Olinda Valley Hike

I organised a group hike for Saturday August 8 to walk through the beautiful Olinda Valley and at one stage there was going to be about baker's dozen heading for the hills. But this was not to be and there was just five of us on the day: Rosh, Bec, Vee, TJ and I.

The walk is called 'Olinda Valley', walk 24, from the book 'Day Walks Around Melbourne' by Chapman & Siseman.

In January of this year, Bec, Vee and I had arranged to do this as our first group training hike for Trailwalker but it was a very foggy and cold morning and poor Bec couldn't find the start point at Woolrich Lookout because there a car accident forced her to detour into unchartered territory and she couldn't find her way back. So we met in Olinda and ate scones and drank hot chocolate instead. Yum yum.

This time, I arranged for TJ and I to pick up Bec on the way, even if it added about 20 minutes to our trip. The drive out to Olinda was bloody awful. There was so much road work going on, we crawled out there and it took us close to 2 hours! Needless to say, we were very late and Rosh, who despises tardiness, was worried she'd be late for a lunchtime-ish appointment so we opted to shorten the walk from 12km to 8km. The hike I chose had options for a 5km, 8km, 12km or 16km hike.

The sky was blue but the air was crispy cold but we soon warmed up. The course was undulating and I recongised some it from the 2006 Trailwalker course, although at that time we were walking in the opposite direction. Beautiful scenery and views through the RJ Hamer Arboretum where over 150 species of native and non-native trees have been planted in rows. Must head out there in Autumn as I think it must look quite spectacular when the leaves turn.

We came across a toilet block at a picnic ground that I remember from a time I hiked that area with Deb during a TW2006 training hike. In the toilet was some 'interesting' graffiti written on the wall: "Meet me back here at 5pm and I will be completely naked." It was 5pm! We heard a car approach, a door slam. Could it be? Deb and I cracked up laughing when we saw the Parks Victoria Ranger approaching us. He was fully clothed and just wanted to make sure we were OK because it was getting late and we still had about 10km to go to finish our hike!

The section of unmarked track leading back to the carpark at Woolrich Lookout wasn't all that steep, but it felt like it went on and on and on. I think we were all feeling a bit unfit. My achillies held up OK although my calves and soleus were cramping up a bit. A quick stop and stretch was enough to keep me going.

TJ enjoyed himself so much he wanted to visit the You Yangs and take PB with us for a walk (she was such a good girl, too). I left my Garmin at home so I don't have the stats on distance, time and elevation.