Good day, my fellow Steemian!

Sunday 13th August, 2017

Over the last few weekends, Hayley and I have committed to making more of an effort to explore our local surrounds (mainly to get Disneyland-ready for our upcoming European Adventures!). Our last foray into the wilderness took us through parts of the Royal National Park where you can read more about that here:
https://steemit.com/travel/@nickmorphew/exploring-the-royal-national-park-nsw-australia-a-wandering-through-the-wilderness

Although close, our trip today was not so local as to be able to comfortably take our electric car and return on a single charge. Alas, we required Molly the Mazda, Evie’s gas-guzzling buddy to take us on our way. For all the uninitiated, Evie’s our electric Mitsubishi iMiEV, which we adopted when she was 26,000 km old. Just a baby!

I digress.

Now, it doesn’t matter where you’re going, you need to have a bit of information about the place to kick you into gear and give your activity some context. Of course, Hayley jumped into action this morning and Googled some hikes nearby. One of the returned hits was ‘Cooks Nose’. It was classified as a medium grade walk that consumed 3 walking hours of time (and energy) to complete. That was our context – medium grade and about 3 hours. That’ll do. We packed our beloved Trangia cooking stove, a bit of picnic gear, food and water. We fit everything we needed into two backpacks and loaded up Evie to meet Molly at her house.

I’ve had my Trangia stove since I was about 15 and it’s never missed a beat.

Chilling at the wheel while Molly took Hayley and this ghostly doppelgänger of myself to our trail head.

The road took us slightly inland away from our beachy residence toward the glorious Illawarra Escarpment.

Australian country roads are typically free of congestion. You can see the escarpment rising steeply in the far distance. And look at that sky, huh?!

With all the photos of the road trip out to our trail head, you’re probably thinking we were driving for an age, right? Well truth be told, it was only 45 km (28 mi). The reason we were reluctant to take Evie, was that there was significant elevation increases and she didn’t have a plug to juice up at our destination. We theoretically could have made it. I just would have been driving quite slowly. So there’s my justification for polluting the world today. It’s called LAZINESS.

Adventures into the unknown wilderness (not for lack of information, however!) are never met without a stroke of serendipity or catastrophic failure. Erm, we’re still alive, so you can assume I’m now referring to the former. Upon zipping past the turn off to Jamberoo Action Park (a place I’ll be posting about soon), we were confronted with some woolly friends of the bleating kind around a tight bend.

We weren't the first visitors to stop off and say a friendly "g'day" to these lovable creatures.

Waiting our turn to cuddle these woolly munchkins!

It was incredible how much lanolin (oily substance found in wool) was stuck to my hands after cuddling the sheep.

We may not have any of our own animals in our care, but this photo sums up just how much fun we had.

These little baby was just weeks old. His name is Crinkles.

Crinkles wasn't a massive fan of my camera.. so these shots were sadly the best I took.

Karen Harris. A tremendous animal rescuer and devoted mother of all of these babies. All are under two years old and were adopted by Karen into her loving home. Crinkles was rejected by her biological mother, but Karen couldn’t resist her charm. Nor could we!

Find Karen on Facebook @
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008900446286&hc_ref=ARSQcak7Dbq0uPUsrGfzC-cxWUY5uBgmxbX-5Otni1jAiJ0qEyln_uTwGTQ0NO4r1dk

Well, I had planned to keep on moving, but intermittent 'gobbling' caught my attention. Karen had a turkey, too! I couldn’t help myself. More photography ensued.

The comb was freaking me out a bit.. kinda looks a bit monster-ish.

This rooster didn’t shut up. He was also not afraid of Turkey-McMonster-Face, either. He just strutted right past him, despite his hideous face and very puffed out body. Animals know that it’s what’s inside that counts.

So after our extended chat with Karen, we got our butts back into the car and continued our journey. Molly was more than happy to do her part but couldn’t help her persistent bottom wind – an issue that Evie has never had. It must be their difference in diet. Who am I to criticise? Beans and lentils make for a house with open windows and clear thoroughfares.

Within minutes, the sign for Jamberoo Mountain came into view as we headed toward the escarpment foothills. Minnamurra isn't a forest full of 'R' shaped trees. It's just the sound you hear as the wind howls through the boughs. I kid.

The clear, bright green fields gave way to lush foliage crowding over the road.

Finally, we’d arrived and were confronted with a possible sense of déjà vu. Nah. Nothings up. Let’s keep going!

Are you sick of the photos yet? Leave a comment below and tell me your preference. One photo and a story enough? I just can’t imagine spending a day out and showing just one photo.. You’re kidding, right? Really? Who asked you, anyway?

On with the photos! I always get my way.

Molly’s eyes are so pretty.

Molly seemed ok when we left her playing with her friends. Molly got on really well with the other little Japanese girl, Harriet despite their separation.

Cooks Nose Trail: A Stroll Over the Sandstone

This is where ALL the National Parks and Wildfire (I mean, Wildlife) funds go. God only knows how the trails are kept open.

Hayley wore the towel around her waist soon after this shot. It was a wee bit cold!

We frequently came across uprooted trees in the heath land along the trail. We were stumped (pun, there) as to why they had come down.

Pretty wildflowers dot the walk as you move into the bush.

Heath Banksia (Banksia ericifolia)

See that bird-shape in the sky? Wedge-Tailed Eagle. They frequent these parts, but if you're expecting flocks of them, you're out of luck. They are a federally endangered species, but secure in most states of Australia. The only remaining state, Tasmania has them listed as endangered, possibly due to the competing forces between the eagle and Tasmanian devil who share a similar carnivorous diet.

The zoom function helps (sort of).

