Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby g-boaf » Mon Feb 19, 2018 10:53 am

Hergest wrote:
g-boaf wrote:Watch out around Prospect Dam, the kangaroos there are becoming a bit of a nuisance. They are very unpredictable and in the afternoon with the sun glare in your eyes it can be hard to see them when they are behind low trees.
There was a ginormous one at the top of the dam yesterday. With the way his arms were hanging and his profile he looked like a younger Arnold Schwarzenegger. Fine looking animal but I wouldn't have wanted to challenge him to a fight.
That's the big male one that normally just stands there as you go past, right? I'm very cautious around him - you just don't know if it is going to stay put or not. The little ones are predictably crazy, they just scatter in all directions.

I heard there was another deceased one around Ferrers Road that was hit by a car, it was also very large.

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby Hergest » Mon Feb 19, 2018 1:21 pm

g-boaf wrote:
That's the big male one that normally just stands there as you go past, right? I'm very cautious around him
Yep, that's him. Just stands and stares. I'll admit that I do like to see them there even with them hopping hither and thither. I once had one race me all the way down the dam road. He was on the grass side of the fence and as I rode down the hill it ran along at the same speed,every now and then it would put a spurt on then would slow down again. On the last downhill part I really hammered it and the bugger just picked up his pace a bit and cruised away ahead. Got me a PR on Strava for that one :D
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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby find_bruce » Mon Feb 19, 2018 1:43 pm

Hergest wrote:Yep, that's him. Just stands and stares. I'll admit that I do like to see them there even with them hopping hither and thither. I once had one race me all the way down the dam road. He was on the grass side of the fence and as I rode down the hill it ran along at the same speed,every now and then it would put a spurt on then would slow down again. On the last downhill part I really hammered it and the bugger just picked up his pace a bit and cruised away ahead. Got me a PR on Strava for that one :D
Don't try that with emus - they are quick but daft - the sods will get just in front then cut across your front wheel

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby Hergest » Mon Feb 19, 2018 2:08 pm

find_bruce wrote: Don't try that with emus - they are quick but daft - the sods will get just in front then cut across your front wheel
Funnily enough I once had an emu do the same thing when I was up around Coonabarabran. I was on the road, it was in a paddock and raced along side me keeping the same pace and kept on looking at me. Dumb thing ran into a wire fence. It shook itself and raced off across the paddock the other way.
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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby g-boaf » Mon Feb 19, 2018 10:22 pm

Up near the top of Prospect Dam (the left turn to go up to Chandos Rd) there would have been about 10-15 kangaroos up there tonight. Most I've ever seen. All were behind the fence though.
Hergest wrote:
find_bruce wrote: Don't try that with emus - they are quick but daft - the sods will get just in front then cut across your front wheel
Funnily enough I once had an emu do the same thing when I was up around Coonabarabran. I was on the road, it was in a paddock and raced along side me keeping the same pace and kept on looking at me. Dumb thing ran into a wire fence. It shook itself and raced off across the paddock the other way.
Ouch that must have hurt! :shock:

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby Hergest » Tue Feb 20, 2018 3:28 pm

g-boaf wrote:Up near the top of Prospect Dam (the left turn to go up to Chandos Rd) there would have been about 10-15 kangaroos up there tonight. Most I've ever seen. All were behind the fence though.
Have you ever ridden up William Lawson Drive from the dam up towards Reservoir Road? There's normally about that many or more in the paddocks up there especially first thing in the morning.
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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby g-boaf » Tue Feb 20, 2018 8:10 pm

Hergest wrote:
g-boaf wrote:Up near the top of Prospect Dam (the left turn to go up to Chandos Rd) there would have been about 10-15 kangaroos up there tonight. Most I've ever seen. All were behind the fence though.
Have you ever ridden up William Lawson Drive from the dam up towards Reservoir Road? There's normally about that many or more in the paddocks up there especially first thing in the morning.
Rarely, I've seen them up that way, but rarely down towards Chandos Road.

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby g-boaf » Sun Apr 01, 2018 8:40 pm

Prospect Dam gates are now shut at 4:30pm precisely on the dot.

The ideas of keeping them open at night obviously went nowhere.

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby kaniSS » Tue Sep 18, 2018 9:05 am

After 15 years of wondering where the Canal actually led, I purchased a MTB and did the ride up to Prospect Reservoir. My house backs onto the Canal at Greystanes. I was big on riding when I was younger but somehow lost interest. Now that interest is coming back.

Pretty good ride the Canal to be honest, don't mind it at all. I decided to test the MTB out at the little Greystanes bridge thing so I took the left gravel track and flew down. She handled really well, had a big smile on my face.

