Category Archives: Bushwalking

Lake Macquarie Rogaine (24 Aug 2024)

Lauren and I teamed up for our second Lake Macquarie Rogaine. A relatively small map meant we picked up over 85% of the available points, and the winners cleared it with 3 hours to spare!

There were lots of fire trails and motorbike tracks which meant there wasn’t that much cross-country navigation. We tried to take any opportunities available to us to get off the roads, but in the northern section in particular, you didn’t really want to be off the tracks in some of the heavily vegetated sections.

That said as the map was generated using LIDAR there was still plenty of subtle navigation needed – plenty of minor gullies just waiting to trick the unobservant.

Two of the SBW teams – Lauren & me, Shellie & Peter

Almost every team heading for 51 from the start

Gorgeous ridge on the way to 93

So many orchids out

Control 93

Beautiful ridge walking

Steep descent through lots of grass trees

It was unseasonably warm for winter – a high of 26°C made for thirsty walking and taxed bodies unconditioned for the heat. At one point I had to take my gaiters and gloves off just to get more air flow on my skin. We enjoyed the brief cooler periods we had when we crossed some of the larger creeks and entered another (cooler) world.

Cooler & completely different vegetation in the creeks

Much road-walking

In the northern section of the course there was a ridgeline with 2 controls – but warning from the course setter that you couldn’t walk along the ridgeline as there were impassable cliffs. Lauren and I entertained giving it a go since we are both competent scramblers – but in the end opted for the road, which was just as well as the cliff was a sheer 10-15m drop. There was no chance of getting up that.

Despite being on the road I had the brilliant idea of climbing up to the cliffline and walking along the base of it. The vegetation was white on the map so should be fine – right? Instead we found ourselves in lantana hell. Fortunately we weren’t the only team silly enough to think this was a good idea. Brendan and Rachel ended up in front of us and did a bit of the work, until Rachel got herself immersed so heavily in one thicket she didn’t seem to be going anywhere and I found an alternative way round. Eventually we fought our way round and rejoined the track we could have taken – probably only lost 10 minutes or so, but gained plenty of lantana grazes to show for it.

About to enter lantana hell (photo credit: Lauren)

Slightly hidden 91 with a great showing of orchids

One unusual feature of the course was that it was being used for an adventure race on the same day. The mountain bike section started in the evening while the 12-hour teams were still out. The controls for both the adventure race and the rogaine were exactly the same flags – just a different control stamping mechanism. We came across at least 3 instances where the adventure race control and the rogaine control were within 50m of each other – just another way to keep you on your toes!

Beautiful pool at 105

We walked through fields of these orchids

The course had a plenty of opportunity for running. Lauren and I ran for exactly none of it, so I wasn’t sure what that was going to do for our result. As it turned out our nav must have been on point since we managed to top the Open Women’s division and come in sixth overall (coincidentally the same results as last year).

The GPS log had us covering 42km in our 11h 45 on the course. We had a couple of ‘medium’ navigation mishaps – probably costing us 10 minutes or less each time – though with an extra twenty minutes (to add to the 15 we came in early) we might have made it into fifth overall!?

Results

Newnes – the hard way (3-4 Aug 2024)

With the road into the Wolgan Valley closed indefinitely I was keen to find out what was achievable from Glen Davis. One thing I hadn’t realised prior to this walk was that Glen Davis is 200m lower than Newnes! This means a 500m ascent on the Pipeline Track to the divide instead of 300m – admittedly at a much easier gradient.

A happy party (& deranged Tom?), early on day 1

the eponymous pipeline

We headed off from the saddle onto the ridge and found a lovely morning tea spot with great views. We had great weather for the weekend with no wind which was a welcome change to the previous Sunday.

beaut morning tea spot

Everything was going according to plan until we got to the upper reaches of Petries Gully. The LIDAR map wasn’t showing us the full picture – it looked like the laser beams didn’t find the ground so some significant drops into the creek weren’t on our map. Additionally there were some significant drops in Petries Gully itself so even when I did manage to scramble in upstream I wasn’t able to continue downstream. We ended up using the handline to get in below what we hoped were the last of the major drops in the creek.

an unexpected technical descent into Petries Gully

David and Wally waiting to spot Xanthe

On any other trip I would have been excited when we hit a section of canyon. But in mid-August with no technical gear it was time to find a way out and around. The LIDAR suggested we’d struggle to find a way back into the creek so we went up instead.

An unscheduled canyon

We were fortunate to find a scrambly route to take us to below the upper cliffline and we were able to follow that around into the tributary of Petries Gully that we’d been aiming for.

Our fortunate escape route

Relatively easy walking below the upper cliffline

Not walking in Petries Gully meant we didn’t have the chance to fill up water but fortunately we were able to find some in the upper tributaries. Loaded up with water for the night we headed up onto the ridge. I was well aware of the daylight hours left (~2.5 hours) and the distance we had to cover (~2.5km) and I gambled we’d make it to our intended campsite right on dark. However the going was pretty slow along the ridge in the re-growth and we found ourselves still on the tops as the sun set.

Beautiful views from the ridge west of Mt Tricky

The party taking in the views as the sun races towards the horizon

That’s the last of the sun for the day

About half way down we needed to stop and get the torches out. It felt just like a rogaine, and our next control was the camp cave! Was the ‘control’ accurately marked on my map!? We navigated our way through the maze of parallel pagoda gullies to eventually be down and with ‘only’ a couple of hundred metres to go down the creek. Half an hour later we were all very relieved when Tom yelled out that he was at the cliffline and had located the cave.

Final scramble before getting into our camp gully

Our lodgings by daylight

The next morning the going was slightly easier in the daylight heading back up the creek. It didn’t seem to take too long before we were descending our exit canyon down to Little Capertee Creek. We made short work of a couple of drops with pack passing teams.

Canyon descent

I was pretty happy, and I daresay not the only one, when we hit Little Capertee Creek and some easy walking down the fire trail.

The team at morning tea near Little Capertee Creek

We’d been discussing how the fire trail was looking unused and soon discovered why, when we hit a big washout on the road.

