Sunday 20 Sep 2026. City Ramble.

Ten SASC walkers met at the Grand Concourse in Central Station for our annual ‘City Ramble’. Heading south west we passed the very impressive new Atlassian building immediately followed by the equally impressive old Mortuary Station.

We then headed through some historic parts of Redfern before arriving at the heritage-listed Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops. The nearby Foundry precinct is full of old machinery providing a great workshop for people to express their metal working talents plus one of the biggest coffee shops ever to be seen. 

We continued on via Eveleigh Green and Waterloo Green to the famous Redfern Oval where we stopped to watch some locals playing League-Tag.

After a few more kilometers we discovered the Zetland Hotel and it was agreed by all that, purely as a safety precaution, we should get out of the heat and stop for lunch. The recovery took a bit longer than planned, but it was well worth the effort. We finished with a short walk back to the Waterloo Metro.

Thanks to Tim for another well-planned walk including many historical anecdotes.

Aug and Sep 2026. Nordic Weeks.

As we all know by now, the 2026 snow season was not the greatest. Our two weeks at The Pass presented a few XC skiing challenges, but given that we are a resourceful team it was a case of “there must be some snow out there somewhere, so let’s find it”.

Over our stay we had members walking from the lodge to find their runs. The eastern face of Mt Guthrie was a popular option as were many areas on the other side of the Snowy River e.g. Carruthers, Lee and Blue Lake.

Most members had brought their walking boots so the two sections of the Iconic Snowy walk provided some excellent non-ski options. We have walked these tracks in the Summer but they are beautiful with snow in the trees, and the metal tracks provided a safe winter walking platform.

Thanks to our amazing managers Ash, Matt and their team, we had a great time in the mountains.


Sunday 9 Aug 26. Northern Beaches - Turimetta Headland to Mona Vale Headland and return.

Some parts of this Northern Beaches walk were quite new to a few of today's eight walkers. We started at the southern end of Turimetta Beach then took a track up and over the Turimetta Headland till we reached our morning tea spot at a small reserve at Warriewood Beach. From there it was a mix of urban walking and reserve tracks all the way to Mona Vale Headland from where there were splendid views up the coast. Back down at sea level, we stopped for lunch at Apex Park, just across from Mona Vale Beach. 

Notable at a couple of locations were Surf Life Saving volunteers operating drones for shark spotting and beach safety. 

The route we followed today is part of the Bicentennial Coastal Track which runs in a series of linked segments from Barrenjoey right down to Manly.

Many thanks to Chris for planning and leading today's walk.

Friday to Tuesday - 24 to 28 Jul 2026. Summit Tour.

We had 10 experienced cross-country skiers join the 2026 Summit Tour XC Ski Trip. 

This year we spent 2 nights at Thredbo followed by 2 nights at Charlotte Pass.

On Saturday five of the group headed out from Thredbo to ski on the Ramshead Range. 

Sunday was the crossing to Charlotte Pass. The day was clear but icy conditions meant skins were required in the morning.

On Monday at the Pass we had groups heading out to enjoy the great local XC skiing including a trip to the Old Restaurant.

Another successful Summit Tour - many thanks to all our skiers and especially Ian for leading the group.

Sunday 12 Jul 26. Cronulla - Elouera Beach to Hungry Point and return.

On a beautiful day in the Shire, 26 members and friends met at Elouera Surf Club and walked south along the coast to Hungry Point.

The walk included the recently opened cliffside boardwalk.

A great opportunity to catch up with some of our local Shire members.

We enjoyed our lunch at Shelly Beach, watching some intrepid locals doing winter laps in the beautiful ocean pool.

Along the way, a seal was spotted swimming just offshore. It raised its flipper to all the curious onlookers who gathered to watch.

Many thanks to Russell for planning and leading the walk.

Sunday 31 May 26. Royal National Park. Heathcote to Waterfall.

The group's walk today in Royal National Park took in Karloo Track and Pool, and Uloola Falls. On rough and stony tracks we traversed almost 12 km between Heathcote Station and Waterfall Station.

