TRIP REPORT: Hornsby to Brooklyn
Photos:
Despite the short notice and the fairly miserable forecast, two more intrepid girls decided to join the walk. It was 9am when Lisa, Lilian and I met up at Rosemead park to start the first long part of the walk, from Hornsby to ridgetop campsite near Berowra. Knowing that 22km would have kept us busy for a few hours, we didn’t waste a minute and set off for the fishpond where we joined the Great North Walk track. It is a beautiful track and we really enjoyed every single bit of it, even the steep ups&downs! Along the way we could admire plenty of wildlife: water dragons, goannas, cockatoos, bush turkeys, and even a chook (who knows where it came from!)
We stopped for lunch at Crossland where a bunch of kids were kind of swimming in a part of the campground that was under water. After a few adjustments to Lilian’s pack - which made the second half of the walk much more enjoyable- we were ready to continue our walk. Soon after leaving Crossland, the 10 of us (Lisa, Lilian, myself and the few leeches we were lovingly carrying in our shoes) started climbing up the steep section to Naa Badu lookout where an awesome view of Berowra creek was waiting for us!
From there it was a nice downhill to Berowra Waters where we refilled our bottles with water for the night. At this stage we had already walked 20km and so we were very pleased to have only 2km to go but man...they were all uphill, a steep long climb! As we tackled it, it was clear that our legs weren’t very happy about it but we pressed on regardless and, in the end, we succeeded! We set up camp on the top of the ridge and rewarded ourselves with the ritual wine-cheese-and-biscuits on the nearby lookout with beautiful view of the valley. The evening went on smoothly talking and planning new trips and adventures in the bush (stay tuned!). The sky cleared up and we retired in our sleeping bags under a beautiful starry sky.
Highlights of the second day were: surprisingly nice weather, lollies at Cowan local shop :) more leeches, refreshing swim at Jerusalem bay and Brooklyn dam, my beloved volleys fatally tearing apart, and most important: 3 shouts of cold beers at the pub in Brooklyn... I love it when you don’t have to drive back home after a walk :)
Although maybe too close to civilisation, it was a very nice walk and I would recommend it to anyone keen to give their legs a bit of a work out and a nice weekend in the bush!
Mary