I wouldn’t be driving a car along here

It was eerie waking through the Newnes campground with not a soul in sight. The campground has been closed for 3 months, and recently updated to remain closed until end of August – presumably because the toilet blocks are being upgraded.

The deserted (closed) Newnes campground

I was bemused to find a sign advising the Pipeline Track was closed as we left the camping area. There had been nothing about that on the NPWS website when I’d checked just before the start of the trip. Hoping that this was a very old sign rather than a very new (that day) sign we continued on.

No Solar Flares or Grumpy Yowies spotted. Or any sign of the closure on the NPWS website. (Also note the distance to Glen Davis from Newnes is further, than from Glen Davis to Newnes)

The impressive landslide that probably closed the Pipeline Track a while ago

Near the top of the Pipeline Track

We enjoyed lunch and the views at the Pagoda Lookout before retracing our steps down the other side of the Pipeline Track back to Glen Davis.

Re-energised after lunch

Apparently the only reason you’d walk this track is to go to the Newnes Campground so ‘do not enter’ tape was erected

We got back to the cars at the very civilised time of 4pm, almost erasing the memories of the late finish from the day before!? A weekend with some elements of type 2 fun, and a little bit of epic. I probably can’t say a great time was had by all, all of the time, but hopefully a great time was had by all, some of the time!

Dunphys Pass and Harmils Ledge (28 Jul 2024)

Snow flurries across the road as we drove into the upper mountains boded a cold day. The BOM app said the apparent temperature was -8°C, but forecast to get to a ‘high’ of -3°C. Despite that it was a hardy group that met in Blackheath before consolidating cars and heading out to Carlons Farm. The fire trail walking to start didn’t really warm us up, but the fast open walking up the ridge below Glenraphael Head did.

Open ridge walking

More open ridge walking

Things slowed down considerably once we got off the ridge and began traversing round to Dunphys Pass. For once I was at the back and with 7 people in front of me passage seemed fairly straight-forward 😉

Less open (understatement!) traversing

Traversing the ledges from Dunphys Pass to the gully varied between getting the full wind or being slightly sheltered. Needless to say the pace increased or slacked off depending on which section we were in!

Tom taking the low route, as Rob sizes up the high route

Joan and Geoff on the low route

Ascent up the gully and then along the ridge was pretty nice going. Certainly easier than the full body scrub fight that existed pre-fires. It was some of the most pliable burnt banksia I have had the pleasure of walking through.

What a beautiful day (photos don’t show the wind or apparent temperature!)

Lunch didn’t take long as we were quickly chilled by the wind. The sun was popping in and out from behind the clouds, quite pleasant when it was out, but not nice when it was gone.

Descending a very scoured out creek

My favourite moment of the day was when we started out on Harmils Ledge and Anthony returned saying “I haven’t done this before, but I am not comfortable with going this way”. Which when we checked it out was not surprising as there was a massive drop-off in front of us. Fortunately, rather than the ledge having collapsed we were just on the wrong one. A further scramble down the somewhat precarious creek got us onto the correct ledge – comfort levels up when we found the logbook – and some much more sheltered conditions.

Wild Dogs views

Geoff on Harmils Ledge

Very scenic traverse

Wattle in flower

We’d brought a couple of handlines for the descent off the ledge – though the handline wasn’t used. Stemples had been installed (unnecessarily) and a few of us made the descent avoiding them just to prove how unnecessary they were.

KT scrambling off Harmils Ledge

From there the party was blown to all sides of the ridge, and the wind made communication difficult. Eventually we reconvened and made our way through the worst scrub of the day; raspberry, lawyer vine, over many fallen trees, back to the open ridge we’d walked up in the morning.

Tom enjoying the views (don’t get blown off)

A very enjoyable if chilly day out.

Navshield 2024 (20-21 Jul 2024)

After my first Navshield last year I was a little surprised to find myself fronting up for another one this year. I did not want to be in the same state at the end, as I was the year before, so one of my conditions on participating was to have 8 hours off our feet in the middle of the event.

We were scrambling to find a fourth team member only a couple of weeks out. To be eligible to compete in the Bushwalking Division teams must have a minimum of 4 members. Eventually Lauren recruited Alexi who Alex and I had never met. As it turned out this was to be Alexi’s first ever rogaine – it was a pretty brutal introduction to the sport. I’d suggest most people start with a 6 hour event!

I was the only one able to get away early on Friday so I drove up to Stroud in the afternoon so I was able to get to Base and pick up the maps as soon as they were available. After weeks of wet weather the site was still very boggy, and non-4WDs were not being permitted down to the gully where Base was set up. I wandered down and chatted to others as we waited for the countdown to 6pm and map release. By 6:02pm (I must have got my maps slightly early since it took more than 2 minutes to walk back to the car) I was back on the windy dirt road to Stroud. By 6:45pm Alex, Alexi and I were looking at the maps in the pub. The most surprising thing for me was that Base was on the western edge of the map – our plans for doing a Saturday loop and sleeping at Base were looking unlikely.

Beautiful sunset while waiting for maps on Friday night

Dinner took awhile to arrive and so we didn’t really get into the map marking up until later than I had hoped. At least this year the map was a lot smaller and we didn’t have to mark overlapping sections.

For so many things with NavShield you have to come back to what the purpose of the event is – it’s a training exercise for SES/emergency services. Are they going to get a map with their search areas drawn on in the real world? No, of course not. So I get why this is an important part of the event – but it takes so long, and by the time it’s done you don’t have much time to plan a course. If the maps were released even an hour earlier it would make a big difference.

Map marking up at the Stroud pub

Much like last year we were ready to go bed by the time we had the map marked up – so we spent all of half an hour on our route. The main decision we made was that we’d have to carry gear for camping out as a loop back to Base didn’t make sense. In the end we could have spent longer planning the course as the locals were having a good time on a Friday night and there wasn’t much sleep to be had until the pub closed (and they all hopped in their cars and drove home… let’s hope there were a lot of quiet designated drivers with them).

The weather for the weekend was clear and sunny and it was a beautiful site to behold when we arrived at Base the next morning.

