3 In springthebirds are raising theiryoung. Overhead, and water dragons willbesunningthemselves. in thelate afternoon, whileonthepaths androcks, snakes In thedistance, wilddeerandkangaroos willbegrazing youAs walk thepaths, keep your eyes open for wildlife. Wollombi Valley Wildlife mountains.tree-lined wallaroos andwombats andissurrounded by imposing and otheranimalsincludingkangaroos, wallabies, The area ishometo anabundance ofnative birds, reptiles Creeks alsojointhesewaterways nearthevillage. Wollombi Brook andCongewai Creek. Narone and Yango cottages andshedsinanarrow containing valley junction sandstone buildingsandtimberslabconstructed century Wollombi’s modestmodernsize isoffset by its19th StateOlney Forests. east lie Watagans National Park alongwithCorrabare and the majorlegsofGreater Mountains Blue Drive. To the main road, theconvict-built Great Roadforms oneof North listed Yengo National Park (and Yengo State Forest) andthe The valley isbordered to thewest by the World Heritage thevillageofBroke.and to thenorth, is thevillageofLaguna, to theeast, thevillageofMillfield ofSydney.Cessnock and128km (80mi)north To thesouth Council LGA, situated 29kilometers (18mi)southwest of South Wales, Australia. ItiswithintheCessnock City Wollombi isasmallvillageintheHunter RegionofNew A Brief History of Wollombi andLaguna 4 2 90 1 20 60 E
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catch at aglimpseofplatypus duskorseewombat The isawildlife corridor, Brook section where you might water birds willbeshepherding theirfamilies. Channel Cuckoos Billed willscreech, whileby theMillpond, www.visitwollombi.com.au Further Information Printed by Cessnock Print Place. (02)49903230 Produced by Capers Wollombi. (02)49983211 Acknowledgments sites containing many engravings. Brook andit’s creeks, tributary andtwo majormapping outcrops, frequent evidence sites ofcamping alongthe stencils, tribalmarkings andotherimagesincaves and There are rock engravings, sharpeninggrooves, hand throughout theancient nations ofeastern Australia. their way to Mount Yengo -aplace ofgreat significance from hundreds ofkilometers visited thearea andmade been usedasaceremonial meetingplace aspeople the surrounding which isthought to countryside have There are avast numberof historic Aboriginal sites in Aboriginal History the trees. Robins, Finches, Honeyeaters and Wrens intheshelter of droppings Pause onthetrack. andwatch tiny birds like WATAGAN CREEK ROAD CREEK WATAGAN
3km 200m Climb 471min4.2km
4km 300m
2020 W Map 2of theseries of walking maps Valley Walks please return to Wollombi General Store. If you have no further useforthis map, youIf have nofurther Watagan Mountains Mount Warrawalong 3 2 4 ollomb
1 WARRAWALONG ROAD
here. Start. here. CEDAR BRUSH WALK Park cars
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The 400m W THE GREAT
Valley Walks 300m i NORTH WALK
MOUNT WARRAWALONG ollomb varied withwombats, The wildlife isalso near thesummit. bush weed, especially of lantana andcotton significant evidence are alsomany wildflowers. there Unfortunately isalso Sydneybark, bluegum,spotted gumandblackbutt. There lichen, aswell astalleucalypts, suchasturpentine, stringy gully rainforest, withvines, ferns, orchid, xanthorrhoea and The walk iswithinecosystems that includewarm temperate Macquarie andthe Tuggerah Lake system. forests are boundedby theHunter River catchment at Lake Watagan State Forest. theseNew South Both Wales state although mostofthewalk describedherein iswithinthe Mount Warrawolong State isitselfwithintheOlney Forest, Wallung, whichmeans “head” intheAwabakul language. Warrawolong isthought to have originated from theword Awabakul andDarug aboriginalpeoples. The name The area ofthewalk isanarea ofthe Wonnarua, Darkinjung, Warrawolong at 641mhigh. The highestmountain withinthe Watagans isMount south alongtheeastern sideoftheAustralian continent. whichisthemainmountain rangeRange running north- The Watagan oftheGreat Mountains are Dividing part GENERAL
641m 600m
OLNEY OLNEY STATE FOREST
500m WATAGAN CREEK ROAD CREEK WATAGAN 200m The 7
