by | Dec 23, 2007
The afternoon consisted of a walk up deep pass canyon itself then a stint of abseiling practice before beer o clock A post wedding party including several other subw members gradually made their way down to the campsite during the late afternoon and set up a short distance away. And so the evening went something like this: we drank, we ate, and discussed the number of useful things one can do with a jaffle iron (about 105 as it turns out). Tom G also told us of the story about a guy called moses, who it turns out climbed mount sinai in a pair of dunlop volleys. Apparently the story is based on the first historical documentation of this remarkable peice of footwear design. Someone then muttered something about having had enough to drink and going to bed, then staggered off in the vague direction of a tent.
by | Dec 9, 2007
Party – Peter, Tom “Mr G” G, Dave L and Nicole, Greg and Kate, Rob H, Roger L, Marina, Su Li, Maria, Jo B, Ashley and Ann(e?), Albert and Kim, Lou Lou and Mitch, James B, Dave N
by | Dec 2, 2007
After no small amount of disorganisation on my part, almost all the people who expressed an interest in this trip instead buggered off down to Canberra and spent the weekend discarding their favourite possessions into the greedy waters of the Murrumbidgee River. But that’s another story. Suffice it to say that the same rabid weather system that allowed the canoe clubbers to risk life and sacrifice (several) limbs on otherwise calm rivers gave us some cause for reflection as we sped along Bells Line on Friday night …
by | Dec 2, 2007
It had been raining a bit (or rather a lot) up the mountains just before the weekend – but that didn’t seem to deter any of the starters – but at the North Richmond Bakery – we thought it prudent not to do Claustral Canyon which most of the party intended to do (in two groups) and instead join a group that Peter Raines was leading down Why Don’t We Do It In The Road Canyon at Mt Wilson. So we drove to the mountain and met up with Peter at the fire station.
by | Nov 11, 2007
We had a bit of a bumpy start on Saturday morning… half of us arriving at the Royal NP at 8.30am and waiting for Sang’s car to show up… and waiting… and waiting… and then when we finally gave up waiting, they showed up!! There was some kind of long-winded excuse relating to sat nav and petrol… but we’re pretty sure they just slept in!! 😛
by | Nov 11, 2007
Tayan Peak is a prominent basalt peak on a complex plateau region in the northern Blue Mountains. The plateau is surrounded by private property, so permission from the local landowners is needed to gain access. A contact from my old school had a link with one of the properties adjoining this area and through this contact I was able to gain permission from the farmer to access this area. This provided a great opportunity for some bushwalking in a new area that no one on the trip had previously visited.
by | Oct 28, 2007
Just getting to the start was a problem as one of the major sponsor “Cityrail” decided to do track work on the western line between St Marys and Granville. After all that drama, I reached the start at 8 and found David and his friend. The ride snakes its way thru Sydney from North Sydney to Olympic Park in Homebush. David and I cycled the whole thing non stop finishing in about two and a half hours. This was hard but it meant we would avoid the midday heat. It was well over 30 degrees by the time we reached the finish at Olympic Park. At the finish there were lots of stalls and a band playing.
by | Oct 28, 2007
Well it wasn’t altogether surprising that I ended up with no takers for this trip – not many people are attracted to the idea of walking day and night pretty much non-stop, the objective being to reach the summits of Cloudmaker, Paralyser and Guouogang from Katoomba and returning thence within 48 hours of. I’ll admit to having second thoughts about the madness of it myself on more than one occasion, succumbing to the lure once more only because I’ve done it before, can do it again, want to relive the experience of the vastness of the southern Blue Mountains, and, yes, because it’s there.
by | Oct 24, 2007
While everyone’s rushing to work on a busy Monday morning, four lucky people (James Bucknell, Sarah Hicks, Aaron Nguyen and myself) were setting off for a relaxing time in the bush. We drove up Putty Road and arrived at Howes Valley at around 12:30pm, so we decided to have lunch first. As soon as we stepped out of the car, we were welcomed by hundreds of flies (especially after Sarah and I opened our tins of tuna). I haven’t seen so many flies for a while.
by | Oct 14, 2007
The alarm went off at 2:30am but I didn’t sleep, two coffees the day before made sure of that.To increase my chances of staying awake I had another one before we left. By 3am Andrew, Cat and Myself were in the car, skis and all heading south along King St. I was drugged up ready and to drive the first leg down to Michelago. Initially, the lack of sleep wasn’t an issue, Bogong moths constantly exploding on the windscreen kept me awake and entertained. However, near Canberra my vision started to get blurry. Combination of tiredness and the fact that I ran out of water for the windscreen wipers. At Michelago drivers were changed and I didn’t wake up until Rhythm Sports in Cooma. Even though the store was open the lady behind the counter couldn’t help and had no idea when or even IF someone that could help us would be coming. Bakery was the next natural stop. We conveyed the message to the other car and I chose the most obvious landmark to meet up. Minutes passed, no call, no car. Would you believe there is more than one Woolworths yet no 3 phone service in Cooma? Luckily, Bruce at Wilderness Sports in Jindabyne was happy to see us and after a couple of jokes and a $240 worth of equipment we were finally ready to head up the mountain.
by | Oct 1, 2007
Party: Martine Bardy, James “many nicknames” Bevan*, Jo Boyd#, Ashley Burke, Marina Carpinelli, Sabrina “Sabs” Cascio, Peter ____, Nazzih Chammas, Albert Chetcuti, Alicia Corbett, Alex Debono, Meredith Dodds, Dave “Digidave” Forbes, Marcelle Gannon*, Swetlana “Lana” Gez, Tom “Other Other Tom” Gleeson#, Rachel Green, Pete Harvey*, Rob Hynes, Mitchell “Mitch” Isaacs, Yves Kerdraon*, Jademond Kiang*, Jeff Kingston, Ben Kong*, Dave “Fritz” Lee, Roger Lembit, Tina Ludwig, Kim ____, Tom Mactier, Tom “Other Tom” Murtagh, Maria-Cristina Merlo, David “D2” Millar-Powell, Stefanie Muller, Dave Noble, Martin Pfeil, Peter Raines, Ricarda Roemer, Daniel “VP Dan” Ryan, Cameron Schmelitschek*, Nicole St Vincent Welch*
by | Sep 23, 2007
Party – A mixture of SUBW’ers and friends from indoor climbing – John, Chuin Nee, Dave F, Martin, Steffy, Kim, Mitch, Dan, Alicia, Jo, Dave N and also Ashley and Kendy joined us at the campsite
by | Sep 16, 2007
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.
by | Sep 16, 2007
The three of us started out a bit after 9am in the wrong spot somewhere on Megalong Rd, so we just followed some track I found in the street directory and used a bit of good ol “well the sun rises in the east, right, so this way is probably south” to meetup with the 6FT. I’ll be imprecise here due to the perpetual nature of information on the internet – lets just say our eventual route involved getting yelled at by an old lady.
by | Sep 9, 2007
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.
by | Sep 1, 2007
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.
by | Aug 19, 2007
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.
by | Aug 11, 2007
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.
by | Jul 8, 2007
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.
by | Jul 2, 2007
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.
