Following Careys Creek from Black Gully to Evansdale was trip #3 of 100 trips in October 2022 and as I had missed the trip (we were on weekend trip #2 of 100 trips) Three of us decided it was time to walk this track that I'd not completed before. Starting at Double Hill the track initially winds its way through a tunnel of flowering manuka before dropping a knee jarring 100m downhill to Black Gully. The descent is made slightly easier with a number of steps cut into the bank making for a fast descent over a reasonably short distance. We made the small detour to Black Gully Dam which was built in 1912 along with 17 km of pipeline to give water to the Seacliff Mental Hospital. The flow to the hospital was gravity fed and not always successful due to the distance and terrain the pipe traversed. After a fire at the Seacliff Hospital in 1942 with the loss of 37 lives, it was decided that a more reliable form of water supply was needed.
From the dam the track follows the old pipeline, crossing the stream often. It is easy to see how difficult the terrain made it to install and maintain the pipeline around 100 years ago. There are numerous places that the pipeline is broken and these made the walk along the track more interesting.
The first part of the track is very pleasant walking between the moss and ferns beside Careys Creek. The creek winds its way around slippery rocks and through numerous deep pools that look perfect for a dip in the clear water. At this time of the year, the Careys Creek track is good for mushroom enthusiasts with a large variety of fungi to see. Not knowing the names of the mushrooms we saw, all I can say is that we saw small perfectly round marble sized red fungi, large red and white spotted ones, grey frilly ones, large cream coloured ones and round white doughnut shaped ones. We passed a number of fallen logs spouting whole cities of fungi.
As the track continues down the valley, the track moves from native bush to open grassy meadows and back into the bush with numerous stream crossings interspersed with the odd patch of pine forest. After the lush greens of the native bush and bright sunshine of the grassy meadows the pine forest is dark and ominous. It was good to pass through the pine forest quickly and back into the sunshine again.
From about half way the track drops into the creek and continues along the creek bed, crossing from one side to the other. Keeping dry feet became impossible and it was refreshing as the water filled our boots and helped to cool us down. The track would climb out of the creek bed for a short distance then drop back in again.
There were patches of mud to negotiate, however the numerous creek crossings were good to wash the mud off. In places the pipeline would disappear while in other parts we needed to continually step over it. The pipeline often sat on top of the rocky ground like a snake, closely following the creek bed while other times it was raised above the ground. All the time we continued to follow it down the valley.
Once we reached where the Honeycomb track joined the Careys Creek track the going became easier with less creek crossings and less mud. We stopped for lunch beside the creek. While enjoying the coolnes of sitting near the creek on a hot day we saw a couple of freshwater lobsters moving about in the clear water. It is surprising how small the cracks and holes the lobster can disappear into under the water. Feeling replenished from lunch we continued down the track, in and out of the water for another hour until we reached Evansdale. All up the trip was around 10km and took 4 hours (including stops).
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