Purple plus in Parramatta Park!

 

Every jacaranda season seems like the best ever, but this one actually is the best ever.

And one of the best collections of them is in Parramatta park, towering above the not-yet-opened new cafe.

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?

 

 

Parramatta's City Square

City Square seems to be taking shape, and it's got a certain drama to it. Must say, I was a bit taken in by the name, and expected a big, grand, open civic square out of it. It's more of another corridor pedestrian mall, and an excuse for more tall buildings.

Sydney's Great West Walk - the walking (parts 1, 2, & 3)

The bushwalking club has now done the first three of the four stages of the Great West Walk that I'd been surveying.

Here we are, setting out from Parramatta.

Toongabbie Creek

Western Sydney Parklands

Nurragingy Reserve and some unexpected visitors

A big kangaroo in Lucy Cobcroft Park, Mt Druitt
















Below: a Western Sydney special: last night's burnt-out stolen car, still smelling all sweet and rubbery!

 (Some photos courtesy of Leah Taylor)

Sydney's Great West Walk - the surveying

The Great West Walk is a recently inaugurated track across Western Sydney, linking Parramatta and Penrith. It joins various parks, creekside tracks and bushland reserves, though there's plenty of street walking involved too.

It's 65km long, and I decided to explore it and put it onto my bushwalking club's programme. I divided it into four stages, each around 14 to 20km long:

1. Parramatta station to Seven Hills station
2. Seven Hills station to Rooty Hill station
3. Rooty Hill station to Ropes Crossing shopping centre
4. Ropes Crossing shopping centre to Penrith station

During stage 2, you get to see the northern bit of the Western Sydney Parklands.


My surveying trips were mostly done last month. It was very dry, rather hot, and bushfire smoke was in the air. I felt a bit unsafe in some of the parkland areas. I made a point of being aware always of which way to run, should a fire break out nearby. And the fact that I was usually the only one out and about, and I was alone in abandoned shopping trolley central, didn't exactly help. I came through unscathed though! 

One of many bright spots:  Rooty Hill station, with one of the finest rows of Crepe Myrtle trees (aka Pride of India).

Here's Whalan Reserve, home to a majestic collection of  high voltage transmission towers. Thought there might be a few dog walkers, joggers, cyclists etc. But no. They don't seem to do much of that round here.

Ropes Crossing was a pleasant surprise. Ponds and creek, tasteful housing, and a rather nice little shopping strip.

Then there's Wianamatta Regional Park. This used to be an Australian Defence Industries site. It's largely unspoilt Cumberland Plain bushland, and a nice place to be walking through. But here too, I was absolutely the only person there. A bit spooky.

To the west of Wianamatta is another brand new suburb: Jordan Springs. Again, quite promising, with creeks and ponds, and a central lake.

Eventually I hit the Nepean River at Penrith, and was welcomed by friendly fairy wrens and historic bridges.

Thornleigh to Parramatta via the scenic route

 

I led a group of bushwalkers on one of my classic walks the other day. We did Thornleigh to Parramatta, not along busy Pennant Hills Road, but mostly along a series of bushland corridors. You can do this sort of thing all over Sydney.

It had rained overnight, and the Darling Mills Creek was a little higher than usual. Some of the creek crossings were a little challenging, but it takes a lot to stop the All Nations Bushwalkers. The same couldn't be said for some of the other groups we encountered. One group stood transfixed as they watched us show them how it's done. They stayed transfixed there too, and didn't follow us.





Another challenging creek crossing, and some of the party opted for a less conventional technique.

And what about this for a barrier? It's the 'North Rocks Dam', officially the Loyalty Road Flood Retarding Basin. It was built about 20 years ago to protect Parramatta from floods, by slowing the flow after extreme rainfall events. So far it's never really been tested, but one day it will be.

The retarding tunnel through which the creek flows, serves also as the walkway for bushwalkers, most of the time at least.

It was a little bit wet in there this time, but fortunately quite negotiable.

You emerge out the other side, and tip-toe along a narrow walkway, before heading up a concrete stairway to dry land above.

Then it's on again downstream, past some striking sandstone cliffs. The suburb of North Rocks was named after one of the local sandstone outcrops, from which the stones for Parramatta Gaol and Lake Parramatta Dam were sourced.

















There's a bit of a weed infestation going on in some spots. Needs a bit of attention from a Bushcare group maybe.

Here's Lake Parramatta. When I'd first heard of it, I'd thought it must be something within Parramatta Park. But no, it's an entirely separate place, a few kilometres to the north. It's got a cafe. picnic and barbecue facilities, and a swimming area. And it's very popular on sunny Sunday afternoons.



Below: my intrepid group 

Some photos courtesy Paul Monaghan & Molly Huang

Parramasala - and Parra gets moving!

This weekend was the Parramasala Festival weekend in Parramatta. It's the annual 'spicy celebration of cultures' - primarily Indian cultures, that is. And it's colourful, tasty, and loud!

Most of the events are in Prince Alfred Park and Harris Park. I checked out Prince Alfred Park on Saturday afternoon, and watched a Rajasthani folk group, a fashion show featuring Western Sydney designers, and a terrific troupe of Bollywood dancers, from the Natraj Dance Studio.

Oh dear, the dancers have come down into the audience, and they're wanting us all to join in!


Yours truly doesn't have a dancing bone in his body, but most of the crowd find theirs, and don't they get into it just!