What we’re about
Our community is strictly 40 years and over only - we are ordinary people sharing extraordinary experiences of beautiful epic places and enduring friendships, and we'd love you to join us.
Our events are fun, high quality, inclusive and accessible - the best hikes that you won't see elsewhere, kayaking in stunning places, indoor climbing, camping out, beach bbq picnics, gigs and film nights, photography workshops, and more. It's so easy to turn up and have a great time - so don't be alone and bored watching 'reality' TV at home :-(
We never ever leave anyone behind - this is not a group for competitive adrenalin-junkies racing to the finish. We are a diverse group of women and men of all abilities, we move at the pace of the whole group in the conditions of the day, we encourage, include and support each other, safety is important, and we stop lot's to enjoy the epic scenery and each other's company. If you need to go faster or finish earlier, join another group.
ZERO tolerance for late dropouts and no-shows - we don't like doing this but if you RSVP and drop out in the last 24 hours before an event, you are removed from our group immediately and forever, and your profile is tagged as a no-show for all of the Meetup community to see. In the past 2 years we have deleted over 200 people for this. So only RSVP to an event if you are 100% sure to attend, not just a maybe.
ZERO tolerance for bad behaviour - if you harass, bully, engage in narcissism, cliques or discrimination against anyone, behave dangerously, preach any ideology, smoke, use drugs or are intoxicated at our events, you are out immediately and forever.
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THE LEGAL STUFF ...
CONDITIONS OF JOINING AND/OR PARTICIPATION IN THIS GROUP
The following conditions, which may be amended or updated from time to time, apply to all current and future members of SydneyAdventurers40+ meetup group, and their guests.
By joining as a member of this group and/or by your RSVP to any event of this group and/or by your participation in any activity or function of this group, you agree to the following conditions:
(i) You acknowledge that you understand and accept the risks associated with the activities and functions of this group, including but not limited to risks stemming from deliberate or non-deliberate exposure to environments with shallow or deep water, water currents or waves, visible or hidden obstructions or snags or constructions, any type of weather conditions, any type of land or aquatic terrain, falls or collisions or other mishaps, equipment use or misuse or failure, injury due to wildlife or vegetation, physical exertion, illness or infection, pre-existing medical conditions, becoming separated or lost, inaccessibility of emergency medical assistance, unavailable mobile phone reception, the actions and/or omissions of any direct or indirect service provider, the actions and/or omissions of organisers or hosts or leaders or other participants or members of the public, and anything that happens in the course of travelling (including transport in any form) to or from or during the event; and
(ii) you acknowledge that, whilst the organiser of this group and hosts or leaders of its activities and functions make all efforts to ensure the safety of all participants, they do not represent an accredited, qualified, expert or equipped guiding service or other type of service provider with any duty of care to you in respect of any of the activities or functions of this group and/or in respect of travel undertaken for the purpose of these activities and functions; and
(iii) you agree to conduct yourself in a responsible, safe, cooperative and ethical manner at all times in relation to travelling for and in your participation in the activities and functions of this group, and in relation to other participants in the group or the public generally as may be a consequence of the activities and functions of this group; and
(iv) you agree that you are entirely responsible for your own safety and wellbeing at all times, including being responsible for planning your travel and participation in the group activities and functions, researching and considering the forecast and actual weather conditions, being responsible for assessing at all times your physical ability to participate, and being responsible for all of your decisions and conduct before, during and after the group's formal or informal events, and for any consequences stemming either fully or in part from the activities and functions of the group and/or from travel in relation to these activities and functions; and
(v) you agree that you indemnify the organisers, hosts, leaders or other participants in these activities or functions of the group for any injury or loss due to any action, omission, negligence or oversight by any person or organisation and/or due to any other consequences resulting from the activities and functions of this group and/or from travel in relation to these activities and functions, to the full extent permitted by the law; and
(vi) you agree that you are responsible for the welfare and property of any person whom you invite as a guest to an event, activity or function of this group, and you agree to inform them prior to all aspects of the event that by their actions to attend and by participation they are bound by all the conditions of membership and participation the same as you are to the full extent permitted by the law.
Muogamarra Nature Reserve, in Sydney's northern suburbs, puts on the most spectacular explosion of wildflowers at the start of Spring. Don't miss this opportunity as it's fragile and stunningly beautiful ecosystems, aboriginal rock engravings, and epic vistas over the Hawkesbury River are open to the public for just 6 weeks a year. You’ll see swathes of waratahs, majestic angophoras, old-man banksias, pink boronias, delicate native orchids, and native animals like echidnas, wedge-tail eagles and lyrebirds.
