Thirlmere Lakes

 This walk takes place on Gandangarra and Dharawal Country

After returning home from Iceland, and going through the process of recovering from Covid-19, I tried to focus on trying to improve my career opportunities by trying to focus on doing my Certificate IV in Business Admin with TAFE NSW, however I found the whole thing monotonous, convoluted, and disorganised. Between that and feeling incredibly exhausted and burnt out from work (and feeling a real struggle after covid, maybe due to my pre-existing health conditions).

I tried once to organise a walk with my friend Tristan, which was locked in, however a relative of mine passed away and her funeral was held on the date we had planned. Time passed and I thought about organising it, however found myself incredibly fatigued with work, and I began to wonder whether it was long-covid, or just because of my cancer treatment. After weeks of neglecting my TAFE, I began to feel a decline in my mental health, and deep depression began to take hold. I thought about trying to organise the walk with Tristan again, but as it was a mountain I began to get in my head about my feeling of intense fatigue and whether I would struggle.

Soon my Wife suggested the idea of a day out at a nearby Apple Orchard across from Madden's Falls. Looking into the pricing and the way it was run we decided against going there and my Wife started looking into other orchards that may have more agreeable rules and prices, before finding a strawberry picking place in the town of Thirlmere. I got excited as she suggested it, as I had never been to Thirlmere and my brother Scott had been there before and suggested I go. I had looked into the town after he suggested it learning about its heritage of being successfully developed by Estonian Immigrants. 

I suggested to my Wife that way make a full day of it, and do a nearby bushwalk after visiting the Strawberry Farm. After quick Google Search I suggested the Thirlmere Lakes walking track, a 6km loop track (apparently a Grade 4, though I've never in my life paid attention to grading systems). She was aggregable to this on the condition that the weather be good and 'not too hot', a hard ask in Australia, so I waited for the time to be right with eager anticipation to break up the monotony that I had felt since returning from overseas.

The week leading up to it, my Wife then asked if I even wanted to pick Strawberries, saying it wasn't the experience, like walking through an Apple Orchard would be, and we could just buy Strawberries for the same price.
I asked if she was still ok to go to Thirlmere, which was my main draw and she said she was, so the excitement remained. I also had a guy reach out to me from ABC Illawarra wanted to talk to me in regard to a Facebook page I run about the 'Bull of Bull Island' and I agreed to speak to him on Monday, after the weekend, feeling a churn in my stomach of nervousness as I had been on the news before and found that I get anxious and tend to ramble.

Saturday morning came, and we packed some food for the day, including some homegrown cucumbers with hummus, and set out to Thirlmere. Driving through Picton, a place I had also never gone before I commented that it wasn't like what I thought it would be like (in my head picturing Liverpool or other areas of Western Sydney).
"It's giving me Jamberoo vibes." I said, and as we progressed into a busier section of the town, I said it now reminded me of Bowral.

We turned off the road towards the lakes and ended up following a dirt road downhill. As we reached the base of the hill there was a sign. I stopped on the road to look up which was the best way to begin our walk. The NSW National Park website said to begin at the Couridjah picnic area, and so we turned left and in 10 seconds we pulled up to our right at a picnic area overlooking a lake.

"This is a nice spot." I said as we both applied some sunscreen. My Wife has started feeling ill with vertigo on the drive up and I double checked that she was still ok to do the walk and she assured me she was.

I walked up to the information board at the picnic area to learn a little about the lake. With my Wife pointing out that there were two missing Dogs with signs stuck to the board making us sad. "Although you're not meant to bring Dogs into national parks" I commented.
"Maybe they escape from a nearby home?" My Wife commented.
Either way we felt sad for the lost Dogs.


"People and the Lakes
The Dharawal and Gundungurra have lived around Thirlmere lakes for many thousands of years, leaving grinding grooves, rock engravings, artwork, and other evidence of occupation.
The local Aboriginal people were some of the first to feel the impact of European settlement, suffering from new diseases, violence and occupation of their lands. 
They called the area Couridjah, which is believed to mean honey and refer to the nectar of the abundant banksia flowers.
Europeans officially found the lakes in 1798, and they have been popular with visitors since at least the 1860's.
In 1867 a pumphouse, which still stand beside Lake Couridjah, was built to supply water to steam engines plying the new southern railway.
Today the park is a significant conservation reserve ideal for quiet public enjoyment."

"Are there any toilets around here?" My Wife asked.
"I'm not sure." I replied. Before spotting one a short distance away through the bush along the trail, before finishing reading the second half of the board.