NavShield Base

Team SBW: Lauren, Rachel, Alexi, Alex

All routes out of Base involved crossing Mammy Johnsons River – I was hoping that wasn’t going to mean wet feet for the entirety of the course. Fortunately there was a rocky bar which kept my feet dry. It was the usual chaos of hundreds of people heading in varying directions out of base. We kept leap-frogging former PM Tony Abbott and his teammate for the first 5 or so controls. They must have been relatively quick across the ground but their finer navigation skills were somewhat lacking.

We started off in a section of the map which was ‘white’ vegetation, which asides from the farmland, should have been the easiest vegetation. After battling our way into a narrow oxbow for two twenty point controls we wondered what on earth the ‘green’ vegetation sections were going to be like.

We also had discovered by that stage, that the “track – 4WD” as marked ranged from fully functional, currently used, dirt roads through to previously used many years ago, barely visible roads – the kind where you’re looking at the unnatural gap in the tree growth to spot them rather than any clues on the ground. We started referring to them as ‘real’ 4WD tracks and ‘fake’ 4WD tracks. Again, I had to come back to the purpose of the event, if a real search occurs, tracks marked on a topo map could be in either of those categories, so it’s understandable that teams in a training event have to be prepared for that. However, if this had been a normal rogaine, I don’t think that would have been an acceptable way to prepare the map.

Lauren at control 25

Sidling towards control 62

One of the many large logging stumps we saw

One of the ‘real’ 4WD tracks on the map

We ran into our first navigational hiccup in the early afternoon looking for control 81. Approaching it from the south we were expecting to find the second watercourse and walk up it. We thought we did that but then the watercourse kind of stopped and the terrain wasn’t matching. Rather than fully resetting we walked back south, found some features which aligned and walked up that watercourse. In that watercourse we found a culvert under an old road, which we had to climb over to continue up the watercourse. And continue up we did, for quite some way… with no sign of the control.

Eventually we concluded we’d either missed it or were in the wrong creek. We headed back down and reset from the river. And found ourselves back where we had been originally. Now that we had the knowledge of the old road we realised that where we thought the watercourse had stopped we’d just hit the embankment. So a few short minutes later we finally had control 81. Interestingly the old road was on the topo map – it just hadn’t made it onto the rogaine map.

From there we were on a bit of a mission to try and get to control 100 before dark. The course-setter notes had advised ‘visiting the control in daylight hours is recommended’. Not sure if this was so you could appreciate the aesthetic beauty of the waterfall, or to avoid the cliffs and rock scrambling in the dark! It was an impressive waterfall but since it was 4:30pm and already darkening in the gorge we couldn’t linger to appreciate it. I lead us up a slightly sketchy climb through the cliffline rather than backtrack down the gorge.

Lauren filling up water at control 100

While the next ridge was predominantly ‘white’ it was pretty slow going, and it was after sunset by the time we made it to control 43. Torches came out part way through our traverse across the slopes to control 82. Our second navigational hiccup occurred once we hit the creek. Heading upstream, cause why not? The rock platforms were delightful… Until eventually concluding we must have hit the creek above the waterfall rather than below it. The rock platforms weren’t quite as delightful when going downstream. We managed to climb down carefully and finally pick up control 82 just a few minutes from where we’d originally hit the creek.

Lovely rock platforms above (as it turns out) control 82

Eventually getting to the base of the waterfall at control 82

Having experienced the range of vegetation we weren’t sure the best way to then get to control 72. We went for the creek, hoping it would have some nice rock platforms and quick travel. It wasn’t quite as nice as the other creek but it started off ok, though progressively slowed. Eventually we decided to leave the creek, which was challenging to get out of. And having just battled through the vegetation onto the ridge Alex then asks the sage question ‘how are we going to find the control?’ (it was in the watercourse). Fortunately we made our way back in further up and got the points with no particular issues.

We were now a good two hours later than I had optimistically thought we might be at the point – the previous two controls taking over 4 hours. The next hour felt the longest though – we had agreed, some hours earlier, dinner would be at radio checkpoint Alpha. Now we were so close.. and yet so far. An hour to cover the 600m up the hill to the road. I was well and truly over the thorny cabbage tree palms by then.

We stumbled into a deserted Alpha at 10:20pm. The wind had been progressively picking up throughout the afternoon and evening, and clearly everyone based at Alpha had decided it was so miserable that being in their tents was the best option. Fortunately, no discussion required, everyone in our team was on the same page – it was time to sleep and we’d worry about the next day in the morning. The wind continued gusting all night but no big branches landed on us, though I was covered in small debris when Alex’s alarm went off at 5:30am.

More water had magically appeared overnight, which was good, since there was hardly any when we arrived. By the time we’d filled up and agreed what we were doing we almost didn’t need torches.

First light on the control towers at radio checkpoint Alpha

Once more into the cabbage tree palms, my friends! Some slightly tricky nav got us to ‘a small but distinct knoll’ with control 90 on it. From there we left the world of thorny cabbage tree palms, lawyer vine and lantana thickets behind in exchange for fire trail and elephant tracks to our remaining controls.

Alexi looking like he’s enjoying himself at control 90

I think we were all happy for a change of vegetation, especially Alexi who in his learnings from his first rogaine, would no doubt have ‘don’t bring a pack with a frame that sticks up above your shoulders to get caught by every vine we walk past’. Closely followed by ‘hope that your short buttons don’t fall off in the first 3 hours and you need to fashion a belt from string’ (not sure how you prepare for that one though!).

Lauren looking delighted to be in farmland

Where has all the nasty vegetation gone?

We came in with 23 minutes to spare, and 1,260 points (by complete coincidence the same score as last year). I would say it was a great weekend, enjoyed by all, but I think Alexi’s suffering was similar to mine at the end of last year’s event.

The wind had played havoc at Base while we’d been away. Marquees had been picked up and dumped through car windows. Several tents had gone flying. Perhaps it was a good thing we hadn’t ended coming back to camp!

The GPS says we did about 41km, with 3000m asc/des. We were moving for 18.5 of the 27 hours (at Alpha from 10:20pm-6:20am, and back 23 minutes early).

