Great North Walk - Sydney to Newcastle NSW

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In New South Wales we have a number of hiking trails, one of them is the Great North Walk from Sydney to Newcastle, it’s about 180 Kms and takes around a week to walk but there are not many facilities on the way so most walkers tackle a short section at a time. This walk passes within 400 metres of our home and we had a pleasant stroll along about 2-3 kilometres of the pathway.

We would not usually walk in the bush at this time of the year; too many snakes, spiders and the danger of sudden bushfire. One day last week, we had had several days of very welcome heavy rain and the temperature had dropped to about 20C so we decided to risk it. Normally, avoiding December to February this is a very safe and pleasant walk for anyone who is visiting Australia.





The walk is well signposted and this is where we started.





This is the valley immediately behind our home but we cannot see much of it because there are some giant eucalypts at the bottom of our garden. We are quite happy with this though because the trees attract lots of birds and other wildlife.







A couple of shots of the pathway showing the type of vegetation in the area.





A view of the bush from the pathway. This shows the blackening from the last bushfire about four years ago; in this area the temperature was recorded at higher than 400C but for less than a minute and within three months the trees had full foliage again.





Not sure what happened to this tree, it exploded either during a bushfire or when struck by lightening. Like many other similar trees it has recovered producing foliage and seed.





This is a scribbly bark tree. The trails are made by a small bug under the bark but by the time that they become visible, the insect has long gone.





Fungus on a dead branch; rare here because it is quite a dry area.





A very small part of our village Cowan; part of our house can be seen on the top row about 1/3 of the way from the left; one day I’ll figure out how to add pointers.





This picture was taken a few weeks ago and a long way from Cowan. I’m including it because it shows the difference in colour between Australian and European trees. The dull tree at the back is and Australian gum.





The wildflower season is now well and truly over but someone forgot to tell these plants.




Not sure if this is a native; there are lots of them in the bush but they may have been introduced with someone’s rubbish.




Common name for this one is spider plant, a member of the grevillea family.




A native violet; many similar to this.




A native orchid.




Common name for this one is Mountain Dragon; it sometimes grows on mountains and the seeds look like small dragons.




And another spider plant.



Definitely worth bringing your camera down this way anytime except in the height of summer.

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Comments

[John Kendrew]

Great North Walk is GREAT
Great North Walk is a truly wonderful trail of 250 km between Sydney and Newcastle. It’s a treasure trove of beautiful engravings; historic obelisks and peculiar mysteries - go to http:/www.thegreatnorhtwalk.com Have more fun! John

[NigWar]

Great North Walk is GREAT
Yes and you don't have to do the walk all in one hit, you can just do small sections of it and enjoy it over a few years.

[Chris]

A longer walk
I've just finished the whole of the Great North Walk and endorse all the comments. It's been a great experience even though it took a whole year (weekends when not too hot, too wet or too covered in snakes and spiders!). I also found the information at www.thegreatnorthwalk.com useful and interesting