Breakneck Hill Hike

U3A HIKE NO 96

Hike Report by Andrew Parker

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. (Tennyson) 

Ten Intrepid hikers commenced hiking from Chokem Flats camp ground near Fryerstown and headed in a northerly direction to Breakneck Hill.   

The name ‘Breakneck Hill’ made us wonder what we were in for, but as Gordon assured us, it was just a steady upward four kilometre climb to the top. 

We turned left at Telecom Track, obviously named for the telecommunications cable which had been laid through the forest here, and not long after we turned again to follow the Campbells Creek Channel, part of an extensive system of channels right across this region 

At Vaughan, in the dry summer of 1861-62, water-starved miners told a visitor that should ‘a main conduit’ from the Coliban River be constructed, ‘whole hills would be made to pay, such as Bald, Shicer, [and] Kangaroo, ... while the whole basaltic plain towards Newstead might be tunnelled with advantage.’13 Their dream partly was realised in the Coliban Scheme, the government’s ambitious and expensive response to water shortages on the Castlemaine and Bendigo gold fields. It began with the opening of the Malmsbury Reservoir in 1870 and part of its system of channels supplied water to communities in the eastern portion of the Shire after 1877. Barkers Creek Reservoir supplied Campbells Creek and enabled the expansion of local orchards and vineyards. Coliban water made hydraulic sluicing possible on an unprecedented scale which, by 1905, contributed to severe silting of the Loddon. In 1955, the Coliban system included 388 miles of channel and 315 miles of pipeline.14   
Source: Heritage Study of the Shire of Newstead 

These water races make for nice, easy fairly level hiking and this one eventually lead us to the Eureka Reef Heritage Park, where we investigated the ruins of the Cornish Chimney, the Stamping Battery several cottages and the Puddling Machine, as well as disused adits and deep vertical shafts. 
After inspecting these interesting relics, we stopped there for lunch before moving on. 
The sun had come out by this time, and combined with the unseasonal humidity, we found the need to drink lots of water to keep hydrated. 

Several more kilometres of water channels (and coming across an echidna at the bottom of one) and we found ourselves entering the outskirts of Chewton and as we passed the local swimming pool, we became quite envious of the local schoolchildren splashing about and keeping cool. 



Photo's by Andrew Parker

Click the first photo for slide show























Most of the group stopped for a welcome drink at the Guildford General Store as seen here in earlier times:

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