Mt Werong exploration (6-7 July 2024)

I’d been tipped off that the the south-western side of the Mount Werong road had not burnt in the 2019 fires. The SEED fire intensity map showed the road had been a clear barrier to the burn. When so many other places are somewhat unpleasant to walk in I find myself increasingly seeking out unburnt regions. This weekend definitely delivered.

A few us arrived on Friday night after yet another soggy week. Everything was saturated, and while we had dry wood in the car, it was all large pieces to go on an established blaze. The firelighters which had previously lived in the firewood bag were no longer there. Subsequently Tom and I spent over an hour bullying the fire into getting going. Our forearms were pumped, as if we’d been climbing, after an hour of fanning oxygen into the reluctant kindling. But eventually we succeeded and had a pleasant night around the fire.

The next morning we were joined by two others before heading off to Mt Werong. I had planned to drop a car along the fire trail at the end but with only one AWD and a very muddy section (due to needing to avoid a tree across the road) we only managed to knock off a kilometre or so instead of four.

We had our first climb immediately – the goal Mount Werong. Never was there an easier peak or trig to bag. Less than 20 minutes into the walk, having ascended 40m (maybe 50), we had achieved that goal. From there we had several kilometres of very gentle descent along a delightful ridge line. To my surprise there was even a pad most of the way. Tom’s theory was that it had been created by trailbike riders but if so it didn’t look like it had much recent use.

Tom has conquered Mt Werong (Werong Trig)

So happy with the walking conditions he’s doing a jig

The first real difficultly we encountered (excluding the boggy road) was crossing a pumping creek. It was clearly up and a dry feet crossing was looking unlikely until Tom with his long legs and long poles managed to get across. The rest of managed to follow suit keeping largely dry.

Katie crossing the raging creek

Climbing out of the creek – for once a symmetrical line!

Beautiful ridge walking

Anyone would think it’s a little chilly at lunch

We hit a rocky band above Parliament Creek. Tom was sure he could hear cascades so he went hunting them. Crossing the creek proved a little tricky – though with 5 people we managed 4 different methods to get across the creek.

Some of us headed down to the base of the waterfall which was quite impressive. I doubt that was the normal flow level though. Tom and Jon wanted to explore further as they thought there might be more cascades but with time getting away from us I said no. We’ll have to go back and explore more another time.

Tom at a rocky knoll

Looking for a way through the cliffs

Now how do I get to that side?

Waterfall in Parliament Creek

Tom and Jon on the way back from waterfall-viewing

Heading up the ridge

As it turned out the locked gate on the map, where I’d planned to leave the car, didn’t even exist. So had we got past the boggy section we would have been able to avoid walking the entire fire trail. Since we didn’t know exactly where we left the car it was a bit of a mystery. Both Jon & I kept expecting it would be ’round the next bend’, ‘over the next crest’, but were generally disappointed.

Yep, fire trail

Almost back at the car??

When we eventually got back to the car we put some effort into clearing the fallen tree that was blocking the road. It was a pretty big tree but with 3 of us putting some serious grunt into breaking off the branches we managed to clear enough of it that I was confident we could get further down the road the next day. We had a solid 8 hours out walking and so were only back at the campground at 4:30pm. Fortunately the fire was much easier to get going and we had a pleasant evening in relatively mild (4°C rather than 0) conditions.

Getting ready to settle in

We lost a couple from the previous day to sickness so that left 3 of us for Sunday’s activities.

Confident we could get further down the fire trail after our efforts the day before we set off with cautious optimism. I was hoping to get 7km down the trail and all it takes is one obstacle to put a spanner in the plan. Unfortunately less than 500m after we’d turned onto Little River F/T we came to a 20m puddle that didn’t look passable. So onto Plan B. Except I didn’t really have a Plan B.

In low cloud, in an area that had burnt, there was perhaps a little less enthusiasm for heading off compared to the day before. But I led us through wet regrowth which opened up after a couple of hundred metres. The ridge we were following is the boundary between Kanangra-Boyd National Park and the Blue Mountains National Park. The park boundary on the map obscures the narrow ridge line very effectively. It was only on the map Tom had created from the DEMS using QGIS that we could see the distinct ridge with its series of knolls.

Great views early on…

Wattle and burnt trees make a striking contrast

In my efforts to ensure we ended up on that narrow ridge and not the more obvious one on the topo I led us through a less pleasant section of wattle regrowth. It was as we popped out of that Roger realised he no longer had his phone. But he didn’t know when he last had it other than the car. Rather than go back and look, when it could have been anywhere, we kept going. The scrub eased off and we found ourselves on a typical rocky Kanangra ridge with dramatic views falling away on each side.

Tom checking out the views off Mt Moona Loombah

After morning tea on Mount Moona Loombah, we had lunch on the ‘other ridge’, perched on a cliff edge, with great views down the Kowmung. Then it was time to go phone-hunting!

Lunch views down the Kowmung

That doesn’t look that comfortable!?

Life on the edge

I was quite disappointed we had needed to go back into the wattle regrowth – it had been apparent that section had been unnecessary and we could have just stuck to the relatively clear ridge. But nevertheless if we were going to make a serious effort to find the phone we needed to retrace the whole route. I think it was to all of our amazement Tom managed to locate Roger’s phone in the midst of the wattle regrowth. Roger was very happy!

Is that a phone you’ve found!?

It was relatively short day but completed a most satisfying weekend away. A place to revisit again soon.

Carnarvon Gorge road trip (6-16 June 2024)

King’s Birthday weekend was coming up, and taking the rest of the week off seemed like a great way to get 10 days off in a row with minimal annual leave burnt. But where to go?

Carnarvon Gorge has been on my to-do list for a long time. Not sure exactly why – possibly because it’s mentioned in the back of Rick Jamieson’s Canyons Near Sydney book. (Not that Carnarvon Gorge is near Sydney!). Every time I’ve looked at it before I’ve been overwhelmed with how far away it is from everywhere, but this time it seemed like 10 days might be just enough time to make it worthwhile. Do we fly or drive? Tom convinces me that it’s probably easier just to drive since then we can take all our gear from home and not worry about weight limits on the plane. Slightly dreading the 1500km we have to drive each way I agree.

