size of 10,600 football fields (5,700 hectares).
• The document also showed just 15 hours was spent looking for greater gliders over the same 5,700 hectare area.
• The leaked assessment report did not once mention the words ‘World Heritage’.
• All assessment field work undertaken before the bushfires is not worth the paper it is written on and needs to be re-done, as the fires have caused a dramatic redistribution of threatened species across NSW.