This walk takes place on Yuin Country
After having done some bushwalking on the Central Coast in a State Forest, I was eager to find a nearby state forest to do some new bushwalks in, as in State Forest you are allowed to take Dogs.
While I love getting out on an adventure, I often feel bad having to leave my gorgeous Dog Orla at home all the time, and she loves getting out for an explore. I looked up some nearby State Forests, settling on Currambene State Forest, which when I googled instantly came up with a link to the Trail Website/App 'AllTrails' with 3 routes, two of which were for Mountain Biking (though you can walk them) and the third for walking, this was called on the app 'Forest Road and Bid Bid Creek Loop'.
However, the weekend planning to do this it was supposed to rain, and the following weekend my Wife felt unwell. Orla's 5th birthday occurred (the 24th of April), the day before ANZAC Day. We decided to take her on ANZAC day, as we were both off from work (and we had her family coming over on the weekend to celebrate her father's birthday as he was born on ANZAC Day).
We set off down south in the morning, with pretty good traffic, eventually turning off the highway onto Forest Road, with my Wife telling me at which point I needed to pull in based on Google Maps (there is no signage). As we approached the bit to turn in two dirt bikers pulled out, crossing the road and continuing along the section on this other side. I drove in, pulled up, but then decided to park in closer view of the road to not have the car broken into or set on fire. I pulled up in clear view of the busy forest road, we applied sunscreen and got out very enthusiastic Dog out of the car, attaching her to a stretchy lead that wrapped around my waist. We passed the over the barrier blocking cars from heading down the fire trail, and I placed a NSW Rock down on a large rock sitting next to the start of the trail for someone to find. (I had found my first back during my Mount Jellore attempts, and had yet to get rid of any, and had been meaning to 'hide' them on walks yet never actually done it.) It felt good to finally unload one and shall begin placing one down on each of my following walks until I no longer have any.
We began down the fire trail, keeping an eye out for any dirt bikes roaring through.
As we headed down the trail, we passed a turn off on our right and my Wife asked if I wanted to head down that way or continue straight down, where the track would turn off at some point,
I suggested we keep going and turn off later. My Wife commented about needing the bathroom, and I said she should have let me know as we were passing through Nowra, as there were ample places I could have stopped for her. She replied that she assumed there would be a toilet. I commented that I also needed to go, in which she replied that if she couldn't, then I 'wasn't allowed to either'. Which annoyed me, and I offered to drive her back in if she really needed to go, but she refused.
We approached another turn off and my Wife wasn't sure if that was the way we were meant to take, trying to load up the map but unable to get reception even this short way into the walk. She started walking back frustratedly trying to get reception to have some sort of idea of the trail we would need to take. Meanwhile, with Orla pulling on the walk, with the lead around my waist putting pressure on my bladder constantly, I walked to the side of the trail to take a 'whizz', whilst also avoiding my Dog who came around in front of me when I was trying to relieve myself.
My Wife, who was busy sticking her phone in the air for reception noticed me.
"You fucker!" She swore at me.
While I shrugged it off, telling her I had the pressure of the lead putting on my bladder. We both walked back towards the car, until my Wife finally got reception to see the AllTrail guide, and I commented that it seemed like a decent way down, and there would probably be an obvious place for us to turn to do the loop, and that all these other trails were probably bike trails for people on the dirt bikes.
We resumed heading down the path again and my Wife's temperament seemed to improve, and we began the conversation of her investing in a 'she-wee', which I insisted she should, rather than try and ban me from my ability to go just because she couldn't. I told her to simply order it on Amazon.
After a little while of walking my Wife asked.
'Should we let her off leash?"
I was shocked, being the one who usually lets her off, for a run around, as I know she's a good girl with great recall and never runs off when I take her to the beach. But my Wife usually gets bad anxiety with that stuff, so to suggest it here, with dirt bikers I was pretty shocked.
"We can, I suppose." I said, unsure about dirt bikes, but then, I said "But if we hear any noise coming at all we put her straight back on." Thinking at least the benefit of them was that you could hear them coming from a decent way away, and it was now completely silent.
"It shouldn't be too busy." I said, "ANZAC day, most those sorts are probably at the pub drinking and playing 2-Up." I said, unclipping Orla, much to her joy.
We came up over a little crest, with Orla always running forward, not getting too far, turning around and running back to us, never wanting to be too far away.
"It's colder than I thought it would be." I said, feeling a bit chilly in the shade, as we both smiled and laughed at our cute fur-baby.
"We should get a photo together." My Wife suggested as we knelt down for a family photo.
We continued along, happy to let our little girl have a run around in a pretty isolated and empty location.
"What a weird flower!" I exclaimed, very excited as I rushed to the side of the trail for a photo. As I leaned in, I realised it was some sort of fruiting berry.
