Searching for Lost Ruins on the Pipeline Trail | Engadine | Woronora River | The Needles

[00:00:02][music] [music] [music] [music] What started as one short hike would turn into four weekends of exploring the Waranora River and its surrounds.

[00:00:38]Initially intended as a transport route between Sydney and the Ilo, explorer Major Thomas Mitchell surveyed the crossing at the Needles in 1843.

[00:00:49]It quickly became a weekend retreat [music] and leisure spot for Sydney siders.

[00:00:54]Eventually, people began settling the banks of the river, building weekend shacks, boat sheds, and eventually houses. In the early 1900s, many estates would pop up along the river. In some cases, these would be returned to the national park in later years.

[00:01:15][music] >> [music] [music] [music] >> So today I'm in Angadine and I'm going down to check out some old ruins which are down near the Waronora River. Uh they're actually just down from a spot called the Needles. So I'm just walking now down Warora Road and just following it straight down.

[00:01:57]The weather is actually not too great.

[00:01:59]It's actually sprinkling as I'm filming this. So hopefully it holds off. It doesn't get worse. But it should only be 10 or 15 minute walk down here. So it's not a big hike, but it is steep. So, it might be a bit of a workout on the way back up.

[00:02:16]But anyway, sit back and enjoy and I'll see what I can find down here.

[00:02:26]So, there is a bit of a junction here and along the side of the pipe is a foot bridge, but I was expecting a road to be going off in this direction somewhere.

[00:02:36]Maybe it's further down.

[00:02:39]So, I'll keep going down here to have a quick look.

[00:03:00]So, looking for a fire trail heading off to the left, which is going to take us along the water line.

[00:03:07]It looks like there's a few entrances and a bigger one down here.

[00:03:13]So, I'm going to see what's down here.

[00:03:28][sighs and gasps] And this says Chick's Point or Cheeky Point. Chiggly Point.

[00:03:34][gasps] which apparently is where the guy that built all these ruins used to dock a boat.

[00:03:49]There's a bit of a rope ladder and some steel in here as well.

[00:04:08]It's starting to rain properly at the moment. I don't know if you can see on the water here, but aiming to get up just on the bank there and it shouldn't be too far. You can access this stairway from the road. I did see this when I walked past. Looks like some kind of electrical box or a pump station or something like that.

[00:04:27]It's got a solar panel on top, but I think the track keeps going down this way. So, we'll go see what we can find.

[00:04:38]There's actually a little stairway going down here. No handrail. A bit slippery, so put this down for a minute.

[00:05:29]and this thing's actually turning out to be a little bit difficult to find.

[00:05:37]I'm kind of backtracking along the top of the ridge here.

[00:05:46]But I'll go down here a bit further and I might jump up on the the next level up and see if I can find it.

[00:05:55]I stumbled across a makeshift camp. This would be the first of many in this section of the national park.

[00:06:06]Unfortunately, despite the sign, I was anything but happy. I hadn't found what I was looking for and the day was starting to get late.

[00:06:19]I'd continue walking along this ridge for a couple hundred meters before eventually turning back.

[00:06:29][music] [music] So, after about an hour walking around in circles through the bush and following different tracks, I have not found the remains [sighs] of the chimney or the house or anything like that. So, possibly was closer and I overshot it, but starting to get pretty dark now, even though the camera's not picking it up. And underneath the trees in there, it's nearly pitch black. So, the rain's setting in.

[00:07:13]I'm going to call it a day and head home from here.

[00:07:17]So, bit disappointing.

[00:07:21]There's not too much online in terms of directions. So, you're meant to be able to follow it for about 20 m and come across the ruins, but I had zero luck.

[00:07:31]So, I'll be back again to find it and go from there.

[00:07:46][music] So I'm back in Angadine just alongside the Horona River and I've been walking around in circles for the last 2 hours stumbled across some makeshift camps or huts in different sections of the forest and I still haven't come across this mythical chimney. So I want to keep walking and following the main trail and I'll keep dropping in on the ridge to see if I can locate it. But so far no luck. So, it's either overgrown or it's extremely difficult to find. But I'm not giving up just yet.

[00:08:32][music] [music] I did stumble across this wreckage of a car way up on the ridge line. So, I decided to go and have a closer look.

[00:08:50]I've got no clue what model of car this is. [music] So, if you recognize it, let me know in the comments what you think this is. It's definitely been here for quite a long time by the looks of it.

[00:09:06][music] >> [music] >> After a few hours of exploring the bush and reaching Angadine Lagoon, I decided to call it a day. I still hadn't found what I was looking for.

[00:09:34][music] >> [music] >> And the challenge is there's so many tracks going off the side. You can't tell if they're proper tracks or um just animal trails for wombats and kangaroos and things like that.

[00:10:03]says win wonder.

[00:10:08]I ended up checking online and this was part of the winnows wonder loop track in total 6.1 km and it would link me back near the needles.

[00:10:22]I followed this down a little bit hoping to see the river below, but ended up turning around.

[00:10:30]And that's Heath Coat Road down there.