There are expensive structured guided tours run by the park staff, but we are doing our own self-guided tour of the wildflowers and scenic lookouts with entry tickets to the park being just $15.
To join us ...
- book your own entry ticket to the nature reserve (see details below), tickets sell out in the weeks before the season opens in mid-August so don't leave it to the last minute,
- RSVP on this meetup page ONLY AFTER you buy your ticket to the reserve (if you RSVP and then drop out you get banned, we mean it).
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THE PLAN
Meet at 9.30am sharp in the car park outside the Muogamara visitor centre. To find us look for the organiser's car - metal grey Hyundai Tucson SUV.
We will commence our walk on the loop trails around the nature reserve. It's likely that the flower nerds (we do love you) will stop alot to gawk and take pictures of everything so expect a bit of stop start walking, but we will make an effort to cover the planned distance in an efficient time to finish by about 3.30pm, as follows:
- The reserve has four main trails fanning out along ridge lines that radiate from the central Visitor Centre that we will start and return to.
- We will do the first 5km loop which follows a ridge line descending 200 metres down to wind through a gully full of lush vegetation, before ascending the 200 metres up again - expect a large number of steps - to return us past the Visitor Centre.
- The second loop is a much easier 3km course along the crest of another ridge, again heading out and returning us to the Visitor Centre.
- These two loops will total 8km of walking, with a good number of steps down and up the ridges included in the workout, and bring us back to our origin by about 3.30pm.
- You can finish your day here and head home, or if there is energy we can do one or two additional 3km loops to explore the third and fourth ridges - phew!
Bring your lunch, snacks and drinks - we will sit at one of the scenic lookouts for a nice lunch break.
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DIFFICULTY - IS THIS WALK FOR ME?
The two planned loops total 8km of walking and include a descent and ascent of 200 metres with many steps. We are therefore grading this walk as MODERATE (or hard if you are not used to many steps).
If you have done some undulating walks such as the waterfall routes in Wentworth Falls / Leura / Katoomba / Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, you will handle this one just fine.
Given the large number of steps, this walk is not a good one for you if you have bad knees.
As each of the loops comes back past the visitor centre, there will be opportunity for you to exit and head home if you are tired (or have gone blind from the amazing sight of so many flowers).
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HOW TO BOOK
Do NOT RSVP on this meetup page until AFTER you purchase an entry ticket to the nature reserve.
Go to the Muogamara booking page HERE.
- Click BOOK NOW.
- Make sure that you select SUNDAY 31 AUGUST.
- Select the number of adults, and enter your details.
- Scroll down to OPTIONS and tick either the box for "I'm the driver" or the box for "I'm a passenger" as appropriate.
- Pay the $20 if you are a driver with reserved parking space, or $15 if you are a passenger only.
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TRANSPORT
Arriving by car:
- From Cowan train station in northern Sydney, take the old Pacific Highway ... NOT the Sydney-Newcastle Pacific Motorway M1.
- Follow the Pacific Highway north for 4.7km.
- Then on the left look for the sign to enter Muogamara Nature Reserve.
- Follow the unsealed road for 2.6km to the Visitor / Field Studies Centre.
- The road quality is adequate for 2-wheel drive city cars.
- Google maps driving directions are HERE.
Arriving by train:
- There is no public transport link into the Nature Reserve, the closest station is 7km away at Cowan.
- You will need to post in the comments section below to a request a ride from Cowan station, and connect with someone offering a ride.
- Do NOT RSVP on this meetup page, and do not purchase an entry ticket to the reserve, until AFTER you have secured a ride with someone.
- The organiser does not organise transport.
- If you get a ride in the morning, we will make sure that you get dropped back at the station in the afternoon.
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GRATUITY
No meetup cost for this one.
But you should give $10 exact cash to the driver if you get a ride from Cowan station with someone on the day.
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BRING
- lunch, snacks to keep you going all day - there are no shops
- drink bottle, at least 2 litres - there are no water sources on the trail
- sturdy walking boots or trail shoes
- walking stick (not mandatory, but helps on steep sections with steps)
- sun hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, insect repellent
- dress in layers to put and take off as you exercise during the day, and have good warm jacket and long pants for the afternoon
- carry a rain jacket even if the forecast is for sunshine
- if you are going to be taking alot of photos with your phone, carry a spare battery pack and cable in case you run out of charge
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DISCLAIMER
By your RSVP to this event you agree to the conditions of membership and participation which you can read in the "WHAT WE'RE ABOUT" section HERE.