Day 1: Sydney to Quirindi (350km/4 hours)

We knock off the first 4 hours of driving on Thursday night after work. This puts us in striking distance of breakfast in Narrabri and then the opportunity to visit two areas we didn’t make it it to our on our previous visit to Mount Kaputar National Park – Sawn Rocks and Waa Gorge.

Day 2: Quirindi to Nindigully Pub (573km/7 hours)

Sawn Rocks, Mount Kaputar National Park

Waa Gorge, Mount Kaputar National Park

Mill-Bullah Waterholes, Mount Kaputar National Park

The schedule for the second day was pretty tight, but we managed to make up some time with the overly generous national park estimates for how long Waa Gorge would take to explore. We figured that gave us time to stop for coffee in Moree… but we’d failed to note where One Ton Post in Mungindi actually was. And had no reception – rather than just drive until we found signs we tried to find it (on the wrong side of the Barwon River). Any time we’d made up in Waa Gorge was squandered, but we made it into Nindigully Pub just on 5pm. We were somewhat disappointed that the thick stands of trees surrounding the pub obscured much of what had promised to be a good sunset.

Thallon Silos

Nindigully Pub

The pub was pumping and we somewhat accidentally found ourselves in the food queue, which was just as well, as otherwise we may not have got our first choice order. Live entertainment by Adam Kilpatrick was excellent – I couldn’t have pictured a more stereotypical Queenslander! (Maroons shirt & cap, stubbies & thongs… in 6°C) We particularly enjoyed his full rendition of American Pie towards the end of his set.

Day 3: Nindigully Pub to Carnarvon Gorge (491km/5.5 hours)

The next day was an early start, our preferred way to tackle a long driving day, getting a couple of hours of driving under the belt before breakfast (in Surat). With the schedule already falling behind we didn’t do the full riverside walk but it was good to stretch the legs out.

Roma’s supermarkets seemed packed with people like us stocking up for a few days. We managed to get in and out fairly quickly before lunch at Injune, in June (never gets old I’m sure). The only option was the pub of which we were 2 of 4 patrons. It’s hard to imagine the economics work – but I assume it must get busier at night. The chips were some of the best I’ve ever had – so crunchy!

Largest bottle tree in Roma

By the time we got into the Caravan Park at Carnarvon Gorge mid-afternoon I was ready not to do much for the rest of the day. Originally we had thought we might go and do a walk, but setting up camp, and not having to think for half an hour won out. That said there was a lookout to visit for sunset and some supposed platypus viewing to be had. Sadly, we didn’t look at the map properly and so spent a good 20 minutes looking for platypus at the swimming hole instead of the platypus area. Then mistimed our arrival at the lookout for sunset. Quickly dashing back to the actual platypus pool we did get to spot one before it swam off downstream away from where we were allowed to go. Ah well, can’t have it all. With a new moon the sky was dark and clear, the stars were phenomenal. It was also good to know we didn’t have any real driving for the next 4 days.

Day 4: Carnarvon Gorge caravan park to National Park entry (Driving: 6km / 15 min)

Another relatively early start, complicated by needing to pack overnight packs for the next few nights. But we managed to be walking by 9am which was the goal. The vegetation was so lush – not really what I was expecting. It really didn’t feel like we were in Outback Queensland. We did all the side-trips as we walked up the gorge; the Moss Garden, the Amphitheatre, the Art Gallery and Cathedral Cave. Wards Canyon was closed due to flood damage.

Beautiful day in Carnarvon Gorge

Tom in the Amphitheatre

The Art Gallery – the most impressive collection of art I’ve seen in one location

All 17 crossings up the gorge were labelled – though the signs got further and further back from the creek as we went upstream

Around one of the communal fires the previous night we’d met a couple of young guys who were heading out on the Great Walk and camping at Big Bend like us that evening. We kept leap-frogging them through the day – though they were doing was more exercise than us, as we dumped our packs at the junctions, whereas they were carrying them in and out on all the side trips. We also explored up an unwritten up side creek, which ended up being quite a lovely section of gorge/canyon.

Precipice Sandstone cliffs in lovely light

Big cliffs

Dramatic gorge, small human

Epic camp cave (Cathedral/Pitjara) – you can see why this was used by the local people for thousands of years

Eventually we made it to Big Bend – the last arrivals for the day, with 6 others already set-up. As such we got the ‘worst’ pick of the campsites, but we were happy enough with it that we didn’t bother moving when everyone else cleared out the next morning.

Our camp cave not quite so epic (or is it..)

We chatted with the two young guys until it got dark and cold. They headed for their tents, and we rugged up. Another couple from Cairns shared the picnic table with us while we had dinner. The third couple barely left their tent, so we never spoke to them. It was pretty cold, and the Cairns couple headed to bed by 6pm. That left me & Tom partying until 8pm.

Day 5: No driving!

It was a chilly night, we slept really well and after all our early starts were happy to have a sleep in. Our relaxed start meant we didn’t get away from camp until almost 10am. A day of exploring up-gorge with no real goals meant timing was pretty flexible. We had a successful day poking our heads up a number of gorges, generally getting stopped by some sort of chockstone block-up.

A canyon!

Tom in the canyon

Trying to replicate a photo of me in Blarney Canyon in Utah (turns out not that similar)

Tom looking small in a mossy section

Will he hop in the water in an attempt to continue upstream?

Large log jam!

Cliffs in the main gorge

Staghorns

Starting up another side gorge

up/down climb (depending on your direction)

Handy roots provide access into this side creek

Back at camp we had a new cohort of campers. Mum & 2 young daughters who were obviously experienced campers and quite precocious, plus a couple from Mackay on their final day of the Great Walk. They spoke of how cold it had been at the higher camps of the previous few nights. It seemed slightly warmer than the night before but still pretty chilly and yet again we were the only ones up at the late hour of 8pm.

Big Bend campsite reflections

Day 6: No driving!

On day 6 we were back to an early start, aiming to get up Battleship Spur in the cooler part of the morning. Not that it had been particularly warm during the day (maybe 19°C?), but a 500m ascent is a 500m ascent. What a delightful walk – the start of Boowinda Gorge was quite impressive, the scramble up the gully onto the ridge, then the ridge walking was excellent, before traversing across the tops to the lookout. We had a perfect day for it, and it was really enjoyable.

