Bridgewater Adelaide Hills Walking Group

If not today then come join us tomorrow. 😊

Walk #881: Pinchbeck Firetrack, Bugle Ranges Loop

🔗 https://facebook.com/events/s/walk-881-bridgewater-adelaide-/1628895251530122/

📍 Distance: 10.8km
🕒 Time: 2hrs 18mins
🏞️ Grade: 2
🌥️ Weather: Perfect. Sunshine, blue skies and not a breath of wind.
⛑️ AED: Many thanks to Steve, much appreciated. 🙏

Today’s walk was simply stunning with the help of some spectacular weather. Today was the first time our group had tackled this particular loop, although a few of the sections were familiar to the group from another walk nearby.

Twenty-seven humans and 10 four-legged friends set off right on cue at 08:31am. It didn’t take long before jackets were coming off and a few jackets were even left behind in the cars. Winter certainly turned on the perfect morning for us.

We welcomed a new walker Yin we hope you enjoyed today's walk and that we will see you again soon. We also welcomed back Linda, Richard and Xavier, long time no see. Great to see you all again.😊

Everywhere we looked there was another postcard view. The recent rains have transformed the countryside into a sea of brilliant green, while the dams were reflecting the brilliant blue sky. At the beginning of the walk there was one old gum tree standing tall and proud beside a dam. It looks like it has been standing there forever, quietly watching everything around it. It was one of those spots you just have to stop and admire before heading off. Particularly watching the ducks glide gracefully along the top of the glistening water.

Our walked showcased peaceful horses and curious cattle enjoying the morning sunshine, kangaroos happily grazing, with a few stopping to sit up as we passed by, more kangaroos hoping off to the side us of us and then taking off into the bushes. There was of course an occasional rabbit making an appearance, and then darting for cover as we approached.

There was lots of “Wow, look at that!”, “How beautiful is this?” moments. Phones were out all morning taking photos. So I'm pretty sure the Tuesday walkers will also fall in love with this walk when it again comes around.

☕️ And of course… the “must do” post-walk café catch-up was at The Plough Cafe and 1000 Reasons Cafe.

Days like today remind us just how lucky we are to have the Adelaide Hills right in our backyard and we shouldnt take it for granted.

We are part of the Heart Foundation Walking�👉 Join our walking group here: https://www.heartfoundationwalking.org.au/fundraiser/id-vz7ued/bridgewater-adelaide-hills-walking-group

📱 FB page: Click on the More tab, the Events to find our upcoming walks.
�⏰ Currently Sun & Tues 08:30am* | Thurs 4:00pm*
�‼️ Always check Facebook for updates before heading out.

Reconnaissance Walk, Rocky Hut Creek Loop, Kuitpo Forest

Wow, today, 17 humans and 1 four-legged friend turned up for today’s reccy walk! 😄 That’s the biggest turnout we’ve ever had for a reconnaissance walk. Very impressive!

Led by one of our walkers, Andy, we set off from the Rocky Hut Creek car park in Kuitpo Forest at precisely 10:01am. Even on a reccy walk we still stick to our tradition of starting one minute past the hour. This tradition cannot be broken! 🤣

Today's walk was relatively easy walk with a few “slight inclines” to get us warmed up at the beginning of the walk. We got them out of the walk early so they were done and dusted!

There was a bit of weaving around a couple of large puddles and a few muddy patches left behind by the recent rain, but they were all easy enough to negotiate, and I had my Merry Boots on so I was happy!

What a beautiful day it was. Another perfect Winter's day in the Adelaide Hills. Brilliant blue skies, not a breath of wind, and before long the jackets were coming off as we warmed up. We almost needed sunscreen! This walk is a winner! Thank you Andy!

One of the nicest things about walking through Kuitpo Forest is the peace and quiet. Not a single car, bike or runner in sight, so there was no "Car, car!” "Bike, bike" or "Runner coming". Instead, all we could hear was the birds singing and our chatter echoing through the forest.

It was a beautiful sight to see the winter sunshine filtering down through the towering pine trees. We didn’t spot any wildlife today, but the scenery more than made up for it. We really are lucky to have places like this right on our doorstep.

After the walk, quite a few of us headed to 1000 Reasons Cafe in Echunga for coffee and a chat. Safe to say after visiting this cafe I am already starting to plan our next visit. It really is a little gem of a café. ❤️

Another beautiful but cool morning in the Adelaide Hills!

