Gara Gorge National Park

[Gruni]

We decided that as the weather was so nice today in Armidale that we would take the kids out for a walk in one of the many National Parks in the area. We went to Gara Gorge, commonly known by the locals as 'Blue Hole'. It was a lovely walk just under 6 kms in total that even Phoebe (Chyaroh's 4 year old) did quite comfortably. The area around Armidale has a lot of very steep gorges that are very scenic and Gara is no exception. The gorge used to have a flume network running from Blue Hole weir to a Hydro electric plant that was active in the early 20th C. Construction started in 1892 and the scheme started supplying Hillgrove as of 1908. It was Australia's first commercial hydro-electric scheme. The remains of some of the flume carved in the rock are still evident although much of the network was made of Oregon Pine and little evidence remains of where the timber flume ran. Eventually it dropped 140m to the power plant and there is a photo later with some more info about the production capacity in it's day.

Chyaroh and I couldn't help looking at the ST path as a a dream ride on a bike like the WR although it became impassable near the lookout. That aside it was just a really nice stroll that didn't tax my knee particularly and made me dream of trying to explore along the river for swimming holes in the warmer weather. We even found an old 'humpy' for want of a better word that has apparently been there for ages and used a whole gum tree log. I have a heap of pics that I will gradually add later this evening.

P7100025 [640x480].JPG (117.53 KiB) Viewed 112 times

P7100026 [640x480].JPG (108.75 KiB) Viewed 112 times

P7100027 [640x480].JPG (118.93 KiB) Viewed 112 times

P7100028 [640x480].JPG (102.69 KiB) Viewed 113 times

[Gruni]

I have to say the recent rains meant there was a nice flow through the gorge that made it all so much nicer.

Making our way down here definately seemed to require a trials bike... :(

P7100029 [640x480].JPG (148.52 KiB) Viewed 105 times

Definately trials territory... :D

P7100030 [640x480].JPG (149.01 KiB) Viewed 104 times

Chyaroh at the opening of one of the cut aways for the timber flume...

P7100031 [640x480].JPG (122.8 KiB) Viewed 101 times

P7100032 [640x480].JPG (122.19 KiB) Viewed 100 times

Chy choosing a line for his imaginary WR...

P7100033 [640x480].JPG (144.48 KiB) Viewed 100 times

[AG MAN]

Nice looking area

Any remainders of the timber flume?

[chyaroh]

All the timber is long gone by now. Being Oregon pine it was probably scavenged for other jobs or for people wanting some nice timber.

The scale of the project is impressive, considering it was all done at the turn of the 20th century. There is only a small bit of the dam wall left as it has been washed away by floods over the years. It makes a great walk though, around 5.5kms all the way around. The kids were troopers, we didn't have to carry any of them at any point. Mind you, if they had asked to be picked up they would have been told to have a cup of concrete and keep moving

[Gruni]

No all the timbers have either been taken away or have rotted away long ago. There are trenches where they removed part of the hill to route them thoughand stone sections that were part of the flume network too that you will see in some of the other pics.

The rock face on the far side made me dream of abseiling more than dirt biking... :)

P7100034 [640x480].JPG (116.45 KiB) Viewed 81 times

P7100035 [640x480].JPG (123.99 KiB) Viewed 81 times

P7100036 [640x480].JPG (73.42 KiB) Viewed 80 times

P7100037 [640x480].JPG (109.65 KiB) Viewed 81 times

P7100038 [640x480].JPG (102.14 KiB) Viewed 80 times

[Gruni]

P7100039 [640x480].JPG (137.87 KiB) Viewed 80 times

Took this one for Mickey she likes texture shots...

P7100040 [640x480].JPG (115.01 KiB) Viewed 81 times

Ang and the little Billy Goats... I mean Lids going trip trop across the troll's bridge...

P7100042 [640x480].JPG (104 KiB) Viewed 81 times

We saw no trolls but there were a couple of ORCs following them... :D

P7100043 [640x480].JPG (102.13 KiB) Viewed 80 times

The old humpy/lean too...

P7100044 [640x480].JPG (132.55 KiB) Viewed 80 times

[Gruni]

P7100044 [640x480].JPG (132.55 KiB) Viewed 79 times

P7100045 [640x480].JPG (115.68 KiB) Viewed 79 times

P7100046 [640x480].JPG (120.41 KiB) Viewed 80 times

P7100047 [640x480].JPG (137.9 KiB) Viewed 79 times

Blue Hole

P7100048 [640x480].JPG (118.12 KiB) Viewed 79 times

[Gruni]

More Blue Hole...

P7100049 [640x480].JPG (92.73 KiB) Viewed 79 times

P7100050 [640x480].JPG (108.55 KiB) Viewed 81 times

Old dam wall, most of it has been destroyed by flooding over the years...

P7100051 [640x480].JPG (131.48 KiB) Viewed 79 times

P7100052 [640x480].JPG (126.91 KiB) Viewed 79 times

P7100053 [640x480].JPG (118.7 KiB) Viewed 80 times

[Gruni]

A section of the rock flume...

P7100054 [640x480].JPG (133.33 KiB) Viewed 80 times

I said to Chy it would be fun to ride through that after a bit of rain :D ...

P7100055 [640x480].JPG (137.74 KiB) Viewed 81 times

And back to the start of the track near the carpark...

P7100056 [640x480].JPG (100.1 KiB) Viewed 80 times

P7100057 [640x480].JPG (112.27 KiB) Viewed 80 times

The final pic... for an excellent afternoon...

P7100058 [640x480].JPG (108.83 KiB) Viewed 79 times

[robo67]

great report and pics Gruni..
looks a awesome spot to have a wander and take in a little history

[Gruni]

It's lovely there Robo and when the weather is nice it's a top spot for a bbq or picnic too. Not to mention there are several outstanding swimming holes there too.

[V8Patrol]

Looks like a nice day out.

We need to do things without a motorbike occasionally.

[kwakka450]

We need to do things without a motorbike occasionally.

there is no good argument for that.

[Gruni]

It was so great watching the kids enjoy the walk that made it enjoyable even though Chy and I were joing about what it would be like to ride that track.