MacMasters Beach – Kilcare

MacMasters Beach – Kilcare

Again, very good luck with the weather, with a near cloudless sky and warm weather. Most of us met up at Woy Woy Station, with myself and Victoria meeting people off the 9.25am train. Unfortunately Cathy’s group coming up from Sydney in her car were running late, not reaching the station to 10am. Apparently she…

Serendipity and Water Dragon Canyons

Serendipity and Water Dragon Canyons

Ron and I to be were joined by two more, then four more, then ultimately nobody as the weather came and went through the week — but the fog lifted to blue skies as we dropped by the Mt Wilson campsite to say hello to Tony’s group before deciding on Serendipity and Water Dragon canyons. I don’t…

Umina – Patonga

Umina – Patonga

Before I start the walk report, a reminder that if you intend to visit the Royal Easter Show at Olympic Park this year (6-19 April), go to the wool pavilion where there are stalls selling woolen socks for about $8 a pair. These socks are really good for bushwalking in both summer and winter. Woolen socks…

Packrafting Blockup Gorge

Packrafting Blockup Gorge

Packrafting is a great alternative when there has been too much rain for safe canyoning. We chose to do the 16km stretch of the Shoalhaven between Great Horseshoe Bend and Bungonia Creek because we did not have time to do the classic Colo Gorge trip, which really needs two days, and we were after ‘bushwalking on water’ rather than adrenalin-filled whitewater, which can be found closer to Sydney. This section…

Macquarie Rivulet Canyon

Macquarie Rivulet Canyon

This was the reward for the old hands who helped with the beginners trip through the lower section of Macquarie Rivulet the day before. A couple of other members did the top section of Macquarie Rivulet a while ago and found it disappointing, but it comes into its own when there is a lot of water coming down, with a series of long abseils through big, crystal waterfalls. We parked…

Manly – Clontarf – Taronga Zoo Wharf

Manly – Clontarf – Taronga Zoo Wharf

AS you can see, bigger than Ben Hur, showing that there is a strong demand at present for day walks. Most of us met up at Circular Quay for the Manly Ferry, trying to keep together which is not easy given a ferry holds 1100 passengers. At Manly, Manon and Rebecca (who live locally) were waiting for us, but Cathy thought she had got off behind us instead of actually being ahead, and took off up The Corso trying to find us. A phone…

Beginners Canyoning: Macquarie Rivulet Lower (Tourist) Section

Beginners Canyoning: Macquarie Rivulet Lower (Tourist) Section

This is the second year we have held this trip. This is the ideal spot to learn basic canyoning skills, as two of the old hands who had not been here before immediately agreed. We had five old hands, six absolute beginners and five in-between on this trip, which proved a good ratio. We met…

Horseshoe and Geronimo canyons

Horseshoe and Geronimo canyons

The drive to the mountains was mixed: three people pulled out and the good coffee place in Richmond definitely isn’t open on Sundays anymore, but on the upside it wasn’t raining for the first time in two weeks. We left the Mt Wilson fire shed around 9am, finding the ‘gambe running swiftly but not perceptibly any higher than any other time we could remember. We climbed…

Leura to Katoomba new member walk

Leura to Katoomba new member walk

As you can see, a good turnout for this walk on what was a fairly cloudy day with occasional showers. Most of us met up at Central Station, and we were able to mainly sit in two groups with nobody standing. John got on at Penrith and we continued on up the Mountains until Leura. There was…

Splendour Rock

I write this trip report mostly to confess to a major stuffup for young members of the club to note. Seven walkers signed up at the start of the week, but after 2 illnesses and 2 complete smokebombs (possibly influenced by the forecast but it would still be nice to let me know), 3 of us met at Parramatta at 7am. In the…