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| The Brisbane Water Bush Bash |
A few weeks ago, my friend Simone (a member of the Terrigal Trotters, which is a running group based on the Central Coast) showed me an interesting route called the Brisbane Water Bush Bash. This is basically a 50(ish) km run which circumnavigates Brisbane Water, the "sea inlet" on which Gosford is situated. We'd planned on doing a long run, and as it was the last day on which my "tourist visa" was valid, it seemed fitting to mark the day by doing that route (though I later realised that we actually went the opposite way round the loop than the traditional route, which used to be a "race"). |
| Some parts of the trail were rather rough |
We left Sydney at silly o'clock (though that meant no traffic and so the drive up was much quicker than normal) and started running well before sunrise. It was quite chilly so I started wearing a jacket and gloves as well as my head torch, but the jacket and gloves were soon discarded as we got going. Unfortunately we had to run over 1km along a firetrail to join the actual route, which wasn't much of a problem at the time as the gentle downhill was a nice way of easing into the run, but it did mean that we would have to run back up it at the end!!
At first, no checking of the route was necessary as I knew the rough trail and steps down onto the roads of the Coast and from there we joined the cycle path from Point Clare round into Gosford, which I have run and cycled many a time (just never at that time in the morning!!). Minimal traffic meant the road crossings in Gosford itself were simple and we were soon heading up away from the water into Rumbalara Reserve, which is a hilly forested reserve right in the middle of town.
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| Dawn was beautiful! |
Dawn might have been breaking but we couldn't discard out head torches as the thick canopy added to the layer of darkness. The single track in the reserve seemed shorter than I remembered from looking at the route the night before, and indeed, I suddenly realised that we'd missed a vital turning as, just after we exited the trees, I spotted that we were actually heading right back to the Gosford Waterfront where we'd left it (it just looked slightly different when going in the opposite direction with different lighting).
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| There were some great views |
An about turn meant going back into Rumbalara and finding the right route this time....the distance and climb of which seemed much more appropriate to what I'd seen. As it was now getting light, a couple of walkers and runners were venturing out.....and comically enough, one even asked for directions!! We climbed up and down on various trails overlooking different suburbs until popping out onto a sealed road heading down towards the main road out to (and up the) coast. There were some huge houses along this road, with great open views....made better by the odd spot of a kangaroo (or was it a wallaby?).
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| Not your average "road" |
Most people were still in their beds, so crossing the main road was easy enough and we could run the next little road section without fear on being mown down. Although you'd think that most of the run was on roads, as they all seemed to be named when you looked at a map, most "roads" were rough forestry ones so it was actually a lot softer underfoot than expected. The sealed section wasn't that long, as you soon hit the trails around Kincumber Mountain. In all the years I've been going to and from the Coast, I've always meant (but failed) to venture over there.....it's not exactly what you would call a mountain, but does has some nice paths/trails on it for running, walking and mountainbiking. A bit of scrambling over rocks and branches was involved (shhhh) as the trail had been taped off by a local not wanting people on the land behind their house, but this section was short if slowgoing.
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| Spot the pink tape... |
Soon after that, the official route was totally barred with high locked gates, but there was a tiny little trail that led through the woods instead. Thank heavens for the pink tape that had been put out to mark this new trail as it certainly meandered around a lot, and involved a few creek crossing as well as several tree/branch negotiations!
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| More trails... |
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| Some trails were much more runnable |
I knew that the route went from almost sea level to the top of the escarpment of the Bouddi National Park and so I was slightly dreading an epic climb, but after yet another steep walk uphill on this trail, I realised it was done and the undulating trail that almost tracked the ridge top road was eminently runnable (though there was a guy that seemed to be doing intervals along it....he disappeared away into the distance, then you'd almost catch him, before he'd take off again!!).
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| On the way down to the water |
In my head, all that was left to do was to drop down to the Rip Bridge, run round the Woy Woy foreshore along the park run course, and then climb up the impossibly steep hill behind my rellies' house back to the firetraps where we'd started. In reality, the "drop down" to the bridge consisted of some significant uphills as well (walking rather than running all of them by now....and not a fast walk at that!), and the parkrun course was not quite the flat run it appears when you're only having to go 5K :-)
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| The picture makes the horrendous climb look rather flat!! |
However, the cycle path around the next section of foreshore was nicely paved so I didn't have to worry much about picking up tired feet, though somehow I almost managed a stumble anyway. The sun was out and it was getting rather warm, but there were a few drinking fountains, and I felt like I was on the home stretch anyway, so I knew I'd make it!
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| More creek crossings |
Over and under the Spike Milligan Bridge and I was on familiar territory (from dog walks and one trail run) but I was very aware that this section would take longer than you might think and the initial climb was so steep it could make you weep. Whenever I've taken the dog out there, I've had to haul myself up by grabbing hold of trees etc (and use them to stop me falling down it on the return trip).....and that was when I hadn't run an epic number of kms first. There's a brief flatter respite partway up, but then it kicks right back up again.
On reaching the watertower at the top of the climb, it was finally possible to run again.....but not the whole way, as the trail crossed a creek and then appeared to climb up almost vertically on the other side. It was quite sludgy underfoot as the trail was undergoing "roadworks" and so was a real mess of holes and barriers. By this point in the run, there seemed to be a never-ending number of hills, but on a normal day, it wouldn't have been an issue to keep moving along at a decent pace.
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| A different view of Brisbane Water |
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| Sunset over Brisbane Water - best enjoyed with wine :-) |
Finally we got back to the junction where we'd joined the loop all that time ago, and it was a relief to be heading back to the car. Some walkers were on this bit of trail and so although it gradually climbed uphill, pride meant that you couldn't just walk it. A refuel and change at the car and I was kindly dropped down at Koolewong for a very welcome shower, more food and a catch up with Anne and Andrew. I had really enjoyed the run, as most of it was new to me....but I have to say that it was much easier to sit on the deck and drink a glass (or two...or three) of wine watching the sunset over Brisbane Water than run round it!!!
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