About 14 people and 12 beagles (and parrot) met for our walk along the Cooks River, a few members coming for their first walk (welcome and hopefully you had a nice time). The forecast for the day was possible showers but, apart from some dark clouds in the distance, it was a very nice day. Not too hot with a pleasant breeze - and no rain.
We set off along a bike track from Mackey Park. Our first stop was near a playground where one lucky beagle scooped up a kebab that had fallen on the ground. Soon after we crossed the road to the Marrickville Public Golf Course (where dogs are allowed on-lead). The golf course is very extensive, and we spent a lot of time walking close to the edges of the course, parallel to the river, to keep out of the way of golfers and their golf balls. At one stage, a ball landed only 10m away while we were lurking in some trees. Of course, the beagles took no notice of it, not being interested in retrieving balls.
At the end of the golf course, we walked over one of the many footbridges crossing the river. One beagle, Daisy New, doesn't like bridges and so was carried across. We walked through some streets for a short distance to the start of a cycleway running along the river. There were a lot of cyclists during the whole walk, some giving us warning of their approach, others just growling at us as they passed by, even though it is a shared zone. A few kids on bikes were fascinated by the number of beagles and had fun counting them as they rode by. Naturally we had the usual comments about drugs, quarantine, and so on - which is actually pretty nice because it shows that the breed has a high profile.
Our walk finished back at Mackey Park where one beagle was so exhausted that he collapsed - he had to be picked up and carried for the last 100m or so. Yet another enjoyable walk had finished with tired but happy beagles.
by John New
This walk along the Cooks River is arguably one of the nicest inner-city walks around - it was about four years ago that we last did it. This time our group had about 13 people and 11 beagles, a bit smaller than last time.
We met at Mackey Park, Marrickville, where we watched a soccer game while waiting for everyone to arrive. Then we set off along a cycleway running parallel to the Cooks River. It was very pleasant walking, with a brisk breeze and initially some light rain until the sun came out and warmed everything up. We passed by a number of other parks, and then crossed a road to Marrickville Public Golf Course (where you can walk dogs on-lead). We kept to the edge of the golf course next to the river, all the time watching out for golf balls. There was plenty of sniffing because of the wet grass - fortunately no-one fell into the water!.
We wound through the golf course, dodging golf carts. At one point, some ladies drove their golf cart up to us and took a few action pictures of the beagles. We crossed some more roads, and eventually arrived at one of the footbridges that span this section of the river. We crossed over the footbridge to the opposite side of the river (one of the beagles wasn't too happy with the bridge and had to be carried across!) and started making our way back. The last stage of the walk along the cycleway took us back to our starting point at Mackey Park.
To finish up, a few of us decided to sit down at a nearby picnic table and have some afternoon tea. A very enjoyable way to finish a really fun walk.
by John New
This circular walk was cancelled a couple of months ago because of poor weather, but this time the weather was perfect. About 25 humans plus 20 or so beagles gathered together at the start of the walk at Mackey Park, including some new club members on their first walk. Parking was hard to find nearby because the ovals where we met were being used for sport. There were lots of balls flying around - at one stage, an errant football landed on one of our beagles making her squeak.
We set off along a concrete path alongside the Cooks River. Naturally, there were plenty of other walkers and many cyclists who dodged us while we dodged them. We passed by a number of parks where numerous kids came over to give the beagles a pat. After crossing a road, we walked through Marrickville Public Golf Course (while watching out for golf balls).
After winding our way around the course, we soon met up with another concrete path that we followed to one of four footbridges that span this section of the river. We crossed over the footbridge to the opposite side of the river (one of the beagles wasn't too happy with the bridge and had to be carried across) and started making our way back. The first part of the return trip was grass, then a level concrete path. At one point a small boy was heard to say "Look at all the Snoopys". The last stage of the walk took us back to our starting point at Mackey Park.