Sublime Point walk now open to public

By Mario Christodoulou
Updated November 5 2012 - 7:41pm, first published February 19 2009 - 10:37am
Ted Booth, one of the first walkers on the reopened Sublime Point track yesterday. Picture: KIRK GILMOUR
Ted Booth, one of the first walkers on the reopened Sublime Point track yesterday. Picture: KIRK GILMOUR

It was closed for six years but finally the lofty Sublime Point bushwalking trail has been reopened to the public.Boasting one of the most spectacular views across the Illawarra, the 800m high trail above Austinmer has been closed to the public since 2003 after geotechnical engineers deemed the area unsafe.Natural erosion over 200 million years resulted in a situation where the heavy sandstone on top of the escarpment was being undermined by weaker clay stone underneath, which erodes rapidly.The situation made the whole area prone to slippage, leading to its closure.The restoration effort made for one of the most difficult track maintenance operations undertaken by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.Fifty tonnes of loose rock was removed in the operation which also involved the installation of nine custom-made steel ladders which where flown in by helicopter.The project suffered from a number of delays owing to wet and windy weather.South Coast Bushwalking Club training officer Ted Booth was one of the first to use the track, yesterday. "It is an amazing part of what hopefully will be the lengthy walk from Otford to Mt Kembla," he saidA spokeswoman from the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change said the track was one of the most popular in the Illawarra.The steep walk will take about 50 minutes from the the top of Asquith St, Austinmer to Sublime Point and back.

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