Mummy, my legs hurt

Near Blackheath NSW Time: 2 hours Distance: 7km loop This beautiful lush rainforest walk is well known and well publicised as one of the best attractions in the mountains. We had a kid free weekend so Richie and I were able to enjoy this snowy(!) day in peace. This loop walk is jaw droppingly beautiful; prehistoric in its scale, and lush green everywhere you look. There's so much information online about this walk that I'll just share some photos and skip all the details. Suffice to say there's a hell of a lot of stairs up and down, but the views are totally worth it. On our way back down the mountains, we stopped for a moment to check out the walk to Lake Burrogorang lookout overlooking Warragamba Dam. This walk is about 2.5km from the parking area at the end of Kings Tableland Rd. It was absolutely freezing by this stage - we'd got warm walking around Blackheath then cooled down so I was well and truly frozen when we got ou...

Distance: 13km Duration: 5 frustratingly slow hours Over the Easter long weekend, we stayed in Jindabyne for a few nights with two other families; our good friends from Tyler's soccer team. With kids and adults of varying abilities and interest in long walks, we decided we'd all give Mount Kosciuszko a crack and see how it went. Everyone loves a chairlift ride anyway, right? We had attempted this walk ourselves a year and a half ago, in high summer but with completely opposite weather to what we had recently. Last time we had played on big chunks of ice on the ground, surrounded by grey swirling clouds that would only part for seconds at a time to give us a glimpse of the view, and braved winds that were gusting up to 80kmph. In January! So this time, we were blessed with bright sunshine the whole way and it was a completely different experience. On our previous trip, Holly who had then barely turned seven, was getting blown off the path, to the exten...

Near Glenbrook Distance: 3ish km... my Garmin tracked it as 5.4 as I left it on whilst swimming Duration: We took 2.5 hours but that included over an hour mucking around in the water, and breaks on the way back. This waterhole is a hidden gem!  A relatively short but steep track winds down from a nondescript dirt side track off Red Hands fire trail in Glenbrook National Park. The Kanuka Brook Gully track is clearly marked on maps but blink and you'll miss it when driving along the fire trail! There is a very small clearing opposite the trailhead where you can park, and from there it is about 1km down to the edge of the pool. The track is enjoyable on the way down with a few steep scrambles that were tricky for short legs. But it's all downhill.  :) Although Holly chose to wear her long socks, 'in case of leeches', there weren't any. :) First we skirted the edge of the pool around to the left, alongside a sheer wall that shaded the...

Near Tallong, Southern Highlands NSW Distance: NPWS list it as 3.5km return, we got 5.3km return Duration: Listed as 3.5 - 4.5 hours and Grade 5, we took a bit under 3 (and we took our time mucking about in the creek) For our 10th wedding anniversary, Richard and I had a short getaway at Kangaroo Valley and decided to tackle a walk that we wouldn't be able to do if we had the kids in tow. Badgerys Spur walking track is just south of Tallong in the Ettrema wilderness area, and is a steep, chossy, loose track that drops 500 metres in just 2.5km. The bushland is open and scrubby making it one to avoid on very hot days and the track, although not really marked, is relatively easy to find. Climbing on all fours down this big sharp conglomerate bluff at the start you think, 'ah righto, this will be slow going!',  however the track soon evens out (but remains steep all the way down). Halfway down the hill we came to a stand of the biggest xanthorreas I'...