Sunday 4 May 2025. Neutral Bay to Taronga Zoo wharf.

Sydney Harbour was at its best on this beautiful autumn day. Thirteen walkers met at Neutral Bay wharf to walk around Kurraba Point, Cremorne Point, along the beach at Sirius Cove and finally to Taronga Zoo wharf.

Along the way we passed Nutcote, the home of May Gibbs (1877-1969), creator of the much loved children’s books.

We also took a small side track down to MacCallum Pool, a 1920s harbourside swimming spot with heritage features.

Further along there was a small detour to the site of the former Curlew Camp, a bushland retreat for artists such as Julian Ashton, Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts. The camp was active from about 1890 to 1912. Sadly there are no relics left, although Mosman Council has created a nice track down to the site.

Along Cremorne Point there are many notable homes in the Federation Arts and Crafts style. Many are maintained in immaculate condition but others are in bad shape.

Throughout the walk there were many excellent vantage points over Sydney Harbour. Scores of yachts were on the water but as it was a windless day most boats seemed quite stationary.

At the completion of the walk, a couple of the group took a bus from Taronga Zoo wharf, and the remainder rode the ferry back to Circular Quay.

Fun fact: nine of the ferries that ply the Inner Harbour and Taronga Zoo routes are named after ships of the 1787 First Fleet: Alexander, Borrowdale, Charlotte, Fishburn, Friendship, Golden Grove, Scarborough, Sirius (the flagship) and Supply. These vessels date from the mid 1980s and they are identified as First Fleet Class.

Leaders of today’s walk were Colin and Fiona Burman. Distance covered was a little less than 9 km.

Sunday 6 Apr 2025. Taronga Zoo Wharf to Balmoral Beach.

On a superb Autumn Sunday 17 members met at the Zoo Wharf for the harbourside walk to Balmoral Beach.

After passing Bradley's Head we stopped at Clifton Gardens for morning tea then carried on to Middle Head via a new section of walking track.

The harbour views were amazing plus we saw the many well documented remains of defence fortifications dating back to 1801.

We finished the day at Balmoral Beach where we were all very grateful to Tim who spotted the 'happy hour' sign at the Boat Shed Bar.

This is a fabulous 11 km Sydney walk made possible by the 238 bus connecting the start/finish.

Thursday to Monday - 27 Feb to 3 Mar 2025. Kahane Walking Weekend.

Twenty-six members attended some or all of this year’s Kahane walking weekend and we were truly blessed with the weather.

On Friday we did a circuit walk from the Lodge, along the Porcupine Link track, stopping at some rock formations near the headwaters of the Lubra Creek.

On Saturday we completed the new Alpine Walk from Perisher to Bullocks Flat. This is an amazing track with wonderful views to Lake Crackenback and the Alpine Way. We finished at Perrota’s Cafe and Bar at Lake Crackenback where we were collected by Brett from Snowy Mountains Shuttles for the trip back to Perisher. We can’t thank Brett enough for his help in making our day a success.

On Sunday we had several different trips: some walked up the White’s River Corridor to Horse Camp hut; some walked to the site of the original Bett’s Camp; some walked towards Charlotte Pass on the Alpine track; and some drove to the Dalgety Show. A great day was had by all.

On Monday we had a group head towards Carruthers from Charlotte Pass. One cyclist rode to Seamans Hut.

Another wonderful weekend in the mountains made all the better by the catering of our Lodge Manager Tony.

Wednesday 26 Feb 2025. Cootapatamba Hut maintenance trip.

SASC is the official KHA caretaker for Cootapatamba Hut. The hut it is located below Lake Cootapatamba, which itself is just below Mt Kosciuszko.

On Wed 26 Feb 2025, six members walked down to the hut for the biannual maintenance trip. As the hut was rebuilt in 2019, our work is mainly repainting where required. As official NPWS volunteers we were allowed to drive to Rawsons Pass which left us a 5 km trek to the hut. This year we were blessed with beautiful weather, and the work was a pleasure.

