by Kim Kearnan and Bob Moore
A lovely sunny autumn day for a long but mostly easy walk along the Parramatta River.
About 26 people and 16 beagles met at the corner of Atkins Rd and Gregory St, Ermington for the first part of the walk through the George Kendall Riverside Park. We followed the wide sweeping bike path by the river, giving everyone a chance to chat and catch-up with the latest beagle mischief.
At the end of George Kendall Park we had to take a detour through neighbouring streets to avoid a large construction site temporarily blocking the river path. We did get some friendly waves and hellos from the locals who seemed amazed at sight of our group of happy beagles passing by.
We then followed the footpath running beside the Silverwater Bridge and passed underneath the bridge into Primrose Reserve where we were joined by local resident and club member Mark Vischschoonmaker, his two children and their dog, Colby. Mark kindly pointed out a potential walk directly across the river starting at Wilson Park and leading into the Millennium Parklands and we will certainly be checking this out in the future, proving you can’t beat local knowledge, so please let the Walks Coordinator, John, know about your favourite walk.
We finally reached the John St Wharf for a well-earned rest break in the shade.
On the return journey we surprised a young couple walking their 5 month-old beagle pup beneath the Silverwater Bridge. The pup was thrilled to be surrounded by his big cousins and we duly passed on the club details. Delayed by this encounter and by a lay-down strike by young Tzar, a large group of walkers got away from the novice leaders and took the long way home instead of the planned shortcut. However, aided by their beagles fabulous scent-tracking abilities, the walkers made it safely back to the starting point in the end.
John will once again lead us on our next walk at Old Toongabbie in August. Hope to see you there.