A very hot day was forecast. It would be a good opportunity to visit Hole in the Wall Canyon in the Wollangambe Wilderness. I was travelling up the Blue Mountains with Bob, and we headed out through the now logged pine forests to the carpark on the Waratah Ridge.
It is quite interesting to see the difference now that many of the pine trees have been logged. The views from the road are far more extensive. We could see right up to Tayan Pic and Mt Coricudgy and also a maze of pagoda ridges in the headwaters of the south branch of Bungleboori Creek.
We left the car, and started out along the blocked off road to Pot Hill and then out to the Hole in the Wall turnoff. Then north along the ridge and down to the creek and the start of the canyon. This walk took about 80 minutes.
The upper constriction of Hole in the Wall Canyon is always a delight. It is a challenging place to try and get photographs that portray its amazing beauty. It is so dark!
This constriction ends all too soon. Then it is another 20 minutes or so, walking down the creek to reach the lower constriction. This begins with a short down climb and then the first abseil. After this abseil is a tunnel section. Neither of us had torches, so we climbed over the top of it. This is easy to do. Then there is another small drop, which is best to hand over hand down and then not far to the second abseil. Once down this we were in a very dark chamber – the best part of the canyon.
The heart of this constriction is a most beautiful turquoise coloured pool. For us, this was our first swim. The pool is followed by a few small drops and wades. The canyon here is very impressive with the most amazing sculptured walls.
It is not far to the north branch of Bungleboori Creek. Bob was about to start swimming upstream when he noticed a small snake in the pool. Flicking a bit of water at it luckily kept it at a distance from us.
We had lunch at the base of the climb out. It was still very hot and we were not looking forward to the walk out. But on our way out we were treated to a beautiful display of wildflowers, including a large number of large flying duck orchids.
More photos are on my website here.