"Birds of the Water
More than 140 different birds use Thirlmere Lakes, including many waterfowl. The threatened Australasian bittern needs to dense shoreline vegetation for nesting and foraging. It is hard to see because it is mainly active at night.
Endangered Japanese snipes fly 9,000 kilometres from their breeding grounds in Japan to feed in Australia every summer. They are sometimes seen wading around these muddy shores. The snipe is protected by a special agreement between the two countries."

"I hope we see a Snipe." I said.
"We say them in Iceland." My Wife replied.
"I know, and they're super cute."

(There was more information on the board about the vegetation, geology and lake animals and I will share systematically throughout the post.)

As I went to walk down the path to the toilet, my Wife pointed out a built path to the toilet up further, so we walked up to that and along to the toilets which also had stairs leading down to the walking track. As we looked to see which toilet to enter, we were amused, as there was a male toilet, but the female toilet was duel male/female toilet. 

"This is just the patriarchy all over, we get to use both toilets." I teased my Wife.

This would upset J.K. Rowling

The toilet was one of those old school hole-in-the-ground bush toilets, and as soon as I entered, I was instantly swarmed, and my ankles were attacked by mosquitoes. We walked back to the start of the walk to have a look at a map. It appeared to show two walks, with one going straight, but the one doing a loop going off to the left and not going around the lake.

"I thought the loop track went around the lake." I told my Wife, and she said she should just do the loop.

We began down the path, and after a short walk there was a little trail down to the water once more, for another view of the lake.

"Waves of Vegetation
Have you noticed the bands of different sedges fringing the lakeshore?
Some species can handle constant wetness while others prefer to be 'high and dry' when the water level falls.
Above the shoreline grows a wave of moisture-loving paperbarks and, in a few places, the locally rare river peppermint.
The paperbarks merge upslope into the open woodlands featuring rough-barked apples, Sydney peppermints and red and yellow bloodwoods"

After a short while we came to a fork in the road, and I wondered if we suppose to turn left here. However, we noticed an arrow carved into the tree and decided to follow it to our right instead.

"Hopefully it's not just someone trying to trick us into going the wrong way." My ever-suspicious Wife commented.

"God my ankle is itchy." I said, giving it a quick scratch that instantly drew blood. "Damn mosquitoes."

"You couldn't take a photo of me looking less sick?" My Wife commented

"When the Earth Moves
The meandering valley where these waters now rest was formed by an ancient stream flowing downhill, gradually cutting into the land.
But about 15 million years ago the valley was tilted up by earth movements. Water that could no longer drain away pooled in the valley floor.
In the vast sweep of geological time, lakes don't usually last long. They're filled in quickly by sediment washed from the surrounding slopes - perhaps in just a few million years.
Thirlmere lakes are certainly shallower than they used to be amongst the oldest of all lakes. Why have the been so stable for so long?
Maybe the small catchment has something to do with it, but no one knows for sure."

After a short walk we came to another split but this time there was a metal marker telling us that the walking track was the track on our right, which continued along the lake.

"That's the problem with bushwalks in Australia, there are so many alternate trails, and you're don't know if they're just people walking off and creating them, if it's people doing bush regeneration work." I complained.

As we continued along, I pointed to a plant growing in the trees. The way it grew it looked like a plant net that had washed up and been caught high up in the tree by flooding, though I knew that was probably not the case, it was the story my mind made up by looking at it. (Which is probably some insight into human psychology and where stories and mythologies throughout history have come from.

(Aetiological: serving to explain something by giving a cause or reason for it, often in historical or mythical terms)

The weather was nice, and not too hot. I had been non-stop checking the BOM weather app for rain, and the car was receiving spitting rain on the drive-up Mount Ousley before the turn of towards Picton. But now that we were here, it was sunny, and not too hot, and as we wandered along the path surrounded by trees. I already felt my mental health improving. I wondered to myself if my fatigue was long-covid, or even cancer related, or if it was simply depression. I wondered if my solution to tiredness was to actually be active. I had been putting of walks because of how I had been feeling, but maybe they were just what I needed.

I took a deep breath of air and it felt clean, I wasn't struggling to breath at all. Then the doubt set in. "What if I'm just having a good day?" I questioned. Suddenly another burst of childish joy and enthusiam.
"Mushrooms!" I knelt down to photograph them.

Continuing along this relaxing walk, my Wife and I talked and just connected. Occasionally with me interrupting to point out pretty wildflowers.

We approached a wider section of the track, passing some horse poo.
"If I knew there was going to be horse poo, I would have brought a bag to collect it." My Wife said, thinking about using it to fertilize our garden.

