I headed with David Hufton down to Tahmoor Gorge for some photography. It was cloudy earlier in the morning – nice conditions to photograph waterfalls and a gorge. But when we arrived most of the cloud had burnt off.
We walked down from Rockford Bridge to the Mermaids Pool, and then spent some time photographing. I used my small drone to get some video of the area. Continue reading
I was up at Springwood visiting a friend and I decided to use the remainder of the afternoon to do the short walk from Faulconbridge to Springwood via the Victory Track and Sassafras Gully Track. During most of the walk it was raining. This was one of my motivations.
On a trip the week before down the Victory Track I had been on the lookout for Eleanor Falls. These falls are not marked on any map I have seen. This includes topographic maps and old parish maps that are available online. The only mention of them that I have seen is in an article by Jim Smith in “Hut News” published by the Blue Mountains Conservation Society. Jim includes a postcard photo of the falls (published around 1910) – Continue reading
Stu and Enmoore had organised a day of canyoning up the Blue Mountains. We didn’t decide what canyon to visit until the day. The forecast was for a very hot day (greater than 30°C), so we wanted a wet canyon without a big walk in or out. We ended up deciding on Clatterteeth Canyon which is a section of Du Faurs Creek at Mt Wilson.
In the party were Stu, Enmoore, Wendy, Roscoe, Davyd and myself. We set off from the fire Station at Mt Wilson and soon reached Du Faurs Creek and the start of our canyon. Continue reading
There is at present a very alarming development proposal to relocate a private golf course to public land at Barton Park near Arncliffe. If it goes ahead this development will be very detrimental to important remnant wetland areas in the Cooks River Valley. Submissions to oppose the development close on February 10, so urgent action is needed.
Landing Lights Wetland
At present Kogarah Golf Club occupy a site closer to the airport between the M5 and Marsh Street. They propose to vacate that land for a high rise housing development and move south to a large area of public green space. Their proposed new site contains the important Landing Lights Wetland and other wetland areas between Spring Street and Eve Street. Other sections contain cycleways, sporting fields, remnant bushland, and the old St George Football Stadium (closed for many years). Continue reading
I joined Digi Dave for a nice day of paddling along a part of the Woronora River, then lunch at the Woronora RSL Club, then in there afternoon we paddled up Forbes Creek.
Digi Dave had his sea kayak and I had my packraft. Continue reading
This was a very pleasant day at the Zoo. I went with John, his young sons Jasper and Sebastian, and Stephen and Eva. We started at the Finches – which were certainly very colourful.
After a few weeks in Tasmania, I was keen to have a look for fungi in Sassafras Gully. I checked online rainfall figures and it hadn’t been real wet, but Sassafras Gully has a very nice swimming pool and a hot day was forecast.
Bonnet Orchid
I started this trip from Faulconbridge, and walks down the Victory Track. This descends quickly and soon enters cool rainforest. I also wanted to see if I could find the location of Eleanor Falls. These are not marked on any map that I know of, and only seems to appear in an old postcard, one collected by Jim Smith. See here for information. Smith speculates that the falls could be named after a daughter of Sir James Martin (local resident of Faulconbridge) who dies at age 17. I think it is also possible that it could be named after the second wife of Sir Henry Parkes given his association with Faulconbridge. Continue reading
It was time to get away from the heat and humidity of Sydney. After the hottest night on record and a forecast temperature of 44°C in the western suburbs I was glad to board a plane to Launceston. It was also a good chance to catch up with one of my sisters and her husband who had recently moved to Tasmania. They picked me up at the airport and I spent the first night at their very nice house on the coast near Penguin.
The next afternoon, they joined me for the first part of my walk. We drove out to Mole Creek and then along Westrope Road to Higgs Track. From the carpark, it was a little over an hour, walking up the hill to the top of the tier, and 100 m away lay Lady Lake Hut – our destination for the night. We steeled into the hut, but when a family group arrived a little later, we set up tents outside. Another two walkers would later join us. Continue reading
Back in October 2016, I had joined David Hufton for a photographic trip to Box Creek Falls on the Boyd Plateau. David was keen to return to photograph Morong Falls, another waterfall in the granite area on the Plateau. I joined him for the trip.
We initially drove along the Uni Rover Trail, but the road was quite rough – too rough for David’s small car. So we drove back to the Kowmung Fire Trail and then turn off along that for the Boyd River (Morong Creek) – and followed the other end of the Uni Rover Trail to the Boyd River. We parked just before the rail crosses Morong Creek and from there set off on foot. It was not far on the other side of the creek to the turn off to the Morong Falls Trail – and we set off along that. We continue past a barrier and soon arrived at a nice campsite at the end of the road. Morong Falls were only a few minutes below. Continue reading
I joined Wendy on a walk down Sassafras Gully at Springwood, and we had a most fascinating outing.
I was hoping to see some orchids – we did. We spotted two nice species not long after setting out down the track from Sassafras Gully Road. We saw Small Tongue Orchids and Bonnet Orchids. Continue reading
