Riding with Ranger Chris

While on the Overland Track in Tasmania we had the great fortune of meeting a wonderful couple, Chris and Kathleen. Over the course of three evenings chatting with them we learned that they live in Sydney and both are senior rangers with the National Park Service. Chris graciously invited us on a tour of his parks when we were in town, and last weekend we took him up on his offer.

Chris is a senior ranger in charge of overseeing two parks just outside of Sydney, Garigal and Ku-ring-gai Chase. We hopped in his 4WD and went along as he did a patrol of the territory. First stop was to check on the water tank level (95% full) and to make sure that the local transient wasn't camping out illicitly in the bushes (he wasn't). Chris then took us on a short walk to an overlook where we saw his favorite tree growing from the side of a cliff face. It is truly a spectacular gum tree, spilling its roots around the cracks in the rocks


Another fascinating area was a wide expanse of tesselated rock where aboriginal carvings have been found in the shapes of animals, people, and possibly spiritual figures. Just beyond the carvings Chris took us to a hidden cave in the sandstone that was likely used by ancient people as a gathering place.

We stopped for tea at the ranger cabin in a lovely beach picnic area where we got to meet several members of his team. There were wallabies everywhere, as common as we'd see squirrels back home. We were even fortunate enough to see several kookaburras and a white faced heron.


The highlight of the trip was when we drove over to one of the most exclusive addresses in greater Sydney: Barrenjoey. At the tip of a delicate sandspit lies a small corner of the Ku-ring-gai Chase Park, containing the Barrenjoey Lighthouse. Since we were American VIPs, or at least we were jokingly introduced as such, we were allowed to accompany Chris inside the lighthouse and see the breathtaking view from the top. It was amazing to see surfers riding the waves of the Pacific on one side of the spit, and sailboats in calm sheltered water a couple hundred meters away.


Steve and I had a great day touring the parks and appreciated the opportunity to see these beautiful places so close to a major metropolitan area. Sydneysiders don't know how lucky they are to have gems such as these and the Blue Mountains in their backyard. We are looking forward to reuniting with Chris and Kathleen one more time before leaving Sydney to continue our travels in a couple of weeks.