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Cotton Bush Weed i summit are spectacular. possible apairofbinoculars. southandeastatThe the viewsto thenorth, Above allenjoy theexperience, watch outfor animals, take acamera andif them know whenyou have returned. Let someoneknow where you are goingandwhenyou to expect return. Let positioning. There isnoradio reception for telephone althoughsatellite allows connection and water. There isnoneavailable after you leave George Drive. Downes awareBe of food plenty ofthefitnessallthosewithwhom you carry walk and equipment would bewise. Well fitting walking footwear isessential. First aid knowledge andbasic Check theweather forecast before starting. Wear suitableclothing. andcarry you are walking sobeingprepared isessential. The area ofthiswalk isquite remote anditislikely you willmeetnoonewhile ADVICE left goinguphilltoleft thesummit(See track leaves theGreat North Walk (See requiringtwo care. junctions The firstistheright fork to betaken at thebaseofMt Warrawolong where the oftheGreat of the walkIt shouldbenoted isonasection North that althoughamajorpart Walk there are 17.4 kms from leaving George drive Downes there is becomes predominantly unsealed. After atotal of Creek Road. After approximately 5.5kms theroad 39” S,151deg7’ 48” E)andheadeastalong Watagan Leave George Drive Downes at Laguna (32deg59’ DIRECTIONS starting point ofthewalk. starting gate to beopened(andclosed)to gainaccess to the around 25minutes alongthisroad withpossiblyone gateway GenRoy. called to aproperty Itshouldtake (See a grassy edgeoftheroad that issuitablefor parking edge andinto viewsandrewards thetrees soonyieldsthespectacular theeffort. When reaching thesummitwatch tower andthesurrounding trees delay thefeeling ofachievement. Awalk around the
1 ). This isapproximately 500mafter the particularly evident. particularly ofeasternvariety Australia birds withthelyrebird being snakes, kangaroos, wallabies, andkoalas, aswell asawide He was looking at what isnow Mt called Warrawolong. which we 9o’clock about passed intheforenoon” remarkable like isshaped hillthat theCrown ofahatt of33deg,“In thelatitude 2’alittleway inland isa journal. inhis madethefollowing entry while sailingnorth, the10thofMayOn in1770,a Thursday, Captain Cook,
2 Leave your vehicle here. (33deg 1’ 42” S,151deg16’ 26” E). reference to theGreat walk. North showing thewalking track with There are green wooden signposts
the watch tower at thesummit. originally access for vehicles to build walking track iswell definedasit was 2 ½hrsupand1hoursdown. The approximately 4kms eachway, taking Head southupthehill. The walk is 5
). 4 ) andthesecond is500mafter thefirstturnoffandisa fork tothe
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Warrawolong walk. point oftheMt starting a littleonfrom the high inthemountains onabridge 19th century abutments from the of handhewnstone There isanexample at Creek Dora onLakethe wharf Macquarie. ox teams haulingtimberwagons over themountains to The timberwasalong extracted Watagan Creek Roadby required inthe1850s. for theemerging coal industry from the1820,followed by othertimberasitwas trees have initiallyby beenharvested thecedar-getters There islittleoldgrowth forest evident asmostofthe Warrawolong. ofthisepicwalk around passesdirectly section Mount the Queens in Newcastle.Wharf The Cedar Brush Track the obeliskinMacquarie Place inSydney andfinishes at Lands developed theGreat North Walk at whichstarts of theDepartment ofthe20thcentury In thelatter part Watagans. the convictsbetween 1826and1835to thewest ofthe route oftheGreatRoad, that North was beingbuiltby ofthe point tomountain as a survey establishparts General Sir In 1831Surveyor Thomas Mitchell usedthe
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contained therein. from theuseofthismaporfrom information for injuriesresultingresponsibility orliability The producer ofthesemapsaccepts no your enjoyment. walkers to information gainlocal andfor This maphasbeenproduced to assist Indemnity
Handhewn Bridge Handhewn 5