Mary and Stan Marchant's recent 15km Burrill Ramble showcased another gem on our doorstep. Bushwalkers enjoyed the Giriwa (means goanna) walking track, with views of lake and forest.
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Following the foreshore, signage informed the group of the Dhurga speaking Murramarang and Budawang people culture, the traditional custodians of Burrill Lake.
Pigeon House mountain could also be seen in the distance.
The next track - Gari Walking track extension - took the walkers to the Burrill Lake rock shelter or bimbala meaning cockle shell, nestled in rainforest.
A truly amazing site nestled so close to suburbia.
In the 60's archaeologists used carbon dating to confirm Aboriginal occupation going back at least 20,000 years.
The day was finished with walking over rock platforms, keeping feet dry, through bush to the cars. Bush, lake, rainforest, rock shelter, beach, rock platforms, history and a perfect day.
A few weeks back Bob Thurbon led 11 walkers and a Batemans Bay visitor through Congo village to the start of the Dreaming Track.
With the sun's warmth gradually strengthening and no breeze, it was the perfect day for a walk by the ocean.
While walkers admired the banksia spikes and watched honey eaters dart between shrubs, two different species of flowering gums were able to be inspected as the blossoms hung low over the track.
Several walkers, yet to see a whale this season, were determined to do so and scurried to every vantage point along the route in the hope of a sighting.
They had to wait until their morning tea stop where a few lucky bushwalkers saw a humpback in the distance.
Most walkers had to be content with seeing a whistling kite wheeling overhead.
After the break, the group turned off the Dreaming Track onto a disused and somewhat overgrown road that took walkers through forest and on towards abandoned pasture land.
The remains of a log cabin homestead, a nearby dam and an overgrown stockyard were testament to the area's former use.
The native trees in this vicinity had rough bark trunks that were a contrast from the familiar spotted gums seen so frequently on walks.
The 10 kilometre circuit behind them, walkers headed for their cars and inspected the carton of empty beer cans that Simeon had carried out after finding them dumped in a mostly pristine bushland.
Batemans Bay Bushwalkers has about 200 members, with the shared goal of finding, exploring and enjoying the natural secrets of our corner of Australia.
