I normally dont write trip report but this trip deserves one đ (I will use point form coz my English is bad) BLUF: Good weather, Good View, Good Glowworms, Good Waterfall, Good Food, Good Beer, Good People, Good Vibe Fun trip – Weather is wild in Sydney (Hail, Thunderstorm, Flood etc), surprisingly, not in Blackheath nor Hazelbrook. Lucky us….
The Twister & Rocky Creek canyons are two absolutely beautiful canyons that make for a perfect day trip from Sydney. Both canyons are ideal for first-time canyoners who have previous bushwalking experience. The two canyons consisted of somewhat steep drops into water and sliding down rockface. Our initial…
Three of us decided to do Yileen on a Friday, ticking off the box. It’s been rainy forecasts through the entire week and luckily we’ve got a nice gap of clear weather on Fri morning to get this done (plus Yileen being a relatively dry canyon). The name Yileen is an Aboriginal word meaning “dream”, “to dream” or “a dream”. We drove…
Slide nights are a longstanding SUBW tradition where club members share pictures of their adventures. This usually takes place in a lecture theatre, which, like your average lectures, can be fairly boring. Games in lectures have become a big culture in my class- Minecraft, Genshin Impact, Clash Royale, Soul Knight, the Tetris group battles in our physics tutorials, and those iPad kids with flight simulators and silly games scattered across the lecture hall. Our lectures start with a sign-in QR code, which we take a picture and send to 5 different group chats and 20 different friends, then the whispers for a gaming session start. We don’t go to uni for knowledge, but for vibes and tea. While I’m proud of our lecture gaming culture in my class, you’d certainly want a captivating audience for a meaningful slide night. This is when the idea comes in, to give this year-long tradition a modern twist. Modern problems require modern solutions, and the best one is to move it to a campground with barely any mobile reception, and everyone having nothing to do but to be a captivating audience. I got all the slides loaded onto my iPad, which only weighs roughly 500g and is perfect for ultralight camping, before hopping on the morning train towards Katoomba.
Walk started at Woodford Station after a relaxing train ride from Central. Group met Jessie at the station with Anh. Walked up the Great Western Freeway and into Woodbury Street and then into Waroona Avenue to get to the Transit of Venus track. Group explored three waterfalls on a walk that is known as one of the oldest walks in the Blue Mountains. Group tried…
This was my first time co-leading with Aidan in a refresher trip. This year, we were going to the Jenolan river through Breakfast creek. Some of us camped at Dunphy’s campground the day before. Although it was a lively night with earsplitting laughter from one of the other groups, we were able to enjoy the beautiful sky and saw some shooting stars before heading off to bed. The morning…
We set off for long gully campground just after 7:30am from the Bhundoo Bush Cottages which was our basecamp for the budfest weekend. After a brief examination of the map to make sure we were on the correct track because the Byangee Walls track also departs in the same vicinity we set off. We slowly started gaining elevation of a few hundred metres on the Kalianna Ridge trail which then continues as the castle walking trail once it hits the cliffline. From here…
This trip was planned to give both experienced and novice bushwalkers a chance to get together and have share a great location and some good company. The Budawangs have lots of walking options ranging from the seriously strenuous Castle Walk to the more moderate but equally stunning Pigeonhouse Mountain track. Nestled between…
On Saturday 11 August 2018 I led a walk along the Kiama Coast Walk on the South Coast. Although not technically a difficult walk, it is 22km in its entirety. What I think makes it unique is itâs relatively âUn-Australianâ landscape (I hear cries of Maaate, that Un-Australian!) being more like scenery you might see on the Irish or English coastline. Itâs quite…
As you can see, a cast of thousands. I had overbooked like the airlines do, expecting a couple of people might drop out on the Saturday evening. As it turned out there was not a single “no show”! This walk was also on tracks often shunned by tourists, especially Federal Pass beyond the Scenic Railway, so there was little risk of causing a traffic jam on the more popular tracks. The Constellation…
What is it about the Red Rocks and eclipses? In just under 10 years from now weâll be heading to the Red Rocks for my total solar eclipse Red Rocks birthday party, and here we were late on a Friday night scrambling up Donkey Mountain to get ready for the longest total lunar eclipse for the next 100 or more years. Yes we…
The Southern Highlands contain some nice bushwalks of all grades, and can get you into some quite wild country, yet still close to civilization. One of my favourites is the Box Vale track just outside of Mittagong. It has a number of highlights along the way, with just enough challenge for beginners to get some experience without getting too epic. A total…
I was late putting this trip on the calendar so was pleasantly surprised to have Penny keen for a 2 night trip in the middle of winter and with only 3 daysâ notice! The forecast was for 10 degree days getting down to -1 at night with winds ranging from 20-40km/h. So we knew the trip would be a bit more challenging than normal. Walking along…
One of the coldest June days ensured we would stay moving for most of the day in order to keep warm as we explored the waterfalls south of Lawson. The day began with 4 of the 12 attendees not putting in an appearance or notifying me of their absence. Their loss. After a brief visit to the monthly market at Lawson and the renowned artisan bakery, the chocolate shop, and the cake shop, our group members were in a hurry to move to a more wind protected path. The descent…
Our latest trip to the Budawangs arose from Paulâs long held ambition to climb Donjon Mountain which guards the western end of Monolith Valley. He had unfortunately missed out on Tim and Jamesâ trip up the Mountain earlier in the year. We were also thinking about climbing Byangee Walls which we had been admiring from the top of The Castle on our previous trip. The Walls…
A very interesting trip with lots of unusual things to see: Kangaroos, sheep, a Black Chook, horses, bats, a steam loco, and something very rare: a steam-powered road traction engine. After gathering most of the team together at Central Station, we settled in for the long train ride to Mt Victoria, spotting the bat colony at Clyde on the way. On arrival…
Wow! There is no doubt this trip is one of the most popular SUBW trips of the year. I had 36 people sign up before I managed to mark the trip as full. You really canât take more than 20 at the absolute maximum and in the end it was 21 people including myself who presented. This yearâs…
With trackwork on the Blue Mountains Line that weekend, and a late arrival of cooler autumn weather, the time was good for a walk to Mt Wondabyne. We all met up off the train at Wondabyne Station, although one person very nearly missed out because she mis-interpreted “last” car to mean the lead car of the train. Fortunately it…
The plan was to get out to Kanangra and use a few days to get a good look at the place. Originally it was thought to head down Brumby Ridge, along the river and back up Gingra Range trail, however I was already doubtful of the use of a longish day just heading up Gingra Range trail, based on some advice and some comments online, so ended up heading out with an idea that we would more likely return via Hughes or Brumby Ridges instead. So with…
11 of the group met up at Cowan Station (9 off trains, and Nathalie and Matthias driving there). Meanwhile, I had been sending messages to Anja and Sofie who had missed the train at Central. Anja missed it by seconds, and Sofie had got on a bus which took her in the wrong direction. After several…