"I'll have to upload this to iNaturalist." I said, referring to an app that aids in identification of plants, animals, and fungi.
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| 'Pittosporum revolutum' - Rough-fruited Pittosporum |
We reached the base of the slight declining slope, noticing a little creek of water on the side. You could loudly hear all the frogs around and the mosquitoes came out in force, biting the backs of my legs, and attacking us both. I took out some bushman's spray from my backpack, telling my Wife to give herself a spray, and then spraying just down the back of my legs and over my backpack, hoping that would be enough to keep them away (I don't really like using the stuff but will do it when necessity calls).
We were eager to move on from near the water source, knowing that all the mosquitoes were around the water. The fire trail began an incline and as we continued on, the mosquitoes seemed to disappear which was good as I didn't want to spray the bushman's on, or anywhere near Orla (I'd never forgive myself if I thought any action I had taken at all contributed to her getting cancer.)
We rounded the bend, continuing the slight incline, and noticed a blue road reflector pole on the right, with my Wife questioning whether or not that was the turn based on the outline map she'd viewed on 'AllTrails'.
"I don't think it would be yet." I said, "I don't feel like we have walked far enough."
As we reached the top my Wife suggested that the two of us take a photo together. We stopped to get a picture together, taking the photo, and my Wife noticed there was a big blue oil drum in the background behind us. We moved and retook a picture together with just the bush behind us, and I went over to see what the drum was, reading on the side of it: 'Valvoline. Trusted for 150 years.'
The environmentalist inside me was annoyed. This wasn't the sort of rubbish that ends up here by accident. It didn't blow out of a bin, or someone's car as they opened a door. A drum like this was here because it was just dumped.
We continued along, and I could hear a noise in the distance. I called Orla over, and she came instantly. As the noise increased, I realised it was not a dirt bike but a loud plane, which flew over us, closely followed behind by a helicopter.
"Maybe something for ANZAC day?" I said to my Wife as they flew above us.
We reached the top of our current incline and continued along the dirt road which now declined.
The road seemed to split in two, with what looked like some blue poles in the middle of the two tracks.
"Maybe the turn off is there?" I questioned as we approached it.
As we reached it we saw it had metal doors that were locked, almost like a bunker, and as I looked to my left, I saw the painted remains of a dead tree.
"That's cool." I said, pointing out Bob the tree creature to my Wife.
"That's creepy." She said.
"You find everything creepy." I replied.
As Orla sniffed around the 'bunker' doors, I joked that the 'Bob Creature' was down there.
"Don't!" My Wife yelled at me, slightly unsettled by the tree art.
The road returned to a one-way road after this bunker and I thought to myself that it may be for fire fighters to use.
We kept up along the trail, as there was not turn just yet, and I looked off into the bush, looking at all the vines climbing up the melaleuca trees.
We finally came to a fork in the road, and I suggested this was probably the turn now, and so we followed the road to our right, which Orla was already automatically leading us down.
I stopped to admire a scribbly gum tree to my left, always left in awe of them and their scribble patterns. I realised that I could travel the world, I could even move overseas. But the sights, sounds and smells of Australia would always remain with me. Growing up camping, bushwalking in, and hearing the sounds; it had become a part of my soul.
The dirt on our path turned to sand and Orla began running around even more excited.
"I wonder if she thinks we're taking her to the beach." My Wife questioned and I laughed, smiling with joy at my little girl.
"This is definitely the way." I confirmed, turning around and noticing a short way further up the road we didn't follow, turned a sharp right up the road we had taken, looking much more like the map.
As we continued along, I felt my stomach growl. I swiveled by backpack around reach in to take out my container with my sandwich and began munching.
"I might have liked my sandwich too." My Wife said looking at me bite in.
I paused, looking at her with a mouthful of sandwich with homemade mustard pickle. I swallowed before offering to get hers out for her. She just unzipped my bag, grabbing hers out too.
We walked along eating, when I spotted a little mushroom growing out of the sand. I had to get a photo. I leaned down, trying to hold my phone and not let Orla take a bit of my sandwich, as she kept coming over, walking in front of me, also walking into and destroying the little mushroom, sticking her long neck up trying to grab a bite of my sandwich.
Then I heard it. The revering of a dirt bike. Orla was still off lead, so I jolted forward to try and catch her, but this made her run forward thinking it was a race.
We called her over to the side of the trail and saw the dirt biker behind us come from nowhere, still a decent distance away, and head the opposite way, away from us.
I felt a little started so reclipped Orla to her lead as we continued along eating our sandwiches. We finished and put them back in my backpack just as we came across a giant tree that was cut down blocking off the road. In the distance, nailed to a tree, a sign: Trespassers will be prosecuted.
