We had two birthdays to celebrate and the nice grassy flat on the Nattai River at the bottom of Starlights Trail seemed a good venue.
So we met at the bakery at Hilltop and then set out along the Wattle Ridge Road to Nattai National Park. At the carpark, we shouldered our packs and set off along the track. The first part of this is a fire road, but you soon leave this and head down into the valley. A short way down, we left our packs and walked out to a nearby lookout which provided good views of the Nattai Valley and Mt Jellore.
The track slowly descends into the valley. Its easy going – and the track was probably made to take cattle in and out of the valley. Whether it was actually used by the bushranger and cattle duffer Captain Starlight seems to be doubtful. As an aside – I can recall old Mr Tindale of Myrtle Creek property in Widden Valley saying (sometime back in the 1970’s) he had actually met Captain Starlight when he was very young. He was regarded as a “Gentleman Bushranger”. According to Wikipedia, Captain Starlight, the bushranger character from Rolf Bolderwood’s “Robbery Under Arms” is largely modelled off Henry Readford who originally came from the Cudgegong District near Widden.
We soon arrived at the campsite, and it was much like I remembered – a large grassy area. But the nearby Nattai River had changed. Floods two years earlier had carved out a large billabong and the whole river flat was covered in debris – boulders and smashed trees.
Towering above are the bluffs of Ahearns Lookout.
This lookout is a memorial to Leon Ahearn, an early ranger at Nattai National Park who died in 1985. More information about him can be found in the discussion here.
A cool evening was forecast, so we collected a large amount of firewood and soon and a nice fire going. That evening, we enjoyed fine food and wines and had a very pleasant evening.
For those camping at the bottom of Starlights Trail, the creek that the tracks crosses near the Nattai River is often dry, and the Nattai River is polluted. But good drinking water can be obtained from Troy Creek a short way downstream. Just below Troy Creek is Emmet Flat and the site of Emmet’s hut. An old stove can be seen here –
Next morning, after a lazy start, we departed in the early afternoon and walked out the same way – via Starlights Trail back to the cars.
More photos from this very pleasant weekend in the bush are online here.
Think you’ll find the Ahearn name goes back a lot further. The Ahearns arrived in 1838 and became one of the pioneering families of the area as far as Bathurst. John and Margaret arrived with 4 children then had more. They were farmers but also mailman blacksmith hairdresser seamstress and many other occupations
Hi Vickie, do you know if this Ahearn family was related to Murtagh Ahearn or his four brothers who were sent to Australia from Ireland as convicts in 1801 on the ship Atlas? you can contact me privately on [email protected]
Murtagh Ahearn (Convict) actually arrived 6 Jul 1802, Sydney, Ship “Atlas” –
Murder, Irish rebel “Vinegar Uprising”
Hi there. I hiked down Troys Creek Trail yesterday and came up Starlight Trail today. I had trouble finding the camping area so pitched on the bank of the Nattai River.
Realised this morning I was very close to the camping area but it is overgrown now and looks more like a fern glade! Bears little resemblance to your photos
Had some trouble picking up the start of the Starlight Trail.
Both trails have many burnt trees which have fallen across the trail. A great deal of scrambling needs to be done!
5 June 2020
Hi Larry. We were going to go camping there next weekend. Would you still recommend it for an overnight camp? How was the spot where you pitched?
I went down there last weekend. Lots of downed, burnt-out trees, as Larry says, which made it hard-going with my 6yo daughter!
We camped just back from the firepit shown in the photos in a little clearing, but it was very overgrown and damp – but that gave the advantage of all tents being very spread out, rather than being on top of each other and we ended up having the fire pit to ourselves, as most made a fire close to their tent. Starlights is hard to pick up coming out, but follow the purple dots / orange tapes on the trees and you’ll be good.
Still a lovely and quiet spot for an overnighter. Glad we went.