Starting from the Walka Water Works car park at the end of South Willards Lane, Oakhampton Heights, this walk takes you on a circuit around Walka Lake via the Lake Trail. This short and easy loop winds its way around the Walka Lake in the Walka Recreation and Wildlife Reserve, offering excellent views of the lake and good opportunities for observing the area's diverse birdlife, with a lovely spot for a picnic or barbeque at the end. The reserve covers 112 hectares of park and bushland surrounding Walka Water Works, a 19th-century heritage-listed pumping station, with the former water reservoir still visible today as the Walka Lake. The historic pumping station, built in the late 1800s to provide a permanent water supply for Newcastle, is one of the best preserved 19th-century industrial complexes in the Hunter Valley, featuring a towering chimney and ornate brickwork. Nowadays, Walka Water Works is a popular recreation reserve for the Maitland community, with picnic areas, gas barbeques, a playground and a mini train track running along the lake's edge, as well as several well-maintained walking and cycling trails. The reserve is also home to a large population of wild kangaroos, as well as over 140 species of birds. This loop consists of wide, mostly flat shared-use tracks with compacted natural surfaces and gravel surfaces. Suitable for all ages and fitness levels, as well as prams. Let us begin by acknowledging the Wonnarua people, Traditional Custodians of the land on which we travel today, and pay our respects to their Elders past and present.