“the Subway” of Boowinda Gorge (at least that’s what it reminded me of)

On our way up to Battleship Spur

It took us 2 hours from camp to the lookout which was great timing for morning tea.

Battleship Spur viewpoint

Eventually we decided we better head back down. Everything had a slightly different perspective going the other direction. We enjoyed watching a couple of wedge-tailed eagles soaring just overhead, and Tom got to photograph the orchids we’d rushed past on the way up.

Tom in dinosaur country

At the bottom of the steep gully which gives access up to the tops

Back down in Boowinda Gorge, we headed upstream. I wasn’t really feeling it so I let Tom keep going while I found a nice flat rock to lie on. The sun vanishes early from the gorge in winter, and it was pretty chilly in the gorge, so it wasn’t quite as relaxing as it could have been. Tom eventually reappeared and said he’d found a flowing canyon only 9 minutes upstream. So we headed up to that, but I decided I didn’t need to go past the section where wading was required (Tom already had).

Tom found a wet canyon!

Back in the subway

On the way back down the gorge we had an unusual encounter. Two wedge-tailed eagles were perched in a tree in the gorge – seemed unusual, but maybe they roost there for the night?

It was a lot milder that evening – I didn’t even put my down jacket on till after 7pm. We had a full party around the picnic table – Mum & her daughters were still there, plus a couple from Kingaroy on their first overnight hike, and a couple from Brisbane just starting the Great Walk. Despite the mild(er) temperatures we were still the last ones up – at 8pm!

Day 7: National Park entry to Carnarvon Gorge caravan park (Driving: 6km / 15 min)

Day 7 was another full schedule so up early again – but to be fair when you’re going to sleep by 9pm, that’s still over 9 hours sleep with a 6:30am wake-up. The first half of the walk back down Carnarvon Gorge passed very quickly. The first of the day trippers we encountered quite early – unfortunately one of them had fallen in at Creek Crossing 10. We’d seen 2 people slip in there while having lunch on our first day. So beware crossing 10! The second half dragged a bit as we both waited for the turn off for Boolimba Bluff to appear. Eventually it did. We stashed our packs and walking on air with only day packs as we headed up to the lookout. The ‘steep and rugged’ walk up the gully reminded me of the Devil’s Hole in Katoomba and was lovely as it was in the shade. Apparently we’re fitter than we thought as we overtook quite a few people on our way up.

I obviously wasn’t that impressed with the view as I didn’t see fit to include a photo!

On our way back from Boolimba Bluff lookout. The sigh says “the next 300m is very steep and rugged. Recommended only for the physically fit”. Not sure what Tom was doing up there… 🙂

We were back at the visitors centre in time for lunch. We almost lost lunch to a determined kookaburra but fortunately it didn’t manage to make off with most of our cheese.

Post lunch we still had Mickey Creek, and side creek Warrumbah Creek that doesn’t even get a mention on the map, to do so Tom said there was no time for me to have a coffee. Boo. Turned out to to be a good thing, since by the time we’d been up the upper left fork and upper right fork of Mickey Creek and then explored a long way up Warrumbah Creek there wasn’t that much time left in the afternoon.

Found us another canyon

Turns out we left the best for last. Warrumbah Creek was a stunner. I think the other canyons may have felt a bit disappointing if we’d done this one first. Tom went a bit further than me, as I wasn’t keen to have wet shoes to go back down the flimsy branch we’d balanced on to get up the canyon. He didn’t get much further though as he came to a chest deep section, followed by a tricky looking climb up. With his camera/phone/gps in his short pockets it made it an easier choice to turn around.

Slanty corridor here we come

Canyon shoes come into their own for some bridging

Don’t think he bridged that pool!

Flimsy branch provided access up-canyon

Spectacular canyon

Back at the Caravan Park we prioritised platypus viewing over sunsets. The first pool didn’t provide much, so we wandered to the second one. Almost immediately I spotted some churned up dirt and bubbles. Bingo! We ended up watching two platypus swim about for half an hour. The closest view I’ve ever got of one. It was an excellent end to the trip.

My best platypus viewing experience – it was in fact excellent, even if this photo doesn’t perhaps suggest that

Day 8: Carnarvon Gorge caravan park to Toowoomba (611km / 7 hours)

Surprisingly (not), day 8 was an early start. We had an excellent breakfast in Injune (the sole cafe is open in the mornings), before stops in Chinchilla and then Dalby to stretch our legs walking along the river. I’d left booking accom to the last minute, and lots of motels in Toowoomba were full. Eventually I found us a much nicer room than I would have normally booked – and for once I took advantage of having a spa bath to soak my legs which were feeling the 4 days of walking.

Day 9: Toowoomba to Girraween National Park (191km / 2 hours 20 min)

We had a relaxing start to the day as we only had a couple of hours of driving and a similar amount of walking. Despite being our first visit to Girraween National Park we eschewed the popular walks and instead headed to the Mt Norman side to walk into a remote bush camp site I’d booked. I don’t think I’d appreciated the walk in was entirely on fire trail, but it was, so we made quick work of the 8km. Unfortunately the blue skies we’d started the day with were now grey clouds which didn’t bode that well for photography.

Stone gate entrance, Girraween National Park

South Bald Rock remote camp

Tom directed us to a track which led around the back of South Bald Rock and eventually up to the granite. At that stage I was wondering why we hadn’t camped closer to the summit as the thought of retracing the route after dark (or before sunrise) was a bit daunting. However, once on top it looked like we might be able to walk off the front back to camp.

Looks like sunset but it’s only mid-afternoon

Can we get off the front of this?

Camp is a long way down

Unfortunately it then started raining – that was not in the forecast! I’d been so casual about the forecast I hadn’t even brought a raincoat. Fortunately there was a large overhanging boulder near by so we sheltered under that with our happy hour while the rain blew through. In the scheme of things we couldn’t have done much better.

