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Tag: Hiking

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Barrington Tops National Park

Devil's Hole Lookout Barrington Tops National Park NSW Australia

Barrington Tops National Park

Aberdeen

Our drive to the Barrington Tops started at Aberdeen in the NSW Hunter Valley.  This is a small town, famous for its Scottish heritage and its annual Highland Games.  Also of interest as you pass through the town is St Mark’s Church.

  • St Mark's Anglican Church Aberdeen NSW Australia
    St Mark’s Anglican Church

Polblue Swamp Walk

Polblue Swamp Walk can be started in either the camping ground, or the nearby day parking area.  The walk forms a loop that passes through both areas. This was a nice walk that took us 30 minutes to complete.  The loop, skirts the swamp area and passes through wooded area, over several creeks (with bridges) and finishes with a board walk over part of the swamp.

We found the board walk to be the most interesting, as it had a variety of bird life and plants.

  • Polblue Swamp Barrington Tops National Park NSW Australia
    Polblue Swamp

Devil’s Hole Lookout

The track to Devils hole Lookout is very short (about 5 minutes) and paved. The view is amazing over the Barrington Tops, because the viewing platform is placed well. 

  • Devil's Hole Lookout Barrington Tops National Park NSW Australia
    Devil’s Hole Lookout
  • Devil's Hole Lookout Barrington Tops National Park NSW Australia
    Devil’s Hole Lookout

Thunderbolt’s Lookout

Thunderbolt’s Lookout gives views similar to Devils hole, but also has a more interesting walk to the viewing area. You pass ferns, huge trees, and part of the path is enclosed overhead with tree branches forming a passageway.

  • Thunderbolt's Lookout Track Barrington Tops National Park NSW Australia
    Thunderbolt’s Lookout Track

Honeysuckle Walk

Honeysuckle Walk was our favourite in the Barrington Tops, because of its wonderful trees and undergrowth. The walk starts at the Honeysuckle Picnic Ground and then loops around through the forest before returning to the picnic area.

The walk passes through Antarctic beech forest with an undergrowth of tree ferns. Many of the trees have moss covered trunks are a spectacular sight. This walk took us 30 minutes, but could be quicker if you don’t stop to admire the surroundings.

  • Honeysuckle Walk Barrington Tops National Park NSW Australia
    Moss Covered Trunk
  • Honeysuckle Walk Barrington Tops National Park NSW Australia
    Honeysuckle Walk
  • Honeysuckle Walk Barrington Tops National Park NSW Australia
    Honeysuckle Walk
  • Fern Understory Honeysuckle Walk Honeysuckle Walk Barrington Tops National Park NSW Australia
    Fern Understory Honeysuckle Walk

Mountain Maid Gold Mine

Hidden Treasure track is an easy walk through dry rain forest following Copeland Creek beneath the rain forest canopy. This hike also takes you past remnants of the area’s mining history. Along the track you will pass mine adits that have been barred shut. Some are now home to micro bats and you can smell the guano from the entrance.

We took 90 minutes to complete this track. Be careful of the signage and take a map (or photograph the map at the start of the walk), because some signs are not obvious.

The Basin Loops track takes 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours and is an extension of the Hidden Treasure track.  We didn’t have time to complete this one, so left it for another day.

  • Giant Fig Tree
  • Mountain Maid Gold Mine Entrance Hidden Treasure Track Copeland Tops State Conservation Area NSW Australia
    Mountain Maid Gold Mine Entrance
  • Hidden Treasure Track Copeland Tops State Conservation Area NSW Australia
    Hidden Treasure Track

What Did We Think?

Our trip finished in Gloucester, where we had a late lunch at a cafe on the main street before the drive home. The Barrington Tops was a great day out with some lovely walks and scenery. There are many places to stop and admire the scenery as well as walks for beginners to the more adventurous.

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.

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Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park West Head Beach

West Head Beach Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

The West Head area of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park has some wonderful bush walks with fantastic views over the surrounding waterways.

Driving into the park you get to see lots of natural scenery, whilst on a good sealed road. The road has a lot of hills – with poor visibility at times, this mainly refers to the huge amount of cyclists (there were groups and dozens of single riders on the road).  We had to  drive slowly as it was not always safe to pass then.

We chose to do the Red Hands Track and Resolute Track to West Head Beach. There is plenty of parking available in a well sign posted car park. For us the first track was a little disappointing, with uninspiring bush land and badly damaged aboriginal hand stencils. The second walk however made  up for it, being a challenging  grade 4 walk. We liked it because is provided a different challenge to the ordinary tracks,with more unpredictable laid out paths and natural rock formations that we needed to navigate to continue on the walk. At the same time it was still easy to find your way through. At the beginning of the tracks, there are maps with details of each walk. On the tracks, you will be rewarded with an amazing views, beaches, wildlife, and Australian bush scenery.

Red Hands Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Red Hands

West Head Lookout

The walk commenced at the West Head Lookout, which has great views.  Take a look at the picture below! We spent some time here enjoying the views over Broken Bay before, planning our walk on the Resolute Track.

View From West Head Lookout Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
View From West Head Lookout

Resolute Track to West Head Beach

The Resolute Track took us through great bush scenery, climbing over rocks, enjoying varied stops to look out at the different views as we descended to the bottom towards West Head Beach. The track continues past the beach, but we turned here to walk down and enjoy all this little beach offered. 
The steps down and back up are steep, but the reward is a lovely little remote beach, with scenic inlet views and yacht watching.  If the weather is good, you could take your bathers and have a swim.  The walk is very hilly so wear good waking shoes, to protect your feet.  You can take your shoes off to walk in the water.

Walking around the beach we found some amazing weathered rocks looking like honeycombs as well as some great views over the water. We were the only ones there on our visit,  We sat on the rocks and had a bite to eat, it was very peaceful.

The return walk to the lookout was very steep, but we stopped regularly to enjoy the natural surroundings and take some photos.

  • Steps Going Down Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
    Steps Going Down
  • Steps Going Up Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
    Steps Going Up
  • West Head Beach Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
    West Head Beach
  • Honey Comb Rock West Head Beach Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
    Honey Comb Rock

The Resolute Track and West Head Beach were beautiful and we really enjoyed the opportunity to spend the morning walking, savouring the great scenery and the amazing  views in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.