Mummy, my legs hurt

Near Kangaroo Valley Distance: 1km return Duration: 20 minutes Tucked away  near Kangaroo Valley is the Cambewarra Range Nature Reserve, accessible via an unassuming dirt track that leads off a hairpin turn on Moss Vale Road at the top of Cambewarra Mountain. Leebold Hill Rd traverses the ridgeline for a few kilometres and gets progressively rougher; a bit of clearance on your car will come in handy here. Red Rocks trig point is at the end of a very short peaceful track, covered in orange butterflies when we were there in the spring time. The worn sandstone plateau brings you to a magnificent (but unfenced - be careful!) lookout with 180 degree views across the valley and Morton and Budderoo National Parks. This would be a great walk to spot cool gum nuts and cool rocks, but remember to leave everything just as you found it. This walk is within a National Parks managed reserve. It was cool and windy and we heard many tiny wrens tittering in the bushes.

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'...

Near Mittagong Distance: 8.7km return Duration: ~ 4 hours We were looking for a peaceful adventure on ANZAC day and Richie found this nice little walk on the other side of Mittagong.  Box Vale walking track follows an old train cutting with a tunnel near the end, and passes some historic coal mining bits and pieces through lovely cool southern highlands forest. In autumn it was absolutely full of a myriad of frilly, lumpy and blobby toadstools which were fun to photograph. The tramway line was built in 1888 to carry coal mined in Nattai Gorge to the main line at Mittagong. The line passes through several cuttings and a tunnel, and ends at the "incline", where coal was brought up from the gorge. It was closed in 1896 and the tramway abandoned, and was later opened as a walking track in 1996. And we hit a milestone today... 4 hours walking, nearly 9km - the furthest we've gone as a family, yet there was no fighting, no whining; they had fun and collected ro...