[00:10:33]If you can see through the trees, you can probably hear it on the video as well. It's pretty loud.

[00:10:46]This basically cuts around a really steep bogggy section and it's sealed road. So, I'm going to follow this one here.

[00:11:01]At this point, I was basically just hiking the waterboard trail and following the pipeline track. I would eventually follow it up to Fern Tree Reserve and back down through Preston's Gully hitting Heath Coat Road.

[00:11:17]There's a lot of waterboard infrastructure which is currently in use, but apart from that, there wasn't too much else to see.

[00:11:33][music] >> [music] >> So, I'm back out again. This time I've crossed over to the other side of the needles and I'm just following some of the bush tracks along the side of the river. So, not much to see on this side to be honest. I thought there'd be a few more remains of houses or something like that, but I'll keep having a look around. There is some stonework and things like that just off to the side of the trail, but it looks like waterboard stuff, not necessarily a house. We'll have to have another look in a second.

[00:12:29]And there's a few rock walls and things like that scattered throughout the bush.

[00:12:33]Not sure if this was part of a driveway or part of a dwelling or something. It definitely stand out.

[00:12:58]And this one looks pretty substantial.

[00:13:11]I think this joins up to the main section of the road.

[00:13:17]So, I took my shoes and socks off and crossed over to the other side of the needles. So, across the Warino River, and I've seen online there was meant to be a few remains of some houses and things like that from a long time ago on this side. So, I'm just following one of the trails now, but I found a few things off to the left hand side.

[00:13:42]Nothing spectacular, but you can kind of see like remains of like a chimney or a fireplace or something like that. Um, and a few retaining walls.

[00:13:54]So, I'll keep on going. See where this takes me. You can see the foundations and the concrete here.

[00:14:01]Something some steel and rocks and things like that.

[00:14:27]>> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. N. [music] >> [music] >> So this trail basically comes to an end, but if you keep pushing through, that's when you start finding the houses and bits and pieces and some water tanks and all that kind of stuff. So, at some point, someone's tried to hide this a little bit with some broken branches, but you can follow it.

[00:15:18]So, I did manage to find some proper remains of houses or structures down here.

[00:15:26]And I think this is part of the old turtle road, T I R T O. But I'm not too sure. It's definitely a bush track now and then it kind of drops off onto a very faint trail, but if you just keep working your way along the river, you just keep finding slabs and bricks and that kind of thing. I did come across a cave with some belongings and things like that in there, toothpaste and all sorts of things. Uh I didn't want to touch it too much cuz didn't look the cleanest.

[00:16:01]And then sliding out of that cave, I basically roughed up the back of my legs from the sandstone, which was a bit sharp, but it's definitely an odd spot to um put your things. Like it was right up high, so I don't know if someone was living there at some point or they were just using it when they came down to the river. Who knows?

[00:16:22]Looked like it was part of a tent and a tarp and things like that. But it was pretty old. like it must have been there 10 years, 15 years, something like that at least, possibly longer.

[00:16:33]But overall, the cool explore on this side. Pretty good that I found [snorts] a few bits and pieces so it wasn't a complete waste of time. I don't think I found the exact lot of [sighs and gasps] ruins or remains of houses that I was looking for, but still interesting nonetheless.

[00:17:04]And I'm actually just on my way out heading back to the car. And I've kind [snorts] of found something off to the right hand side, which is more along the lines of what I was looking for. So, the one in particular I was trying to search for should have been up on the ridge. And most of the things I was finding was closer to the water or the riverside. But I'll show you this. I don't know what this was, but this is more in line with what I was expecting.

[00:17:29]So, I'm actually genuinely stoked to find this. And I'm going to make my way up the hillside to see this. So, I'll give you guys a quick look now. So, I don't know if you can see it through the trees. There's the remains of a wall.

[00:17:42]And it looks like there's another one through here as well. So, I'm going to bush bash my way through here.

[00:18:10]You got some bricks and foundations and things like that.

[00:18:20]Looks like could be stairs here.

[00:18:34]So this is [snorts] more like it.

[00:18:46][sighs] I don't know how old these are to be honest.

[00:18:54]So, the concrete looks pretty rough and I think it's got some lime mortar or something on there.

[00:19:15]And there is some indentation on this sandstone.

[00:19:23]But I can't for the life of me read it.

[00:19:31]So very cool.

[00:19:35][panting] That's an old piece of rust out metal. I don't know if that's capping or flashing. Possibly an old star post.

[00:19:51]>> [gasps] >> And then this is another fireplace.

[00:20:08]And that's what that steals off.

[00:20:15]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> So, finding our building has made the last few weeks almost worth it. And I stepped in the biggest thing of mud and nearly stacked it.

[00:20:54]Jeez. Like quicksand sunk right in there.

[00:21:04]I'm going to head back down, cross over the Needles Causeway, and get back to the car.

[00:21:11]So, I've already been out here for about 2 and a half, three hours, [snorts] and I nearly stacked it back there in that mud.

[00:21:21]But overall, definitely a cool explore.

[00:21:27][music] [music] >> [music] >> Thank you.