Mummy, my legs hurt

Near Wolgan Valley Distance: 7.5km Duration: Around 2.5 hours A magical walk we did in winter, with crystallized frost on the grass and an interesting assortment of ruins from the old mining days. You've got to be pretty self sufficient for this one; Newnes itself is one hotel and a road - that's pretty much it - so bring lots of snacks and water, more than you think you'll need as you're a long way from anywhere if you get delayed! There's interpretive signage everywhere so you can see what's what. You can just explore a little area or do the entire site if you feel like it. We were lucky enough to see a wombat in broad daylight, hanging around the nearby campground and generally nonplussed about us staring at him. The kids got really close before he skittered back into his burrow! This was a really lovely walk with something everywhere you look to keep the kids occupied. The ruins are scattered on the side of a s...

Where: Middle Head, off Chowder Bay Rd Distance: 5.5km Duration: a bit over 2 hours Richie comes up with all the good ideas. Today we decided to go east for a change, heading towards the harbour to explore middle head forts. Complete with underground tunnels dating back to the 1870s and lots of gun turrets, ammunition stores and lookout points, it was a fantastic place to bring the kids. Very little was 'out of bounds' and they could go in around and over all the old structures, which kept them interested for a couple of hours.  The forts were built in the 1870's, used later during WWII, and the area is still active today with HMAS Penguin naval hospital located at the site. Although it was mid morning on a weekend, we only saw a handful of other people, and had lots of space to run around and explore. Apart from a few sketchy cliff edges and former ammunition stores to fall into like the one below, it was a great place for the little peo...

Hi everyone! Hope your training is going really well. As I begin to write this on the 21st June, it's the shortest day of the year, which means as of tomorrow the mornings and evenings will gradually start to get less dark and miserable! I quite like the cold but getting home from work in the dark every day is a real drag. Lucky I have a top notch head lamp for early morning weekend adventures! The last few weeks have been all about... - getting my nutrition sorted - learning to pace myself better - studying the course from afar - setting up my fundraising page for One in Five This month I ventured out in some crazy cold, windy and dark conditions.,..with snow forecast above 700 metres in the mountains, I didn't venture too far up the hill, but the trail I was on at 450m elevation was still damn cold! It was one of those days where the RFS and SES advise the public to 're-think outdoor activities'... but this spot was relatively sheltered, well populated and...