Nikhil Kulkarni

It was perhaps the first free weekend since we moved to Sydney.  Most previous weekends were about setting up the house (assembling Ikea furniture is quite interesting!), buying stuff for the house or resting after the setting up and shopping. Deepti had to head back to India to finish up some work there and here I was, wondering what to do over the weekend.

The weather had been quite cloudy and chilly through the week and thankfully, the sun was out that Saturday.

It was a very pleasant morning and I wanted to go out and spend some time in the sun. Initially, I thought I’ll laze around in one of the nearby parks, which I still have explored by the way. But then, with the train station being so close to the house and many places accessible by train, I decided to head to the train station and decide from there.

As it turned out, the first train that arrived was going towards the northern side. From the time I had seen the name, Mount Kuring-gai seemed quite intriguing and I thought I will head there.

Once I got there, the station was completely deserted. There was nothing around the station as well! Usually, there are a few shops at least. Except for the vehicles whizzing on the Pacific Highway and their hum, there wasn’t much to see and hear near the station! But then there was this strangely satisfying feeling of finally visiting a place you’re very curious about. 

While on the train, I was researching about what could I do while in that area and turned out there were multiple options. Heck, there’s even an app for that! I noticed a signboard for Bobbin Head at the railway station and decided to head there. I checked on Google Maps and it seemed like at most a 1-1.5 hours walk. How naive of me was it to trust Google Maps on this, is something I’d discover only later!  

The walk started on a fairly flat land and as the descent started I picked up quite a bit of pace. The trail was very clearly marked and there were steps as well at some places.

There were others I encountered and must say quite enjoyed trying my versions of G’Day and Cheers, Mate.  It was quite a G’Day indeed 🙂

After about nearly an hour, the water from the creek below was visibile and it looked beautiful!

By this time, as per the initial Google Maps estimate, I should’ve covered the full distance. But I wasn’t even half way through. Clearly, it appears that Google Maps measures distances in 2D and doesn’t really take into account the altitude!🤦🏻‍♂️.

I just kept walking following the trail along the water. It was just so beautiful, you see!

I think it was somewhere around this time that an interesting turn (literally!) came in the journey. And I think I missed it! I started getting a sense that I was moving in the opposite direction, but there was really no way to verify. But then, there was a trail I was following and was pretty certain that it’d lead somewhere back to civilisation. I also checked with a couple of people coming from the opposite direction and they mentioned that the trail leads to Berowra station. But then, that was not what I had set out for 🤷🏻‍♂️

I walked a bit further where I got mobile network again and found that I was indeed moving away from my original destination and instead was moving towards Berowra station.

I felt thankful that there is indeed a path to get back to civilisation. Indeed, who would want to get lost while on their first bushwalk in Australia! But I knew better this time that the 3.4km walk is definitely not going to take 54 minutes as Google Maps suggested. If anything, it was going to take easily twice as much that time. Once bitten, twice shy. Not good to talk of getting bitten while in the national park, yeah?

I continued walking along the trail, still along the water. There were people in boats and trailers enjoying the quiet waters. I also rested for a bit, eating some snacks that I had thankfully packed and clicking some more pictures.

The trail along the water ended and I got back into the forest (bush?) area again.

I was quite happy that I had reached the last leg of the hike and was looking forward to getting back to civilisation to get some food and water. Little did I realise that this project was going to be like a software development project – the last 20% of the project taking up most of the time and the effort! It was indeed quite a strenuous climb and what made it more even more so was the zig-zag path.

After about 1.5-2 hours going uphill, I could hear faint sounds of vehicles on the Pacific Highway and that gave some motivation for one last push. And that motivation turned into joy with the first sight of the vehicles and the train station!

And finally, at the destination!

This experience again proved that the best ones are those that are completely unplanned! And although you end up stretching yourself a bit, the stretch was completely worth it!

In summary:

Moral of the story: Don’t trust Google Maps timing estimates while going for treks!