Dalpura was the first of two canyons we visited on Sunday. The weather forecast was for a fair bit of rain and we thought it wise not to commit to a long canyon. Stu and Enmoore had invited me to join them for the day. We headed up the Bell Rd and then dropped into Dalpura Creek. It is only a short walk to the canyon. At the single abseil – we met another party. They were friends – Aine, Colin and Lowan (with the rest of their party further down the canyon)
We soon followed them down the abseil. It is short – but take you into another world. An almost subterranean chamber. It bells out quite wide – with a wide pool. The pool is deep except for a convenient ledge around the left side.
Lowan watches Colin as he abseils in. We followed soon after.
Enmoore on the abseil
Stu on the abseil
Then it is pleasant walking downstream. There are no major obstacles. Some nice almost tunnel like sections and one long wade section.
Then you arrive at the Grose Valley. A great lookout and a nice place for lunch. Following a track a short distance back upstream and you arrive at the exit route. It is up an easy pass, under a cliff and then up through an area of pagodas to section of heathland covered in wildflowers. More track and firetrail takes you back to the Bell Rd.
The last 5 minutes – walking back along the Bell Rd to the car is the only bad part of the trip. As well as cars zooming past, there is an extraordinary amount of rubbish along the side of the road – bottles, cans, cardboard, packaging….. A disgrace!
More photos of the trip can be found on my website here.
It was still early afternoon when we reached the car, so we then headed to Blackheath and out to Logan Brae Orchard on the Shipley Plateau for some of their apple pies. They are truly excellent and highly recommended. Next was an inspection of “fine photographic art” at the Gardeners Inn Pub. Some interesting photos but not to our tastes.
It still seemed early, so we thought we would have time to visit Jugglers Canyon.
