Despite the forecast of some scattered showers, the Cubs are excited about our Monday evening Koola Avenue Loop bushwalk. After meeting at the corner of Albany Crescent and Koola Avenue (and assuring the parents their children are in safe hands), we take the firetrail down from Koola Ave and turn left onto the Rocky Crossing Track. We’re only on the Rocky Crossing Track for a couple of hundred metres before we leave the track behind, and descend directly down the steep slope. You can’t really go wrong, as Middle Harbour Creek and the Lockley Track runs along the bottom of the valley… but with 30 Cubs partly walking and partly sliding down the wet slope, I have a few moments when I regret not choosing an easier walk.
I’m relieved when we reach the Lockley Track, which runs along Middle Harbour, and a quick headcount confirms that we have the same number of Cubs as we started with at the top of the hill!
It’s much easier walking now that we are on a track, although it’s a pretty rough track with a few fallen logs and obstacles to avoid. It’s also now raining fairly heavily.
With the light starting to fade (and our head torches on) we reach the intersection of the Koola Track back up to the ridge. The start of the track up can be a but tricky to find, although there are faint white arrows marking the trail. While the trail supposedly follows an old road formation, it’s hard to imagine there was every a road along the narrow and sometimes steep track.
Very wet and somewhat tired, we reach the top of the Koola Track just on 8pm, having completed the 3km Koola Avenue Loop in about 1.5 hours.
More information on the Koola Avenue Loop
The Koola Avenue Loop is a partly off-track bushwalk; although it’s not navigationally difficult a detailed topographical map is essential.
For more bushwalks (as well as mountain-biking trails and swimming holes) in this area, have a look at the Guide to Garigal National Park. This includes 25 bushwalks in Garigal National Park with links to detailed track notes and online maps.
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