I am probably the wrong person to write this trip report, the wrong person to write trip reports in general. I feel like they require capabilities of scientific observation that I do not have. Nevertheless, someone has to do them. I will begin by stating a fact that should be obvious, but that some reports generate less awareness of. I am…
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…