About Gertie
Hiking and walks in New South Wales and Queensland (Australia) and New Zealand, both North and South Island.
3,054 km
755:24 h
Recent Activity
- Arturo J. Gómez GrasNovember 12, 2025
Beautiful route, it's a shame it's so far away.
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Gertie went for a hike.
2 days ago
This is a return track, not a loop. The bushwalk starts at the Cowan railway station, and initially follows one of the popular sections of the Great North Walk along the Jerusalem Bay Track. Near the bottom of the gully, the track comes close to Yatala Creek. At the bottom of the gully is Jerusalem Bay (one of the bays off Cowan Creek). The track follows the northern side of the bay before reaching an informal lookout, where a palm tree frames a view down Cowan Creek. Interesting history: the palm tree was planted in 1921 by Mrs Rhodes, and is one of the few signs remaining of the settlement at Jerusalem Bay. George Rhodes and his wife Agnes settled here in 1895, building a house and establishing a successful boat hiring business (Jerusalem Bay being a popular weekend destination). The original house burnt down in 1937, and a new house was built by George (on the same site). Afer the death of Agnes Rhodes in 1939, George continued the boatshed business until 1945 when he sold the business. The house and wharf were demolished by NPWS around 1949. Source: Man Made the City but God Made the Bush. The Jerusalem Bay Track then continues around another small inlet and across a small creek, before it starts climbing up to the next ridge. It’s a short but steep climb up. The junction with the track to Taffy's Rock, which is “hidden” behind a sign pointing back to Jerusalem Bay, and ahead to Brooklyn Dam. The trail is not shown on most maps, and I would only recommend this to hikers with path finding experience. The bush at times is dense, the trail very narrow and overgrown, sometimes over rock plateaus with no indication of a route. The Taffy's Rock track passes two old trig stations: TS1531 COLE is still in pretty good condition, with a well-constructed cairn of stone. There’s no view from the trig site, but a bit further on there’s a glimpse of the Hawkesbury River in the distance.The track then climbs up to a large, tesselated dome-shaped rock. The second trig station, TS1940 EDWARDS is a bit further along, also a well constructed cairn. The track is undulating again all the way to Taffy's Rock. The rock platform is named after Taffy Townson, a member of the Rucksack Walking Club of NSW, who died from a snakebite while walking the Overland Track in Tasmania in 1948. This was one of her favourite places to hike to. The more impressive and panoramic view is to the east, where you can see from the Pacific Ocean and mouth of the Hawkesbury River, all the way up Cowan Creek. In the distance is Lion Island, and behind it Bouddi National Park. A great day out, not to be underestimated, esp on a hot 30C day like today. We met 3 lace monitors and 1 snake, no evidence pic of the snake though..
04:11
15.0km
3.6km/h
630m
630m
Gertie went for a hike.
December 15, 2025
A great area for hiking and biking. Shared trails, and plenty of options. Today, after overnight rain, the sandstone was deeply coloured yellow and orange. We encountered a large group of black red-tailed cockatoos. There are some great views and beautiful rockscapes and the burnt bush is regenerating itself beautifully.
02:18
8.77km
3.8km/h
180m
170m
Gertie went for a hike.
December 14, 2025
A very beautiful little trail in eucalyptus bush. It is a shared bike/hike trail, but it seems quiet enough as even today, a Sunday morning, we met no one. Easy to follow trail, sandy stretches and rocky stretches. A few options to divert.
01:01
4.35km
4.3km/h
90m
60m
Gertie went for a hike.
December 6, 2025
A walk around the other side of the bay. Smoke can still be seen on the other side of the bay after yesterday's devasting fire in Koolewong, which destroyed 14 houses 😢 I hope I have been able to give a little impression of this pretty seaside village which has a very relaxed atmosphere. After 2 extremely hot days with 41C, today was a lot cooler with 25C and pleasant to walk around.
00:52
4.45km
5.1km/h
30m
30m
Gertie went for a hike.
December 6, 2025
A surprise little bushwalk when out exploring the village. Along the water, along the mangroves, into the bush. Wonderful trail. Some typing errors on the photo detail 😆 no reading glasses out walking..🤓
00:45
3.19km
4.2km/h
110m
70m
Gertie went for a hike.
December 1, 2025
What a joy to share a bush walk with our little grandson 💙
00:37
2.63km
4.3km/h
140m
60m
Gertie went for a hike.
November 30, 2025
A short local bush walk. Dual walk and cycle track.
01:03
4.93km
4.7km/h
80m
90m
Gertie went for a hike.
November 26, 2025
One of the nicest cliff walks along the Northern Beaches.
01:05
4.75km
4.4km/h
80m
80m
Gertie went for a hike.
November 18, 2025
We hiked the track anti clockwise, which means hiking up to the ridge and walking the boulder ridge in the first half of your walk. The views are spectacular, and towards the end of the ridge, you can see the Peak with the antennaes, still a fair climb away. The last stretch to the heli pad and antennaes is quite challenging, the more because you need to come that same steep section down again. We wanted to loop back and found a trail, which is off grid, quite challenging down with steep sections, loose stones but fun all the same. One needs a good fitness level and rough terrain walking experience to walk this track.
03:15
13.0km
4.0km/h
600m
590m
Gertie went for a hike.
November 11, 2025
Springbrook National Park. This is a great hike through wonderful rainforest, numerous waterfalls, a few creek crossings and lush vegetation. The waterfalls are the highlight of this walk and at some, you can walk right behind. The Warrie Circuit starts approx 1.5km in and is very quiet, apart from the bird life. Most people walk the shorter trails to Twin Falls, or from the other side to Canyon Lookout. Warrie Circuit starts downhill into the gorge and after passing numerous waterfalls and walking several kms, you come to the Meeting of the Waters. Here you start walking uphill all the way around towards the starting point, meeting more waterfalls. The forestry has plenty of enormous gum trees, they are majestic! We were warned about leeches as the track can be very wet, so we covered ourselves in repellent: success: no leeches on us. This is a beautiful hike in a wonderful area. To be recommended.
03:59
13.0km
3.3km/h
500m
500m
Saved for my next trip to Oz