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| The Tasman Bridge as seen through a memorial at Montague Bay |
Thursday, September
24, 2015
Today I walked about 7
kilometres from Montague Bay to Geilston Bay, and then rock -hopped about another two along the
shore beneath the Bedlam Walls, a cliff face which overlooks the Derwent.
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| A lone canoeist breaks the mirrored surface |
After starting on the south side of the Bridge and going
beneath its rumbling arches heavy with traffic, the track meanders pleasantly to Lindisfarne
past elegant houses jockeying for water views and equally lovely gardens with beautiful
flowering trees – even the street voted most attractive in 1985. As with my beach walk a few days ago, this
path was also popular with cyclists, joggers and dog walkers, though perhaps
not as many as along the previous section. There were numerous seats and occasional
sidetracks which gave onto little beaches. The latter must be fishing spots
because they were mostly rocky and not all that pretty, but the birds were
doing a bit of fishing there too. Mums
and Dads will also appreciate the several playgrounds along the way not to mention
the free barbecues at Geilston Bay, which were also enjoying considerable
patronage.
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| It's all about boats and birds here |
I am quite blasé now about the views of the city across the
bay and the sight of so many yachts reflected in its waters. In a perverse Wabi
Sabi – loving the imperfect, kind of way, I tried instead to photograph
the industrial sprawl of the Zinc Works breathing smoke into a lowering sky like some
enormous fearsome beast.
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| Zinc Works - Sorry doesn't quite capture it - needs a telephoto lens |
It was good walking
weather – not too hot and certainly not as cold and rainy as it had been for
the last couple of days, so I kept going on to Geilston Bay and then on up the
pathway to towards
Shag Bay.
This proved
to be the most exciting part of the journey.
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| Escapee Wallflowers provide a colourful and scented contrast |
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| Stunning Rock Formations at Bedlam Walls | | |
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| It's a long way down! | |
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| Entrance to one of the Caves | |
This area is particularly interesting both geologically and
because the
Aborigines obviously spent much time here, leaving behind
not only the usual shell middens but also a
quarry and tools. Most importantly, there are several large caves there which
were definitely used as shelters by them.
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| Here the cliff face is riddled with caves but photos were difficult because there are few places to stand safely |
Unfortunately, the official
track is now closed, but I came there by way of the rock ledges below
and was not aware of this fact. I am not sure if closure is due to some
instability, or for cultural reasons.
If
the former,
then I am a
careful risk taker
and did nothing which might jeopardise my own skin – always a hazard when you
walk alone (and yes, son of mine I was carrying the EPIRB, in case you were
going to ask). If the latter, then I apologise for the intrusion.
The track notes say you enter at your own risk.
Even from a purely geological point of view these caves are
amazing.
According to one geological report I read, they were made by the sea, but
now stand some thirty feet (10 metres) above it.
The return trip was a bit of an anti -climax but thankfully mostly
downhill and uneventful, but for a very few wild flowers – another orchid, and
the first of the butterfly irises which you can see below. I think I may have
called them lilies in the previous post). You can imagine how pretty they would look when
massed and in flower.
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| Another day, another orchid. This is a Leopard Orchid (Diuris Pardina) according to my correspondents at the Society for Growing Australian Plants |
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| Early Butterfly Irises |
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