Wellington Walk 2018

Today is just a short walk on Mt. Wellington. Originally called the Wellington Hut Hunt when we did it back in 2014, I've dropped the Hut Hunt part as we only visited one hut.

The weather looks overcast but good for walking as we gather at the top of Old Farm Road to set off along the Main Fire Trail. Easy walking for the most part.

Getting everyone into frame, I forgot to look for others who were not quite ready!

Off we go

We actually go downhill for a while. We'll pay for it later

The very top of Pottery Road

Junction with Main Fire Trail

Looking back

A couple of young cyclists make their way through us, but the track soon begins climbing and we catch sight of them pushing their bikes up.

Looking forward and up

Sandy Bay and the Casino below with South Arm in the distance

At last we come to a turnoff. It's getting near to Morning Tea time, but there is a cool breeze blowing here, so we'll wait until we make this little climb.

We slowly make our way up, heading for our reward at the top

Morning Tea out of the breeze

After Morning Tea we continued on towards Junction Cabin.

I accidentally overheard a conversation emanating from this group of walkers

Lyn explained very succinctly what would happen to my person if I divulged anything I might have heard.

Wanting to keep everything intact, I promised my silence and waived my usual fee.

Junction Cabin ahead

Busy day as there were walkers in the cabin, walkers approaching the cabin and cyclists arriving at the cabin. We didn't stay, but headed for the Myrtle Gully Track.

Just down from Junction Cabin, it doesn't even appear on some maps

It's a nice old track

It's a very pleasant walk down and after a while we start to follow the Guy Fawkes Rivulet. The recent rain has made the rivulet quite obvious as we descend.

Guy Fawkes Rivulet

The track continues down

It's quite a pleasant track

We soon stop for lunch, most of the area is in shade but the sun does break through a couple of times as we eat.

Flowers in Sunshine

It's not long before some of us begin to notice that we're not the only ones interested in having a meal. Yep, the leeches were out for a feed.

Friendly, local leech

Lorna tried to train it to sit up and beg with some success.

Lunch over, we continue down.

After a while, we reach Myrtle Gully Falls where the recent rain has created a pretty cascade.

Myrtle Gully Falls

If you want to see a REALLY good photo of the falls, ask Raoul to show you the one on his phone that he took with proper equipment on another occasion.

We missed the Secret Falls not far below Myrtle Gully Falls as everyone had disappeared by the time we spotted the side track. Next time.

We had 13 Walkers and covered 6.09kms in 3:13hrs. A short walk, but a good one. This left time for Christmas Shopping.

I found out a little history of the Myrtle Gully Track from Wellington Park Heritage Audit Report Volume Two, which was online.

Just a bit of interest in some of the history of the places we walk. Safe to skip if you so desire.

Myrtle Gully Track (Old)
The track was constructed as an unemployment relief scheme in 1930-31 (Lakin 2005), but is possibly older given the late 1890s/early 1900s huts near the track (the present track follows a different line from the original, although Lakin (2005) noted that Myrtle Gully was originally accessed by a track off the Middle Island Track and that the original main access route to the Junction area was the Old Farm Track.
 
The track was maintained by the Hon. Ranger Danny Griffiths who lived in Lone Cabin (for about 20 years (1930s-1950s). The Nicholson family (Sam, Walter and Walter's brother) helped Griffiths with track
maintenance as part of their hut (Madison Square) permit conditions
(which specified one day a month assistance with track maintenance)
(Nicholson 2001).

Nicholson (2001) comments that Griffiths did a lot of construction work on the track, building steps, often with tree fern stumps, in steep sections and building bridges across Myrtle gully (no longer part of the track now) which were well made, of timber, and with myrtle handrails. 

Luckman (2005) doesn't think the route changed much while being managed by Griffiths and that he mainly carried out maintenance on what was a boggy track, using corduroy of tree fern trunks in boggy places.

A photo (Davies Collin) shows a rough timber bridge, no rails across
Myrtle Gully.

Myrtle Gully Track (New)
The present track follows a different line from the original which was
constructed as an unemployment relief scheme in 1930-31 and then
maintained by Hon. Ranger Danny Griffiths until the 1950s. 

Nicholson (2001) notes that once Griffiths stopped working on the track the Council stopped maintaining the lower end and it was eventually closed. The track was little used through the 1960s-1980s, but in the 1990s was repaired and rebuilt in sections by the HCC using Green Corps labour supervised by an experienced National Park track worker (John Hughes).
 
Nicholson (2001) notes that this track bypasses the lower section of old track. (In the 1994 study the track is also referred to as the 'Sawmill Track').

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