This wider section had a fallen log you could step over on the left side of the track, with a tree and some ferns and lomandra in the middle splitting the path so you had to choose a route to take. I didn't particularly think about it but walked to the right, not paying attention.

As I walked around, in the lead ahead of my Wife, just passing the log, I instantly froze and threw up a head to stop my Wife. Just ahead, very closing to walking right into it, was a large Red Belly Black Snake. I took out my phone to take a photo, but it slithered away into the bush before I was able to.

My heart was racing.
"That was unexpected." I commented.
We then began discussing that although Red Belly Black Snakes are venomous, they are passive. They are not aggressive creates at all and will usually slither off at any sign of humans, and attacks, although they do happen, are usually the result of them being messed with, or accidentally stepped on.

My Wife told me it was the first she had seen in years, maybe in 10 plus years, with me commenting that the last time I saw them was on a bush walk with my friend Tristan when we went to Kelly's Falls.

As we were discussing this, I was again not paying attention, and I had not even been expecting to see the first Snake, so when I almost walked upon the second also out soaking in the sun on the dirt track I vocalised "Shit!" I exclaimed.

This Snake also quickly slithered away into the bush, but I was able to snap a quick photo before it disappeared.

I was focused now, and keeping an eye on our trail, wary. Not because I worried about getting attacked, but because I didn't want to accidentally step on one and get bitten. My Wife was slightly nervous now in case there were other snakes, like brown snakes or tiger snakes, which are more aggressive and dangerous.
"If we came across any of those snakes and they didn't immediately slither off I wouldn't try and get closer by stomping to even scare them, I'd just turn around and go home." I commented, and began telling her about all the Brown snakes my Dad encountered at a quarry at Glen Davis when we went on our road trip out west.
"That was back in 2009, in like late November, early December, and it was crazy hot." I said.

We approached a log, and I went slowly over it first, cautious in case of a Snake underneath or on the other side. I then proceeded to help my Wife up onto and down off it as she is not use to the outdoors.
"How do I get down?" She asked once up on there.
"You have to just step down with one leg until it touches the ground and then down with the other."
I held her as she managed to do it.
"See, that's like my whole leg length though, she said, referring to her height."

I began telling my Wife about my bedroom as a child. That when I was a really young child this was a part of the carpet at the entrance of my room, and at night there was a line of it that appeared darker than the rest, and that it would terrify me. That I always thought it was a Snake. I knew it wasn't, but my mind always saw it that way and would fill my young child mind with fear.
She commented that it was probably and evolutionary trait, from cavemen, needing to spot things in and amongst the trees and snow looking for predators to keep us safe, the same was probably true with Snakes.

The path then wound back and we could see a clearer view of the lake once more.
"I thought it said we weren't going around the lake?" I asked once more, referring to the map, even though the walk online had said it would.

"Stange Creatures of the Deep
Lurking in the waters of Thirlmere Lakes is a remarkable sponge. All other Australian freshwater sponges are able to reproduce asexually by sending off bits of themselves - rather like a plant cutting.
This ability, called gemmulation, is useful for dealing with the changing conditions of ageing lakes. But 'Radiospongilla sceptroides' can't gemmulate, a fact which seems to confirm the great age and stability of these lakes.
Other strange and significant animals have evolved in Thirlmere Lakes in isolation from other water bodies. A mussel, some worms and various microscopic organisms are mostly restricted to this one lake system."

We could hear people now from across the lake. It sounded like kids playing, they're always irrationally loud.
"I think they're at the other carpark, the one we could have turned right to go to." I said to my Wife.

I passed another big mushroom, kneeling quickly to take a photo, that ended up blurry, which is a good reason to segue into the fact that about two weeks before this I had an eye-test at Specsavers, because I was having headaches while reading 'The Count of Monte Cristo'. Turns out I am farsighted and need reading glasses. (That novel had ultra small writing though!), though, that not being an excuse for my blurry image, which probably had more to do with rushing to not be kneeling down in the bush that had already had more Snakes on it than I'd seen in years.

The wind began to gently blow, and you could hear the sounds of it gently blowing the tree leaves.
"Can you hear that?" I asked my Wife, making her stop and listen.
"Yes, it freaks me out." She responded.
"What?!" I said, perplexed. "That sound is beautiful!"

I made us stop to feel the wind slightly cool us. A gentle flutter of leaves all at once began to fall from the trees and slowly spin towards the ground. We stood there in the silence, watching them lightly fall around us, and it felt like be in a fantasy forest realm in a movie or a video game.
"That was beautiful." I said when it had finished. My Wife agreed.

