Mother's day torture at Onkaparinga

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Introduction

Hi everyone,

It was an amazing walk today - amazing spectacle and amazing serenity and amazing pain!

The location, Onkaparinga gorge.

Five grueling hours.

What a way to spend Mother's Day.



You can find out more about how to get there at some of our other blogs about Onkaparinga
Onkaparinga gorge, Echidnas, waterholes and ruins at Onkaparinga, Awesome Onkaparinga and also the route maps (one how to get there, and the other the walk itself).

We started the walk at gate 18 of the Onkaparinga Conservation Park just behind the Chapel Hill winery. The setting was lovely with barbecue facilities, tables and chairs and toilets provided near the parking bay. We headed down the path past a dam and alongside a vineyard. We then took the Chapel Hill track east for about two hours along the top of the gorge and had lunch under a very large gum tree on top of the hill.

Along the way we saw many large butterflies which added to the delight of the cirrus sky. The butterflies had a favourite kind of bush in which they congregated and if you looked at closely you could often find their caterpillars.

We thenmade a descent into the gorge (after several failed attempts to find an down track that was not a sheer cliff face). We finally made it however my jeans did not. Sliding down rocky ledges shredded my pants (memories of Yulti).

We'd then walked for about two hours along the river - rock-hopping mostly and fighting through the undergrowth. It was beautiful even though you were not sure what it was you were stepping on. When we got to the high-tension wires we knew it was time to leave the gorge and join back up to the Chapel Hill Trail. Walking up this very steep slope was very hard work. It was sort of like climbing a ladder in that you had to run up the slope, digging your toes in as you go.

So basically a delightful ordeal.

Dan says ...

Hello Readers,

Good to write to you again.
OOOOWWWW!! Ouch

Sorry, I will tell you a story about why I am screaming in pain. When we were going down the very steep slopes (picture 12) it was very hard to keep my footing 'cos there were so many loose rocks. Sometimes I did slip and I got a free toboggan ride down the hill (Mum ripped yet another pair of jeans going toboggan riding).

The gorge was very hard to walk through because you couldn't walk - you had to rock hop (I lost my hat on a very long one but I got it out of the water in the end).

But it was very very serene - it was like something out of a dream, or whatever.

Now here is the joke!

Q: What did the dragon say when she saw the knight in shining armour?

A: Oh no - not tinned food again!

Goodbye my readers and look for the next Dan says... with more me. See ya.

We hoped you enjoyed this blog entry. Please leave us a comment. If this activity wasn't the right one for you then remember you can visit our Complete index of our walks/activities by location to find other walks and things to do in SA.
Yours,
SA-Hikers (aka Diana Peter and Dan)

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Photos

Onkaparinga gorge
Beautiful, but very hard to get to. To view the slide show, click on this image and then use the buttons to move through the images.

Chapel Hill Winery
This walk starts near to the Chapel Hill Winery

Entry
Gate 18 - a few facilities- including toilets, tables, BBQ and a lookout (which Dan is checking out)

Map
We atarted on the Tatendi trail but went too far before heading down, changing it to a 5 hour walk

Vineyards
The first part of the path is along side vineyards

Chapel Hill path
Passing dam

Cirrus
Now a cloud watcher- I get thrilled by clouds. The impending storms next week is supported by the aky.

Bush
Caterpillars and butterflys on this bush

Caterpillars
Same bush - pulled a few off to show you

Butterfly bush
Nice cirrus in the background

Butterfly
Close up

Dan heading down
The gorge walls are very steep so getting down, and up, is very tricky. The olive in the foreground is one of many that are feral in the gorge.

Waterhole
In the gorge

Comments

[Andrea]

Character building
Yes, I do recall that particular 'character building' walk. Nothing like a bit of torture on Mother's Day. It must have been worth it for the Butterflys though, they are gorgeous.

[SA hiker]

Building character
Thanks for your comment Andrea - Yes that was the spin on the whole walk - it was to experience that sometimes, you have to go where you have never been, and despite it being quite dangerous, and you need to be guarded about every step you take, the journey itself will be very worthwhile. Put a bit of a challenge in a young person's life. By the way, we have all recovered now even though struggling through Monday was rather hard.... Thanks again, Diana and Dan