Never too old to go walking

This is my Mum, Joyce Jones. She's in her nineties.

Back in the 1970s she and a group of friends arranged to go bushwalking together every second Tuesday, and for nearly forty years they have continued meeting. There has never been an organisational structure; no membership fees or committee meetings. At the end of each walk they decide where to go in a fortnight's time, where to meet, at what time. Anyone is welcome to bring friends,

the index

Over the years people have come and gone, and now Mum's the only remaining member of the original group. Every walk they have done has been meticulously recorded - where they went, how long it took, who attended.


There are 224 walks from the beginning of 1978 to the middle of 1989 recorded in the white exercise book; the blue one, "Book no. 3" records walks nos. 427 - 621, beginning at the start of 1999. I haven't been able to get hold of the current diary, so I don't know what number today's walk was.

on August 28 1979 the group climbed Cathedral Rock

Today the group had decided to visit the historic Ida Bay Railway at Lune River and walk out towards Southport Lagoon. Mum enlisted my services as driver. I must admit, herding five elderly bush walkers, three of whom are deaf and one practically blind, had its moments, but we arrived in time for the essential "elevenses" before clambering on board for our seven km journey to Deep Hole.

I love the Ida Bay Railway. It is a lovely clunky, rattling crawl through the bush; at the right time of year the wildflowers are magnificent. Today wasn't quite the right time of year, but the weather was perfect and a great flock of black swans was feeding in the bay.

The railway is also a bit quiet at this time of year, so they were running only one more trip today; this meant we had only two hours for a walk. So off we went towards Southport Lagoon.

Forty years ago my companions were striding out along the South Coast track and scrambling up and down mountains, but time has taken its toll. We ambled along at a leisurely pace, listening to birds and admiring the scenery and the party nagged each other about putting on hats and doing up shoelaces and carrying bags and jumpers in more sensible and convenient ways.

After an hour, we could see Southport Lagoon in the distance but we had a train to catch. An obligatory lunch break, then a slightly quicker return to Deep Hole as it's downhill and the scenery had already been admired. A very young and foolish marsupial, confused by our presence, posed for its photograph along the way.

We had a few minutes' wait at Deep Hole, a chance to stroll along the embankment that once led to a long jetty where limestone was loaded onto ships for transport to Electrona. Then back to Lune River on our train, accompanied by a large pod of dolphins frolicking alongside us in Major Honors Bay. Magic!

An icecream in the sunshine finished the day off nicely.

Mum has gone home to write up the Walks Diary.

Here are the photos.

fortification before the journey

the tramway runs alongside Jagers Bay on its way to Deep Hole

the track to Southport Lagoon

another essential ritual - lunch

the photographer

the subject

our ride home

Deep Hole Bay, Elliot Beach

This is a video I posted a couple of years ago about the Ida Bay Tramway:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj3RMY_6OEo



The weather wasn't as nice on that occasion.