335. Berringa - West Dozed Track, Enfield State Park, 10.9 km, circuit

December 05, 2024

U3A Hike No 335.

Hike Report By Geoff Howard

A posse of 10 assembled at the Bunnings corral this morning ready to head out west, to the old mining town of Berringa.

A new sharp shooter, recently arrived from the Mornington Peninsula, named Kim was welcomed into the group.

With clear skies and a temperature already in the mid 20s we wanted to finish our hike before high- noon, when the temperature was predicted to be progressing into the 30s.

We reached the attractive Berringa recreation reserve and soon after, Gordon led us down to the road, our mission: to rescue William’s Fancy.

We soon found out that William’s fancy wasn’t a lady, holed out at a saloon bar but instead was a derelict mine, beyond rescuing. The former managers residence was however, one of the few houses still intact in Berringa. While looking habitable and generally cared for, no one appeared to be regularly living here.

Despite boasting several hundred residents in days gone by, this place was now a town of ghosts.

We continued along Sykes Road until, after a short distance, Gordon advised that we were going bush. It seems incredible to believe, but the remainder of the hike progressed nearly always uphill. Despite seeing easier tracks, these were mostly on land on the other side of barbed-wire fences with ‘Keep Out. Trespassers Shot!!’ signs placed along the way.

After we eventually reached the top of one hill, requiring periodic stops to consume water, we descended to join West Dozed Track. No dozing was allowed however, as we pressed on, finding more hills to go up before taking on some steep descents into creek beds. We appreciated the tall eucalypts beside the track which provided good shade and the periodic fanning provided by a cool breeze was also welcomed.

We stopped in one of the creek beds for morning tea and to allow our aerobic functions to settle a little. Continuing on, at one point we came to an especially steep, very rough track. We expected Gordon’s usual joke, saying that was where we were to go, but he wasn’t joking. Although some in the posse considered revolt all soon settled to lean into the climb.

In the latter part of the hike we descended, past some brick foundations, to the dam wall and other remnants of the Birthday Tunnel Mine. One last climb up hill took us onto the Staffordshire Reef Road with a kilometre of gentle down hill walking along the road before we returned to the recreation reserve for a relaxed lunch. This was enjoyed, under a huge cypress tree while we looked across the freshly mown, green cricket field.

Despite the challenges, all agreed that they enjoyed the morning. Even new participant Kim spoke enthusiastically about the experience and declared that he was looking forward to many more like it.

We thank Gordon for helping us test our capacity for hill climbing in warm conditions.

*Be sure to check out the amazing mining photos as well as some of the old Berringa town.

You may be surprised!!!