The weather forecast wasn’t great. In fact, with each passing day conditions seemed to be getting worse. Predictions of clouds turned to showers which then became rain. So much for my inspired plan to admire the “supermoon” from the stunning surrounds of Wollangambe Crater! Despite deteriorating conditions we pressed on, setting off early on Saturday morning. We probably…
The June long weekend always means bushwalking to me. Sure, it’s my wife’s birthday, so I probably should spend it with her, but the thought of three days in the mountains breathing the crisp winter air is always too alluring. With Myles Dunphy’s classic sketch map of the Kowmung hanging on my study wall, I knew I wanted to explore a new section of this stunning wild river, but it wasn’t until a couple days out that I finally made up my mind. The section…
Having anxiously watched the weather development over the weekend, things were looking hopeful on saturday night when the radar showed an area of immunity to the rain around Katoomba and Lawson. Early on sunday morning it took an ominous development when the radar showed heavy rain in the same area. Still, we…
We were minus one person who sent his apologies, and another who realised too late that she was supposed to be a Wondabyne by 9am, not at Central by 9! We all met up at the little Wondabyne Station around 9am, and proceeded up the steep hill to the top of the ridge, then along the local section of the Great North Walk, reaching the track junction with the Girrakool track. It promised…
Mount Harvey is an unassuming local high point in the Capertee Valley somewhere between the Red Rocks and Pantoneys Crown. Many’s the time we looked out from Mt Dawson or over the Ben Bullen sheet and fingered it as a weekend target for a walk with Pete Harvey, but in his absence it seemed a suitable tribute. There was…
Bimberi Peak is the ACT’s highest summit, at 1913m high. It lies in the range of mountains behind Canberra, and the more I visit the area the more I find peace, wildness and some great mountains! So on Friday night of May 3, a convoy of 2 cars headed down towards Cooma toward our camp site near the Tantangara Reservoir in the northern Snowy Mountains. It was…
Following the rule of thumb that the epicness of a trip is inversely proportional to the rate of piking in the 24 hours preceding its start I was anticipating great things from this day out. By the time we met at the Mt Banks carpark on Saturday morning we were only 3 with some other club members feigning various illnesses (read hangovers) and injuries ranging from broken ankles to far worse to stay in Sydney. [caption id=”attachment_15220″…
For the benefit of those who are not morning people, I decided to split the group into “Friday night” starters and “Saturday morning” starters. Those who couldn’t face the idea of getting up at some ungodly hour of Saturday morning to make a 7am rendezvous could take a more leisurely and civilized approach of heading up on Friday evening. The downside…
The weather was perfect for this day trip down Glenbrook Creek. After a long train ride from the big-smoke, 9 walkers alighted from a Blue Mountains train at Glenbrook station at 9:23, where we were meet by George and Kate. After 1km or so of walking in the back streets of Glenbrook, we left the sealed road and found a track leading down to the rail corridor. We followed…
It seemed a miracle after the heavy rain of the day before the walk, that it should turn out to be a bright sunny day, but that’s how it was. With a Cityrail foul-up on the Eastern Suburbs Line meaning 3 people couldn’t get to the walk, one more who got caught up in slow buses, and, well, a couple of simply no-shows, the remaining eight of us met together at Woy Woy Station. The it…
Blessed with a sky of blue and the warm caress of the sun, it was a perfect day for a nude yoga bushwalk just before the weather turned too cold. Despite the horrendous storm the day before, nine of us met full of anticipation outside Glenbrook Station where we soon piled into two cars. Mike led…
Following the huge success of last year’s SUBW New Members Welcome I thought I’d organize another one at Girrahween Park (part of Wolli Creek Regional Park). The aim of this trip was to provide an opportunity for the new members of the club to meet other newbies as well as learning more about the club and bushwalking in general from more experienced walkers. To sweeten…
Russells Needle. Google it and you don’t find too much info: a Sydney University Bushwalkers page from a trip there in 2001 (they didn’t actually climb the Needle on that trip), a few entries from bushwalking clubs, and mentions of it in Dave Noble’s blog. But not much else. It is…
After meeting most people at Central Station we caught the train up to Wentworth Falls, picking up Trang at Parramatta and Charu was waiting at the Station. We noticed the clear blue sky from about Emu Plains to Linden, but after that the fabled “mountain clouds” came along, but it looked like we would get away without having any rain. At the…
Whilst the previous few days of the Easter weekend had been sunny and mild, Sunday morning dawned gloomy and cold and I forced myself to get out of my warm bed and pack my bag for a few canyons. I picked up Felicia in the inner west and we headed off to Clarence. Arriving at the turn off for Dargans Creek on Bells Line of Rd, we saw Chee, Jonno and Lisa patiently waiting for us. For some…
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…