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401. Ditchfield Reserve-Nuggetty Dam Circuit 10.7km Creswick State Forest

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 U3A Hike No 401 Hike Report by Deb Karmouche 🗺️ Local Discoveries Unexpectedly, the recent conflict in the Middle East has affected petrol prices and supply, which has meant we have discovered some terrific local walks. Gordon joined together a circuit commencing on the familiar Yarrowee trail, incorporating some of the Goldfields track and somehow joining everything up with a combination of the myriad of other trails in the Nerrina Goldfields area. 🥾 The Journey Begins 20 started out from the Brown Hill Reserve; the sun was shining and we headed along the Yarrowee River, through the tunnel under the Freeway towards the Gong before crossing the river and heading towards Black Hill. Evidence of established and more recent construction of trail bike paths reflected the popularity of this sport in our area, as many of the jumps looked to be very challenging. Evidence of mining was apparent with old mullock heaps and water races and numerous old mining shafts. 🍵 Refreshments and Ha...
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400. 10,000 Steps Walk-Woowookarung Regional Park 7.5km

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U3A Hike No 400  Hike Report by Kath Cape 🥾 Thirteen hikers gathered for this walk in Woowookarung Regional Park, led by Andrew, to test the newly created 10,000 steps walk. This was also the 400th hike for the U3A Hiking Group. What an achievement! 📍 We commenced our hike from the car park for the Woowookarung sensory trail, on the opposite side of Katy Ryans Road from the sensory trail. We followed the newly created path until it met Dozed Track, which climbed gently south. After about 1.5 kms we veered off onto Bailey’s Track, leading us to the start of the beautiful Grass tree nature trail, with its abundant display of grass trees. Along the trail we were also pleased to see some common heath plants in bloom – red, white, and pink varieties. ☕ After a morning tea stop, we continued up to the Lookout – always lovely, even on a cloudy day—and from there started our descent to the site of the former Canadian Rifle Range. We had a poke about some of the surviving ranges and build...
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399. Basalt Ridge Walk 6.7km

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 U3A Hike No 399 Hike Report by Leona Ryan I do love a walk with lots of Who Knew? moments, is full of discovery, and enriches our understanding of Ballarat's unique history. The Basalt Ridge walk, expertly led by Anne Ottrey, achieved  all of  the above, in addition to being a beautiful walk.  On this crisp softly lit autumn morning, 21 hikers gathered at White Flat Oval where Anne, armed with folders of photos, maps and information, gave us an overview - Walk the edge of the Basalt escarpment to Redan Wetlands, return via the  Yarrowee  trail. Note. There is a lot of history in this report, but I  couldn't   resist;   I've  absorbed Anne's passion for the area. Let's  start by going back 3 to 4 million years.  This Basalt escarpment, which we were staring up at, actually marks the edge of 4 separate lava flows.  The basalt blocked the flow of the  Yarrowee  River.  This all had an ...
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