Hiding from the rain under a convenient boulder during an un-forecast bout of rain

The rain stopped for sunset but there was a bit too much cloud for anything spectacular. We made it back to the tent before the next lot of rain came through, so I got lucky on my lack of raincoat.

Actual sunset… Putin eat your heart out

Day 10: Girraween National Park to Armidale (265km / 3 hours 10 min)

Tom’s description of the morning didn’t make me rush out of bed to join him for a pre-sunrise hike back up South Bald Rock. I enjoyed being warm in bed while he went seeking sunrise. We walked out straight after breakfast and were back at the car by 11am. A bit earlier than expected – I was a bit over the walking – the weather combined with the fire trail made the trip a bit disappointing.

Instead we turned to the other thing we often do on roadtrips – wine tasting! Only 15 minutes up the road was Queensland’s premiere (and only!) wine region. We found ourselves at a winery with a generous lunch platter and tasting flight – an excellent way to spend a couple of hours before hitting the road to Armidale.

Day 11: Armidale to Sydney (480km / 5 hours 30 min)

We decided to take Thunderbolt Way back to Sydney – looking forward to a breakfast stop at the patisserie in Gloucester. We were very nearly too late as we secured the final two vanilla slices! Though to be honest I think the sausage roll was probably more impressive. Breaking the trip up we had coffee in Stroud, before the final push back home.

Total 2983km

Winburndale (25-26 May 2024)

This was my second trip to Winburndale – given how many closures and areas with unpleasant regrowth there are at the moment I’m surprised I hadn’t thought to come back here sooner. Sure the walking is a little contrived as the areas is riddled with fire trails but if you pretend they aren’t there then there is some really nice walking to be had.

Morning tea – day 1

The tourist at Winburndale Rivulet

delightful off-track walking

Getting to camp mid-afternoon I thought we had plenty of time. Most of us headed off on a water run. I blithely said I wasn’t taking a torch as we wouldn’t need them. But we got into the creek where we’d found water on my previous trip, and it was pretty algae-ridden. We kept pushing downstream until we eventually found some small pools without any algae. By the time the seven of us had filled up water there was only 20 minutes till sunset.

one of the small pools we eventually found late Saturday

‘first’ sunset on our way back from the water collection

I complained that missing sunset when we had a high camp defeated the point, but Paul assured me we’d be back in time. Silently I thought there was no chance. As we crested the first ridge on our way back we could see the sun setting through the trees. Oh well. Then we crossed the saddle and popped up on the ridge we were camping on to see the sun just about to go below the horizon. Amazing. And what a spectacular sunset it was – one of the best in many months.

second sunset from camp

sunset just kept on giving

Sunrise was pretty speccy the next morning – lots of valley cloud adding a magical touch as the sun slowly hit the ridges spread out across the valley.

sunrise wasn’t too shabby either

camp in the trees

valley cloud

One of the party had sprained their ankle the previous day so we split the group on Sunday. Tom headed out with two of the others via the fire trails that the rest of us were pretending didn’t exist. The remaining 5 of us reversed my 2020 day one route. This was really enjoyable walking along the conglomerate escarpment. I think the angle of the views and walking away from the sun made this direction the better one. We spotted 3 goats, quite a few wallabys and heard plenty of lyrebirds in the valley below.

rock strata

The fabulous five at morning tea

Winburndale Dam with a blanket of cloud behind it

mini canyon

Winburndale Rivulet

Conglomerate ridge

Fire trail back to the car

A really enjoyable weekend of walking with a great group.

Anzac LWE scrub-free! (25-27 Apr 2024)

There were a few permutations before our leader John settled on what was a significantly easier trip than the one originally posted on the Club program. We exchanged probable hours of thick bush-bashing with full packs for idyllic open ridges and a base camp meaning we only carried full packs for a day and a half. The downside – a 5 hour drive from Sydney – but something I was willing to stomach given the ANZAC day public holiday was a Thursday, giving me a four day weekend.

The temperature as we drove down from Canberra on Thursday morning started at 4°C and hovered between -1°C and 1°C most of the way. We warmed up with a free sausage sizzle (and excellent coffee) at the Courtyard Cafe in Cooma. Those that had camped at Numeralla had a pretty chilly night and I think we were all questioning whether we’d packed enough warm clothes.

Don’t think this obstacle was on the trip waiver

Our early walking was stymied early on when we found ourselves inside a very securely fenced revegetation area – but like numerous wombats before us, we escaped!

Revegetative works

Regrowth has become such a normal part of walking in most parks within 2-3 hours of Sydney that I had to keep pinching myself as we walked up open ridges where barely a bush brushed our legs. What a treat!

But where’s the scrub?!

By lunch time we had reached our proposed base camp an idyllic setting with what looked like a great swimming hole. Ha swimming. Who would do that when temperatures still felt like they were in the single digits.

River crossing

But why is no one swimming?

Post lunch most of us headed off for a upstream excursion which had some fun scrambling, river crossings and more hills. At the top of our last hill I was wondering why I was feeling so tired, but felt somewhat better when told our cumulative ascent for the day was around 700m.

Lauren attempting to negotiate a bluff

Beautiful river scenery

More open walking!

Our camp for two nights

That night, appropriately given it was ANZAC day, Tom gave us a moving rendition of “And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda”. A poignant reminder of the futility of war.

Fortunately it was nowhere near as cold overnight compared to the previous night and I think collectively we all slept really well. Day 2, we had a 7:30am departure from camp, for a day trip that John threatened might finish after dark. This time we headed downstream. This was mainly very quick walking apart from a wiggly section with some really picturesque rocks and an amazingly balanced tree – evidence of the previous flood.

Early morning river crossing

Serenity

Lauren taking her own route

Tom scrambling

Fun rocky river section

Chute

We had morning tea downwind of a pig carcass before taking on some more hills. Lunch was at a pleasant spot with views over the surrounding area. Before we had a wonderful ridge walk back towards camp and another scrub-free ridge descent back to camp. A wonderful day with lots of variety and very little to complain about. Especially since we were back in time to have an afternoon coffee 🙂

Less fun scenery – but better dead than alive

Climbing up a small creek

Lunch views on day 2

Despite the cool temperature on the first day Tom & I still had a swim. It was much warmer on day 2 but the water was still very chilly for our swim on the second day.

