Our annual remote canyoning trip went this year to some of our favourite canyons deep in the Wollemi Wilderness.
The party was Rik, Rob, John, Dan and myself
We began with a long walk in to a campsite in the scrub close to our canyons. Getting water was a problem – the creeks nearby were all quite dry, but eventually some small pools were found. The round trip from the campsite to water and back was several hours! On subsequent days, we would carry a fair bit of water up from the canyons we were visiting and cart it back to camp.
On day 2 we could begin our canyoning. Our first canyon was very nice with a long series of abseils down narrow slots. The canyon had a series of constrictions and just when you thought a section of canyon was ending, the creek would drop down into another slot. There were plenty of trees and logs for belay points.
Then a long, hot and scrubby ridgewalk back to camp.
We visited another very spectacular canyons the next day. This too had a long series of abseils with two sections of canyon. The canyon went on an on, only ending when it flowed into a major creek.
Then we picked up more water and climbed up a pass onto the ridge. I headed straight back to camp with a sore heel obtained on day 1 due to the walk to the camp, but the others in the party also visited another canyon nearby.
On the fourth day, we headed down into a long, dark and committing canyon. Not so many abseils this time, but lots of quality canyon. Great! The canyon ended when the creek opened up into a magnificent gorge. Open and easy walking down to a pass. Again the others chose to explore a nearby canyon, while I went straight back to camp.
Day 5 found us on a scrubby ridge and then we dropped into our next canyon.
This was another very committing canyon. It began with a large abseil and the usual swims and tricky down climbs and ended with a few smaller abseils down a very narrow and dark slot. This took us down to a major creek – which was also a canyon. We could walk up through this into a large basalt area and climb out through rainforest back onto the tops.
The last day was a bit like the first – along ridges back to the car. We walked fast and made the car before midday. Then it was to the pub for lunch and to celebrate the last day of the year.
Smoke from nearby bushfires
More photos are on my website starting with this page.