Berowra Valley National Park is another national park on Sydney’s northern edge. I haven’t been for a walk through this area for a number of years and thought it was about time I went back along my favourite walk here. It is possibly my favourite walk of all I have done here in Australia, even if it isn’t the longest.
I started my walk in Crosslands Reserve, which sits in the national park and completed a walk to and from a salt marsh area that is one of the most amazingly beautiful places I could get to on my own two feet. My walk was along the Benowie Walking Track that follows along the banks of Berowra Creek.
As soon as I left the car park, I came across this view of trees, hills, water and no sign of people! Fair enough, there were many people nearby at his point on my walk, but not so many that I couldn’t enjoy the view!
I love walking through areas like this, where there id dappled shade from the trees and some soft-looking grass. I can imagine myself falling asleep on the grass-I imagine I’d sometimes get wet with the rising tide, though!
The birdlife seemed to be enjoying the sunny day. This duck was having a good time looking for food under the water.
This rush is native to areas where there is salty and brackish water, so it lives happily around here.
Another native to the area is New Zealand spinach, which can be eaten like the usual spinach. I like this plant that is underused in a garden setting, but it was rather nice to use here.
Looking across the creek, I rather liked this view off into the distance.
More ducks were busy doing their thing further along the river, as the tide was slowly going out.
A lot of the path looked like this, so I had to be careful where I put my feet as I was walking! In spite of the fact that I have a habit of tripping over my feet, I enjoy walking along paths that are a little more challenging than a flat concrete surface!
No matter where I look, there are amazing views over the water and along the valley.
I also came across this lovely coast banksia, Banksia integrifolia, which is a lovely local species of banksia (read about it here). Banksia trees are one of my favourite species here in Australia, so it was nice to see.
Eventually, I came across the bridge that goes over the Calna Creek.This is the view along the valley, which I find really beautiful in the sunshine.
This is what I had walked to see. This is an area of saltmarsh, where there is wooden pathway through the marsh area, to protect it and to prevent people getting wet feet! The first photo the view off to the right of the pathway as I was walking away from the wooden pathway.
On the left of the path was an even better view, with more distant views along the valley. I was so happy walking along here. What made it even nicer was the fact that there were so few people around too. When walking from Crosslands reserve, most people don’t walk beyond the wood path that leads to a viewing platform which is only 400 metres from the carpark. The peace and quiet of this saltmarsh area made it even nicer!
Below are some more views across the saltmarsh. I took so many photos in this area as it was so lovely. I could have stayed here all day of I’m honest, enjoying the sun and peacefulness.
At this point, I thought I’d best start heading home, before anyone thought I’d got lost! It isn’t a long walk at all, as it only about 1.3km each way, so it’s a rather nice length for a relaxing weekend walk1
One plant that I want to show you from my walk is a grass tree, which is in the genus Xhanthorrhoea. When I have included photos of these Australian oddities (in the best and most fascinating way possible, as is the case with most Australian natives) before, I do wonder if people ask why they are called ‘grass trees’. This is because most of these plants are too young to have grown their ‘trunk’ yet, as they are very slow growing. On my walk, I came across several older grass trees that have a ‘trunk’.
My walk through Berowra Vally National Park was a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours on Saturday morning and it was lovely! I have found that spending time in the national parks close to home is sir good for me. As soon as I enter the area, I immediately start relaxing and my mood improves immensely. I will definitely be spending more time in areas like that, if I can get here every week, I will do-even if it is just to sit for half an hour!