U3A Ballarat Hikers

 U3A Hike No 340 Hike Report By Jan Herperger Today’s hike was on a 5th Thursday which meant we were off to Melbourne. Using public transport to get to the start of the hike and then back from the finish point was too convoluted so we drove instead to Canning Reserve in Avondale Heights. Two of the vehicles were left there and then the nine of us climbed into the other two cars and set off to begin the walk at Brimbank Park, in Keilor Park. This is a very large parkland (328.7 hectares) managed by Parks Victoria and judging by the size of the car parking area and large number of picnic tables it must be a very popular spot. The weather was overcast at the start and there was a bit of a cool breeze - perfect for a ramble along a river. The path was nice and wide which made it perfect for chatting with the person next to you and also flat enough and devoid of rocks and bark and other trip hazards so that it was easy to look around at the scenery. This scenery included lovely old red ...

 U3A Hike No 339 Hike Report By Colin Fraser On a cool, overcast morning 20 eager hikers departed Kirks carpark for Moorabool Reservoir on Spargo Creek Rd, Bolwarrah to circumnavigate the reservoir.     Leader : Mark Hawley     Whip : Jan Herberger     Distance : 9.95 km     Difficulty rating : Easy   Weather : Overcast, mild, pleasant     Terrain : We walked on mostly flat dirt tracks, fairy grass and coarse crushed bluestone on forestry roads .      Fauna : Kangaroos, Wallabies and Black Swans     Flora : Sequoia trees, fairy grass, pine plantations     Lunch : We had lunch at the Moorabool Reservoir Park , which is where the walk started. The park has BBQ facilities, picnic grounds and well maintained gardens. The historic Moorabool Lodge is situated in the park.      The Reservoir :    Moorabool Reser voir was built between 1914 and 1915 to supply water to ...