August 2015 Report
Venue Cooks River
Participants
Ron, Chris, Richard, Helen, Colin, Natalie, Peter. Yvonne
The start
The group met at Hurlstone Park station and had morning tea nearby before setting off to the river. A designated path runs all the way along the side of the river.
Points of Interest
The area was once known as Fern Hill and changed in the early 1900’s.
Sydney Water has gradually been replacing the concrete walls along the river with more natural sandstone blocks. Plants then grow amongst the boulders and animal life returns. -we noted a wide ‘arm’ that stretches out across the river, depending on the tide, to catch river rubbish and send it to a side holding. Many, many plastic bottles and other rubbish could be seen floating up the river on the tide.
Nearby is a section once used by boats to moor. -a volunteer group, Mudcrabs, regularly meet to clear sections of the river bank and plant native vegetation. (Colin is part of this group) Near Picken Oval(AFL) is a long stretch they have been working on. It is called Rosedale Reserve. This was once thick with Wattle trees, however, some have now been replaced with more open type planting.
As the quality of the river has improved, mangrove trees have re-established along sections of the river.
Around Campsie we reach the end of the high tide section of river and it becomes more like a drain feeding into the river itself -there are many green areas along the side of the river where people can exercise and enjoy the outdoors. Even dogs have a special off lease park area! (to quote Natalie – the group is ‘elastic’, we stretch out and then bunch up again)
The finish
We continued along the river until close to the Hume Highway and made our way through the streets to Strathfield Park for a well deserved lunch. From here it was along Homebush Rd to Strathfield station and the train home.
Distance walked 11.5 Km from Hurlstone Park station to Strathfield station
Venue Cooks River
Participants
Ron, Chris, Richard, Helen, Colin, Natalie, Peter. Yvonne
The start
The group met at Hurlstone Park station and had morning tea nearby before setting off to the river. A designated path runs all the way along the side of the river.
Points of Interest
The area was once known as Fern Hill and changed in the early 1900’s.
Sydney Water has gradually been replacing the concrete walls along the river with more natural sandstone blocks. Plants then grow amongst the boulders and animal life returns. -we noted a wide ‘arm’ that stretches out across the river, depending on the tide, to catch river rubbish and send it to a side holding. Many, many plastic bottles and other rubbish could be seen floating up the river on the tide.
Nearby is a section once used by boats to moor. -a volunteer group, Mudcrabs, regularly meet to clear sections of the river bank and plant native vegetation. (Colin is part of this group) Near Picken Oval(AFL) is a long stretch they have been working on. It is called Rosedale Reserve. This was once thick with Wattle trees, however, some have now been replaced with more open type planting.
As the quality of the river has improved, mangrove trees have re-established along sections of the river.
Around Campsie we reach the end of the high tide section of river and it becomes more like a drain feeding into the river itself -there are many green areas along the side of the river where people can exercise and enjoy the outdoors. Even dogs have a special off lease park area! (to quote Natalie – the group is ‘elastic’, we stretch out and then bunch up again)
The finish
We continued along the river until close to the Hume Highway and made our way through the streets to Strathfield Park for a well deserved lunch. From here it was along Homebush Rd to Strathfield station and the train home.
Distance walked 11.5 Km from Hurlstone Park station to Strathfield station