In reference to my Wife finding the wind creepy, she began trying to say there was something about the Australian bush that 'creeped her out.' but she couldn't quite but her finger on why. (Her Mum is from England and her Dad's family German immigrants, so maybe she doesn't have the cultural heritage of the land in her yet?)
"I know why it is." I confidently told her. "It's because we grew up watching Jeopardy." I told her, referring to the BBC found footage style show about Aliens filmed int he Australian Bush, not the quiz game show which is also excellent.

"Christ!" I yelled. Once more startled by a Red Belly Black Snake. This one at least was a distance away, and just to the right side of the path.

I walked towards it, having more distance between it and the others and more time to get it to slither off. I stomped my feet as I approached, but it did not want to move. I threw a few sticks near it hoping that was frighten it enough (keeping them landing far enough away as to not hit it, I'm not cruel.) However the Snake did not want to move.

"Want me to just walk past it?" My Wife offered.
"No, don't." If it's not moving it might be being territorial, I just don't want it to turn around and bite you all the way out here. If he doesn't want to move, we'll just cut through the bush."

I pointed to our left, we would cut through the grass, and the trailed after the Snake turned left so it wouldn't be too long a walk through to make it back onto the path.
"What about other snakes?" She asked.
"I'll keep an eye out. Just follow behind me." I said, and began into the grass, keeping a careful eye out. About a metre and a half in, the Black Snake slithered off further away to the right, and we walked back onto the path and past it.

"God I'm really on edge now." I said, my heart beating quick every time I saw a fallen piece of black bark to the side of the path, now hyper vigilant for snakes.

As we continued along my Wife began noticing all the holes around.
"Are they Wombat holes or...?" She asked.
"Yeah." I responded.
"Why couldn't we see them instead of all the Snakes."
"You see them out more at night."
"God that's scary." Said my Wife, pointing as we turned a corner to a fallen down tree.

I assumed she meant because Snakes could be leaving underneath it, but she just meant how big it was and the thought of if it fell on you.

Continuing along any sort of breeze had disappeared, and it was now well and truly warm, and we were starting to sweat. I put my sunglasses on to dim the brightness out, but as they were polarized, I found it harder to keep an eye out for snakes, so ended up resting them on the brim of my hat.

We continued along the trail, I pointed out big boulders out in the bush every now and again, wondering if they were the places that featured the Aboriginal rock engraving and artwork. As a history buff, living on Aboriginal land I couldn't help but think about how little I was ever taught about the Indigenous culture here. I'm only 32 (still young according to people older than me, but feeling old now), and even I was brought up calling Uluru 'Ayer's Rock', and with the latest voice to parliament result I couldn't help but think there was still a long way for our country to go. I pictured in my head what life was like for them all those years ago. Living around this water source. Wondering how they dealt with the Snakes, which in the Dharawal/Tharawal language is 'Munda Gari'.

After walking in silence for a while, sweating and keeping an eye out for Snakes, we saw the path open up onto a dirt road.

"I guess we took the other track." I said. Saying that the loop track must have including the dirt roads that my Wife didn't want to walk on in case of 'speeding cars'.

A lady on horseback was coming up the road towards us. I greeted her and asked if she had seen any snakes, informing her of the three we had encountered along the trail. I then double checked with her that the way she'd came led back to the car park and she said it did. I thanked her and we began along the dirt road in the heat, now with less shade back towards the carpark.

"You're becoming your Dad." My Wife told me, mentioning the fact that I started up a conversation with a random. 
"Ah well. We're out on an adventure, got to talk to folk." I replied. "Usually when we're out it's Tristan who does it."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he loves a good chat." I said as we continued along the road.

This dirt road led to another dirt road with a gate blocking off car access. it pointed us right towards the Lake Werri Berri carpark and picnic area, which was about 1 kilometre out from the Lake Couridjah picnic area where we had parked.

After a decent walk along the road with two passing cars, discussing our recently bought shoes we arrived at the bustling picnic area, and I walked to the information board to see if there was any difference. The information provided appeared to be the same, but the map seemed to more accurately show the loop trail we had just done.

We continued along the dirt road.

"We'll know when we're almost there once we reach the pump house." I said, having seen it less than a minute away from the picnic area as we drove in.
In less than no time we arrived at the pumphouse, built in 1867.

"The Couridjah Pumphouse
This building was once the pumphouse that supplied water for steam trains using the southern railway line.
Built when the line was extended to Mittagong in 1867, the pump house once contained a boiler and steam-powered pump capable of delivering 27,000 litres of water an hour to the nearby Couridjah Railway Station.
Demand for the water from the pumphouse dropped dramatically in 1919 once an alternative rail line between Picton and Mittagong commenced operation.
Pumping operations continued here until 1964 when the boiler and pump were removed.
Today the site is recognised and conserved as an important historic place within Thirlmere Lakes National Park."