Now when I got to the reservoir, I took the road that went right, from the park/play area. I ran into a massive Kangaroo who arched up at me so I left him alone. I soon realised this led no where, so I turned back and rode back to the play area and went left, up the hill. This was an interesting ride. I got all the way up to the treatment plant thing and turned back. Does this ride get any scenic if I go further?, I mean can I go around the reservoir?, can I go offtrack anywhere? I was expecting a nice scenic ride around the reservoir, but was very disappointed. Locked gates, massive mounds, more locked gates.

I want to really test the bike out, but cant seem to find anything but pavement around this area.

Any Ideas?

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby Hergest » Tue Sep 18, 2018 12:02 pm

kaniSS wrote:After 15 years of wondering where the Canal actually led, I purchased a MTB and did the ride up to Prospect Reservoir. My house backs onto the Canal at Greystanes. I was big on riding when I was younger but somehow lost interest. Now that interest is coming back.

Pretty good ride the Canal to be honest, don't mind it at all. I decided to test the MTB out at the little Greystanes bridge thing so I took the left gravel track and flew down. She handled really well, had a big smile on my face.

Now when I got to the reservoir, I took the road that went right, from the park/play area. I ran into a massive Kangaroo who arched up at me so I left him alone. I soon realised this led no where, so I turned back and rode back to the play area and went left, up the hill. This was an interesting ride. I got all the way up to the treatment plant thing and turned back. Does this ride get any scenic if I go further?, I mean can I go around the reservoir?, can I go offtrack anywhere? I was expecting a nice scenic ride around the reservoir, but was very disappointed. Locked gates, massive mounds, more locked gates.

I want to really test the bike out, but cant seem to find anything but pavement around this area.

Any Ideas?
When you get to the top of the dam up by the water treatment plants keep on going. The path crosses Chandos Road in a couple of hundred metres and then runs for quite a few kilometres through the scenic Western Sydney Regional Park. By the dairy precinct you can turn right and climb very steeply up to Moonrise Hill with superb views back over the Sydney Basin. From there it is only a short ride to the M7 and the world is your oyster. If you decide not to go up Moonrise then stay on the path that you took from the dam and it ends at Calmsley Hill city farm (formerly Fairfield City Farm). You can turn around or continue on through a couple of streets in Abbotsbury and cross over Cowpasture Road on the bridge and then do a loop around back to Greystanes via the Orphan School Creek path, then the Railtrail to Guildford and then the Canal path via Guildford West. You can also take various side routes and easily do hundreds of kilometres. The shared path set up out here is superb once you have the local knowledge. Some parts of the paths are poorly maintained so you have to keep your eyes open and there's often glass around as Australians are such grubs but you can cover really good distances in scenic areas without hardly having to use roads.
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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby kaniSS » Wed Sep 19, 2018 8:23 am

Hergest wrote:
kaniSS wrote:After 15 years of wondering where the Canal actually led, I purchased a MTB and did the ride up to Prospect Reservoir. My house backs onto the Canal at Greystanes. I was big on riding when I was younger but somehow lost interest. Now that interest is coming back.

Pretty good ride the Canal to be honest, don't mind it at all. I decided to test the MTB out at the little Greystanes bridge thing so I took the left gravel track and flew down. She handled really well, had a big smile on my face.

Now when I got to the reservoir, I took the road that went right, from the park/play area. I ran into a massive Kangaroo who arched up at me so I left him alone. I soon realised this led no where, so I turned back and rode back to the play area and went left, up the hill. This was an interesting ride. I got all the way up to the treatment plant thing and turned back. Does this ride get any scenic if I go further?, I mean can I go around the reservoir?, can I go offtrack anywhere? I was expecting a nice scenic ride around the reservoir, but was very disappointed. Locked gates, massive mounds, more locked gates.

I want to really test the bike out, but cant seem to find anything but pavement around this area.

