Heathcote NP - Bullawarring Track, 17 Feb 2007 - Recent trips - Sydney University Bushwalkers

Leader, navigator, photographer, walker: Albert Chetcuti

After some interest in this walk everyone piked so I ended up being the only one to turn up at Heathcote station at 9:40. I decided to do the walk anyway as the weather was perfect and thus the trip become a re-con mission for my next visit.

The walk started by traversing through the suburban streets of Heathcote. The sounds of cockatoos, kookaburras and captive carnivorous canines filled the air with a myriad of noises. I ended up spending an hour stuffing around trying to find the start of the walk. In and around the Scout Camp on Boundary road there were lots of false trails and mountain bike tracks.

Eventually at the end of Oliver St I found the Goburra trail. This track lead to where I needed to get to which was an old Water Board maintenance road running adjacent to a huge steel graffiti covered water pipeline. After reaching the road I turned left and followed the pipeline downhill for about 2 km to Battery Causeway. Along the way I stopped at Mirang pool and admired the substance amount of water flowing down Heathcote creek. It is at this point that Bullaburrang track starts and continues all the way to the tiny township of Waterfall.

From Battery Causeway I made the short side trip to Lake Eckersley. Once over Woronora gap it's only a short 500 m walk down the other side to Lake Eckersley. This is a fantastic swimming hole that was near full to capacity. I returned to Battery Causeway encounting a friendly lace monitor along the way. I started walking along the Bullaburrang track and by the time I reached Myuna pool, I was hot, sweaty, hungry and covered in spider webs. It was exactly 13:00, perfect time for a lunchtime swim to cool off and to grab a bite. It was here that I encountered two friendly skinks, who were keen on trying to take a bite out of my wet feet.

From Myuna pool the track continues along the west bank of Heathcote creek and then turns east sharply and follows the creek upstream. At the junction of Kingfisher and Heathcote creeks there is a large camping area where I bumped into a friendly couple (Dave and Louise). I stopped and had a chat with them, who were amazed at the detailed topographical maps I had. They'd spent the night camping here and were off to Lake Eckersley for another night out in the bush. From here, I continued pass Kingfisher pool and waterfall were some locals were enjoyed the refreshing cool waters. The track gradually leads uphill and eventually ends in suburbia at Warabin Street. From here it was a short walk to the local Fish-n-Chips shop for a rewarding can of ice cold coke. Not far away was Waterfall station and I was just in time for the 14:54 silver bullet ride back to the big-smoke. Thanks to Cityrail for running trains on time (no thanks for all the track work between Parramatta and Strathfield).

My photos are available at: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/557719672uIoHhJ

I'll rerun the walk a bit later in the year.

c ya

Albert :)

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