U3A Ballarat Hikers

 U3A Hike No. 185 Hike Report by Jan Seven of us went in two cars to our starting point along Wolfes Road in the Creswick Regional Park.  It was a gorgeous day for hiking – sunny with a bit of a breeze and tracks mostly shaded by tall trees.  The hike went along bush tracks, rough 4WD tracks and unsealed roads and featured the usual array of short steep hills, gentle undulations and welcome flat bits.  We noticed lots of sluicing, lots of piles of quartz stones and rocks, lots of land turned upside down, lots of water races (including two running parallel belong to rival water supply companies) and lots of mine shafts.  And lots of Cherry Ballart trees too.  Did you know that the Cherry Ballart was considered by the Wadawurrung to be “men's tree” because, remarkably, its seeds appear on the outside of edible fruit?  This makes it a very convenient fruit to eat because it can be held by the miniature green olive like seed while the lustrous cherry coloured fruit is bitten off [Wikip

 U3A Hike No.  184 Hike Report by Geoff A group of 20 participants met in the carpark beside the Ballarat East Netball Stadium this Thursday and, in convoy, we headed out to Mount Egerton Recreation Reserve, travelling past the Lal Lal wind turbines along the Yendon-Egerton Road. We were surprised to find on arrival, that rain jackets were in order for the start of the hike. The light rain however didn’t last long and, as the walk progressed, we found ourselves walking in sunshine with the temperature staying under 20 degrees.  The first part of the walk saw us winding our way gradually up hill, along bush tracks to the top of Mount Egerton. The view here was very limited due to the tree cover, and we found the old, wrecked car seen on our previous visit, still there. Continuing on down country lanes we worked our way to Mt Egerton Cemetery where we stopped for morning tea while appreciating this very peaceful and attractive, historic site. Before leaving, many of us took time to

 U3A Hike No. 183 Hike Report by Fiona The circuit walk explored Glen Park Forest tracks north of the White Swan Reservoir. Our hike generally followed the path of the Sawpit Creek and traversed quite a few different tracks. Throughout the walk we discovered evidence of early gold mining activities in the area.  We commenced walking along a 4WD track close to our starting point at Codes Rd and soon observed some deep mining shafts.  Once we reached Shuttleworth Rd, we turned left and walked 700m along it - passing further mine shafts and mullock heaps. We then turned right onto another 4WD track and followed it down to a flat area and bridge crossing the Sawpit Creek. As we walked northward up the hill from the creek, the track intersected with Wolfes Rd. We walked along this road to a gully where the Sawpit Creek crossed once more. We stopped here for morning tea- imagining the gold mining sluicing activities which had occurred here in the 1800’s. We continued in a westerly direction