Old Great North Road.

[kanangra]

I decided to check this out this morning. I parked the car at the gate and ran back past the ferry to the Western Commission track. It was very pleasant early. No traffic and a heavy mist on the river. The sign at the gate said 11.5km to the OGN Rd. and 15.5km to Ten Mile Hollow. I set off up the hill. It didn't take long to flatten out and before to long the mist started to burn off. This road which services the power lines is in very good condition and would be excellent for MTB's. In fact it is that good that regular bikes could manage it no problem. (Before MTB's were invented I used to do many off road trips on my old road bike. Including some classics like Blackheath to Picton but that is another story.)

After passing old gate posts the road was joined on the left by the OGN Rd. Here it is very narrow and rough. I turn left and follow it and am soon marvelling at the old engineering with stone causeways, drains and culverts. For a while the old road is just wide enough for a bike but every now and again it opens up. About half the way down its condition starts to improve and by the junction with Finch's line it has been relaid with road base and is in very good condition.

Not far passed here is the gate at the top of Devine's Hill marking the top of the rise from the river. The engineering from here on is a sight to behold. This road was clearly meant to last. Incredible to think that almost from the time it was finished it was a white elephant and was very soon neglected and virtually abandoned.

The NP & WS has done an excellent job with the restoration and signage which is very interesting. You can almost hear the old convicts working so little has changed. Incredibly the views from the road right along here are exactly as the convicts would have seen them. Dry scrubby and rocky ridges. What a prospect it must have been.

According to my GPS the round trip was just under 30km. Very worthwhile.

K.

[davidmorr]

It is a great area. One of my favourites along with Mangrove Creek on the eastern side. Gives good access to all sorts of things as well as being of interest itself.

If you ever want to camp at Ten Mile Hollow, there is not usually any water. The Buddhist monastery over the road is happy to let you have some though. Bear in mind that many of the people there are on a silent retreat and cannot speak to you. Go south to the main entrance and look for the kitchen. Those people can talk to you.

[kanangra]

Thanks for that tip. There is a tank at 10 Mile now though.

K,

[Wollemi]

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to be dropped off at Waratah Rd, Mangrove Mountain - and jog (with lots of stops to look at stuff); Dubbo Gully - Simpsons Track - 10 Mile Hollow - Old Great North Road - Finchs Line - Wisemans Ferry.
The brochure 'Mangrove Creek Walking Tracks' at the gate were useful, although, at the junction of the Oyster Shell Rd, I did not believe that Simpson's Track turned right and through that chest-high Paspalum dilatatum, and so continued to (and beyond) an unecessary 1.5km to the Concrete Weir and associated workings for electricity supply(?), though this route itself was pretty with overhanging trees and hand-set retaining walls.

Three hours after starting, the heavy dew and lush weedy grasses were easing off, and I scrubbed my shoes with NPWS-placed metho (to treat for Phytophorum) found along the ascent of Simpson's Track. The stark landscape of the transmission towers at the top did allow for views of some vegetated escarpments nearby, then suddenly Ten Mile Hollow Camping Area is encountered. The water tank is quite new, and very large. I left here with 3 litres, though soon after saw the much smaller water-tank placed by the Buddhists for passer-bys.

I toyed with taking the Eight-Mile Trail towards St Albans, but reckoned the day was warming up. As I rested at another interpretive sign (pleasantly set into sandstone blocks), the 4WDs seen at Wat Buddha Dhamma zipped past with a wave down the Western Commission Trail (clearly named 'Roses Rd' on Google Maps). I estimate the OGNR from here to Devines Hill is 9km. Later, I somewhat entered the zone, for I realised on occasion that I was jogging once more only when well into that act. Another interpretive sign told of sawn forked trees used to hold rails for safety. Shortly after I found one of these verticals - lying in the middle of the road. I set this tall heritage piece from 1829 aside at a hairpin turn.

500m before Devines Hill, I saw I had 400mL of water left - it truly was difficult not to drink it all then. I headed SE for 5km continuously into still intense heat and pockets of cooling breeze along the never-completed Finchs Line. Occasional clear views of Wisemans Ferry village delighted; from this ridge the drawbridge of the parking WF ferry could be heard, 2km away. Meeting the Wiseman's Ferry Rd, it was a 2km jog to the ferry, where, imagining 300mL would be fine... I drank 1.5L of water before the ferry arrived at the N bank.

The passerines were diverse near the abandoned Fairview property, the dam along the Oyster Shell Rd and at Ten Mile Hollow. The cicadas were literally deafening from prior to 6am. I had my fingers in ears on the gentle ascent of Simpsons Track. Highlights included the picturesque cemetary early on, views from the OGNW, and lush vegetation on descent down to the bitumen at the end.

33 km in 9.5hrs. Dressed like a trail-running wannabe. No compass, whistle, PLB - sometimes you just seize an opportunity and go. I did have 2 pressure-immobilisation bandages, a 'thermal-blanket', a torch with weak batteries, and a hand-held GPS (only used once - to confirm the NW head 'Eight Mile Trail') - with no spare batteries. I had an ETA of 1900hrs with the person picking me up. I was changed and in the pub by 6

[kanangra]

Good going Wollemi. You covered quite a bit of ground there.

K.

[adela51]

How did you get lucky enough to find someone to drop you/pick you up so remotely? You did well Wollemi

[davidmorr]

The brochure 'Mangrove Creek Walking Tracks' at the gate were useful,

I haven't seen this. Do you know who produced it?

although, at the junction of the Oyster Shell Rd, I did not believe that Simpson's Track turned right and through that chest-high Paspalum dilatatum, and so continued to (and beyond) an unecessary 1.5km to the Concrete Weir and associated workings for electricity supply(?), though this route itself was pretty with overhanging trees and hand-set retaining walls.

When I first went there 30 years ago, the cattle kept it under control. More recently, the flat near Mangrove Creek appeared to have been slashed regularly, although the start of Simpson's Track was a bit of a jungle. Are they now not slashing the flat?

The old road was built in convict times, by an officer who misused convict labour to build the road to his own landholdings, as I recall. It goes all the way up Mangrove Creek and under the Mangrove Dam. You can still see stonework and culverts in places.

There used to be an old house beside the road between Ten Mile Hollow Creek and the weir. It and the road were used to make a film called "Inn of the Damned".

The workings near the weir are water pumps. The weir is the source of water for Wyong Shire. Unfortunately, they built it on sand, and a lot of the water was seeping away under the weir. Wyong is desperately short of water, so the bores capture the water that would otherwise be lost.

[robertoman]

I haven't done the connection between bottom of Simpsons to Oyster Shell, but have done loop of Simpson's - Ten Mile Hollow - Dubbo Gully recently. I actually saw a herd of about 10 ponies all looking very friendly as they grazed away at the bottom of Simpsons Track (surely one of the nicest bits of track anywhere). I imagine they would keep the grass down considerably. No idea where they would have come from.