2024-June Day-trip
Birdwood Gully Round Walk
Springwood, Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
- Afternoon: A circuit walk
- At Night: To see glow-worms only
PDF version
If you prefer ...
A slightly shorter PDF report of the trip is in this link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sr6hAdGorkvO5TrF7k-4SsIv-MX2AEXi/view
Otherwise, read on ...
Preview
Birdwood Gully Round Walk
An arch in an interesting overhang.
Glow-worm and its sticky silk threads
Under ultra-violet & red lights combination, they show up nicely.
Prolog
Birdwood Gully Round Walk is a circuit walk.
The circuit takes us about 1.5 hours to complete.
Short and relaxed 😀
And if you don’t stop for photographs,
you can finish it within an hour.
This trip
We go once in the afternoon,
to familiarise ourselves with the track.
Then at night again, to check out the glow-worms.
I was here 3 months ago, 2024-March,
with John Graham and others.
As this place is close to Sydney,
easy for us to see glow-worms,
hence I am here again,
and taking a group along.
Our group
6 of us:
- Paul ... leading
- Elizabeth Zhu
- George He
- John Zhong
- Lydia Zhang
- Kelly Wei
Glow-worms, Arachnocampa richardsae
Glow-worms are insects having a bioluminescent larval stage.
The roof of a cave / overhang covered with glow-worms can look remarkably like a blue starry night sky ... due to the collective bioluminescent glow from the larvae.
The larva hangs down sticky silk threads from the ceiling of a cave. The glow from its head attracts prey and ensnare them in the threads.
Generally glow-worms have few predators.
Their greatest danger is from human interference.
Perhaps we shouldn’t have come here at Birdwood Gully 😭
More detail on glow-worms is in Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arachnocampa
Map
1:25,000 scaled 9030-4S Springwood
1) Afternoon walk ~~~
- Thin red line: Our clockwise circuit
- Blue oval: Glow-worms on cliffs
Grid Ref 7406 6935 to Grid Ref 7410 6935
- Blue arrows, clockwise from left:
1 Start and end:
Corner of Lucinda Ave & Bednal Rd
2 Overhang that has glow-worms
Grid Ref 7385 6934
3 An overhang
Grid Ref 7425 6884
4 An overhang with arch & hole
Grid Ref 7419 6881
GPS tracklog file & route
GPX tracklog file for the afternoon walk is in this link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11XJU9Z72XhWt6lxgSCq2uvUyzsaypUn1/view
In summary:
- Park cars at Corner of Lucinda Ave & Bednal Rd, Springwood
- Follow a well define foot track
which is Birdwood Gully Round Walk
(We did it clockwise.)
- Back to our cars.
Timeline & Distances
Afternoon circuit walk:
14:51 Start at Corner of Lucinda Ave & Bednal Rd
15:07 At an overhang, blue arrow #2 of above map
15:09 Resume walking
15:30 At another overhang, blue arrow #3
15:44 Resume walking
15:45 At an overhang with arch & hole, blue arrow #4
15:59 Resume walking
16:12 Foot track ends at Bednal Rd
Walk along Bednal Rd northward towards Lucinda Ave
16:20 Back at our cars
Total: 1 hrs 29 mins
2.75 km roughly
=====================================
Dinner in Springwood
to wait for the night, so we can go glow-worming 😊
Restaurant is:
The Bunker ... Shop 8 & 9, 150 Macquarie Rd, Springwood, NSW 2777
Food is quite good. Price is reasonable.
=====================================
Night walk for the glow-worms:
18:26 Start at Corner of Lucinda Ave & Bednal Rd
19:26 Around the blue oval of above map
Retrace steps
19:40 Back at our cars
Total: 1 hrs 14 mins
1.7 km roughly
Pictures - On the track
2) Group photo on the track ~~~
- Left to right: Kelly, Elizabeth, John, George, Lydia
3) Passing a cave/overhang (no glow-worms here) ~~~
- Left to right: Elizabeth, George, Paul
Photo by: John Zhong
4) At another cave/overhang, Grid Ref 7385 6934 ~~~
- Elizabeth, Paul
- There are glow-worms here. You can see them at night.
Photo by: John Zhong
5) The creek on the left is Shelley’s Creek.
6) Further along the track ~~~
- Paul leading, followed by Kelly, Elizabeth, Lydia, George
Photo by: John Zhong
7) Crossing Shelley’s Creek ~~~
Trust me it is Shelly’s Creek 😊
Refer to next pic.
8) Believe me now 😊
The words
SHELLEY’S
CREEK
are chiselled into the rocks.
There are no more glow-worms after crossing the creek.
9) Love these ferns.
10) Passing an Angophora costata (Sydney Red Gum).
