The Great North Walk

I only have more one walk to report, so allow me to digress for a moment & talk about the Great North Walk (hereafter referred to as GNW).

As I mentioned previously, this is a 250km track (or, more accurately, series of tracks) between Sydney & Newcastle. For all I know, this kind of thing exists all over Australia, but, being somewhat of a bushwalking virgin, I'm really impressed with the whole scheme. The tracks are mostly well-maintained (or as well as can be expected, given the huge area covered), very well signposted & you're guaranteed fantastic views on pretty much every section.

I think the GNW could be turned into a real tourist attraction - maybe even approaching the scale of the NZ Great Walks if a series of huts were installed. For now, you at least have access to campsites & fresh water along the way.

Something you may not know about me is that I get a real kick out of good signage. I know, I know, you don't need to say anything. Luckily, I'm at the stage of my life now when I really don't care what people think of me anymore, so there. The best signage I have encountered on my travels to date was on the London underground. Having never visited the city before, I was easily able to navigate through multiple changes on day one without having to ask for any directions, which really put me at ease. I was also really impressed with the Paris Metro, but I only used it once, so don't feel qualified to comment. I think the worst signage occurs in carparks; Erina Fair shopping centre is a perfect example of a system of exit signs that lead nowhere.

I've been particularly impressed with the signage on the GNW, so herein begins a series of photos that non-fans of signage will not enjoy at all.

At the start of the track, and at major junctions, you'll get something obvious like this:

Mostly the directions come in the form of arrows like this:

and this:

Sometimes the signs will be nothing more than a paint-mark on the rock. The one below actually looks like an arrow, but many didn't. These mostly occurred on the huge tracts of sandstone, so make sure you keep an eye out because it's easy to get lost out there.

You'll also see lots of these scratchings in the rock. Usually, they'll be on an ascent or descent & will indicate the best place to climb up or step down, as well as providing extra grip on the often slippery stone.

The other thing you'll see are these Walkers Register posts. The others we saw were a more sensible design of a top-opening box mounted on the post. I'm not sure who designed this one, but they have obviously never had to use it. It unscrews from the bottom, so the first thing that happens is the book & pen fall into the mud as soon as you open it. Then, after you have done the right thing by filling out the register, you have the fun task of trying to balance the book & pen on the lid of the tube while you try & screw it back on. Very bad design & very frustrating to use.

I hope you enjoyed my brief foray into signage and I promise I won't subject you to another post like this (well, not for at least another month).

When I get back from Italy I plan on tackling some of the southern (Lane Cove) & northern (Watagans) sections of the GNW, so stay tuned for reports of those.

I urge you to get out there & explore the GNW as soon as you can - it's truly worth the effort.