Rachel Grindlay

Overnight, wilderness canyoning trips are definitely not for everyone. They are hard work. Pack weights are inevitably up due to the extra gear required. There’s often a long/tough bushwalk in and out. And if you’re exploring then you might not even get any good canyon. In the age of instant gratification they don’t have mass appeal (which is part of the attraction for me!).

Six of us headed out on a hot Friday morning. Walking across the tops was very pleasant – the fire regrowth was of the knee-high soft variety – so we made good time.

Skipping morning tea Tom said we’d have an early lunch in the creek – he remembered some good spots to stop. So we got to an abseil at a huge log jam… “so about those good lunch spots?” We dispersed down/above – wherever we could find somewhere to perch – and ate lunch. Then it was time for wetsuits and harnesses. While scouting options I did spot a sling which we’d used on our trip in 2021 – but the log jam put paid to accessing it now. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing as we ended up with a much easier start from a different anchor.

We were glad to get to our planned campsite for the night and dump our full packs. Quickly pulling together gear we headed off with much more manageable packs for an late afternoon canyon.

Fortunately the pass Tom had used some years ago still went, and was within our capabilities. It was a little exposed but everyone handled it with aplomb.

Back at camp around 6pm it was a late happy hour, but a satisfying one after a tough but great day. Temperatures were still warm – I was comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt all evening and there weren’t even any mosquitoes bothering me. Delightful.

The next day we headed downstream with our full packs before dumping them for some exploration. The creek we dropped into wanted to become canyon… lovely rainforest creek with alluring almost canyon sections. If you’re going to explore a creek and not find canyon it was everything I would ask for. Just as most of us had given up on finding any canyon we got to the top of a drop. Two short abseils into some very nice canyon and a tunnel section were a nice surprise.

After lunch, reunited with our full packs, we continued on. Tom’s acute hearing picking up the thunder (or was that a plane, Jo?) which started rumbling in the early afternoon. There were a few obstacles to overcome which slowed us down when we really wanted to keep moving.

About 3pm we got to a spot which Tom had marked as a possible camp. We discarded the spot he’d marked, but nearby found a long section of overhang. While not the flattest camp cave I’ve ever used there were enough flat options for everyone. We were very glad to be in it when it started pouring down about 15 minutes after we arrived. With the weather forcing an early finish we were able to have afternoon tea (literally). Some missed happy hour due to napping. It was an early night for everyone after two fairly physical days. Unlike our trip in 2021 we didn’t get much of a storm – mainly drizzle after the initial downpour.

Tom was loath to name too early a start time given we were going to be in the water straight away. 8:15am had us in our wetsuits, almost immediately coming to an obstacle which required pack passing. We were relieved that the water wasn’t particularly cold and all agreed it was the right call to stop when we did the day before, so we were able to enjoy the canyon section at leisure.

There had been a plan to do another canyon before heading for home. But Tom and I had run the numbers before we headed off – we were looking at a 10 hour day (best-case scenario) and with our initial part of the day already blowing out on those estimates, it was an easy decision to drop it from the itinerary.

One of the biggest unknown factors was the pass we planned to use. While we knew other people had been able to get out at this spot, you never know whether your group’s skills are going to be sufficient. Rob boldly got to the top of the crux climb while I was contemplating whether I was happy to do it free. Soon we were all up and could take our wetsuits off (we’d left them on figuring if had to go with Plan C we’d be back in the creek soon enough).

From there we had another ridge walk across the tops – with similarly pleasant vegetation to our walk in. We had lunch above our final canyon as the grey clouds massed. The weather was a non-event though – nothing happened with the clouds – at least not where we were!

Back at the cars around 4:30pm I think we were all happy that the shorter option had been chosen for the day! Most of us finished off the trip with a pub dinner in Richmond. A great way to finish an excellent trip.