U3A Ballarat Hikers

 U3A Hike No 338 Hike Report by Kath Cape Fifteen seasoned and new U3A hikers gathered for the first hike of 2025 at the start of the sensory trail off Katy Ryans Road in our lovely Woowookarung regional park. (Welcome Kim) It was a mild  day and Andrew had planned an easy but informative walk for us through the park – a gentle  start for 2025 – much appreciated by those, like myself, who had fallen out of the habit of  regular exercise over the festive season. Our walk commenced on Australia’s first dementia-friendly forest and sensory trail. The path was initiated and inspired by Edie Mayhew and her partner Anne Tudor, (2021 Premier’s Victorian Senior of the year), who worked with other carers and people with dementia to design an accessible path designed to evoke positive memories, feelings and sensations for people living with dementia at a range of different stopping places. We soon veered off the trail to explore another much older and less gentle but also sign...

 U3A Hike No 337 Hike Report By Terry O'Brien Good roll up on 19th Dec at 7.50 at 10 Valley Drive for the last U3A Ballarat Hikers Walk for 2024. 24 hikers wanted to acknowledge the work that Andrew, Gordon and Mark make as leaders to this group. More turned up later for lunch. Consistent contribution is made all through the year by these leaders and their caring commitment is evident in so many ways and valued by us all. New walkers, Kim, David and Luk were welcomed and Janet announced that due to her music commitments on Thursday this would probably be her last walk with the group. Today’s route through the Woowookarung Park was about 10.1 kms and with a combination of N, E, S and W directions we essentially walked in a rough square bound by the Bunny Hop Line, Boundary Road, Recreation Road and back to Valley Drive. Today’s walk was an opportunity to build up on our familiarisation of this wonderful asset that Ballarat has acquired since 2016. How lucky is Ballarat to have this ...

 U3A Hike No 336 Hike Report By Myra Trudgen Fourteen hikers began the walk near the Cosgrave Reservoir on a calm, still morning with a light cloud cover.  The first part of the walk was through heavily mined bush country. Many of the trees had been devastated by a violent storm about 5 years ago, and were uprooted and dead. However, we soon walked into less damaged territory although  obvious and interesting signs of mining remained. We came across the breached Eatons Dam early in the walk and Andrew read a report from a local newspaper dated 15th March 1904, relating the story of a young girl who rescued two people from drowning in the dam. (see the link to this and more about Eatons Dam after the photos) The bush paths were generally well-marked  and part of the walk was on gravel roads, although at one point Mark led us into thick bush where there was some little difficulty in making our way around the fallen trees. All part of the fun. The area has recently been...