Winter hiking the Green Gully Track

By Michele Michel

This local gem is not for the faint-hearted.

We had talked about doing a 3-4 day hike for a while and when we found out that the Lighthouse Track at Eden was closed - a quick google search showed us this beauty. A 65 km self-guided National Park circuit hike. Initially, I thought it was a fairly easy walk - one you could even do with the kids - but then soon realised it was a bit more challenging than that. We loved doing it in winter and were blessed with mostly clear blue skies and no rain - although that made for chilly nights, none of us were ever cold. Winter brings the added bonus of less chance of flies, mosquitoes, snakes and a low risk of fires!!

This 4 day, 5-night adventure is situated deep in the Apsley-Macleay gorges in Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, NSW. It starts at Cedar Creek situated between Walcha and Port Macquarie. It offers awe-inspiring ridge top views and towering rock outcrops to fern-lined gullies and crystal-clear mountain streams.

Bookings are essential through National Parks and there is a maximum of 6 allowed at one time (and a minimum of 2). You have exclusive use for each booking- no sharing with other groups.

What sets this track apart from many others is that you don’t have to carry a tent, sleep mat or cooking equipment. Along the way, your accommodation and cooking are sorted. The land was once privately owned and used for cattle mustering - so it still has the old, corrugated huts used by the stockmen. These provide you with shelter on nights 2, 3 and 4 and have been set up with 6 stretcher beds and mattresses, 6 chairs, 6 plates, mugs and cutlery - some pots and pans and a two-burner gas cooker….all you need really. All have a small rainwater tank and an outside pit toilet, inside and outside fire pits, kitchen sink, wood store, with the chopping axe provided!

Night and 1 and 5 - is pure comfort at Cedar Creek Cottage and Lodge - these provide far more facilities such as flushing toilets, hot showers, and refrigeration.

About two-thirds of the track is on management trails - the remainder along ridgelines or creek beds. The navigation signs are kept to a minimum - so there are times you need to make sure you look at the map, consult a compass and follow the advice given.

This is the story of our experience!

The four of us, Jo, Karen, Denise and Michele, met up in Sydney’s southern suburb Jannali - all laughing at how large our packs were and the amount of gear we all had - might need to be some ruthless culling! Only stopping for a Devonshire Tea and petrol along the way, we arrived at Cedar Creek Cottage in the late afternoon to be greeted with kangaroos hopping around the property and a stunning sunset, yay “pink sky at night- sailor’s delight!

That night we could indulge in some red wine, cheese and crackers - compared and culled our gear so as to not double up on anything - gobbled up some home-made pumpkin soup and sourdough and went to bed early, eager for our journey to start the next morning.

Day 1 - 17.4 km Cedar Creek Cottage to Birds Nest Hut

Up at 6.30 am – Great, the sunset didn’t lie - a crisp clear day! With freshly brewed coffee and French toast with blueberries under our belt, we pulled on our monster packs. All swearing that theirs was the heaviest (actually, we all knew Karen’s was!), we took a few selfies and hit the trail! Today was all on management trails, so navigation was easy, despite the fact we were thrown by a fork in the road 5 minutes into it - seriously it was a bit embarrassing to have to consult the map so soon! The trail is along the ridge that separates Green Gully Creek Gorge and Kunderang Brook Valley. It offers spectacular views in every direction. The whole area was badly destroyed by bush fires in late 2019 and it made for some eerie sights with all the blackened tree trunks - but there was also heaps of encouragement seeing all the lush green regrown on the trees and on the ground.

We enjoyed the first of our daily ‘elevenses’ ritual on a short side-track to the old Colwells cattle yards – freshly brewed coffee by our resident barrister, Denise, and the chance to lose 50 grams of weight munching into a nut bar. Back on the trail and a little after lunch we saw the first of our accommodations - Birds Nest Hut, nestled on the bank of Brumby Creek. This gave us the chance to wash up a bit before collecting and chopping some wood to get the fires going for what we knew was going to be a chilly night. Jo was on dinner duty and whipped us up a sensational chorizo pasta meal- Karen topped it off with a campfire peach crumble. Oh, we didn’t quite cull all the red wine so another small indulgence!

