Umina – Patonga

Umina – Patonga

We all met up at Woy Woy Station and then proceeded in Matthew’s car and my car for the 15 minute trip to the south end of Umina Beach. At the parking spot we were greeted by a male Bush Turkey. As it was becoming a nice day there were already plenty of people at the beach. Then it…

Hobnail Canyon

Hobnail Canyon

We met at Richmond McDonalds just after 6:30am. Clint arrived after me followed by Mani who recognised me from the usual canyon attire I was wearing of thermals that had holes everywhere on them from the amount of off track walking on canyon trips. Saskia and Tony came with Meridy. We carpooled…

Gorge Exploration – Illawarra and Kangaroo Valley

Gorge Exploration – Illawarra and Kangaroo Valley

This trip was fruitful, with two routes being confirmed as worthwhile, multi-pitch gorge routes with nice waterfalls and refreshing pools to swim in. No-one else signed up so I shortened it to two days. On Monday morning I checked out an old track near Hindmarsh Lookout at Belmore Falls. The track…

Blue Drum Creek

Blue Drum Creek

This was the 2nd attempt for Saul and I, as we tried this in Feb but baulked at crossing a very dodgy looking gap on an exposed and sloping ledge. My main memories of that first attempt were the panic at the thought of crossing that chasm, and the relentless scratchy ti tree and banksia scrub on the ridge out from the road. As it…

Día de Muertos

Día de Muertos

Forget Halloween – this trip was SUBW with culture! This year we were keen to abandon Halloween and instead celebrate the Mexican celebration of Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) near a bush cemetery and when the opportunity arose we jumped in. After a few last-minute drop-outs four of us headed to the Blue Mountains to enjoy a relaxing weekend of hiking and camping. It was…

Loftus to Heathcote

Loftus to Heathcote

Because the weather was forecast to be a slightly unseasonable 19 Degrees and fine, I decided it was a good chance to go for a walk in the Royal National Park’s interior before summer really set in and it becomes a bot too hot for walking on the tracks which are not near the coast. 12 others…

Corker Trail to Wombat Creek

Corker Trail to Wombat Creek

(Not sure if this wins any records for the most belated trip report (!), but I thought I’d write it up anyway). The plan was to head up the Corker Trail in Barrington Tops National Park, neither of us having been there before, and check out the area. Planning was somewhat belated to say the least – (a few days before), and without finding much information online, it was a matter of a couple of phone calls sharing what information we both could find, then seeing how we went on what was a relatively simple route as far as could be ascertained. We met…

SUBW 70th Anniversary Dinner

SUBW 70th Anniversary Dinner

There were more long lost friends from the moment I walked inside, old acquaintances from the more than three decades out of the club’s seven that I have known, too many faces to mention. There was a familiar face from one decade or another whenever I turned my head. It was fitting and necessary, therefore, that the first 30 minutes or more of the SUBW 70th Anniversary Dinner were set aside for mingling, to allow for reunions of those who had not met for years, and to allow time to say G’day to old mates from past campfires. At the…

Mt Royal

Mt Royal

After meeting up at Woy Woy Station we set off for the run to Singleton via the M1 and Hunter Expressway. After a stop at Singleton Maccas for a quick lunch we then proceeded along the road to Mt Royal NP which skirts Lake St Clair on the left. The dirt section road appears to have been improved since the last time I was there 10 years ago as the deep ruts have been removed. We drove…

Packrafting Shoalhaven Gorge

Packrafting Shoalhaven Gorge

After dropping a car at Badgerys Lookout near Tallong in the Southern Highlands, we walked down the well-made track from Long Point Lookout. This drops about 400m into the Shoalhaven Gorge, with spectacular views up and down the river, and brought us to the river around 11.00. The river…