Any Ideas?
When you get to the top of the dam up by the water treatment plants keep on going. The path crosses Chandos Road in a couple of hundred metres and then runs for quite a few kilometres through the scenic Western Sydney Regional Park. By the dairy precinct you can turn right and climb very steeply up to Moonrise Hill with superb views back over the Sydney Basin. From there it is only a short ride to the M7 and the world is your oyster. If you decide not to go up Moonrise then stay on the path that you took from the dam and it ends at Calmsley Hill city farm (formerly Fairfield City Farm). You can turn around or continue on through a couple of streets in Abbotsbury and cross over Cowpasture Road on the bridge and then do a loop around back to Greystanes via the Orphan School Creek path, then the Railtrail to Guildford and then the Canal path via Guildford West. You can also take various side routes and easily do hundreds of kilometres. The shared path set up out here is superb once you have the local knowledge. Some parts of the paths are poorly maintained so you have to keep your eyes open and there's often glass around as Australians are such grubs but you can cover really good distances in scenic areas without hardly having to use roads.
Looks like I should of gone further lol. Sounds good dude, thanks for the info. I will do this run on Sunday cant wait. :lol: :lol: :lol:
I know what you mean about glass and grubs. Since I started riding again, I just cant get over how much crap is on the footpaths, also Ive come to realise how bad our footpaths actually are. ie: Down Cumberland Hwy, the footpath will just stop for no reason then start again 20m down the road. ?????

Ontop of this the amount of cars parked over the footpath gets my goat !!!..

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby caneye » Fri Sep 21, 2018 1:32 pm

certainly keep your eyes peeled for debris on the ground.
roos hiding in the bush.
and brown snakes too. i was in a group of 6 that rode through the parklands last year when we came across an eastern brown slithering across the path. funny thing was - i was the last rider and, only the rider immediately in front of me and i were the only ones who saw it slithering into the bush.
wonder what the other 4 guys see (or didn't see??) as i'm quite sure they would've been almost directly over it?

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby g-boaf » Sat Sep 22, 2018 2:12 pm

caneye wrote:certainly keep your eyes peeled for debris on the ground.
roos hiding in the bush.
and brown snakes too. i was in a group of 6 that rode through the parklands last year when we came across an eastern brown slithering across the path. funny thing was - i was the last rider and, only the rider immediately in front of me and i were the only ones who saw it slithering into the bush.
wonder what the other 4 guys see (or didn't see??) as i'm quite sure they would've been almost directly over it?
Kangaroos are by far the biggest worry - they are everywhere, at Prospect Dam, even along the Canal too. Bits of broken up concrete are also a problem, the pathway is crumbling in places and there are bits of concrete that are broken off and sitting on the path, you could crash easily on those. I stop and throw them off the pathway as far as possible.

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby JPB » Sat Sep 22, 2018 9:41 pm

Maybe 8 to 10 years ago the kids and I used to ride from Prospect Reservoir to Sherwood Rd to visit my mum at her retirement village. It was fantastic.

I rode down there a couple of months ago and it's condition has noticeably deteriorated which is sad as it is very family friendly and safe.

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby kaniSS » Mon Sep 24, 2018 9:42 am

Well what a wonderful ride it turned out to be on Saturday. Told the wife I'll be out for an hour, came back 5 hours later. lol. (Left the Gopro at home, told myself its just a discovery ride)

I decided to go further from the water treatment plant this time and ended up at Western Sydney Parklands. My mission was to see if I can find some offtrack trails and I succeeded.

I've never been riding in this area so you all probably know the area really well but for me it was a discovery mission...

I went to the Dairy Western Park, and rode up Cotswold Road, and found the entry to a semi decent track that lead to Sugarloaf Ridge lookout. Boy did I have some fun up there. The GT ate the dirt up. So much fun, loved every minute of it. ( I was regretting leaving the Gopro home right about now)

On the way back, I went back through Prospect reservoir only to get to the family picnic area to find the gates locked at 5pm and a Ranger telling me to go back, the bastard wouldn't unlock to let me through.

After this weekend, the forks will be upgraded ASAP!!! so the search begins !!! lol.

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby g-boaf » Tue Oct 30, 2018 8:50 pm

kaniSS wrote:Well what a wonderful ride it turned out to be on Saturday. Told the wife I'll be out for an hour, came back 5 hours later. lol. (Left the Gopro at home, told myself its just a discovery ride)

I decided to go further from the water treatment plant this time and ended up at Western Sydney Parklands. My mission was to see if I can find some offtrack trails and I succeeded.

I've never been riding in this area so you all probably know the area really well but for me it was a discovery mission...

I went to the Dairy Western Park, and rode up Cotswold Road, and found the entry to a semi decent track that lead to Sugarloaf Ridge lookout. Boy did I have some fun up there. The GT ate the dirt up. So much fun, loved every minute of it. ( I was regretting leaving the Gopro home right about now)

On the way back, I went back through Prospect reservoir only to get to the family picnic area to find the gates locked at 5pm and a Ranger telling me to go back, the bastard wouldn't unlock to let me through.

