Thursday Walkers march through wet July

MORE rain led to many cancellations, but the indomitable Thursday Walkers group could not be kept at bay for the entire month of July.

Early July’s rain return saw the ‘Grahamstown Drain’ rule out a scheduled walk from Grahamstown Dam to Raymond Terrace, with flooding of several creeks along the way, and the planned lunch spot at the Terrace fully inundated as the Hunter River had broken its banks.

The following week brought blue sky and sunshine, but also winds, none of it enough to deter the eager Walkers from a trek to Boat Harbour, in search of whales.

“Our efforts were rewarded with quite a few sightings of pods cavorting in among the windy whitecaps,” walk coordinator Ray Hughes told NOTA.

“Several pods seemed to put on a show especially for us, with spouts, breaches and tail slaps.”

The gusty winds made rock hopping a perilous mission, and several walkers were blown off balance, however all got back to the lunch spot overlooking the beach in one piece.

The walk programmed for 17 July had another very cool start, but the sky was blue, the sun was shining and there was no wind as they headed off over the Singing Bridge to follow the Hawks Nest Nature Walk.

The Walkers remained vigilant for a real koala sighting along Jean Shaw Koala Reserve, but were only rewarded by the small army of toy ones strapped to several trees beside the road.

Standing water that refused to drain away necessitated a few deviations from the bush tracks, but they made it to the Surf Club for morning tea, then on to Jimmys Beach before heading home.

“There is a series of information plaques attached to various tree guards along the walk which provide some interesting facts about our local wildlife – animals and birds – which we found delightfully informative,” Ray said.

“Around and About Maitland was next, and winter demanded jackets and beanies.

“It was even colder on arrival at Maitland Park but the group gradually warmed up as the walking took them past some old houses, some neglected, some still looking old, and some renovated and lovingly restored.”

Following the Levee, the Walkers marched behind High Street, before eventually heading down to The Long Bridge and up to Regent Street, a name lived up to with some magnificent old buildings dating back to the early- and mid-1800s.

An ambitious plan to tackle Hagan’s Lane, a track skirting several properties on the western side of the Pacific Highway in an area still known as Tea Gardens, was stymied by more rain in late July.

“Perhaps the Thursday Walker weather gods are trying to tell us something,” Ray said.

“This is the third time we have had to cancel this walk over the past few months.”

Scheduled walks for August include a trip to Wallaroo National Park, the Grahamstown Drains, the Awabakal Nature Reserve (Dudley to Redhead) and a local wander around Shearwater.

By Thomas O’KEEFE