Nine walkers met up at Penrith Station from where we organised a short car shuffle to the start of our walk on the east side of Yandhai Bridge. While it was cloudy & windy as we set off, it wasn't long before the sun broke through the clouds & we warmed up. Looking south-west as we crossed the bridge, we could see the M4 motorway bridge in the distance. Initially we had to do some street walking, partly because the path beside the Nepean River is still closed to the public following storm damage. Our 10th walker, who'd been delayed by transport issues, joined us on this section as we headed to Emu Plains & the historic St Paul's Anglican Church. In the cemetery there we found a memorial to Charles Flood Ryan, whose middle name was chosen because his mother had had to be evacuated to give birth to him during flooding on 27/04/1870. 
Heading off on the Yandhai Nepean crossing
St Pauls Anglican Church, Emu Plains
Charles Flood Ryan Memorial, Emu Plains Cemetry
A mixture of road walking & short tracks took us to Knapsack Reserve for morning tea. Following this break we continued to Knapsack Gully Bridge, a huge sandstone arch viaduct, designed & erected by John Whitton, the chief engineer for the colony of NSW around 1867. It was originally used to carry the Zig Zag Railway across the gully. We took in the view back to the city from here before a steep challenging climb up many stairs. We then made our way through a mixture of walking & cycling tracks in bushland, crossed the Great Western Motorway, & walked along the Tramway Route to our lunch spot at a rock platform. From a lookout just prior to this we'd seen a commuter train on the railway track well below us, as well as another city view. While having our well-earned rest & tucking into our food we noticed a number of tiny birds in the nearby trees. We wondered if they'd come looking for crumbs after we left.
Knapsack Gully Crossing
Lunch at Knapsack Reserve
It only took another 30 minutes to make our way to Glenbrook Station through a mixture of bush, tracks & roads that had a really varied selection of properties along them. Some were small & quaint, while others were much more modern & grand designs. We also admired some Fairy trees decorated with ribbons, beads & handmade decorations on the edge of the bush, before finding a bus shelter complete with a beautiful & colourful mural of Australian animals.
Detail from bus shelter mural
After an interesting discussion about tracks & wildflowers with some other walkers we encountered we descended the steps to the platform for a last group photo. 
Acacia terminalis Acacia ulicifolia Grevillea buxifolia Grevillea muconulata
Hakea gobbosa Hovea linearis Woody fruits of Hakea
After the short journey back to Penrith the majority of walkers opted to enjoy a hot drink before we reunited the car shuffle drivers with their cars.
Walkers: Wendy C & Hazel (leaders), Celia, Dae, Kas, Leah, Nick S, Polly, Pragati, Sue S
Words: Hazel
Photography: Sue S (1, 3, 5, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21) / Nick S (2), Hazel (3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14)