Walk #880: Oxford Road, Aldgate Loop

🔗 https://facebook.com/events/s/walk-880-bridgewater-adelaide-/765711649965651/

📍 Distance: 4.41km
🕒 Time: 1 hour
🏞️ Grade: 1
🌥️ Weather: Beautiful winter’s afternoon, 14°
⛑️ AED: Thanks Helen, much appreciated. 🙏

This afternoon’s walk is one of our old reliable favourites that comes around every 20 weeks. It has a bit of everything, quiet dirt roads, a couple of “slight inclines”, lovely views, beautiful Hills properties and a peaceful pine needle covered walking trail but watch out for some roots that lay in waiting to trip up walkers. At 14°C it was one of those afternoons where, once we got moving our jackets quickly became optional.

My favourite part of this walk has always been the enormous tree standing proudly in the middle of Dalton Avenue. I just love it. 🥰 It’s become our regular group photo spot and somehow it never gets old.

There were 11 humans and 11 four-legged friends who joined us for this beautiful, lazy winter’s afternoon in Aldgate. In between the rain, winter has really been putting on a show lately with sunshine and brilliant blue skies.

By 4 o’clock the afternoon light was streaming through the trees, everything was looking lush and green. Add in great walking buddies and wagging tails, and it was the perfect recipe for a lovely afternoon walk.

We all became a bit alarmed when we saw a dead sheep lying on it's side by the fence. Phew, it turned out to be an imposter, it was not real. 🤣

Tonight I changed things up a little bit. Instead of our usual direction, I decided we would head down to the end of Oxford Road first, following the walking track to Aldgate Valley Road, continuing along to Hampstead Road, then walking our way back up to Oxford Road to continue our walk. Sometimes I feel it’s nice to see a familiar walk from a different perspective, you see things you might not have seen before.

Ourclively walk was quite a nice way to end a winter’s afternoon in the Adelaide Hills.

❤️ We are part of the Heart Foundation Walking�👉 Join our walking group here: https://www.heartfoundationwalking.org.au/fundraiser/id-vz7ued/bridgewater-adelaide-hills-walking-group

📱 FB page: Click on the More tab, then Events tab to see all our upcoming walks.

⏰ Sun & Tues 8:30am* | Thurs 4:00pm*

‼️ Always check Facebook for any updates before heading out.

Another Reccy Walk Belair National Park

Today Max and decided at the last minute to tag along with my daughter as she was walking a dog, starting at Gate 11 in Belair National Park. Great, I know Gate 11, I thought we’d be heading down Queen Jubilee Drive to the waterfalls.

Wrong…! 🤦🏼‍♀️

Instead we headed down Saddle Hill Road, along the Gurta Track, crossed over the railway line, went through a gate and into an area I had never walked before. This is where I started to get a little concerned. My daughter has done some pretty harrowing walks over the years, as she’s quite good at getting creatively rerouted! Some might say it's genetic! 🤣

“Don’t worry,” she said. (Really Olivia… don’t worry?? 🙏)

Apparently there was only one steep section and it wasn’t very long. Hmmmmm… what she forgot to mention was the very steep downhill bessa block trail before we even reached the steep “slight incline!” 😆

So today’s walk quickly turned into a reccy walk for me.

I’d probably rate this as a Grade 3 walk, with two challenging sections right at the beginning. If you have a walking pole, I’d definitely recommend bringing it along. I managed without one today, and of course Olivia didn’t need one at all! Max and Bailey didnt seem to care. 🤭

Once you get through those first two sections, the rest of the walk is absolutely worth the effort. Yes it is a bit undulating in places but nothing we are not used to to walking. It’s a beautiful area with some lovely scenery, and I’m confident that most of the BAHWG could comfortably do this walk. We’d just need to take our time through those two tricky sections. I’d also have the dog walkers stay towards the back of the group while negotiating them, and I’d recommend no more than one dog per person because there are a few narrow, single-file sections.

I think this one has real potential. I might head back for another reccy and see if I can extend the route a little.

In the end, it turned out to be a fantastic walk on a glorious winter’s day. ❤️

Reccy Walk: Morialta Conservation Park

Well walkers, I have to tell you, in my opinion everyone just has to visit Morialta Conservation Park in winter! Do yourself a favour and go. There’s even a coffee van situated in the top carpark, so what’s not to love?