If you’re interested, here’s what they look like up close. A magnificent creature with a wingspan of up to approximately 3 metres (9 feet). This photo belongs to TheLandDownUnder (see acknowledgements).

Remember that I mentioned feeling a bit déjà vu –ish earlier? Hmmm. As soon as we topped the hill coming into the Reserve carpark, we instantly realised we’d been here about two years earlier, just before we left for our trip over to North America. Luckily, we didn’t walk any of the tracks from today. The loop track called Griffiths Trail gives an alternative perspective of Barren Grounds Reserve, which we attempted last time (and my memory only sheds light on the fact it was raining and nothing of the animals or vistas).

Our journey took us through two of the trails, both of which were relatively short and undulating. The first, Cooks Nose takes you out through the heath along what we assumed were fire trails for all-terrain vehicles. The track was far too wide to have been constructed for casual bushwalkers and most of it was small sandstone pieces and natural gravels – ideal for long-term roads with little maintenance. Or so I reckon.

Prior to us arriving at the incredible view into the valley and opposing rock faces of adjacent parts of the escarpment, we witnessed the majesty of the solitary Wedge-tailed Eagle catching thermal updrafts keeping him aloft as he spied potential food (or maybe he was just having a lot of fun). I was really excited to see this guy. I mean, I’m no huge bird watcher, but seeing Australia’s largest raptor is pretty cool. Hayley and I saw one on our way back home from a trip down to the Sapphire Coast on the New South Wales Southern coastline feeding on roadkill. He/she was MASSIVE. It was on the ground feeding as we drove around a blind corner (probably also the reason roadkill was found there), and as it reacted, it beat it’s wings forcefully as though it were a 747 trying to get airborne much the same way as a helicopter. The eagle didn’t go far. It perched itself less than 100 yards or so away in a dead tree where it maintained it’s view of his disturbed dinner. We drove back away from him and waited for an eternity for him to resume his activities. His patience was far superior to our own. No close-up photography for me on that day. Nonetheless, a magnificent encounter.

Cooks Nose. Looking out across the valley and down, we could see a few eco-minded homesteads with rooves full of solar panels gleaming in penetrating full-sun exposure.

Looking more closely at the sheer escarpment face, bare rock limits growth of vegetation except for those hardiest of plants. Water and nutrients are sparse and in Summer, temperatures on the rock are extreme.

Flying Fox Pass Trail: An Insight into the Idiocy of the National Parks and Wildlife Service

The second of the trails we completed, was called Flying Fox Pass. The name had a lot of promise and anything that conjures the word pass makes me think of exposed precipices (precipii??) and ridge-lines inviting interest (and possibly danger!). It was only a short walk of 1.5 km (1 mi) in. We passed a large group of families who sighed extreme disappointment.

“There’s nothing down there!” They let out as a combination of assistance and exhaustion.

We told them to check out Cooks Nose for the view and hoped the guy carrying a school-aged child would remain breathing until they reached a water source. Clearly, something was over-riding his urge to get the kid off him and regain breath and composure. Whatever the situation, we’d be able to offer a slap of ‘wake-up-to-yourself’ on our way back up if he had persisted in his behaviour.

They weren’t wrong. Here are the highlights of Flying Fox Pass.

An expensive, gold-gilded sign courtesy of National Parks and Wildlife Service NSW who clearly know how to impress visitors. I'd have been monumentally annoyed if I were an overseas visitor. There was no information whatsoever. And forget about a bench or picnic table. Zip.

I lied. Actually there was this. The plinth that supported the flying fox that assisted the passage of logged timber from the valley floor during the mid 20th century. Thanks, pdf (see acknowledgements). This didn't make up for a lack of view, or an area to sit.

Of course, this didn't stop us from having a cuppa, lunch and a sneaky bit of chocolate.

The Conclusion of our Adventure

While our local area has some great walks, this wasn't the most amazing of the lot. As we hadn't done it, we wouldn't have known either way if we did not commit ourselves to a day out in the Aussie bush. I think Morton National Park along with the campsites and trails around the Kangaroo River should be our next outdoorsy jaunt.

Highlights

• Spending quality time out with Hayley and discussing everything from what to do in Paris to whether she should go hang-gliding, gliding in a sailplane or skydiving. (Comments!)
• Meeting Karen Harris and her wonderful animal family.
• Witnessing a Wedge-Tailed Eagle first hand (again). Such a privilege.
• The view from Cooks Nose lookout.
• Buying 5 blocks of chocolate on sale on the afternoon's return home (25% off!)

Lowlights

• The nothingness at the end of the Flying Fox Pass trail.
• Not having Evie with us on our journey.
• Flowers still not quite at their best.

The thanks at the end..

If you were mortified, enthralled, captivated or entertained UPVOTES are appreciated!

If you only felt AMAZED or CAPTIVATED, please do me a huge favour and RESTEEM. Of course, none of it is expected. I'm just showing you my gratitude if you choose to do so. You may notice, you're getting replies to your comments. It's a no-brainer for me because without this interaction, it would be very boring.

All the best,
(an ever so slightly sore) Nick

Acknowledgements

An excellent website that will shed far more light about the Barren Grounds Nature Reserve and nearby Budderoo National Park:
http://tim-dolby.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-wonderful-barren-grounds-nature.html

Photo of the close-up Wedge-Tailed Eagle:
https://www.thelanddownunder.com.au

Information pertaining to the history of Flying Fox Pass:
https://www.bookeasy.com.au/website/images/southernhighlands/Barren%20Grounds.pdf

While something is better than nothing, the National Parks and Wildlife Service have huge room for improvement. You can complain..erm.. find out more information about them here:
https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/