Unforgettable experience in Heathcote!!! A week ago, I noticed a lack of hikes listed online, so I decided to lead a hike for the first time. I had originally planned to hike the Cliff Top Track in the Blue Mountains, but that’s a 20km hike, and I worried I wouldn’t be able to keep everyone safe and healthy, so I opted for today’s hike. This trail…
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.
The Overland Track is a bit of a “choose your own adventure”. You can stay in huts or camp, catch the ferry at the end or walk the length of the lake, take the many sidetrips atop summits or to pristine alpine lakes. The self-proclaimed “Overland Track Cancelled Gang” left following walkers a bible verse that I think sums up our experience or indeed any Overland Track experience fairly well. “In his…
As a 90% J-leader, I could not wait to share this unforgettable trip with you all. We gathered at 12:00 pm at Marine Pde, opposite Bond St, ready to set off on the iconic coastal walk. A few participants were delayed by public transport, but thankfully everyone kept us updated in the group chat. The funniest…
This hike was an out and back section of the Royal Coastal Track in the Royal National Park, passing through the Wedding Cake Rock, Marley Beach, Little Marley Beach, Wattamolla Beach and ultimately, Eagle Rock. The hike took us about 7 hours to complete and the group walked a total of 31 kilometres that day. The day…
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…
Afternoon walk: Kamay NP La Perouse, and maybe see Mercury, Fri 4th July 2025 There’s lots of photos for this walk, including 8 by Alice (labelled, thank you Alice), so enjoy. Most of us met up at the “Light Rail” stop next to Central Station for the trip to Kingsford Juniors then bus to La Perouse. Because the…
Brooklyn Area walk (part of Great North Walk) Sunday 8/6/25. Because of the looming exam period, I made this a (mainly) afternoon walk so as not to use up too much of students’ study time; just enough of a break to relieve the stress. So we met up at Hawkesbury River Station at just 5 minutes before midday after a one hour train trip from Central (and 20 minutes for me coming from the north). On arriving…
![The Castle trip [Round 2]](https://www.subw.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IMG_7759-1080x675.jpg)
Round 2 of conquering The Castle finally gained success after a failed round 1, where we were unable to recruit a driver. The date was changed to the weekend right before the National Park’s early closure of the summit track. Being the final weekend in 6 months to access this track summoned large groups of bushwalkers, and even a few commercial tour groups. It’s unfortunate…
On the 17th March 2025, an email titled “Sydney Uni Bushwalkers Collab??” was sent to our rivals down south, Melbourne University Mountaineering Club (MUMC). The back and forth that ensued manifested in an awesome 3 day walk through Wilsons Promontory down in Victoria that saw 5 from SUBW and 5 from MUMC head through “the prom” down to the southernmost point of mainland Australia. We each…
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…
For the first time in nearly 12 months, SUBW returned to Kosciuszko NP to spend our midsem break away from the assignments we should be doing and the lectures we should be catching up on. The initial plan was that we would camp at Mt Twynam on night 1, take a side trip to Mt Sentinel on day 2 and camp at Mt Tate that night, before returning to the cars and camp at Island Bend for night 3. Just about…
A 4-day, 3-night road trip around Gariwerd (Grampians) National Park in western Victoria, 3 hours west of Melbourne. Gariwerd is the Aboriginal name of the national park, comprising gar meaning nose, and werd meaning shoulder. The group arrived in Melbourne the day before, spending a day exploring the city or doing some remote work, followed by a pre-trip dinner and dessert run. At roughly…
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…
Taronga (Athol Wharf) to Chinamans Beach 15th March (The Ides of March) 2025. This walk replaced one originally planned to go to Patonga near Woy Woy, but changed because of expected hot weather. It turned out to be a wise choice as the temperature on the mostly unshaded track at Patonga reached 33 degrees C in the day. It was…
There is a storied history of nude bushwalking in the SUBW, which is part of a broader tradition in which cultural figures such as Percy Grainger and conservationists like Myles Dunphy were among the best known participants. In recent decades there has been renewed interest in the practice, especially where it involves skinny dipping in wild places. SUBW’s nude…
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…
Helensburgh-Burning Palms-Figure 8-Otford Walk 2/3/2025 This walk had some interesting turnarounds: weather being the opposite of what was forecast, a previously easy track now getting overgrown, leeches spooking some people, and myself forgetting to bring something important. Read on….