We’ve been planning to do this canyon for a while and every weekend, bad rain forecasts push things away. We’ve got Aidan and his friends (Noah and Jayden), me Vincent Adam, and Murray our beginner looking to try out the more technical canyons. The main challenge with organising a trip down this canyon is the climbing exit, needing someone to lead climb and someone to lead belay. On Friday…
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…
Claustral Canyon is often recognised as the best canyon in Australia, known for its sheer beauty through its numerous sections. While it’s not technically difficult, all abseils are short, and none of the scrambles would go out of a seasoned bushwalker’s comfort level, the canyon sections are long and wayfinding can be tricky, meaning that it’s not for beginners. OzUltimate describes…
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…
Our first canyon in 2026 went to Whungee, one that we’ve been looking to try for quite a bit. It’s a scenic canyon with nice constrictions, swims and duck unders. Much of the difficulty comes from the fact that it’s a bit longer than other Mt Wilson canyons and is a full-day undertaking, and other than that, there’s nothing in the canyon that’s technical. Watch my…
I am yet to head off to Mt Wilson without an array of goodies from the German bakery in Wentworth Falls and I am yet to not be in there while SUBW canyoners are looking for me, I suppose being such an important part of a canyoning trip, this marks the start of the trip and thus its inclusion in this trip report. Sorry all…
Attendees Abseiling and camping Ashley Burke Kejia (Villa) Zhou Allison Xu Fabian Hugel Shriya Salligram Shuren (Cherry) Wang Ryan Clarke Isabel Noakes Fangyi (Julie) He Camping Only Paul Moulston Neha Moulston Grace Huang Hugo Marchant Yupeng (Harry) Lu Junee Lee Turned up Independently Jo Boyd Joe Brischetto Roger Lembit Robert Hynes Peggy Huang Stephen Zaman Julian and Zac Zaman (children) Photos Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18smAHR-IqwfW5t4k59DgW2qm9r4Bwe7G?usp=drive_link Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BnWqXVTaF/ Trip Report The Christmas Dinner Walk is an annual SUBW tradition dating back to the 1970s. I have…
A camp saved from the fate of cancellation, but revived to the passion of its participants Three of us, Brian (leader), Dixin and I, gathered at Central station for the 8:55AM train to Katoomba, where a shiny Mariyung D set picked up our group, heading for Katoomba. Ryan, who accidently boarded a wrong train, managed to catch up by boarding our train at Parramatta station. We arrived…
Day 1: Grand Canyon at night One day, I was scrolling through the commercial canyoning operators around Blue Mountains, and got this cool trip idea of doing Grand Canyon at night. The canyon is lined with glowworms, a spectacular sight that’s still easily accessible. With a group of 4, we parked at the start of Grand Canyon walking track, starting just after 8 pm. There was…
Another weekend of canyoning. We had some thunderstorm forecasts for the day, but were fortunately able to get a ~3hrs window of perfect sunny weather. With a bit of refining, we’ve got a group of 4 with one beginner (Seb Hastrop). We got to Wentworth Falls Station where Adam drove us to the trail head, saving about an hour of suburban road bash from Blackheath Station. Quick run…
Three of our committee members have decided to try out a short canyon on a quiet Monday morning. With some morning miscommunication, Vincent, our Walks Secretary, was on the train an hour early. He was found sitting in a train at Parramatta while I was still crossing Parramatta Rd at Homebush to get to my bus stop. Vincent’s train…
The President’s Bludge Trip first began as a club tradition in 1974 when a party of 6 led by then-president Steve Williamson ventured down to the Kowmung River to enjoy a bludge along its pristine grassy flats. 51 years later, and the October long weekend still sees a party of SUBWians make the annual pilgrimage for a most relaxing escape filled with jaffles, formal attire, wild west show verses, and campfire games that put lobotomies to shame. For the…
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.
Mt Victoria-Mt York & historic roads; Saturday 16th August 2025. The weekend of this walk was the first dry weekend for many weeks, enabling a chance at last to get out in the bush. I’m sure that the international students are wondering what is going on; it’s not “sunny New South wales”, it’s “saturated New South Wales”. And August…
The Six Foot Track, as the name suggests, spans approximately 46 km from Katoomba to Banda Bush Camp in the Blue Mountains. Our group chose to walk a 12 km out-and-back section from Megalong Cemetery to Bowtells Swing Bridge above Cox’s River. Most of the group members met up at Central Station, arriving on time for the 8:55 am train. After a…
Lost World lookout is a relatively unknown unfenced lookout in Springwood with a pretty good view of Glenbrook Creek and even the city skyline. If it were not for its distinctive cross commemorating Rev. Raymer (who died in 1953 not at the lookout but rather in Wollongong), it would be indistinguishable from any other nearby cliff edge. I had…
Katoomba to Leura via Prince Henry Cliff track. Sunday 4/5 (“May the Fourth be with you!”). The travel arrangements for this walk were different to a “normal” Blue Mountains walk, as trackwork required Blue Mountains trains to start at Blacktown Station. This needed the group to catch suburban trains to Blacktown, with a 20 minute wait for the train to Katoomba. Some people…
Freshers Trip is a SUBW tradition enshrined in the constitution. As with the PBT, running the Freshers Trip forms part of the official duties of the committee. The idea is to give new members of the club an introduction into overnight bushwalking so that they can venture into many of the more difficult multiday walks that require previous experience. This particular…
For many many months, bushwalkers have mourned the temporary closure of Ruined Castle. The days of crying ourselves to sleep after viewing the NPWS alerts page are no more. Ruined Castle is back open, and what better way to celebrate than climbing it at sunset? So, from Katoomba station at 11:11am, our party of 11 set off bound for the newly reopened track. We began…
One of the best-loved bush adventures near Sydney is a lilo drift down the Wollangambe River. On hot summer weekends the gorge is full of groups paddling pool toys down the river between the sandstone cliffs, jumping from rock ledges, or giggling as they drag unicorns and flamingos between boulders into the next long pool. But all…