Bob and myself decided to do a walk around the Porters Pass – Colliers Causeway circuit at Blackheath. We had a cool day and it was mainly overcast. After the walk, we finished fairly early so we visited two historic Blue Mountains horse troughs.
Bob parked near the end of Burton Street, and we then walked down the track to Porters Pass. on the way, we visited Lamberts Lookout. Here we saw this Swamp Wallaby –
We then admired the views.
We then continued on down the pass. Here is a nice Hygrocybe sp. –
Part way down the pass, we turned off along a side track to visit the historic Alice Louisa Cave. Alice Louisa Porter was the daughter of Tim Porter and the first European woman to go down the pass.
On this rock are a lot of old inscriptions.
We then returned to the main track.
At the bottom of the pass, just when it starts traversing around to Colliers Causeway, there is a historic water trough. This one carved out by the track builders for drinking water.
Wow then continued under the cliffs of Colliers Causeway.
At one place we entered a gallery of hand prints. They are not the usual Aboriginal hand stencils.
we then reached the bottom of Centennial Glen, and started climbing up near the lower waterfall.
Ailsa Falls (also known as Slippery Dip Falls) –
The we did a second side trip. This one into the Centennial Glen Canyon, known as “The Grotto” –
There once was a dammed swimming pool here.
We then climbed up a bit further to the half way ledge and started walking around the Centennial Glen Crag.
We then passed the upper waterfall – Centennial Falls –
The climbing crag is grid bolted –
We continued on towards Fort Rock.
At Fort Rock, we stopped for lunch and were astonished by the number of birds around.
The last part of the walk was to follow the clifftop track back to Burton Street.
After a stop at Blackheath, we decided to look for the historic horse trough on the Kanimbla Road, near Mt Blackheath. So we travelled out on the Shipley Plateau, and then started descending down into the Kanimbla Valley.
The horse trough is gouged out of the rock at a bend in the road.
And on the way down the mountain, we stopped to see the Bills Horse Trough at Glenbrook. It was supposed to be located near the picture theatre, but it had been moved closer to the shops. It is in very good condition.
