What is it about the Red Rocks and eclipses? In just under 10 years from now we’ll be heading to the Red Rocks for my total solar eclipse Red Rocks birthday party, and here we were late on a Friday night scrambling up Donkey Mountain to get ready for the longest total lunar eclipse for the next 100 or more years. Yes we…
The Southern Highlands contain some nice bushwalks of all grades, and can get you into some quite wild country, yet still close to civilization. One of my favourites is the Box Vale track just outside of Mittagong. It has a number of highlights along the way, with just enough challenge for beginners to get some experience without getting too epic. A total…
I was late putting this trip on the calendar so was pleasantly surprised to have Penny keen for a 2 night trip in the middle of winter and with only 3 days’ notice! The forecast was for 10 degree days getting down to -1 at night with winds ranging from 20-40km/h. So we knew the trip would be a bit more challenging than normal. Walking along…
One of the coldest June days ensured we would stay moving for most of the day in order to keep warm as we explored the waterfalls south of Lawson. The day began with 4 of the 12 attendees not putting in an appearance or notifying me of their absence. Their loss. After a brief visit to the monthly market at Lawson and the renowned artisan bakery, the chocolate shop, and the cake shop, our group members were in a hurry to move to a more wind protected path. The descent…
Our latest trip to the Budawangs arose from Paul’s long held ambition to climb Donjon Mountain which guards the western end of Monolith Valley. He had unfortunately missed out on Tim and James’ trip up the Mountain earlier in the year. We were also thinking about climbing Byangee Walls which we had been admiring from the top of The Castle on our previous trip. The Walls…
A very interesting trip with lots of unusual things to see: Kangaroos, sheep, a Black Chook, horses, bats, a steam loco, and something very rare: a steam-powered road traction engine. After gathering most of the team together at Central Station, we settled in for the long train ride to Mt Victoria, spotting the bat colony at Clyde on the way. On arrival…
Wow! There is no doubt this trip is one of the most popular SUBW trips of the year. I had 36 people sign up before I managed to mark the trip as full. You really can’t take more than 20 at the absolute maximum and in the end it was 21 people including myself who presented. This year’s…
With trackwork on the Blue Mountains Line that weekend, and a late arrival of cooler autumn weather, the time was good for a walk to Mt Wondabyne. We all met up off the train at Wondabyne Station, although one person very nearly missed out because she mis-interpreted “last” car to mean the lead car of the train. Fortunately it…
The plan was to get out to Kanangra and use a few days to get a good look at the place. Originally it was thought to head down Brumby Ridge, along the river and back up Gingra Range trail, however I was already doubtful of the use of a longish day just heading up Gingra Range trail, based on some advice and some comments online, so ended up heading out with an idea that we would more likely return via Hughes or Brumby Ridges instead. So with…
11 of the group met up at Cowan Station (9 off trains, and Nathalie and Matthias driving there). Meanwhile, I had been sending messages to Anja and Sofie who had missed the train at Central. Anja missed it by seconds, and Sofie had got on a bus which took her in the wrong direction. After several…