I had a few hours to spare today while I waiting for my car to be serviced, so I hopped on to Alltrails and found a short walk nearby. It was the Pogsons trig trail via fishponds. I was incredibly unprepared- wearing jeans for goodness sake! But off I went anyway knowing full well that I’d be a sweaty mess after!

Of course, trying to avoid sweat, the start of the walk featured a massive flight of stone stairs – something to look forward to on the way out!

It went down quite a ways and there was a couple resting in a rock shelter mid way down. I pressed on. There was a little creek to cross then I found myself in a lush fern filled wonderland! It was a gully with cave lined walls covered by a beautiful fern blanket. The green was intoxicating! I soaked it in a bit then carried on.

Anyhoo, I walked down to the water. It was pretty down here. Large deep pools of water (I didn’t see fish), with cliffs on either side. Very pretty.

Soon enough I reached the lookout for fishponds. I featured a massive no swimming sign. There is a sewerage works in the area that discharges water, supposedly clean, but clearly not given the sign! Also there would be lots of run off from surrounding houses putting all sorts into the water. So the water becomes susceptible to algae growth and a home to bacteria. Makes me angry. I couldn’t help but think that folks back in the day used to swim down here but it is not possible now. Then you get the boomer posts on social media talking about the good old days of how they didn’t need tech to enjoy themselves, and they ran and swam and frolicked all they wanted. Perhaps that generation should have done a better job protecting such spaces. Guess it’s up to us to start caring. And yeah I’m 49 and have done nothing to make it any better other than recycle a few things. Sigh. Why can’t nature be treated better by default?

There were stepping stones across the pools that led to q short track that would have taken me to Pogsons Trig. However, when I stepped on the stones I felt incredibly shaky and uneasy. I didn’t have my poles with me today and didn’t think about getting a stick to help steady me across. After mulling it somewhat I decided not to cross. I fell a couple of years back and it took a year to properly recover and I wasn’t eager to go through that again. It was a bit weird though- I usually plow through such things without much thought, happily snapping pictures along the way.

Hmm. I decided to call it a day and head back. As always it felt quicker on the return trip. The climb out had my heart pumping. I guess I’m unfit again!

All up this was around 6km and a bit over two hours of walking. As a quick little opportunistic adventure while I had time on my hands, it was fantastic! For those in the area I recommend doing the full Blue Gum Walk- well worth it.

Thanks for reading everyone!

I did a little YouTube video. I’m in two minds as to whether to keep making these so if they interest you please leave a comment on the video.