We settled on a mostly unhurried pace, allowing plenty of time to pause for bird listening and bird watching. Notable birds seen were New Holland Honeyeater, Scarlet Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater and (cutest of all) Spotted Pardalote .

From the ridge, there were fabulous distant views of the city.

Morning tea was welcome at Karloo Pool and then lunch at Uloola Falls before heading back along the Uloola Fire Trail. A beautiful autumn day for walking for 5 members and 2 guests.

Many thanks to Geoff and Louise for planning and leading the walk.

Sunday 03 May 2026. Sydney Harbour Foreshore - Darling Point to Watsons Bay.

This was a most pleasant walk between Darling Point and Watsons Bay. There was mixture of street, foreshore and beach walking, passing Double Bay and Rose Bay wharves on the way.

Our group of fourteen met at Circular Quay and took a ferry to McKell Park at Darling Point for the start of the walk.

A couple of the group opted to finish up at Rose Bay and took the next ferry back to the Quay.

At Watsons Bay, some stayed for a while to go for a drink and snack and then it was pleasant ferry trip back the Quay.

There was the possibility of taking an extension to the walk up to South Head and back, but there wasn’t much enthusiasm for this idea by the time we had reached the end of our 13.4 km walk.

This was a fairly easy walk all round, but with plenty of steps. Views of our beautiful Sydney Harbour were a feature throughout.

Friday to Sunday - 13 to 15 Mar 2026. Charlotte Pass walking weekend.

A small group of six met at Charlotte Pass for three days of walking. We self-catered at the Lodge.

In perfect weather on the first day, Friday, we set out for Mt Stilwell and then went off track to reach the old chairlift and restaurant ruins. The chairlift ruins date from the mid 1960s when an ambitious attempt to link Thredbo and Charlotte was abandoned. 

This is a really interesting part of Kosciuszko history. The story of the chairlifts and the high-level Stilwell Restaurant is one of underestimating the power of the elements. The mammoth undertaking of successfully completing the construction of lifts at this location was utterly undone by severe blizzard conditions in 1964. The lift system could not cope with Nature’s forces, and after repeated incidents and in financial difficulties, the whole thing was abandoned in 1965, and finally blown to bits in about 1970.

At the time, it was touted as the longest chairlift operation in the world. It's a pity that the operators were not forced to clear away the mess, as it really is an eyesore on the landscape. Having said that, it is a unique hike destination. 

It’s also interesting to note that modern maps show the route of the lift runs as though they are still in place.

There was a bit of bushbashing to return to Charlotte Pass village. Distance covered - about 10.5 km.

On the following day, blue sky weather continued and we walked part of the Snowies Alpine Walk, from Charlotte Pass to Perisher. Trapyard Creek was our morning tea stop, then we found a delightful shady place for lunch a couple of kilometres from Porcupine Rocks.

Distance covered - 13.4 km.

In perfect conditions again on our last day, Sunday, we took off at an unhurried pace to Mt Carruthers, taking in Hedley Tarn and Blue Lake on the way. Then it was off track downhill across grassy slopes to join the main track and return to the Lodge. It was a perfect day, mostly sunny with a light cool breeze.

Distance covered - 12.7 km.

Wildlife count over three days:

  • Grasshoppers (probably Chameleon Grasshopper, endemic to Australian Alps) - thousands

  • Lizards (probably Guthega skink) - scores

  • Birds - numerous ravens, several magpies, handful of pipits, one flame robin

  • Mammals - none spotted, but plenty of wombat and kangaroo droppings on the tracks

  • Snakes - two (one black, one brown), glimpses only

  • Flies - none to speak of

  • Frogs - three heard, none seen

Sunday 30 Nov 2025. End of year picnic - Lane Cove NP.

Our final event for 2025 was the Xmas picnic at Lane Cove National Park.

We had 31 members join us for a social catchup and picnic lunch.

All the walking trails were closed due to the fire ban, meaning that our proposed morning walk had to be called off.

Most importantly, however, we still managed to hold our annual cricket match. There were many complaints that the state of the pitch severely limited some performances!

It was a great day and a lovely way to end our year.