U3A Ballarat Hikers

 U3A Hike No. 190 Hike Report by Colin Twenty one U3A hikers set off for a 13 km easy metropolitan ramble after travelling by train to Williamstown. The walk was led by Gordon with Andrew as the whip. Showers were forecast. Starting at Williamstown, we followed Hobsons Bay, then the Yarra and Maribyrnong Rivers. The final part of the walk through the site of the former stockyards to Newmarket. It was then by train to Southern Cross station, coffee then the train home.   At Williamstown we saw the historic Timeball Tower. At precisely 1.00pm each day, the ball at the top of the tower would descend slowly down its shaft. This event was used by ships to accurately set their chronometers, which essential for successful navigation on long ocean voyages. The 17m high tower was built in 1849 of local bluestone and was deactivated in 1987. There is a working Timeball tower at Greenwich in London, and only three others in the world. The former stockyards to Newmarket were for many of us t

  U3A Hike No. 189 Report by Joan Though “red sky the in the morning, shepherd’s warning” was what I woke up to, I was pleasantly surprised that the weather turned its back on that saying and presented us a glorious day to enjoy our hike in the park.   The S.A.S (Seeking Adventure Seven) under the guidance of Gordon and Mark made our way down the Western Highway through Beaufort towards Ben Nevis, which is located in the Victorian Mill Scenic Reserve, part of the Mt Cole State Forest. This reserve was clear fallen for timber in the 1890’s as seen by the tall spindly revegetation which now characterizes this part of the forest.   Though we did not start the walk from the campground (the reason it was termed as “Lite”) we quickly realized that there was still a lot of steep, rocky uphill climbing ahead to earn its rating as moderate to difficult! As we walked along the uneven rocky road we noticed the surrounding forest change into large tall   bushy trees with more native grasses rath