Wednesday July 17 and Saturday July 20

Yes this is a bumper walking edition. On Wednesday I joined Kim as he commenced his 61 day walk to Albany. A 964 km hike. The Tuesday had been wet and cold. We were delighted that although Wednesday was cold, the rain ad assed and there was some lovely sunshine.

 

 

There was a good number seeing Kim off. His first day was to walk only 10.5km to Hewitt Hill Hut. This first section was quite hilly and had Kim with his 25kg backpack working quite hard to keep going. I joined him, Steve Higgs, plus Jordan, Toby and Luke Chester.

 

 

We had lunch at his first night stop and then continued onto Mundaring Weir, making our walk between 18 to 20km in length. The second section we walked on was much easier. It was fairly cool as I had on thermal pants and didn't find them too hot.

 

Now this Saturday morning walk was very cold, the fingers even ached some what. We had planned on completing the Mason Bird Tramway walk starting from the other end and meeting up where we completed last weeks walk. The track was not marked very clearly and we ended up at Victoria Dam, which was rebuilt in the early 90s. It was quite note reding, as they left the remainder of the old dam wall below the new dam wall. It is a very beautiful picnic site. For breakfast we called into the Carmel Rosefarm and enjoyed our usual of scrambled eggs or in Peter's case, poached eggs.

 

 

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Saturday July 13 Mason Bird Tram Trail

A cold Saturday morning but my walking buddy is back with me. Left Kathryn in bed. Todays's walk is only 10 minutes from home. In the 1870s there was a tram line built from the hills behind where we live to the Canning River. This transported Jarrah logs to the Canning River. The owners of the Timber Company were called Mason and Bird. Timber exports were one of the early incomes of the colony. All that really remains of this venture is the homestead of Mason on the Canning River, kept in very good condition and a restored wooden bridge that you can see in the photos below. Said to be the oldest existing wooden bridge in Australia, although is doesn't look like too much of it is original! The track we were walking extended 8 kmh in on direction. We decided to walk halfway this week and next week complete the other half by starting at the top end - a good idea from Peter.

 

 

http://pickeringbrookheritagegroup.com/timbermason.html

 

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Saturday July 6 Lake Leschenaultia

The last two Saturdays Peter hasn't been able to join the walks. Last Saturday Kathryn joined me for a walk between Mt Henry Bridge and Canning Bridge, approximately 6km. I wore my backpack and took my hiking poles. The more I do this the stronger my shoulders become.

Today we drove upto Lake Leschenaultia a man made lake east of Perth. Originally developed to supply water for the steam trains after they had ascended the Darling Ranges. Today it a beautiful and popular recreation area.

The walk was not a long one, about 3km. Today with my backpack that's all I was happy to walk. It was quite cold around 4deg, by the end of the 30 minute walk I had quite warmed up. I believe Kathryn also enjoyed the short walk, although her tendons give her problems in her ankle area.

We had breakfast on the way home at the Mundaring Bakery Cafe. As holidays have started I hope to get a few more walks in over the next couple of weeks.

 

 

 

 

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