After meeting the party form the 9.50am train we immediately set off up the hill to the ridge above Wondabyne Station and then set off along the fire trail towards the track junction to Myron Brook. At this point I reminded whoever may be in front to look out for snakes, and that if we were lucky we might see a python.
First and foremost a big thank you to Lois who organised the trip, taking and answering emails from more than 20 people, organising, reorganising and deorganising cars and who was in them, who needed what gear and so on, right up until the last minute. In the end and after having done all that, Lois couldn’t join us on the trip due to a subluxed 5th metatarsal (whatever that is – something to do with foot bones).
Catching the 9.18am train from Central, we arrived at Wentworth Falls station shortly after 11 and set off walking down the Charles Darwin track. The weather was sunny and pleasant for walking, there was ample time to appreciate the views before descending down the falls along the National Pass.
We set out from Circular Quay on the 9.15am Taronga Zoo ferry after a last-minute slight panic when I realised that I had advertised its departure time as 9.20am (it actually left at 9.19am). On disembarking at Athol Wharf we took the Harbourside track to Bradley’s Head with its HMAS Sydney memorial, We noted a crow perched in the crow’s nest of the preserved mast on the headland.From Bradley’s Head we walked to Chowder Bay through bushland which remarkably is probably little changed since white settlement 211 years ago.
Miraculously Helen and I managed to escape the Sydney 9-5 vortex on Friday and headed up during the afternoon and enjoyed camping in the relatively cool shade as the burning sun receded towards the horizon at last. We were later joined by Glen.
Setting out from the carpark in perfect weather, we noted 2 parties totalling 13 people ahead of us in the logbook, so there was no hurry making our way down the ridge and into the canyon. We made our way along the upper reaches, and finally caught up with the party in front of us on the abseils. We decided to wait at the top for a few minutes to avoid being caught behind them in between abseils, and as a result were caught by James Bevan and his party as we began the abseils.
One thing the trip wasn’t was carbon neutral. Because each participant was either coming a different way or arriving or leaving at a different time, all 7 people on the trip had to end up taking their own car. And to make matters worse, Pete turned up not in a car but a one ton truck! Anyway, climatic considerations aside, back to the canyoning…
Chris and Peter drove from Mt Wilson with Greg and Tom driving up from Canberra, to meet at the Boyd River camping area on the Monday morning. We did a car shuffle, leaving one car at the Kanangra Walls carpark, and the other at our starting point at the King Pin Fire Trail. A quick walk brought us to Mount Thurat, and from there we moved quickly across the Thurat Tops to pick up the Burra Gunama Ridge. We walked east to Burra Gunama Hill, then descended the northern spur into Carrabeanga Brook. The creek was small here but was flowing nicely. A short walk brough us to the first waterfall which we descended on the left hand side. Spectacular views were afforded of Mount Stormbreaker and the Gangerang Plateau. We continued down a number of lengthy abseils before reaching Carrabeanga Falls itself, which we descened in three pitches on the left hand side. This involved setting belay points on trees which were growing on only narrow platforms which limited the amount of comfort and demanded an increased level of vigilance in terms of safety. Many other parties apparently choose to head aorund to the right and make two or three pitches from the cliff faces which may be easier with a bigger group. At the base of Carrabeanga Falls we made camp on the rock platforms below the falls next to a nice pool. We collected wood for a fire and enjoyed a nice platter before some dinner and some sleep.
We met up at North Richmond outside the bakery and then the convoy of cars travelled to near Bell where we met up again and got gear ready for a shot daytrip down the canyon. The start of the track was hard to find. It was a little overgrown and vague after recent bushfires. But is was not too bad and the big party made fast progress to the creek and soon got into the canyon section. This starts with a short abseil into a pool. With a large party – and not enough harnesses – we had to pass gear back up the rope a few times. A few of the party became impatient and decided to jump down the drop. Thanks to Albert (Al-Bear) for helping everyone with clipping on the rope and Rob and Lana for some bottom belaying.
We climbed up the Pipeline Track and visited Newnes Canyon. This involved one abseil to get into the creek valley and then one abseil into the canyon. To facilitate this we set up two ropes and had concurrent abseiling. Then followed a walk through the Amazing Wallaby Tunnel. Lots of glow worms were observed and Albert was rained on by a “golden shower” (see photos). After the tunnel – the creek was more of a conventional canyon until it opened up at a nice cave -a good place for lunch (jaffles)