Let's face it, bushwalking isn't everyone's cup of tea.
It can be strenuous, sweaty, and taxing, not to mention the blisters, flies, leeches and who knows what else. On top of this, there are many other obstacles that prevent many people from bushwalking including accessibility, health, fitness, and time constraints.
That's why the good folk at the Canberra Bushwalking Club (CBC) have done us all a favour with a must-see photographic display to celebrate their 60th birthday.
"It's a 60-year record of adventure, enjoyment, and camaraderie in exploring our local bushland, as well as regions further afield," reports Jenny Horsfield, one of the exhibition curators.
Non-walkers will revel in the opportunity to vicariously strap on the hiking boots and explore without a creepy crawly within cooee while seasoned walkers will gain inspiration for that next hike into the Canberra bush, and beyond.
The curators narrowed down 70 photos to a final 30, and here are my favourite four.
Folly Point Lookout, Morton National Park
Look closely and you can almost see into the future. Ok, not quite that far but at least a long way down the rugged spine of Morton National Park.
One of the reasons I don't belong to a bushwalking club is that if you stumble upon a spot where you want to stop snd smell the roses, you can't. You have to walk at the same pace of the group. That's not my style.
However, sometimes, even the most seasoned bushwalking group succumbs to a vista, especially when it's as expansive as this one encountered on the second day of a four-day pack walk through the Budawangs in 2018.
"We spent a long while just staring at the view, probably too long," explains Ian Hickson who confesses, "just look at all those layers, there's so much to take in with those deep valleys, those cliffs, it's a complex view."
Divine! I could sit there all day.
Ian rattles off the landmarks from left to right. "First there's the end of Talaterang cliff line, Pigeon House, Byangee Walls, the Castle Seven Gods, and of course, the Clyde River," he explains.
Also, what I especially like about this photo, like most in the exhibition, is that Ian is a bushwalker who takes photos, not a photographer who goes bushwalking. They are raw. No fancy filters for Instagram likes and no elaborate set-ups (they don't have time!), just very much a case of point and shoot. What you see is what you get. Yes, even that pair of garden gloves bushwalkers wear to protect hands while walking through sharp undergrowth.
"I don't go out photographing, I go out bushwalking and occasionally take a photo using a small camera in my pocket. I go for quantity not quality." explains Ian.
The Anvil, Morton National Park
Over the last decade, this column has showcased many dramatic arches in our region, both intact like London Bridge at Googong Foreshores, and collapsed, like the eroded Hole in the Wall in Jervis Bay. However, until I first saw Philip Gatenby's photo, I'd never heard of the Anvil.
Just like the deep valleys below, the former arch, which according to Philip "is crossed when enroute to the summit of Mt Tarn, is shrouded in mystery. When did it collapse? What did it look like before? No one knows for sure.
Philip, who took the photo in 1982, shortly after becoming a member of the bushwalking club, recalls, "there was quite a crowd on the trip - at least a dozen people, but I only recognise about three now which shows how long ago it was taken".
"That part of the national park is a fantastic area ... a bit like the Blue Mountains only better, but it got hit badly by the fires so now some of the tracks are getting overgrown by the post-fire regrowth," reports Philip, who has made the pilgrimage to the Anvil at least five times in the last 40 years.
Twister Canyon, Wollemi National Park
Philip was also behind the lens for my third choice which highlights the lengths some adventurous hikers will go to explore an area, even if it means donning helmets and wetsuits. Gee, it makes my bum-slide with the kids down Gibraltar Falls in Namadgi last weekend look amateurish.
Dutchmans Stern, Flinders Ranges
Like many of us, bushwalkers are guilty of taking far too many photos at lookouts, waterfalls, or other landscape features but rarely under beautiful trees.
"I've been bushwalking my whole life, I love the fresh air, the scenery and the exercise, and it's all free," says Quentin Moran who snapped this photo on a day hike to Dutchmans Stern, a prominent bluff in the shape of a ship's hull in the Flinders Rangers of South Australia in 2016.
Can anyone beat 12 people perched in and around a tree? Sure you can. Photographic evidence please, to the address at the end of this column.
60 Years of Canberra Bushwalking Club: a photographic display is on show until May 1, Namadgi Visitors Centre, Naas Rd, Tharwa. 9am-4pm. Free entry.
DON'T MISS: Watch the sun set over the Brindabellas as this year's Heritage Festival draws to a close. Enjoy food, drink, music, sunset, and stars. Family friendly. Small entry fee. Strathnairn Arts Woolshed, 90 Stockdill Drive, Holt, May 1. Bookings essential: www.strathnairn.com.au/brindabellasunset22
Serving up more Gundagai memories
There was a mountain of correspondence about "Australia's wonder café" and memories of Gundagai as a result of this column's recent feature on the resurrection of the town's Niagara Café.
Adrian Fryatt of Scullin even sent in a photo of a Niagara Café-branded plate.
"I was passing through Gundagai about a year ago when I noticed a small sign in the window of the Niagara Café indicating that they were selling off their crockery," says Adrian, who popped inside "and was taken back to a simpler time of milkshakes in metal containers and 'proper' food!"
"The plate with Niagara insignia is something you just don't see any more and it has pride of place in the Fryatt kitchen display cabinet."
The plates are of course collector items but not all Niagara memorabilia has been legally acquired. "Over the years many plates and spoons were pilfered", says Peter Castrission whose dad and uncle ran the café for more than 50 years in the mid-1900s, including during World War II.
During the war, Australian troops passing through town, or camping on the flats under the town's wooden bridge (yes, the one that was sadly pulled down last year) would sometimes stop into the café for a feed.
"Often they'd leave with pockets laden with Niagara-branded teapots and ash trays," reveals Peter. "Dad would have to call the local coppers who'd pull up the troop carriers and ask for the plates back."
During the war, Peter's dad and his uncles would also camp in the hills around Gundagai for a week at a time to collect charcoal (for fuel due to petrol rationing).
According to Peter, one night in the early 1940s the RAAF undertook a practise bombing near one of their camps. "As it was dark, they thought it might have been a Japanese attack, so they remained hidden in the hills for a couple of weeks," reveals Peter.
WHERE IN CANBERRA?
Rating: Easy - Medium
Cryptic Clue: Home of the regenerators, not the reincarnators
How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and suburb to tym@iinet.net.au. The first correct email sent after 10am, Saturday April 30 wins a double pass to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema.
Last week: Congratulations to Greg Royle of Red Hill who was the first to identify last week's photo as Blowering Dam near Tumut, where, on October 8, 1978, driving his jet powered boat 'Spirit of Australia', Aussie Ken Warby set the world water speed record of 511km/h. According to my calculations, that equates to travelling the 11km length of Lake Burley Griffin in 1 minute and 17 seconds. That's seriously quick. In fact, it's still the world water speed record. There have been two official attempts to beat Warby's record, and both sadly resulted in the death of the pilots: Lee Taylor (1980) and Craig Arfons (1989).
A SNAIL'S PACE
At the other end of the speed spectrum, this weekend as part of its SteamPunk @ Altitude Festival, Nimmitabel is hosting its annual snail races. Ten-year-old Gus Lilley will be there bright and early. "Last year my snail must have got altitude sickness as it fell asleep on the course and was thrashed by local snails," reveals the Kambah kid who has been "putting six backyard snails through a series gruelling training sessions for the last month". The whole of Canberra is behind you Gus, let's hope it's a case of slow and steady wins the race.
CONTACT TIM: Email: tym@iinet.net.au or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, PO Box 186, Fyshwick, ACT, 2609
