Coxs River Walk – 10-11 December 2016

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Dave Noble

Each year, about this time, Sydney University Bushwalkers, have a trip to a nice campsite on the Coxs River. The campsite is a nice and shady spot on a grassy bank above the river. From it, it is a short distance to a great swimming pool in the river. Nearby are many sets of rapids and some beautiful granite slabs and boulders.

Paradise? Yes, except for a lot of flies. But perhaps they come out after some of the gourmet food that is shared amongst the party? The other factor that impacts on enjoyment is the river level. This year it was quite reasonable – and the pool was quite deep with clear water. For future reference the river height upstream at Glenroy Bridge was 0.55 m. Continue reading →

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The Grand Canyon – 10 December 2016

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Dave Noble

I was with a group of friends (Su Li, Brent, Martin and Damon) and we were heading up for the Sydney University Bushwalkers Christmas Walk to the Coxs River. As we often do on these walks, we detoured on the way at Medlow Bath and made a quick trip through the Grand Canyon.

One of the party, Martin, claimed it was much quicker walking to the canyon via the old Point Pilcher Track from the road near the Katoomba Airfield at Medlow Bath rather then the Evans Lookout Road at Blackheath. So we set out from there. It didn’t take us long to descend down to the Grand Canyon Track, and then we climbed back up to where the track traverses along a ledge through the canyon.  Continue reading →

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Glenbrook Gorge Walk – 8 December 2016

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Dave Noble

A hot day was forecast, so I thought it may be nice to do a walk with plenty of swimming opportunities. So I headed to Glenbrook with the intention of walking through Glenbrook Gorge.

Glenbrook Gorge

I thought, that it would be hotter later in the day, so I first walked from the station to the park entrance, and then to the Causeway and up the other side to the first bend and them along the track to Euroka. On the way I encountered plenty of wildflowers and also saw the Aboriginal sharpening grooves in the creekbed near the creek crossing. Continue reading →

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Nature along the Cooks River – 7 December 2016

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Dave Noble

I wanted to get some video along the Cooks River to test out a new UAV. So I cycled down to the parks near Wardell Road and also took along my camera. As I rode along the cycleway, I saw a dark object in the grass near the river. It looked like it could be the shell of a turtle, so I turned around and rode back for a closer look, thinking perhaps it was just a rock. No! It turned out to be a rather large crab. This was the first time I had seen one of these on the land away from the river.

It was much bigger than a hand in size and about 5 metres from the bank. As I unpacked my camera, it was heading quickly back to the water, but I was quick and managed to get a few photos. It was high tide in the river, but the water was still perhaps 50 cm below the wooden sleepers that line the banks of the river along this section. But nearby was a sort of drain that it must have used to climb out. Continue reading →

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Banks and Rocky Creek Canyons – 3-4 December 2016

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Dave Noble

This was an excellent weekend of canyoning in the Northern Blue Mountains. On the Saturday I was in a group that visited Banks Canyon in the Wollangambe Wilderness and then we camped overnight at Barcoo Swamp. On Sunday, I joined two more friends for a trip through Rocky Creek Canyon.

Rocky Creek Canyon

Rocky Creek Canyon

Banks Canyon is one of many canyon tributaries of Bungleboori Creek North Branch. It had been a while since my last visit to the canyon (2009). On that trip, our party had earlier on the day gone down Hole in the Wall Canyon, and then after lunch visited Banks Canyon. To do both these canyons is not that much more effort than doing only one of them and is a great day out. But on this trip, I wanted to spend a bit of time photographing in Banks Canyon and we also had a fairly late start (we left the carpark on the Waratah Ridge at 10:45 am). Continue reading →

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Nature at Wolli Creek – 2 December 2016

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Dave Noble

This was a very hot day. Too hot for a long walk, so I just did a short walk along the Two Valleys Track at Wolli Creek from Bexley North to Turrella. I was looking for birds and orchids – but the birds seemed to be hiding from the heat.

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Early on, I did see a large bird in the treetops. I looked like a raptor – perhaps a Goshawk or an Osprey? (Update – Brian Everingham has suggested it may be a Goshawk) It was being harassed by a smaller bird – and so quickly few away and I was only able to get a poor photo. Continue reading →

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October Creek and the Zig Zag Walk – 26 – 27 November 2016

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Dave Noble

John and Chuin Nee and invited me to join them and their boys, Jasper and Sebastian, on a camping trip up the Blue Mountains. We discussed places to camp and decided to visit the campsite at October Creek.

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October Creek is a tributary of Du Faurs Creek near Mt Wilson and is often used as an access route into Clatterteeth Canyon. The usual route starts from a fire road that branches off the from Du Faurs Rocks lookout road. But for our trip, we started from the other end of that fire road – where it meets the Mt Wilson Road before it climbs onto the basalt. Continue reading →

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Wollangambe Canyon – 23 November 2016

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Dave Noble

I headed up the mountains with Bob planning to do a canyon near Mt Wilson. We had ropes and abseiling gear and also lilos – so had the flexibility to do a range of canyons depending on the conditions. We ended up deciding on the tourist section of Wollangambe Canyon – thinking that it would be nice and quiet on a mid week day.

Water Dragon Canyon

Water Dragon Canyon

At the carpark at Mt Wilson, there were three other cars – so we knew that others were out and about. It was a quick walk down to the start of the canyon. I had been hoping to spot some orchids – but saw none out in flower. It was the same later for the walk out. Continue reading →

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More Birds of the Cooks River – 17 and 20 November 2016

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Dave Noble

I spent a few hours on two days recently along the Cooks River and (on the second trip) at the Landing Lights Wetland (which is in the catchment) photographing birds and other animals. On both trips I looked to see if I could spot either of the sets of Tawny Frogmouth parents and their chicks – but without success.

Striated Heron

Striated Heron

Here are some of what I found on the 17th –  Continue reading →

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Woronora River Ramble – 18 November 2016

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Dave Noble

I spent a pleasant day with Digi Dave at the Woronora River recently. We were mainly looking for birds and orchids to photograph. We found quite a few birds – but none of them were really interesting and no orchids in flower. But we had a pleasant time wondering around.

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We did venture up the track behind the RSL Club up Forbes Creek which is often an interesting place. There were lots of wild flowers out and lot of pollinators. Continue reading →

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