The Grand Canyon – 18 February 2018

Posted on February 19, 2018 by Dave Noble

Stacey was keen on a canyon trip and had suggested the Grand Canyon at Blackheath. I like this canyon – it is quite spectacular and not too hard to get to, but I had so far visited it three times already during the season. But if I went again, I thought, then this time I could shoot some video in the canyon. This time in the party were Stacey, Albert, Vesa, Kirrily and myself.

It was also an excellent day for canyon – hot, but not too hot for the walk out. After a morning tea stop at Blackheath, we arrived at the carpark on Evans Lookout Road and were soon heading down to the canyon. Continue reading →

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Cooks River Birds – 17 February 2018

Posted on February 19, 2018 by Dave Noble

I went down to the Cooks River in the late afternoon to see what birds were out.

I had an unsuccessful look for the Tawny Frogmouth family at the Dog Area, and there were not too many birds out at the Boat Harbour. A few Pelicans were floating on the river nearby and the odd cormorant flew past. Continue reading →

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Fix Public Transport Rally – 17 February 2018

Posted on February 19, 2018 by Dave Noble

I attended the Fix Public Transport Rally held in the city and completed the march with a large crowd from Hyde Park, through the city to end at Martin Place.

The present government has unfortunately neglected spending money on public transport at the expense of massive road developments that have ripped the guts of out of some suburbs. They have also privatised the local bus service which will probably mean the end of a lot of services. a sad state of affairs.

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Bass Point and Killalea State Park – 16 February 2018

Posted on February 19, 2018 by Dave Noble

David Hufton had suggested a visit to Bass Point at Shellharbour for a photographic trip. He had been to the area before, and we had both seen it from Minnamurra Headland on one former Kiama Coastal Walk. So our plan was to visit the point and if we had time to also visit the nearby Killalea State Park.

David picked me up from his local station and we drove down to Shellharbour between Wollongong and Kiama. We visited the town for a coffee stop and were bewildered by the amazing number of cafes. We also visited the tourist office and collected some maps and brochures.

Continue reading →

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Claustral Canyon – 15 February 2018

Posted on February 19, 2018 by Dave Noble

This was a nice visit to Claustral Canyon with Bob. We arrived at the carpark on the Bell Road nice and early, around 9:30 am, but were discouraged to see a lot of vehicles parked there. At least 3 other cars, but also 3 minibuses. Lots of people in the canyon could mean a holdup at the abseils! We considered a few other options, but then decided to head off but were prepared to change our decision to continue once we had consulted the logbook near the start of the track.

The logbook, showed that despite all the vehicles, there were not that many people in front of us. Two commercial parties, a total of 15 people, and they had both left before 8 am. So we should be OK. Continue reading →

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Nature at Bicentennial Park – 14 February 2018

Posted on February 19, 2018 by Dave Noble

This was a short visit to the park. It turned out to be a very hot day, so I cut my visit short and headed home earlier than previous visits. Like before, I walked into the park from Concord West Station and returned the same way.

Due to the heat, I did not see as many of the smaller forest birds like the  wrens as on previous visits. It was also quite noisy due to cicadas – so harder to hear the birds. Continue reading →

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Taronga Zoo – 13 February 2018

Posted on February 19, 2018 by Dave Noble

This was another nice day at the Zoo. I arrived late due to a fire near Circular Quay – and instead of train and then a ferry to the Zoo, I caught the bus from Sydenham to the Zoo.

Here is some of what I saw at the Zoo. First the Blue Mountains bushwalk section –  Continue reading →

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Hat Hill Canyon – 11 February 2018

Posted on February 12, 2018 by Dave Noble

This was our second canyon of the weekend. Albert and myself headed into Hat Hill Creek on Sunday morning to visit and photograph the canyon.

We had a nice day. The canyon is very pleasant and relatively easy. It has no abseils and easy access, but does have a fair bit of scrambling down boulders, so care needs to be taken. It is probably not a good canyon to take young kids along.  Continue reading →

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Dargan Arch, Sunset at Anvil Rock Lookout and Sunrise at Pulpit Rock Lookout 10 – 11 February 2018

Posted on February 12, 2018 by Dave Noble

After visiting Dargans Creek Canyon, Albert and myself headed to the other side of the railway line to visit Dargan Arch. This is a large sandstone natural arch and is well worth a visit. On a previous visit, I gave instructions of how to find this feature.

We took a few photos of the arch and noted that rock climbing bolts had been removed from it. Continue reading →

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Dargans Creek Canyon – 10 February 2018

Posted on February 12, 2018 by Dave Noble

Albert was keen on another canyoning photographic weekend and didn’t need to do much convincing to talk me into joining him. We discussed a list of possible canyons and decided on Dargans Creek and the Hat Hill Canyon. We were joined for the first day at Dargans Creek by Craig, from Lithgow. I had been canyoning with Craig many years before. In recent years, with his kids growing up, he has been able to venture into canyons once more. He was happy to put up with our photographic pfaffing.

We met at the carpark above the dam at Dargan. We soon had our gear packed and set off for the dam. We then headed down the track to the canyon. On the way, we passed a pair of climbers on one of the lower crags. We didn’t envy them, as it was a hot day, and we would soon be in the cool refuge of the canyon. Continue reading →

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