Today Bob is taking us to Howden on a walk we've done several times before, but we do have several new walkers who aren't aware of the treat they have ahead.
The weather is absolutely perfect as we park and set off from the parking area near the payphone and village library.
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| The start |
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| Onto Wingara Road |
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| Looking across North West Bay to Margate |
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| We move down for a little foreshore walking |
Soon we leave the shore behind and take to the bush.
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| Heading bush |
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| Tinderbox Road |
We reach Tinderbox Road, cross over and take the track beside it only to walk back in the direction we had come from!
There's method in Bob's madness though, as this takes us to the start of the road leading up Magazine Gully.
We pass the gate and walk up to find a good spot for Morning Tea.
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| Morning Tea (later Lunch in the same spot) |
During our break there was an interesting discussion about Jack jumper ants that created some discomfort among those down the row who only heard the words "Jack jumpers". This caused much shifting and examination of seating spots on the dry, gravel bank we were sitting on.
If you don't know what a Jack jumper ant is, it's a species of venomous ant native to Australia, particularly Tasmania. Well, it wouldn't be Australian if it wasn't poisonous.
CLICK HERE to find out more.
Break over, we continue walking up the gully.
It's not long before Bob turns off the road onto a nice little bush track. One I remember with fondness from previous walks.
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| We're going up |
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| Looking down. The people I really admire were the ones that built that fence as it goes all the way to the bottom |
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| We've reached the top of the track and yes, there is a house here |
We continue walking up, but it's not as steep now and on old 4wd tracks.
We get a view of an old favourite, Mt. Wellington/kunanyi.
We're heading for the top of the Tinderbox Hills.
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| You can see it was a fairly ordinary day, weather wise. |
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| Looking back |
Near the top we turn left to pick up another 4wd track heading down. This will take us down the gully and past the old explosives storage magazines.
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| Start of the journey down |
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| Surrounding bush at the top |
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| It gets steep in places |
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| Very rocky slopes |
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| For those who don't know, gum trees shed bark and not leaves |
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| First of the magazines heading down |
The magazines were built for the Department of Mines back in 1969 in this area which was fairly unpopulated at this time.
Explosives were brought over to the Powder Jetty, picked up by truck and taken to the magazine.
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| Looks a lovely smooth road to transport explosives on |
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| Caretakers hut and toilet |
Just after the sign, we settle down for lunch on our earlier spot. Afterwards, we set off, turning right on Tinderbox Road.
We'll be doing some road walking as Bob wants to take us into Wingara Gully.
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| Entering the Wingara Gully Track |
We've turned off Brightwater Rd. onto Draper Rd. and this entrance is a short way down and runs between properties.
The gully is a very interesting place to explore and eventually the track leads us back to our cars.
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| Oddly enough, no one wanted to climb up and pose for me |
We had 16 walkers and covered 11.06km in 3:28hrs. A nice walk with a bit of a challenge on a perfect day and led by Bob.
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