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.

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.

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 ...

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.)

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.

The walk starts at Upfield Station in Campbellfield and follows Merlynston Creek in a southeasterly direction passing through parklands, 3 cemeteries and a small number of suburban streets, and ends at Merlynston Station, Coburg North. There is a lot to see, including evidence of early settlement of Europeans and the beautication of the creek in recent times, particularly at the lunch spot.

The morning stop and lunch will be during the first half of the walk and the second half will be predominantly walking through the cemeteries. Bring a drink for the morning stop and lunch for a longer break. There is a cafe near the Merlynston Station.

Wear walking shoes or boots, runners won't be adequate. There are toilets along the route but not at the start.

Trains on the Upfield line leave from both Flinders Street and Southern Cross Stations and are 20 minutes apart on Saturdays. For those who would rather drive to the start of the walk there is plenty of parking at Upfield Station. 

Continuing our journey from Geelong to Moonee Ponds, we resume our wanderings around the Werribee area at Werribee Station, and walk through Wyndham Park (toilets) to cross over the Werribee River and follow it South to the Princes Highway, where we leave the river as we cross under the highway and follow the ridge line south alongside the Werribee Open Range Zoo for about 3 km.

The walk enters the Werribee River Park and continues south overlooking Werribee Park Golf Club for about 1.5 km. ,before turning back along a lower track to enter Werribee Park. A short diversion will take us to the Bluestone Ford where we can check out the recently improved fish passage. 
Soon after, we enter the Werribee Park Grounds for lunch and a wander around the Mansion Grounds, including a view over the adjacent Safari Park. 

The walk finishes at the Park, and we catch the 439 bus back to Werribee Station for the train back towards the City and home.

Travel by train to Werribee is preferred as all day parking near the start area is hard to find mid week.

It looks like Werribee Line trains will be back to a normal timetable for the day of the walk. Following is a recommended timetable for getting to the start at Werribee Station via the Werribee Line.

Flinders Strreet Dep.     8.45 am   8.55 am.   9.05 am.

North Melb. Stn.            8.52         9.02          9.12

Footscray Stn.              8.57          9.07          9.17

Newport St.                  9.04          9.14          9.24

Werribee Stn. arr.        9.25 am.   9.35 am.    9.45 am.

As there is no usual meeting place at Flinders Street Station, the followwing recommendations are given.          

Those travelling on the Hurstbridge or Mernda Lines should change to the Werribee train at Flinders St. Station.

Those travelling on the Craigieburn or Upfield Lines should change to the Werribee train at North Melbourne Station.

Those travelling on the Sunbury Line should  change to the Werribee train at Footscray  Station.

If travelling from a Williamstown Station, change to the Werribee train at Newport Station.

Toilets are available at Werribee Station, Wyndham Park and Werribee Park.

Walkers will be responsible for catching the Train leaving for Ballarat (Wendoree) via Southern Cross station at 9.16am.

Leader will join the Train at Bacchus Marsh, then we will all change over trains at Ballarat to Creswick Railway Station, and then walk down Albert Street to the start of Creswick Heritage Circuit Walk,

Distance of walk is approx 12km and we will need to complete this within 4hrs + Lunch to catch the 3.33pm return train. Walk may be modified on the day to ensure we are on time.

Details of the event are as follows:

Loop walk Starting in carpark next to IGA and head past heritage-listed buildings and significant trees. 

The walk links up with the Landcare and La Gerche trails on PV land.  From oak gully, you forge uphill through Hancock Victoria's (HVP) radiata pine plantation to lookout on Brackenbury Hill. 

Then downhill to transquil St Georges Lake where we will stop for Lunch before returning through town to the Station to catch the Train back to Ballarat. A interesting walk with many named conifers enroute, some undulations but a pleasant enjoyable walk with varying scenery along the way.

Coffee stop in Creswick after the walk if time allows.(Optional). Brochure and map is attached.

The walk starts with a steep climb up Antimony Mine track until we come to the intersection with Chapmans Rd and then we head along Chapmans Rd for some time. There are a few short sharp inclines and declines and one slow steep decline into the various gorges. We then follow some trail bike tracks and wander through some lovely gulleys, before a steady climb to the top of Mt Sugarloaf with views of the city and the You Yangs on the way up to the top. It is then a fairly straightforward walk after the initial decline from the top of Mt Sugarloaf along more bike tracks until we meet up with Chapmans Rd again and make our way back to the cars.

MEETING POINT

Meet at 9:30 am at the end of Antimony Mine Rd in Coimadai.

GETTING THERE

Either travel to the end of Coburns Rd, turn left onto Diggers Rest Coimadai Rd and then right onto Antimony Mine Rd.
OR
Travel along High Street into Anthony's Cutting, turn right onto Long Forest Rd, then right onto Diggers Rest Coimadai Rd and left into Antimony Mine Rd. Drive to the end of Antimony Mine Rd and park along the edge of the road.

FACILITIES

No toilet facilities.

WHAT TO BRING

Morning tea and lunch. Adequate amount of water.

Walking Boots. Walking poles may be useful.

Clothing appropriate for the weather.

A 15 km bush circuit on good walking tracks, punctuated by a short but steep off track descent. The walk includes part of the historic water race above the Lerderderg River.

Leaving the cars at the junction of O'Briens Rd and Kangaroo track, we walk 500 m down O'Briens Rd to Whisky Track, then follow Whisky Track to Kenworthy Track. After 1.5 km on Kenworthy Track we stop at a small knoll, then descend off track on a very steep spur to Nolan Creek, near its confluence with the Lerderderg River. From there we pick up Nolan Track and ascend to O'Briens Rd, then return to the cars via Ambler Lane Track, the Byers Back Track water race and Kangaroo Track. Total descent and ascent on the circuit is about 350 m.

Boots and walking poles recommended.

Coffee in Blackwood after the walk.