We had been warned to make sure all the food was safely secured at night as you are assured of getting visited throughout the night by Antechinus, a small native marsupial, much like a mouse.

Day 2 - 15 km Birds Nest Hut to Green Gully Hut

This is a day that many hikers rate as the hardest. It was a bit overcast today but thankfully no sign of rain and we headed off after our tasty porridge. The first part of the morning is a relatively easy climb up to the 1200 m trig along a barely discernible track were we were glad that our trusty navigator, Jo, had the compass just to make sure we were heading in the right direction.

Elevenses was spent at The Rocks - which offered great views down to the floor of the gorge where we would be walking the next day. It was all downhill from there - a narrow dirt track, so steep if you didn’t dig your poles in you’d be sliding down on your bum! Karen did decide to impress us with an impromptu planking demonstration halfway down due to some loose rocks. A brief respite for lunch then more down, down, down to reach the creek and Brumby Pass - welcomed by a few Brush-tailed Rock- wallabies spying on us from the rocky clefts - finally Green Gully Hut.

We adopted the same routine, chop the wood, collect twigs for the fires, boil some drinking water, a cup of tea at 4 pm, a glass of wine at 5 pm. Although you are spoilt at this hut as there is the opportunity to have an alfresco hot shower thanks to a few solar panels on the roof. Karen cooked up a delicious salmon and asparagus pasta feast - dessert was chocolate. More conversation around the warming outdoor fire- then off to bed.

Day 3 - 13.5 km Green Gully Hut to Colwells Hut

Coffee, porridge, pack up and tidy up! But we all made sure our sleeping bags and clothes were securely waterproofed because today was creek crossing day!! Not just one or two- but over 35! We decided that we were all going to wear our boots for security and stability, gaiters and wet weather pants. This might be the shortest day in distance, but it is the longest in time. We were all very thankful for our merino socks to keep our feet warm as we waded thought the first of our many crossings. The Green Gully canyon is beautiful, and you meander along the creek crossing from side to side - some sections deeper than others - but luckily nothing over thigh-deep for us. Once again, we felt like we were being appraised by the rock wallabies peering down on us. It was a welcome sight to see the Colwells hut and get out of our wet footwear. Chop wood, water prep, tea, wine, fire - routine repeated.

Denise surprised us all with a ‘fine’ lentil curry with rice - I say surprised, as she had played down the potential quality of this meal for the last few days, seriously delicious. More chocolate, a game of cards, laughs and fireside stories.

This hut is the smallest of them all but has another 2-sided overflow shelter - Karen and Michele decided to brave the elements that night and set up the stretcher beds in the shelter. That night we both went to bed wearing 4 layers of clothes, beanie, buff and draped a tarp over our sleeping bags to keep off the moisture.

Day 4 - 17.5 km Colwells Hut the Cedar Creek Lodge

After what will now be known to Karen and Michele as “The Great Sleep of 2020”- seriously best night’s sleep ever!!! We woke up refreshed and ready to tackle the big climb out. The valley was eerily ensconced in cloud as we trudged up, up and up 600 m over 3 km. We engaged our glute muscles, switched on our abs, lengthened our stride, shortened our stride, loosened the pack, tightened the pack, tried some technical walking - anything to get us to the top. A celebratory elevenses at the top and back along the management trail linking up with the same 10 km we started out on. Although we had just done the same path just a few days before none of us seemed to remember it having quite so many hills! But do remember all the great valley views along the way.

It was a little sad to see our last nights’ accommodation appear as it was to mark the beginning of the end of the awesome adventure. We took full advantage of the luxury of Cedar Creek Lodge - another hot shower, flushing toilet. proper beds, a room each. We had left a stash of food before our departure so feasted on cheese, dips, crackers and antipasto treats- a smidge more red wine. Michele was on dinner duty and made a tasty noodle dish with tofu and lots of veggies. We played some more cards, ate chocolate, laughed and reminisced about the last few days…all keen to do another soon.

Day 5 Cedar Creek Lodge to Home

All a little glad to start the day with bacon and eggs instead of the usual porridge - it was slow pack up and clean up to start the journey home. And back to the ‘real’ world.