This was a prelude trip before going down to the Coxs River for the SUBW Christmas trip.
The Grand Canyon is a very pretty and spectacular canyon that is also relatively easy and accessible.
Eleven of us (Martin, Su Li, Brent, Chris, Suzie, Burnsie, John M, Enmoore, Rik, Rob and myself) set off from the carpark on Evans Lookout Road, Blackheath and soon arrived at the abseil. Continue reading
Last weekend a few of us headed out for a weekend of canyoning in the Northern Blue Mountains. In the party besides myself were John, Jasper, Keith, Enmoore and Roscoe.
On Saturday, we headed out into Gardens of Stone National Park and visited a nice easy canyon. We walked in with full packs, and dumped the packs on the tops above the canyon, and then descended into the canyon. Continue reading
In an earlier posting I wrote about spondonicals – a very useful and now rare item of bushwalking equipment.
I recently received an interesting email from Jochen, a bushwalker from the Blue Mountains, who is considering manufacturing them. See my earlier posting for their history, but suffice to say that they have not been made since around the 1970’s.
Spondonicals or “Spondonicles” or “billy grips” or “Paddy’s Fingers” have long handles which make them particularly useful for getting a billy on and off a fire.
To test the market, Jochen has placed a survey online. If you are after a brand new pair of spondonicals, then why not visit his site and complete the survey?
On the first day of December, I went for a walk around the Valley of the Water Area of Wentworth Falls. I started out by myself down the Charles Darwin Walk and soon arrived at Wentworth Falls, then went up to the carpark to meet up with Rik and Wendy.
On the last Friday in November it is traditional for Critical Mass to ride over Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The rides start from near the fountain in Hyde Park. The there is a loop through the city, past Hyde Park again and then along the Cahill Expressway and onto the Bridge. Continue reading
A group of us set out to walk out to Mt Solitary and camp on top for the weekend. This is always a worthwhile trip. In the party, besides myself, were Su Li, Brent, Keith and also John and Chuin Nee and their baby – Jasper.
We set off from the Golden Stairs and were soon walking along the Federal Pass Track to the Ruined Castle. The across the saddle an up onto the peak. Continue reading
After a few recent trips to Uloola Falls in Royal National Park – I was keen to return to photograph the falls in higher water and in subdued light. It had been raining a bit, and on the night before this walk there had been a big storm. The Audley Causeway was even closed for a while. So I set off from Waterfall.
I had never walked from Loftus to Bundeena before. It seemed a very logical route to walk. At each end there are good public transport connections. There seemed to be tracks going most of the way, and those tracks would visit a few places that I was unfamiliar with. The only downside was a bit of road walking in the middle and an indifferent weather forecast.
I recently had some correspondence with Ross Wyborn, a resident of Canada, but also a former very active Sydney Bushwalker and mountaineer back in the 1960’s. He had got in touch with me in order to try and locate an old climbing friend. He was successful in this. But I also asked him about the trip he did down Du Faurs Creek back in the 1960’s – which was the first recorded trip through Clatterteeth Canyon as far as I know.
Ross was kind enough to send me a scan from his journal in which he had recorded trips from that era. He also has allowed me to publish it here. I think it is very interesting. Continue reading
I’ve started a new project, to photograph the birds along the Cooks River, close to where I live.
I ride to work along the cycle track next to the river and I often see birds. With daylight saving, it is not too difficult to wander back down to the river before it gets dark with a camera and long lens. Continue reading
