Hat Hill & beyond

 

Yet again I found myself exploring a terrific Blue Mountains bushwalking wonderland that's been well explored by almost everyone but me!

I'd taken the Hat Hill Rd north-east from Blackheath many times before, en route to Perrys Lookdown, though the road to there seems to be closed at the moment. I'd never quite checked out little Hat Hill itself, Bald Head to its north (except for the view of it from the other side of the Grose Valley), or even the touristy Anvil Rock lookout.

 

 

Here we are the other day, heading north from Hat Hill.

The view down the Grose Valley

And up it

A short burst of scary-looking bad weather swept through, to remind us of the week of extreme wetness we'd just been through. It was soon gone again though.

 

 

A native cockroach - clean and wholesome,and rather beautiful, I thought

 

 

Anvil Rock Lookout. It's so named of course because it's shaped like an anvil. But it also has a 305kg actual steel anvil bolted to it, just to be sure.

 

 

From several points along the way, we got good views of Sydney's distant urban centres. In addition, we could see some large areas of water, being the now-flooded flood plain of the Hawkesbury-Nepean river.

Parra's big flood coming at last?

Here in Sydney we're in the middle of what could turn out to be the biggest rain event in a century. It's been raining heavily for a few days, and it's forecast to continue for at least another two. Several hundred millimetres will have been dumped. Some suburbs in the west are being evacuated.

 

My special interest is in Parramatta, and the amazing Loyalty Rd flood retention dam. I discovered it by accident a few years ago on a bushwalk. I wondered what this huge construction was doing there, straddling the tiny Darling Mills Creek.

It turned out that Darling Mills Creek, and also Toongabbie Creek , where there's a similar edifice, are not always that tiny. They are the main upper tributaries of the Parramatta River, and after big rain events they get to decide whether Parramatta, with all its new skyscrapers and alleged cultural attractions, get to be swept away downstream into Sydney Harbour or not.

It was a party atmosphere today at the Loyalty Rd retention dam! Every family and its dog (yes) turned up. And I thought I was the only one who knew about the thing. Click on the video above.

And still it hasn't overflowed. The water hasn't even got above the top of the bushwalkers' tunnel. That's when the dam starts to really earn its keep. It's never yet been required to. But I'll keep watching. One day it really will stop Parramatta ending up at Manly. Watch this space. I'll do another check on Tuesday if necessary.

 

Meanwhile, downstream in Parramatta, I checked out the site of the state government's proposed relocated Powerhouse Museum. One of the objections to the move was that the new site would be frequently underwater. Well, guess what? It's underwater today once again!

 

 

 

Any ideas, Gladys?

 

 

England's green and pleasant land

England's green and pleasant land was largely under water when I visited a couple of months ago. I understand it's even more so now. I visited Tewkesbury, Worcester, and Evesham, and found the car parks under water, bridges closed, and river walkways submerged.

I got out on a few little rambles along muddy pathways and through muddy fields, but somehow it just doesn't quite cut it any more for this Aussie bushwalker. 






















Maybe visiting England in winter was a bit of a mistake. It can be a depressing old country at the best of times, but when the full force of the wettest winter since Ethelred the Unready hits you, it's a bit of a lost cause. Nice weather for ducks, as they say.