We all eventually met up at Woy Woy, with Frank missing the train after finding out the hard way that the North Shore Line is not the Newcastle Line, and Lauren also experiencing a delay beyond her control – a stuck lift. Still, the wait allowed Linh, Yumi and myself to get a coffee at Macca’s (the only café open in Woy Woy at that hour) and pick up a bottle of quality Port fro Saturday night. So we…
Been wanting to get to the Gangerang Plateau for ages. All indications were that the area around the base of Cloudmaker is a wonderful mess of open scrub between assorted hillocks, and (more to the point) several decent-sized caves which would have come in handy on a few trips when the weather rolled in during the thrash up Strongleg. Almost made…
The group can be bigger, sadly Phillipa and Linjing was called in sick couldn’t made to join our clew, 12 people for my first time leading trip is already a good challenge for me.As the plan set up we meet at Stratfield station no later than 9:20am waited for the 9:31 train, except for Louise, Pedro and Christian, who were coming from Central station. I had…
We all met up at Cowan Station just before 10am, after some concerns about trains being late due to an accident at Redfern (as it turned out only my train originating from Newcastle was late). So we lined up on the rail sidings for a group photo, and – disaster! I found that after just one photo my camera was out of juice! It appears that connecting it to the computer to download the photos of the Blackheath and Mt Vic walks had drained it. So no…
With the weather forecasting a fine but very cold day in the Blue Mountains, five of us set off from Central Railway, picking up Conrad at Blaxland on the way. Near Werrington I spotted what looked like reclining deer in the UWS campus there, and it turned out to be a mob of kangaroos trying to soak up some son on this freezing day. As the…
After a quick breakfast we headed off mid-morning for Acoustic (Sunnyside) Canyon, in the Gardens of Stone National Park. A short scrub bash to the canyon (photo Ian Lu) We left our vehicles at the end of a dirt track and headed off on foot for some light bush bashing down a hill until we reached some rocky outcrops leading to a long narrow slot providing access to the canyon. At the…
Upon deciding where to go and who will drive, Wolgan View Canyon was chosen, and everyone jumped into Josh-U-a’s (the wonderful canyon singer) ute. We all packed in — a couple in the car and a lot more in the ute tray. Scrambling down into the start of the canyon (photo Shaun Nielsen) It was quite a fun drive, listening to the hollering from the guys in the tray as we went over the bumps, potholes and through puddles of water. Meanwhile, Joshua…
Comments ranged from “it’s really not that cold, is it?” to “why don’t we always canyon in winter?” The canyons so far had made for a lovely day, but that’s not really the point of FreezeFest now is it? However, the setting of the sun on the Saturday evening brought about the change that had been predicted. The winds…
Fritz suggested River Caves, which was new to quite a few of us, so we all agreed on that one. We did lose a few to the warmth of the fire after a late lunch, but still had a decent crew of about ten. River Caves is a short but impressive canyon (photo Albert Chetcuti) Rather than a hellish hike out or a seemingly non-existant entry track, the drive to the trailhead proved to be the most challenging part of the canyon. Heavily rutted…
There were at least three of us who wanted to enjoy a nice weekend out at FreezeFest, but without dying of hypothermia. Luckily there were a number of dry canyons nearby. Sky suggested doing Tiger Snake and convinced Mon and Ulla to co-lead in no time. Mon performing a quick tire change on the drive in The idea was to drive out early Saturday morning and do Tiger Snake followed by the spectacularly-tight Crooked Crevice (Penrose Gully). “After a…
Towards to start of the walk we passed a campsite and before long we reached a small gully that marked the start of the canyon. Nice open forest before the start of the canyon (photo Albert Chetcuti) We walked through the first constriction of the canyon. It then…
Rocky Creek is notoriously chilly, even in summer, so it promised to offer a real temperature challenge. But on the plus side, there’s only jumps and slides in the two canyons, and no abseiling meant we could take a larger group and not be stuck shivering at the top of each drop. [caption id=”attachment_14903″…
It was a few days before FreezeFest when the weather forecast arrived: the chance of showers, falling as snow above 800m. Given we’d be camped at just over 1000m above sea level, I thought it was pretty exciting news. Not everyone saw it that way. A few emails started arriving, asking if we were still going ahead. “Of course”…
Although there was a possible forecast of cold weather or even snow earlier in the week, the day itself turned out to be a fine sunny day. After meeting up with most people at Central Railway, with Andres and Martin meeting us at Mt Victoria Station, we set out from Mt Vic along the unavoidable road bash to the start of Lawson’s Long Alley. This is…
I had a bad feeling no one would come to this trip . . . But it was not be. Helen Smith is studying a PhD in something to do with the bush. She learnt to unicycle a number of years ago and though she hadn’t ridden for quite a while she was willing to have crack at a pretty intense mountain bike track. So Helen,…
There may have been a deluge in Sydney that weekend, but further out it was only the occasional drizzle and haze, which made for some lovely, atmospheric walking. The party was coming to the campsite in three groups to suit everyone’s schedules- Dave, Tom, Albert, Peggy and myself met mid morning and took the usual path up the Blue Rocks. The fog…
My run of luck with good weather on recent walks held up again as I left home on saturday morning under a clear starry sky, despite the radar showing a rain cell sitting on inner Sydney. I met up with Anne at Central Station, and with one person calling in sick, and other with urgent family business, and unfortunately a couple of simply no-shows, we boarded the 8.18am train along with what seemed to be a coven of wicked witches heading to the Mid Winter Festival at Katoomba that day. At Strathfield…
The weather forecast wasn’t great. In fact, with each passing day conditions seemed to be getting worse. Predictions of clouds turned to showers which then became rain. So much for my inspired plan to admire the “supermoon” from the stunning surrounds of Wollangambe Crater! Despite deteriorating conditions we pressed on, setting off early on Saturday morning. We probably…
The June long weekend always means bushwalking to me. Sure, it’s my wife’s birthday, so I probably should spend it with her, but the thought of three days in the mountains breathing the crisp winter air is always too alluring. With Myles Dunphy’s classic sketch map of the Kowmung hanging on my study wall, I knew I wanted to explore a new section of this stunning wild river, but it wasn’t until a couple days out that I finally made up my mind. The section…
Having anxiously watched the weather development over the weekend, things were looking hopeful on saturday night when the radar showed an area of immunity to the rain around Katoomba and Lawson. Early on sunday morning it took an ominous development when the radar showed heavy rain in the same area. Still, we…