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Meetings: All meetings are held on the 4th Thursday of each month (excluding December); General Meetings at Leongatha Community House, 16 Bruce Street, Leongatha and alternating with Activity Planning Meetings and dinner at venues to be announced.
Activity Meeting May 24 2018 at 6:30pm in the Meeniyan Hotel
General Meeting April 26th at 8:00pm in Leongata Community Centre
Activity Reports
Dandenong Ranges - William Ricketts Sanctuary - March 25
On Sunday 25th March Heather and I headed off to Sherbrooke National Park in the Dandenong Ranges. We met Joy, Sandra, Gayle, Ed, Wendy, Ilsa, Michelle, Liz, Clive and Marg at Ferny Creek. We walked through some beautiful bushland and then continued on to the magnificent Alfred Nicholas Memorial Gardens where we enjoyed a picnic lunch by the lake. We walked back to Ferny Creek and then drove to the artist William Ricketts Santuary and admired his sculptures in a serene setting of bushland. He was very passionate about the earth and felt in tune with the aboriginal people. William Ricketts created the sanctuary as a place for quiet reflection and replenishing the spirit. He believed that all Australians should adopt Aboriginal philosophies, respecting the spirituality of the mother earth and all things in the natural world. Some of us headed home and some headed for tea and award winning scones, a lot of cafés seem to have award winning scones! They were pretty good the girls said. It was a very enjoyable day. Thanks Joy.
Les
Around the Bay in 4 Days - March 18-21
Day 1
All 11 riders gathered at Southern Cross Station, Kerry, David, Val, Pat, Jean, Julie, Alan, Colin, John, George & Ian. George & I were slightly late as we missed a train & had to find our way to the meeting place, so everyone tanked up on eats, for some it was breakfast, others lunch, being 10.30am it didn’t matter, after bathroom considerations we were off. Not so fast - I had to go back for my bag, then Jean realised that she left her purse on the table, she was soon back with us after recovering it. We made our way down beside the Yarra to the punt jetty, under the Westgate Bridge, but no ferry in sight, so under pressure from the concerned banter, Kerry rang the ferry operator (she keeps all phone numbers) who said that the service was cancelled because no one would be silly enough to be out in this wind, but alas they decided to reinstate operations just for us, well done Kerry. Just as well as there were cyclists on the other side waiting to come over as well. So on the other side we trundled up to Spotswood to join the Federation Trail, at this point the wind was horrific, riding out to the Werribee Plains, there was not much shelter, we had a rest stop under an aqueduct after which we made our way to Tarniet Station & caught the train to Geelong South, only 1km from our accommodation at the Riverglen Caravan Park. After a rest & showers we were picked up by a courtesy bus & taken to Fyansford Hotel for dinner, where our hosts put on a great meal & drove us back to the park. It had been a big day & we were all glad for some sleep.
Day 2
George & I breakfasted at a nearby cafe & came back to join the others for some Greater Geelong exploring. On our bikes, riding up to Buckley Falls (named after William Buckley, who frequented the area before white men) We then found the Boathouse Cafe & decided over coffee to split the group into an easy ride & a harder ride. I was in the latter gathering which took to the west side but after discovering that the new freeway bike track was closed this ride was abandoned &p;am this group went & joined the first group. George & I went visiting relatives. Kerry mustered everyone at 6.30pm to catch the same bus to Fyansford Hotel where again everyone enjoyed their meal & yapped to their hearts content. Another good nights sleep & we were ready for the next days adventure.
Day 3
We were all gathered at the crack of dawn, well it was closer to 8.30am, one of our group - Jean - discovered a puncture, obviously a bit of bad luck, anyway by 9.00am we were away, staying by the Barwon River then diverging to the Queenscliff trail. cycling through Leopold we made our way to Drysdale where we sought out the Zoo cafe & munched on a lovely morning tea (or coffee). With that dealt with, we continued on to Queenscliff & another delightful bakery! We boarded the ferry taking us to Sorrento & enjoyed the 45 minutes of rest before departing for Rosebud. The wind was still as bad as it had been all the trip, the problem being we were travelling around the bay in a circular motion & the wind kept changing to be in front of us. This is rare & probably just bad luck. We got to Rosebud & dined at La Porchetta to our delight, retiring back to our motel for another good sleep.