Upcoming events (2)
See all- WILD CREEKS OF LANE COVE - Lane Cove National Park, Chatswood - 12km moderateChatswood Station, Chatswood
Come along to discover the amazing wild forests hidden in the secret creeks carving down through Lane Cove valley. We'll traverse a wonderful diversity of ecological zones:
- from Chatswood station we drop down through a magnificent blue gum high forest and maybe spot the resident powerful owl at its roost,
- emerge at Lane Cove River for lunch with the ducks,
- weave through the peaceful casuarina groves and mangroves along the river flats,
- ascend a second creek through a surreal fern forest,
- explore along a third creek through beautiful dark rainforest,
- and finally loop back out of the forest right next to Chatswood station, and a relaxed afternoon drink at the local pub.
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THE PLAN
Meet the group at 10.00am in Victoria Ave, Chatswood (on the footpath between the Chatswood station escalators and the Chatswood RSL Club, and across the street from the 7Eleven shop). Check the pinned google map HERE to make sure you don't go to similar confusing spots further down in the Chatswood shopping mall.If you need supplies, there is a super market, cafes, noodle bars, and takeaway food outlets immediately around the train station entrance. There are toilets inside the train station.
Leaving the mall, we are almost immediately into our first bush trail dropping steeply down through the blue gum high forest.
The trail emerges at Lane Cove River national park with a lovely picnic area by the river, and we'll stop for early lunch. Either bring your own lunch, or there is nice food, refreshments and coffee at the cafe.
After lunch we follow the very flat trail along the river through beautiful casuarina groves, mysterious rock walls, and emerge at another picnic spot and a nice viewpoint over the river mangroves.
We then slowly ascend out of the river valley, following a second creek through a really beautiful scene of magnificent king ferns and green mossy rocks hidden in a very surreal location.
The trail emerges into suburbia and we have 800 metres of street walking, with just a short steep section to take us over a ridge, and into our third creek with dark rainforest full of fig trees, thick climbing vines, ferns, and magical bird calls.
This final forest trail brings back to Chatwood with two short steep sections to emerge into the residential blocks next to our starting point.
We'll aim to finish at the station by 4pm.
And if there is interest we can head for a lovely post-walk drink at the Orchard pub right next to the station :-)
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IS THIS ACTIVITY OK FOR ME?
Given the 12km distance and a couple of short steep sections to ascend, this walk is graded MODERATE. It is not OK for absolute beginner walkers, but if you have done at least a couple of 10km walks on gently undulating ground you will handle it just fine.The bush tracks are well compacted dirt and rock surfaces, not very rough.
The initial descent for a few minutes through the blue gum forest is on steep stone steps - this is not challenging, but avoid it if your knees do not cope with steep downhills.
The ascent back out of the valley is gradual, but has two or three short steep sections on footpaths and stone steps - these are brief, we will take them at a relaxed pace, and you can stop for as many rests as you like - no rush, no pressure, no problem.
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TRANSPORT
Arriving by public transport: there are very frequent services to and from Chatswood station
- metro line from Central, and from Hills District/Epping/Macquarie
- trains on the western/north shore via Wynyard
- buses from North Sydney, Manly, Neutral Bay, Mona Vale, Frenchs Forest
See the trip planner at www.transportnsw.info for all connections and times.
Arriving by car: parking very close to Chatswood station and within the shopping mall is a disaster, but there is free street parking in the nearby residential streets on the other side of Pacific Highway (try Centennial Ave next to Chatswood primary school) which is just a 5 minute walk from the station.
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GRATUITY
Please contribute $10 to help offset the group's operating costs.
You can- bring cash on the day, or
- make a PayID bank transfer to the organiser's phone number 0411 600 717 just BEFORE you arrive to the start of the event.
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BRING:
- your lunch and snacks to last you for the day (or buy lunch when we stop at the national park cafe)
- drink bottle (refills available at several picnic areas along the way)
- warm jacket, pants, hat (the temperature drops fast in the afternoon)
- sturdy walking shoes
- insect repellent is highly recommended (the water-based Off or Aeroguard sprays from the supermarket work very well)
.
DISCLAIMER:
By joining as a member of this group, you agree to the following conditions of membership and participation, which you can read HERE. - AMAZING WILDFLOWER WALKING TOUR - Muogamara Nature Reserve - 8km moderate gradeMuogamara Nature Reserve, Sydney
Muogamarra Nature Reserve, in Sydney's northern suburbs, puts on the most spectacular explosion of wildflowers at the start of Spring. Don't miss this opportunity as it's fragile and stunningly beautiful ecosystems, aboriginal rock engravings, and epic vistas over the Hawkesbury River are open to the public for just 6 weeks a year. You’ll see swathes of waratahs, majestic angophoras, old-man banksias, pink boronias, delicate native orchids, and native animals like echidnas, wedge-tail eagles and lyrebirds.