We were both confused, as this was the way the map told us to go. I stood at the blockade, looking ahead, contemplating whether or not to continue, annoyed that the map would tell us to go this way if you weren't able to.
I was frustrated, but looking at the map I could see a dashing line leading through the middle of the walk, around a point in the walk where there had been another turn off, with what looked like some stairs. I suggested that we head back and follow that through to the other section of the trail.
We began the walk back, my Wife complaining about the road being blocked.
"Well, that's the thing with All Trails," I said. "Anyone can make the trail, they're not always official tracks like ones by National Parks or State Forests."
We made our way back to the turn off, letting Orla run around off-lead once more.
We arrived at the turn-off began heading into the bush along the trail.
As we were on a smaller path now, I called Orla back to me, reclipping the lead, for not just dirt bikers, but the risk of snakes.
As we rounded a corner, we came across a clock stuck to a tree, which I once more thought was cool, but it creeped my Wife out.
"It's so Bob can tell the time." I joked. Saying I liked coming across random stuff like this, as it reminded me of coming across random easter eggs in video games like Red Dead Redemption.
'Although I probably shouldn't find it cool, in the end it's just litter, isn't it?'
"Or art." My Wife replied.
We continued following the track, conversing.
"Is she pulling?" My Wife asked in regard to Orla.
"No, she's being really good." I replied. "I think she's burned a lot of that energy out from being off lead."
We reached a section of the walk, which began uphill, it didn't look steep, but as we marched up it we didn't speak, breathing heavily, feeling like it was somehow stepper than it had looked.
"It's hot now." I commented, catching my breath as we finally reached the top with the trail leveling out.
I could see a pink tag wrapped around a short way ahead, and we stopped to give Orla a drink. She finished the second of three bottles I had packed, and my Wife and I were yet to drink (she was still needing the toilet, so didn't want to drink), but we were feeling the heat now, so opened the lid of the last bottle for us each to have a sip.
As I passed the pink ribbon, I noticed the path continued forward, but there was a trail on our left, which I commented was probably where the 'AllTrails' map trail would have led us, I loaded it up, confirming I was right, and we were now back on the trail. We continued straight and I pointed up at some metal thing nailed to a tree.
He stopped to come look at my screen.
"That's a sprocket, used in motorbikes." He told me.
"Makes sense, there's a lot of dirt bikers down there." I replied.)
(Now back to the day)
As I walked ahead, I had walked through a few spiderwebs, getting them straight in the mouth. But this time I spotted a massive one spread-out all-in front of me taking up the path. I stopped, able to avoid walking through it, taking a picture of the large spider in its web before we ducked underneath and continued on.
We continued the winding path, which was now just a small dirt trail. I stopped to hand off Orla to my Wife to hold as I walked into the bush a little to take a photo of a small purple flower contrasting amongst all the green.
We came to an area full of ferns, and as we walked down, we saw that the path ahead was completely overgrown by these ferns, reminding me of a section in Gibbergunyah Reserve where we had also taken Orla.
I was expecting my Wife to want to turn back, or not want to go through, but she said it might not be overgrown for a huge distance. I handed Orla back to her letting her know I would walk through first, with them following behind me.
I pushed through the thick ferns for maybe a minute, and we broke through the other side, glad that it hadn't been too long a section to get through.
We continued around some bends, and as I looked up, I saw a Red Belly Black Snake slithering fast away from us along a log with its head perked up. I quickly panicked, pulling Orla close to me away from where the snake was. We swapped Orla over to her halti, and I gave her to my Wife to hold, to walk behind me in case of any more snakes. I picked up a stick to walk with ahead of me, tapping the ground with it like a 'white cane', as a precaution in case I didn't notice any snakes along the overgrown path.
We came across a section filled with water where we once more had to make our way up a slight incline all the while trying to stop Orla from drinking from any puddles (we didn't trust that there wouldn't have been PFAS sprayed in the area from fire fighter foam).
Reaching the top that path was flat but continuously winding for a short while, before we came to a steeper section. I was worried about Orla pulling my Wife over while going down, so we moved slowly down the slope, trying not to trip or stumble but also keeping an eye out for snakes.
At the bottom of the slope, we came to another section that was pretty overgrown with ferns, but nowhere near as badly as the previous section. I commented that it was lucky that we had encountered the snake after going through that previous bit, or else we definitely would not have pushed through.
However, we continued through this next section, trying to tap my stick on each side of the trail, but just having it get caught in the thick growth, while my Wife tried to calm Orla who was getting a little overwhelmed by the thickness of the plant growth she was walking through.
Through here we crossed another small creek, easy enough to step over.
The path winded up away from the creek, on a slope heading uphill, but then looked like in winded downhill back towards the creek.
"Are you sure that's the right way?" My Wife asked.