DAY 4
Muster at 8.30am. It was decided to ride through the parkland instead of the busy Nepean Hwy, but the wind was still blowing right in our faces - yes it had shifted round to the north east the direction we were going, & it felt a bit colder as well. After travelling about 5km it was decided to take to the road. We were all a bit miserable with the weather and felt we could make better headway on the bitumen. After climbing the first of the Mt. Martha sections we knew what it was like to be back in the hills, it undulated all the way to Mornington where we stopped off at a café ‘Via Battisti’ & the fair there was truly delightful. So with Mornington behind us, we set out for Bungower Road & at this stage the wind was getting to a ridiculous state, so we  backtracked to yet another diner to wait it out for a while. After recovering somewhat we continued on up Bungower Rd. & decided to take what looked like a rail trail, which led into a school, & they had a sign up stating NO TRESSPASSERS for walkers, bikes, horses, joggers, swimmers, cats & dogs which we ignored & carried on through. However 3 of our number panicked & took flight, leaving the rest of us in a quandary, until the deserters regained their decorum & rejoined us. We then continued along the rail trail if you could call it that & found our way to Moorooduc Road & then the Freeway Bike Path. At the Frankston turnoff George & I peeled off to Cranbourne where our car was waiting.
All in all what a great trip. Thanks to Kerry for organising & David for leading. Well done & thanks to all the other participants. -IAN
Forthcoming Events
Trivia Night - April 14
To be held on 14th April at Meeniyan Golf Club.
Tables of 8-10, book in by April 7 - ContactKerry Baggallay on 0428 647 440.
Leadership Training - a new course
BWV has announced that a Leadership Training Course is to be offered to all members of Gippsland Bushwalking Clubs over the weekend of August 4-5 at a venue to be advised.
If you are interested then please register with Robyn Shingles mob: 0419 501 666 or by email at rshingles19@gmail.com
Refuge Cove Boat Trip - Tuesday April 10
*** This activity has been postponed to later in the year. ***
It was to consist of a 1-day boat trip from Port Welshpool to Refuge Cove and return with all meals included. Stay tuned!
Mt Buffallo - April 20-23, 2018
(Note: This activity is currently fully subscribed - contact Gayle if you wish to go on the waiting list in case there are cancellations.)
Hi everyone.
Here are the details for the Mt Buffalo Adventure.
The campground is at Lake Catani and is in the national park.
There are around 50 camp sites, some suitable for small vans and a couple of walk-in only sites. All are unpowered. Please note, there is no cabin style accommodation. - the nearest cabins are at Porepunka which is a 45-60 minute drive down the mountain. There are also some group/school sites but they appeared to be all booked up for this weekend when I checked on-line.
There is a toilet/shower block with solar powered lighting and a dishwashing area with sinks and hot water.
There are communal fireplaces and a small brick shelter with fireplaces at either end. You must bring your own firewood - you are not allowed to collect it in the park.
You need to bring your own drinking water.
Sites cost $49.95 a night with a maximum number of 6 to a site. There is an extra charge for a 2nd or 3rd car per site. You will need to go on-line or phone to book a site.
I spoke to one of the rangers last week about which sites were suitable for small vans and this is the list he gave me:
Sites 37-41 and 16-29 while there are some bigger front sites from 53-59. (You may like to double check when you book if you have a van) Sites 43-46 are walk-in only sites.
When you go on-line there is a map - although rather small - so you can use that to book your site in relation to the toilet block and communal fireplaces.
The plan is to arrive on the Friday 20th, walk on Saturday and Sunday and leave on Monday, unless you decide to stay longer.
Some of you may want to join Kerry and David for an extra day or two for a bike ride on the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail, probably based in Myrtleford.
Please let me know if you are planning to go to Mt Buffalo and please let Kerry know if you want to do the ride afterwards.
My email is gaylemcharg@me.com and landline is 56648278.
To book a camp site go to: www.parkstay.vic.gov.au/mount-buffalo-national-park#/accom/33311 Or phone 131963.
Hope that all makes sense.
Gayle
Painted Silo’s Itinerary
Thursday 26th : April arrive Rupanyup
Friday: 27th - Travel via Sheep Hills, Brim, Rosebery silos. Camp at Lake Lascelles, which is at Hopetoun.
Saturday 28th : check out Lascelles silo on way to Patchewollock. Travel home or stay Patchewollock. End of tour.
Suitable for caravans/tents or hotel. Please book your own. Some of us will have bikes to explore the towns with, but that’s optional.
Zoe: 0429 830 307 - hezbaillie@gmail.com
Snowy River Camp
The date for this has been set for May 14-17 - Robyn is currently getting more information and will send it out by email shortly
Friends of Robyn and Dale’s have a property in the Orbost area that has a lot of bush that runs down to the Snowy River and they have indicated that the club would be welcome to organize Base Camp and Walking activities there. The meeting was quite keen on the idea in about April 2018 and resolved to consider it further at a meeting early next year.
Federation Walks
This year’s Federation Walks Weekend will be held on the weekend of 20 and 21 October 2018
Walks Program
For the web version of Footprints, the walks program is located on a separate page and is kept up-to-date with changes as they come in.
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