Date: 14+15/12/2024
Trip leader: Ashley Eylenburg
Party: See below:
Photos: by Ashley Eylenburg, by Ashley Eylenburg
Attendees
Abseiling and camping
Ashley Burke
Olivia Carolan
Jag Ganti
Han (Vicki) Long
Carrie Ke
Isla Shen
Lin Wang
Yuxin (Clara) Liu
Danniella Larobina
Randi Horstrup
Vincent Lai
Tim Hanigan
Cowen Zhang
Jiankang Dong
Camping Only
Aidan Pollock
Eszter Coombs
Victor Caxala
Qiuyue (Moon) Hu
Bill He
Yiming Zhao
Walked in from Katoomba
Sean Armson
Vyom Arya
Sunil Jassal
Turned up Independently
Jo Boyd
Joe Brischetto
Roger Lembit
David Noble
Robert Hynes
Jiri Svec
Catherine Svec
Cameron and Jayden Svec (children)
Mitchell Isaacs
Chantal Bronkhorst
Trip Report
The Christmas Dinner Walk is an annual SUBW tradition dating back to the 1970s. I have been attending this trip almost every year since the late 1980s, and so when the trip is as successful and well attended as this year’s, it is not without a little bit of nostalgia that I now write and relive the wonderful experiences of the weekend.
The walk is quite short, well under 2 hours even for a very large group of beginners on a hot summer’s afternoon. This is done in the early afternoon, at the hottest time of day. The reward for this hot walk in is that upon reaching camp there is a river with good flow clean flowing water, a lovely big deep swimming pool, and a series of cascades creating naturally flowing spas and bubbles. A great way to cool off on a hot afternoon.
Because the walk is done in the afternoon, Saturday morning is free for another activity. In recent years I have taken the opportunity to include a beginners’ introductory abseiling session in the morning, to give people who have never abseiled before the opportunity to give it a go. The skill of abseiling is useful for the many canyoning trips that SUBW will be arranging over the long summer ahead.
This year a large group of 14 people attended the abseiling. Because we had only 3 hours for this, it was important to be efficient with the time we had so that everyone got a go at both a practise tiny abseil and a larger main abseil. Most beginners arrived at Glenbrook station on the train that arrived just before 8am, and from there everyone piled into cars for the remainder of the trip up to Mt York. We found a nice area of small cliffs at Mt York for the abseiling session. At a very small cliff of just a few metres height there was an instruction session led by me, with a safety briefing and all the tips and techniques for safely descending a rope on a cliff with a bottom belayer. Everyone got a turn at the practise abseil. Then we moved to a larger cliff, about 15-20 metres in height, with an overhang, for the main abseil. This I would top belay. Everyone had a turn abseiling and everyone loved the exciting experience of confronting their fears, overcoming their trepidation, and walking backwards over a cliff, only to safely glide down to the bottom, enjoying a few metres of free space on the overhung section.
At about 12:40 it was time to pack up the abseiling ropes and head back to the cars. There were picnic tables at the car park, and so this is where we had a picnic lunch in the shade.
The plan was to meet some others at Blackheath at 2pm. So we left Mt York at about 1:30 and drove to the meeting point at Blackheath. Due to some late cancellations plus a no show earlier in the day, there was barely enough car space for everyone but fortunately, and thanks to Danniella’s large 4WD, all people and all packs were packed into 4 cars and then we headed down into Megalong Valley and to the start point for the walk. Joining us there were 3 guys Vyom, Sean and Sunil, who walked in from Katoomba.
And so it was with a huge group of 23 people that we began the 2 hour hot walk to the riverside campsite. We walked through open farmland where there wasn’t much shade, it was pretty hot! But everyone did well and at the top of a hill we rearranged some gear so that people who were struggling could continue without a heavy pack.
Then the walk entered lightly forested countryside, and the many international students on the walk took delight in seeing kangaroos bounding away from us as we walked the trail.
Meeting us or passing us on the way were several other past SUBW members who joined us at the campsite.
And so at last, by about 4pm, all were at camp and either setting up tents or getting into the beautiful refreshing water. There were 34 of us all, making this the largest Christmas Dinner Walk since the pandemic, largest in over 10 years, and among the largest ever. I can recall only one or two with more people than we had this year.
Once settled in we had a wonderful evening as the sun slowly went down, the stars came out one by one, and the intensity of the sun’s glare seeped slowly away. The large granite slabs remained warm well into the night and many people chose to sit down by the river for dinner and lingered there long into the evening. Back behind the boulders was the campsite where others lazed with fine bottles of wine. Jaffle irons are a popular cooking tool on these walks and many people cooked sandwiches on the fire using a jaffle iron – a round one of course.
A nest of black ants near where we gathered was a source of some bites and stings, a place to be wary of on a hot summer’s evening, but after dark the ants retreated into their nest and weren’t a problem again.
The stars were out, but the brightest object was a bright full moon, and beside it the planet Jupiter. Being a large multicultural group from many different backgrounds, it was interesting to note how the moon is an object that means something to us all and is an object of common interest that belongs to everyone and brings us together.
The Sunday morning started slowly, with people emerging from their tents at different times, and having different breakfasts at different times, and so the morning evolved and the sun got higher and the day got hotter. It was of course necessary to go down to the river to cool off after breakfast and before the hot walk out.
Different people left at different times for the walk out, which was back up the same way we had walked in. Some wanted to leave before the hottest time of day. The main group left at about 11am leaving nothing and no one behind, and we were back at the cars by 1pm.
Reflecting on it now, I think about the river and the rock slabs and the campsite now, it is all there now exactly as we left it but no people are there, the campsite is empty and all is quiet except for the cicadas and the sound of the rushing water. But like the annual migration of red crabs on Christmas Island, there is one hot summer’s day every year where the place comes alive with people from SUBW who attend there, enjoy the beautiful environment, catch up with friends and make new ones, then disappear for another year.
And for the next 10 days or so, when people everywhere you meet wish you a Merry Christmas for the 24th and 25th of December, well for me and maybe a few others this will sound a bit strange. Because for us, the Christmas of 2024 has already happened. It happened at that camp by the river on the 14th and 15th on that hot afternoon and evening. That was our Christmas, and for the next week or so until the conventional Christmas, it will seem like it’s already in the past. And so it will be again next year. Like the crab migration, that little place will come alive once more, just for that one afternoon, evening and morning. See you there.