"It's looks like the path." I commented, loading up the AllTrails app that showed we were off the trail in the bush, but then it also said 'Poor Connection' so I didn't know how accurate it was being.
My Wife said she thought it was up the hill, on what looked like another path, and as we couldn't see a clear path on that side, but I agreed to follow the path up the hill, leading us further into the bush.
We walked a fair bit, but I thought it looked like even less of a trail, and so I said I thought we were walking away from where the trail was. I loaded AllTrails up again, which although it had a poor connection it was showing the way I was facing with the GPS, telling me that the trail was back down near the creek, so my Wife relented and we made our way back towards the creek, (with my Wife trying not to get pulled over by Orla, who I think was over the walk now too).
As we walked down to the creek, I pointed out a big red mushroom I hadn't noticed when I had gone that way the first time.
As we crossed to the other side of the little creek, I loaded up AllTrails again, which even with poor connection now showed us back on the trail and facing the right way.
The track walked alongside the bank on the river, right on a big slope and I told my Wife to take care as to not fall or get pulled by Orla down the bank into the creek. We followed it down with the creek on our right, and then I could see the trail on our left after a while, heading up a short, steep, overgrown incline.
We made it up to a flat surface with my Wife getting pulled over a few times. I offered to take Orla but my Wife wanted me to be keeping an eye out for snakes still.
We continued along and I could vaguely see what was meant to be the trail which we followed along. As we walked sticks scrapped against my ankle, cutting at them, flinging up every time I took a step. I would brush away a branch which would fling back at my Wife who would yell at me.
"There's not much I can do about it." I said, now just calling back every time I moved a stick lest it fling back at her.
It was now well and truly into the day, and the walk was talking a lot longer than we had thought as w were slow moving through this section to keep our eye on the occasionally disappearing trail. I looked down at my scratched up ankles.
"I should have wore pants." I said.
"It's easy to see how people get lost." My Wife said as we brushed through another section finding ourselves in the middle of the bush with no clear sign of a trail.
I looked around, still unable to see any trail in this spot. I loaded up AllTrails once more with the GPS suggesting to just keep on moving forward, so we kept charging ahead, moving quickly, well and truly happy to make it our of the bush.
"We'll have to check her for ticks once we get back to the car." My Wife said, concerned about Orla getting sick from a tick bite, she then told me the story of someone at her work who's dog had to spend time in intensive care after receiving a tick bite.
I stopped in the middle of walking to point out a sundew to my Wife, letting her know it was a carnivorous plant, but at this point in the walk she wasn't interested, and was just eager to find our way out.
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| Drosera spatulata |
Randomly the trees opened up in front of us and we found ourselves on the side of a dirt road.
I walked down the embankment into the middle of the road, pointing to the right and saying that was the way that according to the map, would lead back to the car.
I suggested that if we had followed the turn to our right at the very beginning of this walk, this is where it would have led to.
"There's no way we would have found that track through the bush, we would have kept walking along this dirt road." I said, looking at the road as it headed to my left which also forked into two separate roads.
I didn't want Orla to hurt her joints, so I told my Wife to follow the embankment up a little bit to the left where the bush became more level with the road.
I pointed out a random washing machine sitting in the bush and shook my head.
We were glad to be out of the thick of it and continued upon the very uneven, dirt road.
I took Orla from my Wife, putting her back on her stretchy lead that was wrapped along my waist, thinking she might need the break from being pulled through the bush.
"I don't imagine any cars are able to come through here." I commented, imagine with some off the large dips and openings in the ground it would be hard for even a off-road 4-wheel-drive to get through.
We followed the dirt road for a while, getting thick muddy clay stuck to the bottom of our shoes.
Some of the hole on the road were filled with water, and we commented about how surprisingly clear and clean it looked compared to the creeks.
"It might be fresh rain." I commented, but still pulled Orla away, not allowing her to drink.
The road soon flattened out to be more level and less torn up, and we had the feeling we were reaching the end of our walk.
We rounded one final bend and could see that we had reached the first turn of at the start of the walk. We turned left, back on our original trail, having completed the Bid Bid Creek loop, and began our walk back to the car, feeling happy and satisfied that it had been a fun walk, even if it was more intense and full on than we would have liked for Orla.
"I still think we're lucky we went straight originally." I reiterated. "I really don't think we would have ended up doing the walk if we had turned that way to start with."
My Wife agreed, commenting that trying to get through the overgrown bush without letting her burn off that energy by being off-leash would have been too much."
We reached my car, and I had a sigh of relief seeing it wasn't stolen, broken into, or set on fire. My Wife placed Orla in the back seat, clipping her in with her seatbelt lead.
She hopped in all excited (as she is getting into the car), but soon her exhaustion gave out and she laid down to sleep for the rest of the drive home.
