History and scenery– Saturday 9 July 2016

After a cold week it was great to be greeted by a fine day. We arrived at Fry’s Farm at the end of Moss Road at about 9am and after brief introductions our happy party set off up the quarry road. Crossing Holyoake Stream was a slippery ordeal owing to loose slippery rocks. Fortunately only the trip leader fell in. Then it was up the track. It was difficult to spot the beginning of this, as it was overgrown and the usual marker was harder to see, however the going was much easier once on the track. By 10am we had arrived at the top of the gully with a magnificent view of Sandy Bay, where we had our morning tea. We speculated as to the route of the quarry tramway. From here we tramped up the graded track to the base of the quarry site where we marvelled at the huge collection of industrial archaeological remains.

We had an interesting time viewing copies of photos of the quarry site taken in the 1920s. We climbed further up the quarry viewing the numerous sites and the area where recent work has taken place. A lunch stop was made here and then we descended slowly, viewing and photographing the spectacular fluted rocks that are a special feature of this landscape. At the two marble slabs at the top of the gully we turned to the left and descended the ridgeline track. The track had some gorse and though it was a longer route, it made for a much more interesting day.

The participants were Julian, Grant D, Daniel J, Dave J, Viv J, Donell, Dale, Vanessa, David W, Jocelyn, Roger and Maureen.

Julian