Sturt Gorge Walk with Four Seasons group

Gary (with assistance from Doug) led an excellent walk which took us from the Blackwood Football oval along Magpie Creek and into the Sturt Gorge without requiring a car shuttle or a lot of hilly walking.

17 members of the group walked in coolish weather, with a little light rain at times.

At about the 2km mark we came across the ruin as we started to head up the hill. It’s always interesting to think about who used to live here. In this case the answer appears to be that the it was a dairying family called the Mansons. A very interesting little booklet will give you much more information on pages 47-51 if you follow the link below. http://www.flinders.edu.au/ehl/fms/archaeology_files/research/HFZCHP/PDF/Volume%202.pdf

We had a few breaks to discuss the walk direction and to take off or don rain jackets. These are always a great opportunity for uninterrupted conversation.

Morning tea was by the peaceful lake

..before we headed off along the more open areas towards the Gorge itself where we took a steep section of the river trail down into the gorge.

Down in the Gorge, the ground was damp from the earlier showers and the creek gurgled along merrily in the shady gully. It was like a different world.

Graham and Di demonstrated what Four Seasons group is all about… A friendly group that support each other while enjoying the great outdoors.

There has been quite a bit of work in one section to remove the invading Ash trees – The dead tress gave a feeling of Autumn.

Then up and out of the gorge again – with a bit of a breather a the top of the climb.

and a look over the view.

Now we headed towards the turning point of our walk, and lunchtime beckoned.

We arrived at the ancient Horner’s Bridge not long afterwards. This historic bridge, which crosses Murrays Hill Road was constructed in 1866 by Nathaniel Horner and S Sanders (not 2000 years ago by the Romans as Gary joked) . This lovely stone bridge offered a way to travel from Adelaide to Goolwa via Ashbourne and Bull Creek after the road had opened in 1860.

Then, after a lunch break here by a big tree and near the creek, we headed up again, past the new construction area ” Meridian” which takes up the most southern section of the Blackwood Park development. Apparently this area offers large blocks and great views. We thought the views were pretty good from the track outside of the development’s fence. To read more click here: http://blackwoodpark.com.au/land/land-for-sale/

Now we were certainly on the home stretch.

As we finally came to the last 500m, and headed for the footy oval, we had to laugh at the sign showing “Trevor’s Traverse”. Today Trevor was at home nursing his achilles tendon, and was certainly not traversing anything. Hopefully Doug’s achilles , which gave him trouble on this walk will not cause so much disruption to walking as Trevor’s has.

Because this was a walk so close, we were invited back to Gary’s home for tea and coffee instead of the usual stop at a coffee shop. The lovely hospitality of Gary and his wife Judy (along with the bonus freebies from Tour Down Under and the delicious biscuits and fruitcake) made the day complete.