Like good republicans, we decided to celebrate the Queen’s Birthday long weekend by heading out on a 3 day bushwalk. We had only one parameter: must end at a pub.
We settled on a 50km walk along the Womerah Range from Putty Road to the Settlers Arms Inn at St Albans. After doing some serious mental gymnastics we worked out our car shuffle arrangements, so no-one got left behind at either end (1.5hr drive between the start and end of the walk). We left Sydney at dawn, filled up on hashbrowns, dropped a car off at the pub at the end of the rainbow and drove to the start of the walk with 5 people squished into a car. We met Chantal and Mitch (AKA Captain Water) on Putty Road to begin the walk.
The walk was easy to navigate – well sign posted and following a fire trail at the top of a ridgeline. Most of the walk for the first and second day was reasonably flat along the ridge. As the walk follows the ridgeline, there was no where to collect walk along the route – we saw about 3 muddy puddles over the weekend, even though it was steadily drizzling most of the time. Luckily for us, Captain Water brought a Mountain Bike and delivered water and wine to our two campsites, not stopped by his chain breaking 9 times.
Day 1
The first day was a bit drizzly – but it never bucketed down. We walked about 15km until we found a protected clearing either side of the Womerah Range Firetrail. We set up camp, warmed up by the fire and cracked open the vino.
Day 2
After a lazy breakfast we started on the next 15km of the walk to Heartbreak Hill Campground. We passed stunning Aboriginal rock carvings, picnicked when the sun came out and enjoyed the views either side of the ridge. We got to Heartbreak Hill campground just on dark – it’s a cute campground with a shelter, water tank and indoor and outdoor fireplaces.
Day 3
Day three was the the most hilly of the trip and had the most interesting changes in landscape. We plodded along and ignored our blistered feet because of the pub lunch at the end of the rainbow.
PS: there’s albino peacocks at the pub!
Too long; didn’t read
- 50km West-East walk from Putty Road to St Albans along Womerah Range Firetrail
- Need to carry your own water for the walk
- Pub bistro closes at 3.30pm!
Quick and dirty google map
Topo map
Topo map PDF download: Womerah Range
Six Weekly Aspirational Bushwalks 
