After a week of unbelievable stormy weather we decided to
venture out again to Royal National Park for a day of hiking. With
thunderstorms predicted for the afternoon (and they have been so severe this
week, a lot of homes in Sydney have been without power after lighting strikes)
we decided to set off super early to avoid any chance of getting caught out in
the bush. A quick 6am coffee and we were on the train to Heathcote. It’s a nice
11km trail through heathland and interesting rock outcrops. The first couple of
kilometres were mostly downhill although there was a lot of scrambling over
rocks and through overgrown bush. Since we were so early there was no one else
on the track there was quite a lot of wildlife still around - Tim saw a wallaby
before it quickly bounded off.
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| 6am Sunday morning |
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| Excited to be back in the bush |
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| Karloo Trail |
Crossing Heathcote Brook the trail climbs across a broad
rock shelf to a ridge. We hiked along the ridge for about 2.5km before the
trail crossed the brook again at Karloo Pools. These are a collection of
freshwater billabongs formed at a sharp bend in Heathcote Brook. After a quick
snack we decided to cool off and go for a swim. The water was surprisingly not
cold at all and the only thing we had to worry about were the leeches sunning
themselves on the banks as we climbed out.
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| Quick dip in Karloo Pool |
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| Catching some rays by the pools |
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| Karloo Pool |
Heading back onto the track we had a very steep climb up to
the Uloola falls. After a lot of scrambling the track finally flattened out for
a bit before heading up another hilly section to the top of the ridge. The view
from the ridge line was amazing. There was a large rocky plateau where we could
see right over the bush below and as far as the city. The track then continued
off the plateau and back into the bush before emerging over the top of Uloola
falls. Again we were treated to amazing views of the valley below so we decided
to stop for lunch in a shady spot by the pool.
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| Climbing up to Uloola falls |
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| Uloola Track |
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| Plateau with amazing views |
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| Royal National Park with Sydney behind |
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| Uloola Falls |
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| Lunch Break |
From here it was another 5.5km to Waterfall station. After a
short uphill section the track joins a wide sandy fire trail all the way back
to the station. It was an easy trail, relatively flat but because it was so
wide there was absolutely no shelter from the sun which was beating down with
vengeance. The last stretch was particularly sweaty, especially as we were
aware of the large storm clouds and rumbles of thunder getting closer to where
we were. We made it back to Waterfall station in perfect timing as pretty much
as soon as we got on the train HUGE raindrops started to fall and it was the
beginning of another huge storm for Sydney.
Uloola Trail Time Lapse:
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