After this weekend, the forks will be upgraded ASAP!!! so the search begins !!! lol.
Those gates at Prospect should be open till around 6-6:30pm now. The turn 90º corner up near Chandos Rd with all the gravel and stones across it is a bit cleaner now - I swept a lot of the gravel and stones off the path.

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby g-boaf » Fri Nov 02, 2018 9:38 pm

Watch out on the canal cycleway at this location:

https://goo.gl/maps/eFbCPq32v8p

The path has raised up around the drain cover by a good 30cm or more due to the hot weather today - it is very dangerous.

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby Hergest » Sat Nov 03, 2018 11:33 am

g-boaf wrote:Watch out on the canal cycleway at this location:

https://goo.gl/maps/eFbCPq32v8p

The path has raised up around the drain cover by a good 30cm or more due to the hot weather today - it is very dangerous.
I had to ride to Wetherill Park yesterday at 12.30 and back at 2 so was in the stinky hot time. That manhole cover looked like a well as you approached it as the path had raised so much.

Back to normal this morning. The path either end of where it drops down into the old channel around Gipps Road has started rising in the heat earlier this year and so gives a sharp peak to ride over. It wouldn't surprise me if it breaks up this summer and needs rectification. A lot of that path could do with a makeover.
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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby g-boaf » Sat Nov 03, 2018 8:26 pm

Hergest wrote:
g-boaf wrote:Watch out on the canal cycleway at this location:

https://goo.gl/maps/eFbCPq32v8p

The path has raised up around the drain cover by a good 30cm or more due to the hot weather today - it is very dangerous.
I had to ride to Wetherill Park yesterday at 12.30 and back at 2 so was in the stinky hot time. That manhole cover looked like a well as you approached it as the path had raised so much.

Back to normal this morning. The path either end of where it drops down into the old channel around Gipps Road has started rising in the heat earlier this year and so gives a sharp peak to ride over. It wouldn't surprise me if it breaks up this summer and needs rectification. A lot of that path could do with a makeover.
Actually now even worse dangers, brown snakes. Saw two of them this afternoon.

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby g-boaf » Fri Nov 16, 2018 10:15 am

There is a campaign to get the bridge between the canal cycleway and Prospect Dam cycleway built.

Canal Reserve Action Group is pushing for this with a lot of signs in the area and lobbying.

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby tez001 » Fri Nov 16, 2018 1:34 pm

g-boaf wrote:There is a campaign to get the bridge between the canal cycleway and Prospect Dam cycleway built.

Canal Reserve Action Group is pushing for this with a lot of signs in the area and lobbying.
Think it would be better to fix up the path before spending money on building a bridge.

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby g-boaf » Fri Nov 16, 2018 2:35 pm

tez001 wrote:
g-boaf wrote:There is a campaign to get the bridge between the canal cycleway and Prospect Dam cycleway built.

Canal Reserve Action Group is pushing for this with a lot of signs in the area and lobbying.
Think it would be better to fix up the path before spending money on building a bridge.
The path is usable - the lights and crossing are hopeless. Little wonder most people don't wait for the green, they don't want to wait five minutes for the lights to change. The timing on the lights changed some time back and now they are far too slow.

The group has reportedly already got a confirmation that the bridge will be built - depending on the outcome of the next state election.

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby Hergest » Fri Nov 16, 2018 3:21 pm

tez001 wrote:
g-boaf wrote:There is a campaign to get the bridge between the canal cycleway and Prospect Dam cycleway built.

Canal Reserve Action Group is pushing for this with a lot of signs in the area and lobbying.
Think it would be better to fix up the path before spending money on building a bridge.
I'm with Chris on this, the path is perfectly rideable while the bridge is of paramount importance. The crossing of Reconciliation Road is horrible and should never have been done like it was in the first place. It's a truly awful bit of road design with the blind bend down the hill so you can't see if anything is coming or is going to jump the lights and the difficulty trucks have stopping coming down the hill from Prospect.
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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby g-boaf » Mon Nov 26, 2018 10:23 pm

Watch out up near the top of Prospect Dam (just before the bridge) - I've seen a brown snake a few times up there. It was there today, maybe about 1m long, with head raised as I was coming towards it.

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Re: Greystanes canal / western sydney regional park hazards

Postby caneye » Fri Nov 30, 2018 9:54 am

g-boaf wrote:Watch out up near the top of Prospect Dam (just before the bridge) - I've seen a brown snake a few times up there. It was there today, maybe about 1m long, with head raised as I was coming towards it.
is this next to the gates and filtration facilities?

was there last sunday with the family. will be good to know cos we had a short break here (being at the top of the small hill).

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