While my wife and daughter headed off to the city to shop us boys decided to go hiking! Granted a two year old probably didn’t have much say in the matter but he seemed to love it!

After a bit of searching I decided that the Bungaroo and Founders way loop was worth a try as it was only 3.5km.

The trail is described on the wild walks website here: http://downloads.wildwalks.com/Bungaroo%20and%20Founders%20Way%20Loop%20(nsw-gariganp-nwn).pdf

It was a cold but sunny day and the entrance to the founders way was easy to find. Little Mister loved being put in the carrier and hauled onto my back.

 

We walked a short distance until we reached the massive water pipeline that crossed the valley then turned left to head toward the Bungaroo track head. Once on the track the terrain became quite over grown with lots of branches covering the track. Some maintenance was surely needed but it was kinda fun anyway. On the way in we had seen signs warning of fox baiting and we pretty quickly came upon a fox hole. It was impossible to see if anyone was at home but we did hear odd rustling in the bush throughout the walk. There was no sign of civilisation which was quite surprising given we were essentially in the centre of Sydney!

After a while we came to two posts with green triangles marking the trail. The trip notes said that the walk continue down through a  cleft in the rockface but that was surprisingly hard to find. We walked in both directions and almost gave up until I returned to the marker posts and studied the map and notes. There was really only one way it could be and we soon found it.

The descent passed thru a beautiful fern lined cleft and Sammy held his hand out for the higher ones and giggled when he brushed against one.

  
The walk eventually took us down to a creek with stepping stones so we sat down and ate our sandwiches. Sammy spent some time throwing mud and sticks into the river and seemed to be enjoying himself- he was certainly glad to be walking around again!

  
  

The walk back was through a very poorly kept trail and I had begun to wonder if I hadn’t taken the wrong route. Little Mister didn’t mind as he was having fun grabbing branches and pulling Daddy back…

Soon enough we were out of the thick of it and back onto the pipeline trail. The route out was very steep and Sam fell asleep on my back half way up the track. I just carried on, passing a jogger, until I reached the exit. I bundled a completely tanked Little Mister into the car and headed home. It was an awesome morning out!

I wouldn’t recommend the walk to international visitors but for locals who are looking for something short nearby it is worth a visit. Being an inner city gorge I was left with the feeling that the area was essentially dead except for the trees. I think the lack of birds gave me this impression. Still it would be a great playground for kids to grow up in.