Date: 31/10/2021
Participants: Mike, Jacky, my neighbour and I
On an uneventful day during lockdown, I got a friend request on Facebook from Mike. He also loves bushwalking. That's why, we decided to do a 'get-to-know-each-other' trip with my neighbour tagging along. There were supposed to be around 6 more people but on the day of the trip only Jacky went. Thus, the party consisted of Mike, Jacky, my neighbour and I. It was a cloudy day.
After parking at Austinmer station, we headed towards the Sublime walking track in the Royal National park. On the way, there were so many Jacaranda trees blooming, creating a very romantic atmosphere.
The track we took to Sublime track
The Sublime track was mostly stairs, we ascended steeply up the stairs, through lush dense rainforests with tree ferns and palms.
Our stamina was tested during the climb, I would say compared to the Kedumba trip, I was able to ascend a little bit more quickly, although I also went out of breath by the time we reached the ladder. As I was still in the process of bringing my stamina up again, I had to make several stops during the climb. At one point, I even got a little bit light-headed due to going up too fast. It was very nice of Jacky and Mike, who climbed the stairs much faster, waited for us. Thanks guys!
At the first ladder small drops of rain started falling down. We climbed up the ladders, reaching a big gate before finally reached Sublime track lookout.
The rain wasn't too long, and we could enjoy the whole Illawarra escarpment before a quick toilet break. It always looked majestic everytime I had a chance to have aerial view. At the lookout point, there were a lot of padlocks on the handrail, I wonder what they are for.
Initially, I thought that we would climb back down and call it a day. However, I quickly found out that we were also going to walk the Woodward track, a short loop at the top of Sublime track lookout.
The vegetation wasn't much different to the previous track. However, all the plants were blooming because of Spring. The most standing out plant was Gymea lily Doryanthes, who had a large bright red flower. A truly unique Australian native coastal plant. The soil also contained mostly white sand now.
From there, we decided to continue walking to Stanwell Park since it sounded fun.
At the beginning, there was an area by the track where the land was very flat, an ideal spot for camping? We walked on a large wide track, possibly also suitable for 4wd driving.
During lunch, we could also see a dirt bike rider. There was even some wooden walking path, how luxurious.
We also came past quite a few secret looking out spot to the coast, it was very nice. At one spot we even encountered two friendly rock climbers who showed us their climbing photos, we found out that there are hundreds of climbing routes around here, each with a different name!
One interesting section during this walk was the rainforest gully, where the tallest tree wins!
A hole on top of a big boulder - There were actually 3!
After that we got lost a bit but quickly found our way back on track. There were a lot of Gymea lily in this part. We walked past a sign where it said "Biodiversity Stewardship site" or a native plant protection site.
There were also a lot of gum trees, both white and red!
Beautiful scenery
We decided to have a quick rest at a big lookout at a cliff, where Coalcliff station can be seen! All went well until we got lost after a section where there were a lot of cabbage palms.
We descended to a junction leading to Stanwell Park station one way and Coalcliff station the other way.
After discussing about the train schedule, we decided to head to Stanwell Park station like we planned before. There was a sign that warner "indistict trail - do not leave track". We quickly learned about the important of this after crossing Stanwell creek. There was a rope there for people to jump into a pool but the pool was very shallow for this.
From there, we lost the track and walked deeper and deeper into the bush, until we arrived at a part where the rail could actually be seen! However, to reach and climb the rail, there was a steep cliff before us and also, there would be a huge fine if we trespass train rails. Thus, we decided to climb up and hope to meet the track. As this was after the rain, it was very slippery and hard to balance yourself. Nevertheless, we reach what seemed to be a track and saw someone came from above. However, I misread my gps and we went back into the bush and lost the track again! This time, Mike decided to push further forward but the bush was getting very dense and the plants also were very thorny, it actually scratched my arms and hand a lot since I wore short sleeve shirt. Additionally, it was nearly five and so we did not have much daylight left to keep bush bashing. I talked to my neighbour who told Mike that we should backtrack and find a way to the correct trail by climbing up again. We backtrack a little bit, during the way I almost made a stupid decision and went back down (I was getting very frustrated and tired). However, I found a faint footpath going up and according to the gps, the track is above us so I suggested for us to take that path. Luckily, it was the right way and we made it out just before the next train, and there was still daylight!
Turns out we got our via Wodi Wodi track!
My neighbour's and I - we were very tired but happy to make it out before dark
What a trip! There were a few misfortunes but we were safe at the end. It was interesting in some way and I learnt some new life lessons from my new friends. One of which is staying positive to make the best out of the situation that we are in. I am very inspired and excited to have more trips with Mike and Jacky.
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