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Committee Meeting
Mt Charlie and Mt Teneriffe
Mount Charlie Flora Reseve is situated between Riddells Creek and Kerrie, to the East of the Macedon Ranges. It is a small reserve with a mixed eucalypt forest, an extraordinary number of grass trees, and other flora of interest. We will visit the top of Mt Charlie and the nearby Mt Tenerife. (Both about 720m elevation). Both have good views, but filtered through the trees.
This walk is an 11.5 km loop, with most of the walk (total 7km) being "easy/medium" along minor roads and 4WD tracks. The other sections are (i) 1km along the ridge atop Mt Charlie, untracked and a bit rocky, but fairly level - "medium"; (ii) 1.5km steep descent from Mt Charlie, 300m descent, untracked through open forest - "hard"; (iii) 1 km climb of Mt Tenerife, on a foot track, 200m ascent - "medium/hard" and (iv) 1km descent from Mt Tenerife, 200m down, untracked, steep and rocky through open forest - "hard".
As an added bonus, Mt Charlie has an interesting geological surprise at the top!
The meeting point for the start of the walk is a small carpark on the North side of the reserve (there's a slightly hidden sign for "Mt Charlie Flora Reserve" at the spot). The small car-park is on Eatons Rd, 1.7km South of the Eaton Rd/Mt Eliza Rd intersection. Near Kerrie. There is also the option of meeting at Airport West for car-pooling.
Coffee will probably be in nearby Romsey.
BIKE RIDE. Fed Square - Williamstown - Altona and return via Iris Dixon Veloway
We will meet near the big screen in Federation Square at 0930. The ride is along the Yarra River Southbank (Coffee stop) past Docklands and onto the Iris Dixon Veloway to Footscray. We will then follow the river to Williamstown and onto Altona for lunch, then return the same way. The ride is mostly flat.
Historic walk of Kyneton
As well as registering on this system, please also phone Ron to nominate for this event.
This walk will start with a train trip to Kyneton. You can either meet at Southern Cross railway station at 8.40 am in time to board the 8.55.am train. Otherwise you can board at the Footscray station at 9.05 am.
We are expected to arrive at the Kyneton railway station at 10.15 am. From here we will walk to the Botanical Gardens where autumn colours will be on full display and where we will have morning tea. After morning tea we will walk along the Campaspe River to the racecourse where we will stop for lunch. After lunch we will do a history tour of the Kyneton town and have afternoon tea at Cobb's bakery before making our way back for the 3.15 pm train. We expect to be back at Southern Cross station by 4.15 pm. Boots and poles are not required.
Dinner at The Laurel Hotel Bistro, 289 Mt Alexander Rd Ascot Vale
Join us for a drink or meal at The Laurel Hotel Bistro (289 Mt Alexander Rd, Ascot Vale, corner Mt Alexander Rd & Middle St) at 6 pm (inside the venue).
There is on site parking in Middle St, alongside the Pub.
Seniors Meals are not available, however, the Hotel offers Daily Menu Specials: choice of steak, chicken parmas, sides, pizzas and lots more.
Organ Pipes Circuit
This walk will take us to areas of the park not usually accessed by the public as well as the iconic Organ Pipes feature. It does involve some off track walking and 2-3 steep hillsides to scramble up without a path. Gaitors would be useful as grass seeds will be prolific and poles. We will also visit a group of Callitris pine trees just out of the park but with an interesting story.
Ivanhoe to Northcote
This is a "public transport" walk - the start point is near Ivanhoe Station (train or 510 Essendon/Ivanhoe bus) and the end point is at Northcote Station (train or 508 Alphington/Moonee Ponds Bus). If you drive, you could park near either end and catch the train between (change at Clifton Hill).
The walk itself is 14km, and is mostly in parkland alongside Darebin Creek, the Yarra, and Merri Creek.