Our second night’s entertainment, a pivot from the previous night, was the story of an epic that one of the party had recently been on. The story itself was an epic and everyone was so engrossed, that dinner got pushed back to after 6pm!

Chilly swim

Day 3 brought a split in the group. One party member’s knee was not functioning well, so one contingent would take the most direct route back to the cars, while the other group would take on John’s original plan for day 3. Initially the fabulous five were going to take the longer route, but in the end it was just the three musketeers (me, Tom & Lauren). We chose to modify John’s route and just follow the ridges for our route out – these ended up being quite different from our ridge line the previous day. Getting up to 1200m we seemed to be above the main tree line so had expansive views of the surrounds. But the Allocasuarina nana covered much of the bare ridges. While it was generally only knee high it did slow things down.

Early morning views on day 3

Sort of scrub-free – at least we can see 🙂

Unusual rock

Rocky ridge walking

We had hoped for some views from our high point for the day but it was a eucalypt covered mound. Instead we headed down an old fire trail and found a couple of flat rocks poking out of the allocasuarina for great lunch views.

Lunch spot (tree-covered high point in the background)

After lunch we were mainly on fire trail and some very open ridges back to the car. We were also walking into the sun, which seemed very scorchy, and by the time got to the cars we were all feeling pretty fried and looking forward to milkshakes in Cooma!

Another open ridge back to the car

What a treat to get out in unburnt country for three days. Thanks to John for organising.

Colo Pass 5 & 1 (20-21 Apr 2024)

James wanted to go canyoning for the weekend. Woohoo! But his suggestions were far more energetic than either Tom or I were capable of, and the weather forecast was not overly enticing for wet canyoning. But why work out plans more than 48 hours in advance? Eventually we settled on a trip into the Upper Colo since James had never been there, and I was hoping it would mean we wouldn’t be away the *entire* weekend.

About 20 minutes after leaving home on Saturday morning Tom started swearing. His phone and wallet are still on the table at home. “Am I taking the next exit?”… “Running out of time for a decision?”… I assured him it would be like going bush in the old days before Lidar maps existed and we had to just use our experience. I’m not sure he was convinced.

We continued on; but without Tom’s drivers licence I ended up doing most of the driving. Well, until we got to the boggy sections on the Culoul Range Fire Trail. I got us through a few puddles but as we started swinging about I decided I’d had enough. And Tom, licence or not, could be responsible for getting us through the remainder. We made it to the end of the road intact and were soon fairly saturated as we started walking along the overgrown trail. The forecast rain seemed to have come through before we arrived that morning and everything was sodden.

Eventually we dropped off the track, where apparently it hadn’t rained given how dry it was, and headed down to our creek. It was slow going, with plenty of young lawyer vine ready to leave its mark.

Between a petrol stop, a coffee/banh mi/pastry stop, the wet road in and then the overgrown approach, it was almost midday by the time we got to the first abseil. The banh mi had been smelling alluring the whole drive up, but were slowly getting soggy and squashed in our packs. The others weren’t keen for an early lunch so we kept going to the further detriment of the banh mi.

Tom on the first abseil

After the reasonable gap between the first and second abseils I got James to read out Tom’s notes from previous visits. I think both him & I were a little surprised (horrified) to find the base of second abseil was going to have a waist deep pool and the base of the third a chest deep pool! Slightly concerned at my lack of water proofing I was happy to let the others go first.

James on the second abseil, Tom at the base

I convinced them we should have lunch before getting into a chest deep pool and we were lucky to have a calm period on the ledge so we didn’t get cold while we ate our soggy banh mi.

As per our usual practice I took my shirt off for the third abseil, which prompted the others also to do so. I was not unhappy to find it was unnecessary as the pool was only waist deep (maybe even shallower than the previous one).

All smiles that a chest-deep pool didn’t exist (just a waist deep one)

Somewhere around this part of the day Tom objected to my efforts to increase our (his) efficiency getting down the drops. I was labelled the ‘fun police’ and then he started imitating Blackboard from the children’s program Mr Squiggle. “Hurry up” then became his catch-phrase for the rest of the weekend – even though he was really the only one that directive needed to be applied to! 🙂

James with an awkward sit-start for the 4th abseil

Tom on the 5th abseil

James on the 5th abseil

James on the 6th abseil

James on the 7th abseil, Tom on the ledge

Tom in the Colo (as well as two of our ropes!)

James on our 8th and final abseil

We had afternoon tea on the Colo before heading upstream. The river, unsurprisingly given the recent rainfall, had a lot more flow in it than on previous visits. There was no way we were going to be able to just wade up the middle of it.

Looking back up where we came

Tom above the Colo

We had a very pleasant night in our cave, particularly with it drizzling very lightly on and off most of the night. We woke the next morning to sections of blue sky which became full sun and blue sky later in the day. Such a contrast to the very grey day we’d had on Saturday.

It was pretty easy going to the base of Crawfords Lookout – truly spectacular country.

James and Tom enjoy a log walk

James crossing Wollemi Creek, but where is Tom going?

Colo horseshoe bend from Crawfords Lookout

We made it to Hollow Rock!

I won the 3 (or more?) time guessing games against Tom over the course of the weekend. Each time only by a couple of minutes which was highly satisfying.

Back at the car at 2:14pm (beat him again), we had a late afternoon tea stop in Windsor on the way home. A very enjoyable weekend in remote country, even if I’m still not fit enough to carry an overnight canyoning pack and enjoy it.

Wanganderry Wanderings (13-14 Apr 2024)

Morning tea views

Wanganderry Walls

Jo taking in Bonnum pic

A welcome respite from the sun

After last weekend’s deluge (200mm+) there was plenty of water about

5 star happy hour views

Sunrise unfortunately was basically non-existent

Walking in low cloud on day 2

Bonnum Pic suddenly appears out of the cloud

Tom on the edge

Beautiful Bonnum Pic Creek

Some how we got out of the creek through that

Views from Bonnum Pic (a very full Warragamba Dam)

Waterhole on the way back

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