The initial plan was to do a loop from Govetts Leap, down Braeside Trail, through Grand Canyon and back via Cliff Top track, assuming that the tracks in this area would not be affect by the previous bushfire. But I was too optimistic. Just about 200m down Braeside Trail, there’s a “No Entry” sign. We were very tempted to ignore it, but after considering insurance issues and the $350 pp fine if caught, we turned back.
Desperate to get out of Sydney and away from all the APEC nonsense we drove all the way to Island Bend on Thursday night, stopping only in Cooma to hire skis for those that needed them. It was well after midnight by the time we rolled into the camping area to snatch a few hours sleep.
Everyone was successful in catching the train, except Sophie and I. We managed to miss the train at Glenbrook by 23.5687 nano seconds. So we ended up driving to Woodford and caught the train back after the ride.
It was about 12:45am on Saturday morning when we rolled into the Island Bend camping area after a smooth drive down from Sydney. Considering it was still the middle of winter, it was unusually warm. Jiri and Cat bunked down in their tent while I rolled out my sleeping bag in the back of the car for the remainder of the night.
The plan: Walk down as many steps as possible, then walk back up them all again! This trip isn’t so much about ‘walking’ in the bush as it is admiring the ridiculous tracks that have been built in the area, most just hanging off the side of the cliffs.
We set out from Gosford Station on the friday night for the fairly long drive north to the Gloucester River camping area, in the easten part of the Barrington Tops Wilderness Area. As there had been some last minute cancellations by people we found that all of us could fit into Nazih’s station wagon, so Wendy’s car was left at my place. Rather than take the slower Buckett’s Way to Gloucester with its risk of hitting kangaroos at night, we took the Pacific Highway freeway to Nabiac and then inland to Gloucester. This took us past the imitation “Ayers Rock” that the Leyland Brothers had built in the 1970’s as a tourist attraction, and we decided to stop there for a bite and coffee. It looks like a monstrosity but the food is good. Back on the highway Nazih entertained us with Arabic songs from the CDs he had brought along.
What a wild few days of weather! Friday morning was cold and windy with a not too favourable forecast for the afternoon. We decided to buy a lift pass and practice our telemark turns at Thredbo for the day, which was good fun for all, even Nicole who injured her ankle. We had fish and chips at the pub in Thredbo that night and then went to camp at Ngarigo.
I made a last minute decision to go for a ski last weekend. The weather was clear, calm and fairly warm and the snow was powdery. Most of the ice from the long weekend is now covered (except maybe on the very tops) but the cover is pretty thin below 1800m. I went in from Guthega and had to walk halfway to the swing bridge before finding enough snow to (just) ski on. Another week or two and it should all be perfect:) Blue Lake is completely frozen and the ice climbs all look in good condition but not yet filled in by snow drifts, tho I didnt get up close.
The weather during the week prior to the trip had been somewhat inclement – and after a stormy Friday in town – we decided to leave on Saturday morning instead of driving to Newnes on the Friday evening. It rained overnight and was still raining heavily on Saturday morning – so more phoning around and we left later (9:30am) rather than earlier. A phone call to Rik at Blackheath in the Blue Mts was not encouraging (“its bucketing down outside, grrrrr……) – he was not keen to join us on the walk. We had an early lunch in the Mt Vic servo as we watched the rain teem down outside. This was not encouraging either. Nevertheless, we decided to press on regardless.
This trip was to compete in the annual ‘Paddy Pallin’ 6 hour rogaining event, run by the NSW rogaining association. I didn’t get a lot of interest from SUBW people wanting to compete so I’ll just tell you how much fun it was and how much you missed out on! You can see the results at www.nswrogaining.org. All up about 650 people competed!