The start/meeting point is "Pinkie Cafe" (1 Westley Avenue, Ivanhoe). We want walking to start at 9.30am, so get there a bit earlier if you want a pre-walk coffee.
The finish point is "The Herbert Cafe" (41 Arthurton Rd, Northcote).
The walk is graded easy, but is nevertheless 14km. However there are many get-out locations in the event of sore feet ...
Wilson Botanical Gardens Berwickck
A repeat of last year's enjoyable discovery of a hidden treasure in the garden world at Berwick. Its a disused quarry site and now, not quite the Butchart gardens of Canada but still a very attractive local version of it with lily ponds, rose gardens,two lakes, lookout towers, lakeside walks and a high level panoramic circuit as well as as an on site coffee hut. . Do all or some of the walks within the park.From Berwick St its a pleasant 2km to th e park, 2, 3 or 4km of walking within the park and then if you are tired or wish to get home earlier, the bus stop is conveniently located at the entrance of the park to return to the station. 95% flat, sneakers will be fine.Bring morning tea, lunch and weather appropriate gear. We will still meet at the usual coffee shop area at Flinders St before taking the underground route to the Town Hall St.
Riddells Creek, Conglomerate Gully and Barrm Birrm
This walk is a circuit, starting and finishing at the Riddells Creek Bakery.
You can travel to this walk either by train, or driving. Train: Catch Bendigo line train at Southern Cross - meet by the antique clock by 8.50, to catch the 9.01am train. It also stops at Footscray (9.09) and Sunbury (9.33), arriving at Riddells Creek at 9.45am, with the bakery about 200m NW of the Station. OR Drive, parking somewhere near the bakery - there seem to be plenty of spots. Walking hopefully will start at 9.50am.
NOTE: When registering, please make clear your intended mode of travel (in the comments if neccessary) - and keep me informed if something changes ...
Car-pooling: Jim is going to travel on the train, so can't offer car-pooling. However, someone may offer to drive from Airport West or Hungry Jacks??
The walk itself is an approx 11km loop, graded medium. Components ...
1. 500m of pleasant streamside walking alongside Riddells Creek
2. a 2km very interesting section in Conglomerate Gully Flora Reserve. Fascinating geologically, and an orchid hot-spot apparently (wrong time of year?). Undulating foot track, mostly climbing, a bit pebbly from the decomposing conglomerate.
3. 600m of hill-climbing through un-tracked forest. But open forest with low grassy understory - if you have to climb a hill in untracked forest, this is about as good as it gets.
4. A few km of old 4WD tracks and foot tracks within Barrm Birrm. Varied forest, undulating, a couple of steep descents. (Note: It'd take too long to explain what Barrm Birrm is, and I'd probably get it wrong. If interested, look for it on Macedon Ranges website or Riddells Creek Landcare website.)
5. Linking the above sections are several km of quiet local streets of Riddells Creek.
Total distance about 11km, overall climb/descent about 400m. Poles would be useful.
We should be back at the bakery for refreshments before they close, and the afternoon train to catch is at 2.40pm (Back to Southern Cross at 3.29pm.)
Trafalgar and Uralla Nature Reserve
The petrol situation could well be dire by late May - but none needed for this walk!
Meet at the Southern Cross Station meeting point (near the antique clock) at 8 - 8.10am, we need to catch the 8.20am Traralgon train. (Train also collects passengers at Flinders St (8.26), Richmond (8.30), Caulfield (8.40) etc. Include your starting point when registering).
Disembarking at Trafalgar, we walk South through the town to Uralla Nature Reserve, a small forested reserve on the northern slopes of the nearby South Gippsland Hills. Tracks within the reserve are good, but, being on the edge of the hills, there is an overall climb of about 300m within the reserve.
After a couple of concentric loops within the reserve, we return to Trafalgar for a coffee before boarding the 2.17pm return train, arriving back at Southern Cross about 4.15pm.
The total walking distance is just 10km, provided we walk around a bit (500m needed) in Trafalgar.