by John New
Our walk at Strickland State Forest was supposed to be a relaxing time roaming along some bush tracks at a tranquil forest. Bringing our city beagles back to their roots. However, it turned out to be one of our more challenging outings.
There was an excellent turnout for the walk, being the first one we've done some distance from Sydney, about 50km north, near the Gosford Central Coast area. Thanks to the 20 people and 15 beagles who came. Hopefully we can do some more walks around this area. The weather was lovely, not too hot, with a light breeze. The forest was very quiet and peaceful. The idea was to do 2 walks in different parts of the forest.
The trouble started even before the first walk began.
The first walk was called the Arboretum Trail, classified as an easy 2km loop trail. The trouble started when a beagle was bitten (we think) by an ant. It was pitiful and, unfortunately, the poor thing couldn't join us on the walk. The walk itself was nice and flat, amidst high shady trees. We twice crossed over a creek, which was pretty fun for some beagles who hopped in for a swim, and also a small suspension bridge. Some sections of the path were a little muddy but we skirted around those.
At the end of the walk we drove to another part of the forest for a rest and snack. More trouble. We found that most humans and beagles had leeches. Lots of commotion as we tried to pluck them off. Unfortunately we didn't have either salt or matches. Amazingly, one person who was wearing thongs didn't seem to get any leeches at all!
The second walk was called the Cabbage Tree Trail, classified as a medium level of difficulty 1.6km loop trail. A few more leeches joined us on this walk but were dealt with pretty swifly. We found that, perhaps, the walk might have been better classified as hard. It was quite steep downhill and uphill. It wasn't as shady as our first walk and we needed to stop a number of times for a short break. Fortunately it was short and I think everyone was glad to finish up and have another rest and snack.
Overall, it was an interesting afternoon. Once again, thanks to everyone who came. I hope you enjoyed the challenging walks and we will see you at the next one.