The place is absolutely stunning and the kids will love it too. If you’re a little unsteady on your feet, I’d recommend taking a walking pole. Not many people seemed to be using one today, but there are sections with rocky tracks and lots of exposed tree roots, so it’s worth having that extra bit of support.

Today's most stunning, beautiful winter’s morning made 8 BAHWG members head off for a reccy walk and what a fantastic morning it turned out to be! OMG we could not have planned a better morning even if we had tried.

There was plenty of…
"OMG, OMG..."
"Look at this!"
"Wow, how amazing is that!”
"Oh wow, how beautiful!”
and we had countless photo stops along the way.

We even came across a red belly black snake on one of the trails! Alicia works with children so she wasn't fooled 🤭😆🤣 Good one Rachel! 🤣

We even managed to creatively reroute ourselves on the way back, but that’s all part of the fun of a reccy walk. We now know which way to go next time, I think. 😄

And yes we successfully crossed a wild, white-water rafting creek without anyone ending up in the freezing water. Little Anna put her hand in the water and yes it was icy cold! It was touch and go though crossing over the white rapids! When I was retelling the story afterwards, young Rachel’s facial expression suggested she remembered it somehow a little differently. 🤭

Well Rachel… there was white foam on the water, slippery rocks and the creek was flowing very fast. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! 🤣🤣

At the end of the walk we even had the energy to climb up 89 steps to the Giants Cave and then back down again.

I hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed exploring Morialta Conservation Park. It’s definitely one we’ll be back to visit again with the walking group!

Walk #879: Springlake Mt Barker Loop

🔗 https://facebook.com/events/s/walk-879-bridgewater-adelaide-/1023705867065381/

📍 Distance: 8.32km
🕒 Time: 1 hr 45 mins
🏞️ Grade: 2
🌥️ Weather: Perfect Adelaide Hills winter’s morning�⛑️ AED/Snake Kit: Many thanks to Brian, much appreciated. 🙏

What a fabulous morning after the last couple of days of constant rain! Grey skies with patches of blue, plenty of sunshine, no wind, and crisp fresh air. It couldn’t have been a better morning for a walk.
Today’s walk started at Springlake in Mt Barker before looping along the beautiful Native Avenue, Harrop Road, Fidlers Lane and Heysen Boulevard, eventually bringing us back to where we started.

Thirty-two humans and five four-legged friends set off, right on cue, at 8:31am, as everyone knows we dont wait for stragglers. 😊

When we first started walking this route almost five years ago, Barker Road leading to Fidlers Lane was a dirt road bordered by open paddocks. Seeing how much it has changed since then is quite remarkable. Housing estates now stretch across much of the landscape on the left, with even more homes being built. It’s a little sad to see so much of the countryside disappearing. We all understand people need places to live, but it would be lovely to see more open green spaces preserved amongst the new developments.

Once we left the housing estates behind, the scenery changed completely. We were surrounded by magnificent canopies of gum trees overhead, lush green paddocks, and plenty of wildlife and farm animals peacefully grazing, seemingly oblivious to our happy group chattering past.

As we approached the strawberry farm along Fidlers Lane, we were surprised to discover yet another housing development underway. The growth of Mt Barker really is extraordinary. At this rate it won’t be long before it becomes a city! 😫

Urban sprawl aside, it was a wonderful walk enjoyed by everyone. There was lots of conversation, and, believe it or not hardly any “slight inclines” of note. 🤭

☕️ Naturally, the ‘must-do’ post-walk café catch-up was at St Georges Bakehouse, where the conversations continued.

There’s nothing quite like walking with BAHWG on a lovely Tuesday morningin the Adelaide Hills.

❤️ We are part of the Heart Foundation Walking�👉 Join our walking group here: https://www.heartfoundationwalking.org.au/fundraiser/id-vz7ued/bridgewater-adelaide-hills-walking-group

📱 FB page: Click on the More tab, then Events to see our upcoming walks.

⏰ Currently: Sun & Tues 8:30am* | Thurs 4:00pm*

‼️ Always check Facebook for any updates before heading out.

There was a mistake in todays time of walk. Sorry!
It is 08:30am NOT 4:00pm