Palona Cave

We all meant at waterfall station with the confusion of the exact spot but it wasn’t long before we were gathered at the start of the track. We headed down along the uloola trail that takes you to waterfall oval and then cross the oval back back on the fire trail again and turn on our trail. It was…

Heathcote circuit

Initially 16 members joined, with 3 cancellation and 2 that never gave me a sign. It left one more that accidentally catch the Wollongong train and not Illawarra south line. Beside that we all made it in time and started our walk down to the creek at Karloo pool, where we had our first break waiting for one more member to join us, mean while at Karloo pool I was the only brave enough to dip in, taking account it was shading and perhaps to early for others. The water…

Not So Orange Bluff

Saturday: we wake up to the sound of honking trucks, and gaze at a hideous brown hillside, scarred with brambles and burnt pine trees. We trudge beside the road for a few KMs till we reach a pine plantation. We see a kangaroo, and tramp along on Pardon’s Road, then Ruddy’s Road, with alternating stands of pine trees and bare desolate hills. We stop…

Exploring Rennies Tunnel

Exploring Rennies Tunnel

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…

Barrington Tops

Barrington Tops

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…

Gangerang Plateau

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…

Sassafras Gully day walk

Sassafras Gully day walk

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…

Cowan to Brooklyn

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…

Blackheath to Pulpit Rock

Blackheath to Pulpit Rock

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…

Winter sun in Acoustic Canyon

Winter sun in Acoustic Canyon

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…