As you can see, bigger than Ben Hur, and the demand was such that I had to put on a second new member walk this coming Sunday, and that’s full!. Obviously a demand for walks if more people want to run some. A trip this size is not normal, and required several frequent head counts along the way to ensure we didn’t lose anyone. Most people…
This is the third year we have run this introductory trip at the beginning of semester one. We had a record 24 members and one guest! Fitting six vehicles into the tiny Clover Hill Rd carpark at 9.30 on Saturday posed a few challenges, but with Marty skilfully directing traffic we were soon ready to hand out the very large collection of club gear that Ankit and Rebecca had brought with them. We divided…
This is the third year we have run this introductory trip at the beginning of semester one. We had a record 24 members and one guest! Fitting six vehicles into the tiny Clover Hill Rd carpark at 9.30 on Saturday posed a few challenges, but with Marty skilfully directing traffic we were soon ready to hand out the very large collection of club gear that Ankit and Rebecca had brought with them. We divided…
Luck was with us on this walk, with no rain (despite a prediction earlier in the week), and a quite low low tide in the afternoon. We also did the walk a day ahead of heavy sea swells on Sunday which would have made the walk along the rocks to Figure 8 Pool unsafe. Also, two days before the walk, a minor bushfire was reported on the Hacking River Fire Trail, right where we had planned to return to Helensburgh Station. It looked…
Despite promising cool temperatures up in the mountains, in the end our party was made up of just the two of us. With plenty of time and no major hurry, it was a relaxed start, leaving Maitland late morning, with Emilie driving up from Sydney and then me throwing together some last minute items. We stopped…
Planning this walk meant keeping a close eye on the local weather forecasts for several days beforehand, hoping that the originally forecast temperature of 29 degrees C would not rise. In fact it dropped to 27 degrees. Even better, the preceding days were marked with a cool sea breeze coming in locally after 2pm, so things looked promising. Also I…
This trip came about when we read a report from our mates the Fat Canyoners who had suffered a rare navigational mishap and managed to completely miss their target canyon. Judging by their photos, it must have been pretty traumatic for them as they remained fully clothed the whole trip. We were…
It is curious that on so many bushwalks into distant national parks we see few or no animals or birds, yet here we are on a walk in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs and we saw a few unusual birds. Read on. All the others except myself started the walk at Bondi. I had to join them at Bronte because of an unexpected occurrence at home just as I was leaving for the train. The first…
Although 8 people signed up, only 5 people got off the train at Springwood Station (Zhong had driven up and was waiting for us there). Within a few minutes I got a call from person number 7, Kundi, to say she hadn’t got off the train at Springwood, and the next stop was Hazelbrook. Zhong then…
Sometimes I feel like an easy day out, travelling through a canyon I know will deliver maximum bang for my effort. Then there are the times when I crave an adventure, pushing myself into the unknown, with remote, trackless trips that require a lot more technical skill. Unfortunately, between these two urges fit a whole lot of canyons that are a bit long for the easy days, but too accessible for the challenging trips. Whirlpool Canyon…
This trip was organised as a follow up to a trip in June when Paul and I and our recently exported mate Clint had a cold and rushed trip through one canyon and failed to make it up the pass to reach the second canyon. We clearly had unfinished business in Coorongooba and the nice weekend weather forecast and a great crew of experienced canyoners gave us a good chance to return and put things in order. A few…
This unusual trip was organised because when we listed a Claustral trip last month (cancelled because of rain) lots of members got in touch saying they really want to do Claustral but can never get on a trip when one is listed. People are sensibly reluctant to run their own trips if they have not done the route before, because Claustral is a very long, hard day and there are a number of navigational challenges. Because of…
We all met up at Bondi beach (except Gabriel who would join us at Coogee) and set off about 4.30pm to follow the Coast more or less to Malabar Beach. The walk requires only one diversion via a street bash where it is not possible to completely follow the shoreline or cliff top, and that is just south of Coogee Beach. So we…
Claustral Canyon is cold enough even when it is not an unseasonably cold and rainy day early in the year. So we switched to Long Gully at Bungonia, a dry canyon in an area where not a drop of rain was predicted. It’s as much an abseil trip as a canyon, with a nice, clean 60m drop, a very pretty 30m and many smaller abseils/climbdowns. We met…
Bungonia Gorge has some great walks. It has a spectacular 400m deep canyon, lovely river scenery as well as good views from the top. Additionally there are limestone caves to explore although some require permits and proper caving equipment. I have done this walk a few times before, for doing Himalayan training, and soon Kosta and I will be off to Nepal on a SUBW listed trip to trek around the Manaslu massif , and attempt the 6200m Larkya Peak, in December, so this walk with it’s massive elevation change is perfect to get those leg muscles in shape! On Saturday mid morning, we started the steep descent into the gorge . Our group…
Originally 8 people signed up but 4 dropped out, with one person not giving a reason. So I first met Cathie at Bondi Junction Station and as it was early we spent some time in the air-conditioned comfort of David Jones’ coffee shop on that hot day. Then on the bus to the meeting place at Bondi Beach. Eliza and…
With two withdrawals (one for family reasons, one for eating “off” food the day before (!)), we started off from Woy Woy with 7 people for this walk. Originally planned as a loop walk due to (at first) having only one car available, Zhong’s car made it theoretically to do a car shuffle with a one-way walk. I decided…
A good turnout for a walk on the October Long Weekend with relatively short notice. The long spell of dry weather was a chance to walk what are normally rather damp (and leech infested) parts of the Blue Mountains. I had arrived at Central Station over 30 minutes ahead of train time, and while waiting my mobile iPhone had a message that a software update was available; did I want to download it? With time to spare and thinking it would be a 5 minute job, I allowed the update, causing the phone to shut down for 25 minutes at a time when I was needing to get texts and calls from other walkers! Slowly learning about the less appealing aspects of an iPhone! With some others unable to contact me they simply just got on the train and eventually we all collected together at Wentworth Falls Station. Peter Stanford…
We all met at Richmond McDonalds carpark at the early hour of 6:30am and departed in convoy to the clearing on the side of the road where the start of the Better Offer Track is. For Stella, Joy and Jingle this was their first abseiling canyoning trip. Once we donned our gear it was about a 20 minute walk to the rock outcrop that overlooks into the Grose valley. Not far…
As the weather forecast in Sydney and surrounds was in the mid thirties, we thought it would be a good idea to head to a wet canyon, even if it was still pretty early in the season. We gave Alex Allchin (President, Bushwalking NSW) a ride out to Mt Wilson where he set off into the bush for a solo 11 day walk (he’s got a tracker with him and I understand he’s currently on a ridge over Nayook Creek), before we had a brief discussion and settled on our canyon for the day. While the…