U3A Ballarat Hikers

 U3A Hike No 320 Hike Report by Jan Herperger Well, it was a great day for a walk – a bit brisk as temperatures go, but sunny. We welcomed back Annette from her skiing holiday and adventures in Western Australia and met Sue, the newest member to our group. Twelve of us gathered at Andrew’s house and then set off to the Yarrowee River Trail via small tracks through the neighbourhood; a rubbish dumper’s paradise in the pine forest managed  by the Ballarat Gold Mine; past the entrance to the Ballarat South Wastewater Treatment Plant and nearby burnt out car; and the Redan Wetlands. We enjoyed morning tea at the White Flat footy oval and then walked through town to get onto the Canadian Creek Trail. (Not far from White Flat is where The Yarrowee River and the Canadian Creek merge and this is where my family always go to have a look at the water if there has been a LOT of rain. We have seen the rushing water almost up to the top of the bluestone drain. But I digress...) We followed the Cana

 U3A Hike No 319 Hike Report By Chris Charleson The day began with an early morning light show and storm towards our destination. However we avoided the recent crazy weather conditions and a dozen of us were able to enjoy the valleys and ridges on either side of the Garden of St Erth in pleasant conditions. An early section of the walk took us up a hillside with masses of flowering hakeas. Wattles, bush peas and heath also captured our attention. The second loop took us further along the Whipstick Creek. Tall messmates and tree ferns provided a canopy as we were accompanied by lots of birdsong along the valleys. Old water races, many originally constructed by Pauline Bonford, a French  contractor, made the trail easy to navigate. We made use of several older bridges across the creek as well as a new one recently installed by Parks Victoria to facilitate the re-opening of this section of the track. Following our walk- on the happy side of 10k- we enjoyed a lunch at the picnic area. Terr