I headed up the mountains with Bob planning to do a canyon near Mt Wilson. We had ropes and abseiling gear and also lilos – so had the flexibility to do a range of canyons depending on the conditions. We ended up deciding on the tourist section of Wollangambe Canyon – thinking that it would be nice and quiet on a mid week day.
Water Dragon Canyon
At the carpark at Mt Wilson, there were three other cars – so we knew that others were out and about. It was a quick walk down to the start of the canyon. I had been hoping to spot some orchids – but saw none out in flower. It was the same later for the walk out.
We blew up our lilos and started paddling trough the canyon. The canyon was as beautiful and pleasant as ever. The weather was warm and sunny – not the forecast cloudy, so not that good for photography. I took very few photos in the actual Wollangambe Canyon.
The tourist section of the canyon consists of long pools – best traversed on lilo or other floatation device. But each pool is punctuated by sections of boulders. These boulder sections get shorter as you move down the canyon.
Just after the second boulder section, we saw a large group in front of us. It turned out to be a school group from Richmond doing their Sir Duke of Edinburgh Awards. We passed them.
Bob on the way up Water Dragon Canyon
Further down we went past two side canyons. One of these, Water Dragon Canyon is a nice side trip – wandering up it from the junction. I carried up my camera and tripod and took quite a few photos. This canyon is very spectacular – with a very dark narrow section confined in a deep slot. Its hard to see in this part of the canyon as the lighting is so subdued, but a camera on a tripod can see a lot more than the human eye and capture the true colour and beauty of the canyon formation.
On the way back down the side canyon, we met the school group on their way up it.
Back at the junction, we set off again on out lilos. After a short pool and an easy boulder scramble there is the last pool in the canyon. This is by far the longest continuous pool in the tourist section, and perhaps the longest pool anywhere in Wollangambe Canyon.
At the end of this pool is the usual exit. We stopped to have lunch and this gave our lilos a chance to dry out. They are lighter to carry out when dry. It was very disappointing to see some recent vandalism in the canyon – someone had scratched “Exit” on the wall and under it scratched a sign about taking out your rubbish.
The walk out was quite warm, with lots of annoying flies. Again – I spotted no orchids.
More photos are online on my website here.