Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
Distance: 3.3 km
Start: Glentui picnic area, end of Glentui Bush Road, Glentui
Finish: Same place (it's a loop)
Date: Friday 18th November 2022
There seems to be a weird weather pattern at the moment -call it climate change if you will- whereby it is fine all week and then craps out on Friday. Such was our plight today - in fact, when we heard that it was "pouring down at Glentui" some of us were rather inclined to ditch the walk altogether and simply go straight to the cafe.
I was slightly horrified at this idea. Mention the word coffee and everyone's eyes seemed to glaze over. Jaysus. I had to do something quickly to snap us all out of it. I managed an impromptu hard sell: "Oh it will be lovely walking in the rain" and so we all eventually ended up at the Glentui picnic area car park, donning our raincoats and walking shoes and traipsing to the slightly unsanitary looking long-drop.
The Glentui Loop Track is a sweet undulating perambulation through beautiful beech forest, with fabulous ferns, some river criss-crossings and quite a few muddy path patches to boot. We had crossed the bridge over the Glentui River and were walking the loop in an anti-clockwise fashion. Only five minutes in, we just had to stop for fern frond photos. The new spring green shoots contrasting nicely with the darker green of the older foliage.
The track seemed steep at first but soon levelled out. Two friendly DOC contractors were clearing dead branches and fired up their chainsaws after we walked past them. More unexpected sensory overload. This harsh sound soon faded as we walked on, until it sounded like a cow mooing in the distance - if you stretched your imagination far enough.
We descended again to the river, passing the junction with the Bypass Track. Another bridge crossing and then a river crossing where there was no bridge at all. Some slippery rock-hopping was required here and so it was possible (even probable) to get at least one foot wet.
We passed the Mt. Richardson Track (blog post here) and soon, after taking the Glentui Waterfall turn-off, we were peering into the abyss where the torrent was tumbling down. Two people were sitting at the rock pool below and we wondered how on earth they had got there without ropes.
From the falls, it was just a hop, skip and a jump back to the car. We changed into dry shoes while suspiciously observing the red-haired, mulleted hunter, dressed in camouflage, who had arrived from nowhere and was emptying his pack of offal, gin traps and a hammer. Probably straight out of the movie set Deliverance. Or maybe he's from Leithfield.
Our Friday Walkies resident trout-fisher-woman (and mushroom enthusiast) was dilly-dallying far too much for my liking. But eventually her car backed out and we were safely away, heading back to Oxford for lunch at Cafe 51 (I'll let you know if any hedgehogs pop up on my Instagram feed) followed by a tour of Oxford's famous book and craft shops, art gallery, prison and museum. Definitely worth a visit.
