Six brave female souls joined Donna up Gulaga for her second walk as leader. After being assured that nobody would be lost, or rather pleading with everyone not to get lost on the walk, the group was given the good news and the bad news. The good news being that a nice new shiny toilet had been installed up the mountain. The bad news was that the walk didn’t go as far as the toilet but that didn’t matter as that meant that we didn’t have to walk further up the mountain!!
We set off for a four km uphill walk in sunny, humid conditions and located the rarely used and unmaintained Battery Track. In addition to its significant indigenous cultural history, Gulaga has a European history which involves the mining of gold from 1878 to 1920. Stampers, boilers, aerial tramways and even a cyanide processing plant were housed on the mountain during this period. At one stage there was also a school in the area as well as dwellings to house the four hundred or so miners and their families who lived there permanently.
The purpose of this walk was to follow the remnants of the Battery Track, which is now overgrown and difficult in sections, to locate artifacts and relics from the gold mining period. The walk was a very scenic one with the lush rainforest harbouring some beautiful tree ferns along the way, even a Pinkwood tree was spotted nestled amongst them. It really was a surprise to see such a beautiful rainforest in stark contrast to other parts of the mountain which are quite dry.
We made our way to what is left of the manager’s residence, which was just some bricks, bottles and remnants of some type of cooking utensil. We had lunch at that location and then followed our path back out onto the main track. Once on the track everyone was appreciative of Mary collecting all of the leeches residing on Gulaga so that none of us located any on our bodies! We made our way back to the cars and some of the group indulged in some retail therapy at the new nursery, having earned that right. Meanwhile the walk leader pondered over why no males had attended her walk. Was it the degree of difficulty or something more sinister? Perhaps we may find out in the Deua…….
Click HERE for more photos from the website. Photos by Helen, Karen and Mary
**** This article first appeared on the Batemans Bay Bushwalking website
About the BATEMANS BAY BUSHWALKERS INC. First formed in 1985, we have about 200 members. We are not-for-profit and run by volunteers We are an Incorporated Association with a Constitution and a Committee to oversee administration Personal Accident, Public Liability and Associations Liability Insurance is funded by your annual subscriptions We publish 4 Walks Programs per year, with 2 walks a week of varying grades. Visitors are welcome on walks and are covered by our insurance for 3 walks per financial year Walks are led by volunteer Walk Leaders, who carry a GPS, topographic map, and when appropriate, a safety beacon. We take our safety seriously. Bushwalking is a risky business, accidents do happen, injuries do result. Each walk is graded for difficulty so that you can choose walks to suit your level of ability. Members and Visitors sign a Responsibility Waiver before each walk. We also get together for a variety of social activities and camps, but you have to be a Member to come along to those