Many thanks to Ron and Trish, Sharon and Harm, Sally and Bob for the work.

Sunday 9 Feb 25. Manly Dam Circuit.

We had a group of 17 walkers for this expedition to Manly Dam.

The track started at the northern end of the dam wall and then after climbing a little and then dropping to the dam, it rougly followed the shoreline for a while.

A slight gradient after that took us a bit higher to go up and meet a fire trail, then gradually down again to come to the dam upper reaches.

At one point, we came across a red-bellied black snake - our brave leader was able to get a rather good snap of the creature as it slowly moved off the track and into the bush.

We had morning tea by the creek, and lunch at one of the many picnic grounds.

Distance covered was 7.7 km.

Many thanks to Geoff for planning and leading this walk.

Sunday 24 Nov 24. End of year picnic - Lane Cover NP.

We had 27 members and family meet at Lane Cove NP for our end of year Christmas Picnic.

It was a great catch-up with many of our active and not-so-active members. We were privileged to celebrate Ron McCann’s 90th birthday and to recognise Trish & Ron Giles, Helen & George Lowson and Ron McCann on achieving 60 years of SASC membership.

It was a beautiful day, although a bit too hot to walk and way too hot to play cricket.. Nevertheless it was very pleasant chatting in the shade.

Friday to Tuesday - 08 Nov to 12 Nov 2024. Abercrombie 4WD Camping Weekend.

We had a very pleasant few days at Jacquie's property in the Abercrombie NP. The weather was kind, the road in was in excellent condition and the river crossing was easy.

We had one walk along the Retreat River to the Sink Campground and another following the Licking Hole Creek.

We managed to do some useful work around the property while still finding time for a few camp oven dinners.

Many thanks to Jacquie for your hospitality

Saturday 19 Oct 2024. Blue Mountains. Overcliff-Undercliff track at Wentworth Falls.

Fifteen members met at the Conservation Hut Café, Wentworth Falls for an early coffee with a million-dollar view into the Jamison Valley.

We then descended from the café and followed the ‘Overcliff’ track stopping at several lookouts (incl Princes and Fletchers) to admire the views into the valley.

We stopped for lunch at Rocket Point Lookout with a magnificent view of Wentworth Falls.

After lunch we headed up to Wentworth Falls picnic area before completing our 8 km circuit back at the café, where we stopped for a well-earned afternoon coffee.

Many thanks to Andy and Marion for planning and leading our walk.

Sunday 22 Sep 24. Maroubra Beach, Malabar Headland and Little Bay.

We had a group of eighteen walkers on a perfect Spring Equinox day.

Starting point was the Pavilion Cafe at Maroubra Beach, and from there we took the popular 'Boora Point Walking Track' around to Malabar Beach.

After lunch, some walked further to Little Beach and a few others headed back to Maroubra Beach. Those who took the return option had to retrace their steps around the cliffs, as the planned route over the headland was closed by NPWS owing to fire control activity.

The walk to Malabar is on a well formed track while the second leg is a bit more challenging needing to negotiate two golf courses. We spotted a number of whales and had a relaxing lunch by the beach at Malabar.

Distance covered today was about 9 km.

Many thanks to Annabelle for arranging today’s outing.

Sep 2024. Nordic Weeks.

Nordic Week was a lot of fun with trips in all directions from Charlotte Pass.

Groups travelled to Mount Kosciuszko, Main Range, Betts Creek, Mount Carruthers, Mount Guthrie, the suspension bridge over Spencers Creek, and the Old Restaurant/Wright’s Creek.

The week featured mostly sunny days with lots of wind.

A snowfall on Monday provided some ‘freshies’ to play in.

Our accommodation at Southern Alps lodge was excellent especially the delicious meals provided by our wonderful Managers, Sam and Carl and their Team.