11) Same Angophora costata as previous pic ~~~
- Lydia
- There should be a bigger Angophora along the track. We must have missed it 😭
An overhang
Grid Ref: 7425 6884
12) George climbing up ~~~
- Watched anxiously by John 😊
Photo by: Elizabeth
13) George has climbed up ~~~
- John is relieved 😊
14) Same spot as George was in previous pic ~~~
- Kelly
15) Lydia.
16) John.
Photo by: Lydia
17) Part of the roof of the overhang.
18) Nature’s scrulpture ~~~
- Bottom-right of previous pic
Photo by: George
Arch in another overhang
Grid Ref: 7419 6881
19) An arch (yellow oval) and a hole in another overhang ~~~
- Elizabeth
20) Another view of the arch.
Photo by: Elizabeth
21) We all have a go at posing on the arch 😊
- Here is George.
22) John on the arch.
23) Lydia.
24) Kelly.
25) Elizabeth.
Photo by: Lydia
26) Elizabeth ... again ~~~
- She is the sleeping beauty 😊
( But how about me ? ... See next pic 😊 )
27) Here is the true sleeping beauty 😊
Photo by: George
Hole in the overhang
28) The hole in photo #19.
29) The same hole from the other end ~~~
- Lydia (left side of the pic)
30) Our group in the hole ~~~
- Lydia, John, Kelly, Elizabeth, George
- White oval: The arch (photos #19 - #27)
Dinner in Springwood
After the circuit walk, dinner is in Springwood,
to wait for the night to beginning, so we can go glow-worming 😊
31) Restaurant is:
The Bunker ... Shop 8 & 9, 150 Macquarie Rd, Springwood, NSW 2777
- Food is quite good. Price is reasonable.
Night walk - for the glow-worms
At night, back on the Birdwood Gully Round Walk.
32) Our group ~~~
- Back row : Paul ... inspecting glow-worms by the red light from a torch
- Front row: John, George, Kelly, Lydia
Photo by: Elizabeth
Glow-worms in Birdwood Gully
33) Glow-worms.
Photo by: John Graham, 3 months ago, 2024-Mar-07
34) Glow-worms.
Photo by: John Graham, 3 months ago, 2024-Mar-07
35) Glow-worms.
Photo by: John Graham, 3 months ago, 2024-Mar-07
36) Glow-worms' sticky silk threads hanging down from ceiling.
Photo by: John Graham, 3 months ago, 2024-Mar-07
37) Glow-worms' sticky silk threads hanging down from ceiling.
Photo by: Melody Guo, 3 months ago, 2024-Mar-07
38) Glow-worms' sticky silk threads.
Photo by: Elizabeth Zhu
39) Glow-worms' sticky silk threads.
Photo by: Elizabeth Zhu
40) Glow-worms' sticky silk threads.
Photo by: John Graham, 3 months ago, 2024-Mar-07
41) Glow-worms' sticky silk threads.
Photo by: John Graham, 3 months ago, 2024-Mar-07
42) Glow-worms' sticky silk threads.
Photo by: John Graham, 3 months ago, 2024-Mar-07
43) Video: A glow-worm moving in UV light ~~~
- Note: Slightly clearer videos are in:
YouTube: https://youtube.com/shorts/qHG3q9e_F48
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C4Q9FUZCOUK/
Video by: John Graham, 3 months ago, 2024-Mar-07
44) A glow-worm and its sticky silk threads.
- Under ultra-violet & red lights combination, they show up nicely.
Photographer: Yours Truly 😊
Glow-worms from my other trips
45) Location: Grand Canyon, Blackheath
2023-Dec-16 Abseil & swims at night
Photo by: John Graham
46) Location: Glowworm Tunnel, Gardens of Stone NP
2020-Jul-11
Photographer: Yours Truly 😊
47) Location: Grand Canyon, Blackheath
2023-Dec-16 Abseil & swims at night
Photo by: John Graham
48) Location: Grand Canyon, Blackheath
2023-Dec-16 Abseil & swims at night
Photo by: John Graham
49) Glow-worms' sticky silk threads hanging down from ceiling ~~~
Location: Grand Canyon, Blackheath
2023-Dec-16 Abseil & swims at night
Photo by: John Graham
PDF version
Shorter PDF report of this trip is in this link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sr6hAdGorkvO5TrF7k-4SsIv-MX2AEXi/view
My other bushwalk in the Springwood area
2024-May
Day trip, circuit walk:
- Springwood
- along Sassafras Gully Track
- to Lost World Lookout
- to Bunyan Lookout
- to Martins Falls
- along Fairy Dell Track
- back to Springwood
Trip report: Under construction 😊
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