Quicknotes and Map of our holiday Monday walk (June 9th 2014). It’s the spontaneous ones that often work out the best. And this was a prime example.
Here’s a map, using OziExplorer with the Open Street Maps (aka “Internet Maps”). Red outbound, left then clockwise. Blue back to the car, with the dotted line an alternate route back. Click for full size
1) Start/Finish. The tiny village of Kallista (coffee!, cake!). Walk down the hill on the track, past the school to…
2) Grants Picnic Ground. See the bird feeding, visit the tourist shop and cafe (coffee! et al). Then cross the road, thru the gate and pick up Clematis Track.
Follow this, down and up. It comes out at the Sherbrooke Lodge Road – turn left (grassy on LHS, walk on that). Continue ‘left’ (west, then north). You’ll soon come to the entrance to:
3) O’Donohue Picnic Ground. Lunch/snack here. Toilets. Then out the ‘back gate’ onto O’Donohue Track. Soon you’ll come to a T-Intersection. Turn right.
After a very short distance you’ll come to another T-Intersection (Sherbrooke Track). Turn left.
Follow Sherbrooke Track through the bush until Wattle Track leads off to your right (over a moss-covered bridge).Take Wattle and cross the bridge
Follow Wattle (approx North) until you come to the main Sherbrooke Road. Stay on your side of the road and walk a short distance right (east) until you come to the Alfred Nicholas Gardens car park. Cross the road here into…
4) The Alfred Nicholas Memorial Gardens. Definitely explore these lovely gardens, built right into a quite steep hill. Descend to a magic quiet spot with an ornamental lake and old boat shed (a must see!)
Climb back out to the entrance gates you entered by. Head left (south east) along Sherbrooke Rd. You cannot actually follow this all the way to Kallista (too steep/dangerous with no footpath near end) So turn into Braeside Avenue and keep left. You’ll soon see a track entrance which ‘tracks’ beside Sherbrooke rd and soon rejoins it, just near Kallista. A few mins later you are back where you started.
Alternate return (blue dash). If you want to re-do the ‘up-down’ (muddy?!) tracks, you can go through the “Sherbrook Picnic Ground” car park, pick up Sherbrook Track and turn left onto O’Dononhue Track (you’ve been at this point earlier!), back to O’Donohue Picnic Ground and retrace your steps (red line) back to Kallista
Approximate Times
- Car to Alfred Nicholas Gardens: about 1 hr . 4km (main red route above). Plus we stopped for lunch at the O’Donahue Picnic Ground. Not counted in 1 hour
- About 30-40 mins to explore Gardens
- Gardens to Car. Only ~ 30 mins, via Sherbrooke Road (main blue route on map)
Photos
Click to enlarge.
Only a few minutes from the start/car. Clematis Track
The ornamental lake, down the hill, at Alfred Nicholas Memorial Gardens
The old boatshed on the lake