After a fantastic walk from Palm Beach south, towards the end of 2012, I decided it was now time to complete a little more of the Barrenjoey to Narrabeen Lakes Walk. I was this time joined by a great bunch of SUBW members meeting at Avalon Beach. We motored along at a reasonable speed soon arriving at Newport Beach. Rhiannon had…
Ulla, Mon and I were looking for a fun and easy trip and settled on Castle Head. It had been proposed as a potential night abseil, so it seemed prudent to do a daylight reconnaissance first. Out went the announcement and Elissa, James and Chee joined us. We’d heard a lot about Castle Head. Mainly that…
I’m not one for “ticking off canyons” — that sort of conquest mentality really rubs me the wrong way — but I am someone who notices lingering gaps on my maps; those places that I’ve wanted to go for a long time, but for whatever reason never quite made it to. Arethusa is…
With the sun baking down on our naked flesh, it was almost too hot, despite the dappled shade. So much for the ominous weather forecasts that has promised light showers and plenty of clouds. The sky was almost completely blue, the air still, and the autumn sun unseasonably warm as our yoga session progressed. We were…
Good canyoning weather has been in short supply recently. So when the forecast started offering a window of warmer sunny days I decided to grab hold of one, even if it was a work day. Mary had also been really keen to squeeze one last canyon in before her departure back to Italy, so she jumped at the idea of a night canyon. And despite…
One day I will lead an SUBW walk where we actually take the route as advertised. Today was not that day. After my original plans for this weekend got rained out, I put up a very short notice walk, asking for volunteers to join me on a walk to descend Kedumba Valley Road from the Bonanza Gates on Kings Tableleand, cross Kedumba River, and climb up the Col to have lunch on Mt Solitary, and then return. I got…
Last Saturday was one of those days you wouldn’t get out of bed unless it was to lay on the couch with a warm blanket, a hot chocolate and a good book. It had been raining for the previous two days, with temperature dropping well below the 20’s, and the weather forecast was promising more of the same. Given the…
Advertised as “Canyoning Weekend, 23-24 Feb 2013”, but became “Flooded Canyons Daytrip 22-23 Feb 2013” I was asked why didn’t I cancel the trip before it started. Well I could have. But didn’t you know that the SUBW motto is “Press On Regardless”? And that Press On Regardless doesn’t mean Press on Recklessly or Foolishly, just “Press on Regardless of the Weather Forecast”. Nothing more…
An astute observer may notice that while this trip was advertised as being “Megalong / Medlow Bath Tracks”, the title of this report excludes the Megalong, for the reason that we never quite made it down far enough to qualify being in the Megalong. My objective today was to explore the old tracks at Medlow Bath, to find the established ways in & out of the valley, as preparation for a future long day walk descending Blacks Ladders and ascending to Medlow Bath. I was…
This morning my girlfriend (Sophie) and I did a hike below the cliff lines of Radiata Plateau (just West of Katoomba, near the start of the 6 Foot Track). A couple of others had indicated interest, but in the end it was just the two of us. I had previously gone in & out each of Esgate Pass (the chains) and Blacks Ladder, but this was my first time doing the full traverse. It was…