Blue Rocks Walk – 20-21 June 2016

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Dave Noble

Doug had a a few days off work and wanted to do a walk and invited Bob and myself to join him. However, heavy rain on the weekend led us to change plans. Our original intention involved crossing some rather large creeks and that did not seem a good idea. So I had suggested the Blue Rocks area – in particular – a walk along part of the Wolgan-Capertee divide.

Looking towards Mt McLean. Gardens of Stone National Park is beyond the far ridgeline. The area we are looking at should be added!

Looking towards Mt McLean. Gardens of Stone National Park is beyond the far ridgeline. The area we are looking at should be added!

This turned out to be a good choice. The weather over the two days was quite cold and windy and it was raining most of the first day. Along our route – there was a bit of shelter, a rough track most of the way and no scrub for the last off track part. Also, it was quite a short walk to a reasonable camp cave and from there we could do short walks to explore the country nearby. Continue reading →

Posted in Blue Mountains, Bushwalking, Gardens of Stone | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Vivid – Sydney Light Festival 2016 – Visit 5

Posted on June 23, 2016 by Dave Noble

On this visit I shot lots and lots of stills that were combined together to make a time lapse video. Here is my final effort –

The video features Sydney Harbour, The Opera House, The MCA and the Botanic Gardens.

Posted in Sydney | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Lane Cove Valley – Fungi and Orchids – 17 June 2016

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Dave Noble

Following my walk down Wolli Creek, the next day I did a similar walk down the Lane Cover River. I started at Thornleigh and walked down the Great North Walk track to the De Burgh Bridge, then crossed the river and walked down the Riverside Track to Porters Creek then back along roads to Macquarie Park Station.

LCV16Jun16-4

And like the day before, I found a medium amount of fungi and also orchids out. But unlike Wolli Creek I spotted no waxcaps and the orchids were mainly different. I saw only one Greenwood Orchid, but found quite a few Acanthus fornicatus orchids in several spots.  Continue reading →

Posted in Bushwalking, Sydney, Wildflowers | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Wolli Creek – Fungi and Orchids – 16 June 2016

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Dave Noble

I thought it was about time to see if any new fungi had sprung up along the Wolli Creek valley following the big storms two weekends earlier.

WC16Jun16-3

I wandered down the Two Valley Track from Bexley North to Tempe. Not that much fungi was out, but I think things will improve. The fungi seemed better lower down the valley. Continue reading →

Posted in Bushwalking, Sydney, Wildflowers | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Rock Pile Pass – Narrow Neck – 15 June 2016

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Dave Noble

Narrow Neck is the peninsula of sandstone that juts out from Katoomba and separates the Jamison Valley and Megalong. It has long been a popular place for bushwalking. For a long time a track along the Neck was used as a access route to the Greater Southern Blue Mountains. In the early 1060’s a fire road was bulldozed all the way along the plateau to its end. This somewhat lessened its appeal as a bushwalking destination in its own right. A pleasant track walk had become a road bash. Despite this, the great views remained. It was still a gateway to a great area for walking.

RPPJun16-9

Bushwalkers on weekend trips, would catch a train to Katoomba and then walk out Narrow Neck on a Friday night and camp in a cave at the end. This would give them a good start for walks in the Wild Dog Mountains or beyond. Perhaps the “Neckbash” became a lot less popular when a road to Mellow Gap was opened up, but that road was later closed to bushwalkers, and so Narrow Neck regained its use. Perhaps in more recent times, many walkers approach the Wild Dog Mountains via the Dunphy Campground at Carlons Farm in Megalong. Continue reading →

Posted in Blue Mountains, Bushwalking | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Vivid – Sydney Light Festival – 2016 – Visit 4

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Dave Noble

Another visit to Vivid – this time accompanying friends John and Chuin Nee and their young sons Jasper and Sebastian.

Jasper must have made at least 20 visits to this installation

Jasper must have made at least 20 visits to this installation

Sebastian, not yet one year old, was intrigued by the many lights but was too young to take part in the interactive installations. Jasper, 4, was able to and he seemed to have a very good time. Vivid is an event well suited to people of all ages. Continue reading →

Posted in Photography, Sydney | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Red Rocks Walk – 11 – 13 June 2016

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Dave Noble

It was nice to take part on a walk with Wendy to the Red Rocks on the June long weekend. We had cold, but generally good weather on the trip, and this meant that we could experience many outstanding views.

RRJun16-15

We headed to Newnes, noting that the last part of the road – the unsealed section past the One and Only Resort turnoff is now very badly corrugated.  Continue reading →

Posted in Blue Mountains, Bushwalking, Canyoning, Wilderness Photography, Wollemi National Parks | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sassafras Gully – A Look for Fungi – 9 June 2016

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Dave Noble

I had visited Sassafras Gully a few days earlier, but on that trip, the creek and been too high for a comfortable crossing so I had bot visited the best areas to see fungi. Also, that visit was very soon after heavy rain and it is best to wait a few days for fungi to appear.

SG9Jun16-4

So I returned on a Thursday, four days after the rain on the weekend before, to see what fungi would be out. I was pretty disappointed. Not too much was out, and a lot of I did find looked like it had been smashed by the heavy rain.  Continue reading →

Posted in Blue Labyrinth, Blue Mountains, Bushwalking | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Leslie Falls Walk – 8 June 2016

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Dave Noble

Leslie Falls are on Lawson Creek at Lawson in the Blue Mountains. They are part of the set of waterfalls on the south side of Lawson. The other falls in the set – Adelina Falls, Junction Falls (twin falls), Cataract Falls and Federal Falls are all well known and often visited. But Leslie Falls seems to be very rarely reached by parties. There is a good reason for this – it is not on any current track and all the other waterfalls are all reached on a good track that links them all. I had visited the other falls may times but had never visited Leslie Falls. I suggested a walk to the falls to Bob and he too was keen to see it.

Leslie Falls

Leslie Falls

I also wanted to photograph the waterfall for my ongoing project to document the major named waterfalls of the central part of the Blue Mountains. Continue reading →

Posted in Blue Labyrinth, Blue Mountains, Bushwalking | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Vivid – Sydney Light Festival 2016 – Visit 3

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Dave Noble

On this visit I met up with friends John (with Jasper) and later John’s wife Chuin Nee (with Sebastian). I was able to shoot some time lapse sequences – mainly of the changing patterns on the Opera House and also shoot some stills. The weather was fine – but this meant it was crowded. Very crowded! It was hard to move around near the Quay and Opera House.

Here is my time lapse video. It is better to open it up and view full screen on YouTube.

And some photos – Continue reading →

Posted in Photography, Sydney | Tagged , , | 1 Comment