You couldn't enter inside but could peer in through the barred door.
"Creepy." I commented.

"Servants of Steam
Both this pumphouse and the locomotives it provided for had one crucial thing in common - they were driven by steam engines.
Steam was the critical element that powered up the industrial revolution which in turned changed the world forever.
The key difference between steam power and the modern internal combustion engine is that with steam, all the real action happens before the steam enters the cylinder chamber.
The heart of the steam engine is the boiler where water is boiled as it passes around a coal fire via a system of internal metal tubes.
Pressure thus builds up to around 150 lbs/sq inch before a safety value cuts in to "let off steam" and prevent the boiler exploding.
With a "full head of steam up", the boiler is then ready to do some work. A regulator (throttle) releases the steam into the cylinder where it forces the piston downwards thus turning the crankshaft and hence the flywheel. Most steam engines have two cylinders.
Having done its work in the cylinders, the steam is then blown out through the chimney. A fair bit of power goes with it as you could tell if you heard the noise made by the exhaust.
Owing to limitations on space, weight and wasted heat, steam locomotives were very inefficient energy users. Of every 100 units of heat produced by fuel on the fire grate, only 6 or 7 were turned into useful work in normal running conditions." 

A few metres up the road we were back and Couridjah Lake picnic area, and we sat at a little table in the shade looking out at the water while we ate our homegrown cucumbers with hummus.

"Would you like to go into Thirlmere after this?" I asked my Wife. I was happy out, exploring somewhere new. I wasn't ready to go home yet.
"Nah there's nothing there." She said dismissing it.
"We could go into town? Maybe find a bakery? Try a pie. I love trying a local pie." I said, hoping she'd relent.

She was soon on Google Maps, where she found both a local bakery that looked good (Loop-Line Pies), and a cake shop she thought looked good (DeliciousLeigh Cakes).
"Sounds good to me." I replied as I had been down by the water while she was looking them up.

As we drove into town, we passed the NSW Rail Museum. I enquired if she was interested in going. She gave me a look that said, 'Do you even need to ask?' and she directed me to a spot to pull up near the bakery for a pie. As we crossed through the town, I couldn't notice anything particular 'Estonian' about it, but not having been to Estonia, and really not knowing too much about it as a place I probably wouldn't have noticed if there was.

"I like the name of the Inn." My Wife said, point out it was called 'the Welcome Inn' as in, welcome in.

As we entered, I was devastated to see they were sold out of my favourite; chilli pies.
"Do you want one?" My Wife asked.
"Can we check and see if the other bakery has them?"
"The other one only sells cakes." She answered.

I decided upon a Beef Curry pie and my Wife got a sausage roll. She said it was the best sausage roll she'd had in years and my pie was excellent too. Like a full on slow cooked beef curry put inside a large pie casing. I was so full after eating it.
We walked down to the cake shop which wasn't too far away and ended up indulging a lot, buying a large Orea slice, Turkish Delight Slice, Blueberry frosted cupcake and a large caramel donut. (All of which we ate later at home on separate days, and they were delicious). I also got a medium sized honeycomb milkshakes and my Wife a lime flavoured one.

As we drank them on the drive home, I commented that I was 'so full from that pie' and that it was nice to get out somewhere different for the day. I also said because that pie was so good I was even more upset that I didn't get to try the chili pie.
"Maybe we can come back one day." My Wife said.
My mood lifted once more. 
"Yeah, I should have a look for other walks around nearby, and maybe we can stop in first to get a pie, before they sell out."
I would have been straight on my phone researching walks had I not been the one behind the wheel.

After the weekend and back into the grind of work I had my interview with ABC Illawarra about the history of the Bull of Bull Island. It was a recording which made me panic slightly, and I felt like I rambled incoherently the whole time, wishing the interview had been written, my preferred style of communication as I feel like I can stop, think and articulate my thoughts in a much more coherent manner. It played on the ABC Illawarra radio just after 10:30am on Tuesday morning and I had my friends Stuart and Megan listen as I had told them about my perceived 'ramblings'. They were quick to assure me that I 'did good' and that it didn't come across as ramblings. However, I think if I were to do interviews again, I would still prefer them to be written (the same reason I tell my friend Tristan that Steventure will remain a blog, and not a TikTok or YouTube style thing. I like my style, though not popular (TLDR, people might say), this is how it will stay.

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Thanks for reading! - Steven