The coronation of a new King meant a new public holiday, in the middle of June. For once Ira and I found ourselves with no real commitments on a long weekend. Her family was mostly (and unfortunately) sick, and my family had taken an overnight trip to another capital city. We decidedly spent the long weekend getting plenty of quality time. This involved dedicating an entire evening at home to watching the incredibly-long-yet-amazing Avatar ‘2’, complete with popcorn and snacks. However, we’d also decided earlier in the week it would be the perfect opportunity to go for a hike, and when the long-weekend laziness and lethargy had kicked in for me, Ira pointedly held me accountable and (thankfully) made sure we still went on this incredible hike.
Reading up on the Lockleys Pylon train, we learnt that it was historically a walk mostly favoured by locals, however given its ease of accessibility and very straightforward terrain, the social-media generation has since turned this into a very popular trail. Visiting it on a Public Holiday Monday, we were sure to be sharing this trail with others who were capitalising on the amazing winter weather.
Getting There
The trailhead for Lockleys Pylon is readily accessible from Mt Hay Road. This is an unsealed road, however given the volume of traffic it gets, it is frequently resurfaced. If you’re not too fussed about your car, it is two-wheel-drive accessible, however we had no issues with the trusty steed getting us there in easy fashion.
The drive to Leura from Sydney has become somewhat second nature to me at the moment, and passes in the blink of an eye. This time around, the drive was made even more enjoyable by listening to the Property Investory podcast; an episode hosted by Tyrone Shum, and featuring Bushy Martin. Ira had listened to this podcast previously, given her newfound love for all things investing (which I will take a little credit for), and she was quite adamant that I listen to it too. Suffice to say, Bushy Martin’s ethos on investing very much aligns with my own:
- Set goals and work backwards to achieve them
- Place peace-of-mind at the forefront of your investment risk appetite (you can’t place monetary value on a good night’s sleep)
- Focus on capital growth in the earlier part of your investment journey, and cashflow towards the end
- Investment is a game of finance
- There is no get-rich-quick in property; Plan on a 10 to 15-year strategy.
I digress. Be wary that there is limited parking available at the trailhead, and given the recently popularity of this trail, you may have to park wherever you can find on the side of the road.
The Hike
The trail starts off in dense forest, and we were fortunate enough to see all the Banksias in bloom. But the real beauty of this hike is that after about a kilometer, it opens right up, and the trail effectively follows a ridgeline.
You will almost immediately be greeted by sweeping vistas to the north-west over Fortress Creek and the valley below. The trail follows gentle undulations in elevation, and presents views from vantage points towards almost every cardinal direction. This is a hike that’s easy enough for your parents to do (and somewhere we very much intend on coming back to with our families!)
My favourite part of this trail wasn’t the view from atop Lockleys Pylon, but rather the view of Lockleys Pylon and the ridgeline leading towards it. Walking this part of the trail, the scenery was nothing short of mythical, and the feelings were of isolation and purpose. It was good to be hiking again. On that note, we were far from isolated, having shared the trail with countless other families and groups. But the landscape was vast enough to maintain the distances between groups, and still feel as if you had the walk to yourself.
Lockleys Pylon itself awarded amazing views of course, but what I loved most about it was the pile of rocks, and sign atop the mountain. Whilst this walk was by no means difficult, reaching that pile of rocks, and photographing that sign, still gives me a sense of achievement. It beats sitting on the couch, that’s for sure.
From Lockleys Pylon, we saw a few people on Du Faur Head, and the decision was made to venture there for our picnic lunch. The trail down to Du Faur Head featured a significant number of stairs (which deters the casual walkers), and by the time we got there, we had the place to ourselves. We ate the delicious turkey-cranberry sandwiches that Ira had made, drank in the view, and soaked up some tea. I can’t think of anything better to do on a Monday, can you?