U3A Ballarat Hikers

 U3A Hike No 334 Hike Report By Colin Smeaton  A good sized gathering of 15 members of the hiking group took the long drive to Nolan’s Creek Picnic Area in the Wombat State Forest.  Along the way we stopped to visit the Balt Camp, a work camp built in 1946 by the Forestry Commission to provide employment for young Northern European immigrants who had been displaced after World War Two. Today the site consists of two chimneys that have been beautifully restored to stand above the foundations of multiple buildings.  Well worth a visit. The walk began with a steady climb out of the picnic area up to and along Nolan Ridge Track.  There was an abundance of wildflowers and many pockets of orange lichen on trees providing interest along the way.  Following the initial climb the walk undulated though re-growth forest with some occasional examples of magnificent older eucalypts that, for varying reasons, had been spared the axe. The tracks were mostly well defined a...

 U3A Hike No 333 Hike Report by Anne Ottrey We were pleased to be starting the Doctors Gully walk early in the day as temperatures of 29 degrees were predicted.  Eleven walkers set off from the Hepburn Springs carpark and  jumpers and jackets were quickly discarded. The whole walk was very undulating with short,  sharp uphills followed by similar downhills.  We walked in a southerly direction following  Doctors Gully along the western edge of Hepburn Springs. The tracks were mostly unsealed roads, but there were some tramping through long grass, raising anxieties about snakes. However it was only a one snake walk, which the front walkers disturbed on a sunny patch of path.  Half way through we found a nice shady bank  to relax on and have morning tea, checking out the range of houses on the opposite slope.  These varied from a fibro shack surrounded by blackberries, to a sleek modern design  hallway up the hill with a large red brick Mac...