25 April 2010 Nil Desperandum

Map: Tidbinbilla 1:25000

Getting There

This walk was organised and led by me as a combined CBC/Parkway Church ramble. However, due to time constraints, the advertised walk to Camels Hump has been replaced by:

Sunday arvo 25 April - Nil Desperandum- S/E,W. A combined CBC and Parkway church ramble. Nil Desperandum is a restored pise cottage built by the original pioneers of the Tidbinbilla valley. There are other interesting relics of early settlement nearby. After wading the Tidbinbilla River, we walk via fire trails to the sites near Hurdle Creek, on the valley floor in the shadow of Camels Hump. Bring arvo tea to share. Around 6.7km and 250m climb. Map: Tidbinbilla. Leader: John Evans - jevans@pcug.org.au, (h) 6288 7235. Please book with me, but make your own way to the meeting point. Transport: Meet at Parkway church, cnr Sulwood Dr and Tuggeranong Parkway, at 1.00pm and we'll car pool from there ~$5 per person. An entry fee of $10 per car (or $20 annual pass) applies at TNR.

9 of us met and drove to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. 2 more were there. We drove down past the children's play area. A quick return to pick up the rest of the party got us through the gate with just 2 TNR passes.

Further Information

Have a look at previous walk report from 27 Sep 08 to get an idea of what we'll see.

Photographs

Access all primary pics here. All thumbnails in the walk report are active - click for a larger picture.

Walk

Track Nil Desperandum

We wandered down through the scrub to the Tidbinbilla River, where we were able to step across. Up the other side to the fire trail. Complaints (of the tongue in cheek variety) already! A saunter to the intersection, then up the steep - I'd forgotten how steep it is - trail to the top at SH865. A few grass tress about. Block 60 is regenerating nicely. Round the corner and down the other side to spot the gleaming new roof of Nil Desperandum through the trees. Arriving, we had a poke around, a sit in the garden for 10mins of arvo tea (lovely home cooked yummies thanks Kerry!), then a few hundred metres extra to the old eucalyptus oil still and the camellia garden with its sturdy new (since I was last here) fence.

More complaints (with tongue still firmly in cheek) on the return leg, as the nice down along the boundary fence had turned into an up. The return from SH865 allowed us to really enjoy - a storm rolling around to the S, slanting late afternoon light and views across to Gibraltar Peak and Mt Eliza.

1 Climbing the fire trail to SH865	2 Nil Desperandum	New fence at camellia garden	3 Descending the fire trail - Mt Eliza and Gibraltar Peak at back

Trust you had fun and will be back for more. Thanks to Brooke, Frank, Gillian, Helen, Kerry, Nicole, Peter, Richard, Russ and Shawn.

Distance: 7.2km Climb: 300m. Time: 1.40 - 4.40pm (3hrs), with 10 mins of stops.
Grading: S/E,W; E(7)

KMZ file for Google Earth/Maps: Nil Desperandum

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This page last updated 16Aug22