There are expensive structured guided tours run by the park staff, but we are doing our own self-guided tour of the wildflowers and scenic lookouts with entry tickets to the park being just $15.
To join us ...
- book your own entry ticket to the nature reserve (see details below), tickets sell out in the weeks before the season opens in mid-August so don't leave it to the last minute,
- RSVP on this meetup page ONLY AFTER you buy your ticket to the reserve (if you RSVP and then drop out you get banned, we mean it).
.
THE PLAN
Meet at 9.30am sharp in the car park outside the Muogamara visitor centre. To find us look for the organiser's car - metal grey Hyundai Tucson SUV.
We will commence our walk on the loop trails around the nature reserve. It's likely that the flower nerds (we do love you) will stop alot to gawk and take pictures of everything so expect a bit of stop start walking, but we will make an effort to cover the planned distance in an efficient time to finish by about 3.30pm, as follows:
- The reserve has four main trails fanning out along ridge lines that radiate from the central Visitor Centre that we will start and return to.
- We will do the first 5km loop which follows a ridge line descending 200 metres down to wind through a gully full of lush vegetation, before ascending the 200 metres up again - expect a large number of steps - to return us past the Visitor Centre.
- The second loop is a much easier 3km course along the crest of another ridge, again heading out and returning us to the Visitor Centre.
- These two loops will total 8km of walking, with a good number of steps down and up the ridges included in the workout, and bring us back to our origin by about 3.30pm.
- You can finish your day here and head home, or if there is energy we can do one or two additional 3km loops to explore the third and fourth ridges - phew!
Bring your lunch, snacks and drinks - we will sit at one of the scenic lookouts for a nice lunch break.
.
DIFFICULTY - IS THIS WALK FOR ME?
The two planned loops total 8km of walking and include a descent and ascent of 200 metres with many steps. We are therefore grading this walk as MODERATE (or hard if you are not used to many steps).
If you have done some undulating walks such as the waterfall routes in Wentworth Falls / Leura / Katoomba / Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, you will handle this one just fine.
Given the large number of steps, this walk is not a good one for you if you have bad knees.
As each of the loops comes back past the visitor centre, there will be opportunity for you to exit and head home if you are tired (or have gone blind from the amazing sight of so many flowers).
.
HOW TO BOOK
Do NOT RSVP on this meetup page until AFTER you purchase an entry ticket to the nature reserve.
Go to the Muogamara booking page HERE.
- Click BOOK NOW.
- Make sure that you select SUNDAY 31 AUGUST.
- Select the number of adults, and enter your details.
- Scroll down to OPTIONS and tick either the box for "I'm the driver" or the box for "I'm a passenger" as appropriate.
- Pay the $20 if you are a driver with reserved parking space, or $15 if you are a passenger only.
.
TRANSPORT
Arriving by car:
- From Cowan train station in northern Sydney, take the old Pacific Highway ... NOT the Sydney-Newcastle Pacific Motorway M1.
- Follow the Pacific Highway north for 4.7km.
- Then on the left look for the sign to enter Muogamara Nature Reserve.
- Follow the unsealed road for 2.6km to the Visitor / Field Studies Centre.
- The road quality is adequate for 2-wheel drive city cars.
- Google maps driving directions are HERE.
Arriving by train:
- There is no public transport link into the Nature Reserve, the closest station is 7km away at Cowan.
- You will need to post in the comments section below to a request a ride from Cowan station, and connect with someone offering a ride.
- Do NOT RSVP on this meetup page, and do not purchase an entry ticket to the reserve, until AFTER you have secured a ride with someone.
- The organiser does not organise transport.
- If you get a ride in the morning, we will make sure that you get dropped back at the station in the afternoon.
.
GRATUITY
No meetup cost for this one.
But you should give $10 exact cash to the driver if you get a ride from Cowan station with someone on the day..
BRING
- lunch, snacks to keep you going all day - there are no shops
- drink bottle, at least 2 litres - there are no water sources on the trail
- sturdy walking boots or trail shoes
- walking stick (not mandatory, but helps on steep sections with steps)
- sun hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, insect repellent
- dress in layers to put and take off as you exercise during the day, and have good warm jacket and long pants for the afternoon
- carry a rain jacket even if the forecast is for sunshine
- if you are going to be taking alot of photos with your phone, carry a spare battery pack and cable in case you run out of charge
.
DISCLAIMER
By your RSVP to this event you agree to the conditions of membership and participation which you can read in the "WHAT WE'RE ABOUT" section HERE.
