This was a nice walk around the cliffs of Leura and Katoomba. My main purpose was to take photos of Leura Cascades.
I started from Leura Station and walked down the main street and then along a side street or two, to arrive at Lyrebird Dell and the track leading to Gordon Falls. A little down the creek lies the Pool Of Siloam. This was attractive but would be better in higher water.
Last week, myself and Digi Dave joined Chris and Suzie, who were on a visit from Germany, for some canyons in Wollemi National Park.
At first it looked like our plans could go awry, since Wollemi National Park, was marked as being closed on the Environment NSW website. Other nearby National Parks – Blue Mts and Gardens of Stone were marked as being open. However, it looked like this was a mistake. A NPWS worker had posted online that she had contacted the Blackheath NPWS office and been told it (Wollemi NP) was definitely open. However as it turned out, after we had headed off into the bush, we found on our return, that later, all National Parks in NSW were closed for walking due to extreme fire danger. Camping was still permitted and certain commercial canyoning.
This could explain why we met only two other parties – one in Rocky Creek (who assured us that Wollemi National Park was open) and one in Deep Pass Canyon. Continue reading
It had been a while since I had cycled around Iron Cove. Its a very nice bay with a lot to see. The main obstacle to cyclists are the huge number of pedestrians – walkers and joggers.
John and Chuin Nee (and their baby Jasper) invited me to join them and Sarah for a few days in the mountains.
Chuin Nee on Honey Dip
We started with some climbing at the Zig Zag crag at Mt Victoria. I had only climbed there once before, many years ago. We started off with one of the classic climbs – “Honey Dip”. This is a trad climb with the modest grade of 13. Chuin Nee led the way up it. It goes up a really nice crack and ends with an airy traverse. Continue reading
In recent years, a group of us have headed into the Northern Blue Mountains for an extended canyoning trip during the period between Boxing Day and New Year. It provides a good time to venture into some of the more remote parts of the Northern Blue Mountains for some canyoning.
Stacey had organised a weekend of canyoning at Kanangra Walls. There were six of us in the party – Stacey, Su Li, Asaph, Megan, Ben and myself. Our original intention was to visit Danae Brook. Danae is a very spectacular canyon but always a long and quite serious day. On saturday, after light rain through the night, we woke up to thick mist. We could not wait too long for it to clear. To do Danae you need to start early. Also – to do the canyon safely – you should not visit it in the rain. So we decided, wisely I think, not to do Danae that day.
Megan abseiling in Danae Brook
It was time for our annual bike ride to see some of the best Xmas lights in the inner west. Most of our ride was along the Cooks River Cycleway. Here are a few photos taken on the ride –
A walk to a nice campsite on the Coxs River is a fixture on the SUBW program. It is held on a weekend a little before Xmas each year. This year Ash Burke organised the weekend. For many in the party – the weekend started with a trip through the Grand Canyon at Blackheath (see previous blog post). Then we headed down to Megalong Valley and set off along the Six Foot Track for the Coxs River.
It was the weekend of the SUBW Xmas walk to the Coxs River. Often, some of the party heading down to the river, visit a local Blue Mountains canyon on Saturday morning to fill out the weekend. This years trip was organised by Ashley and he took a party through the Grand Canyon at Blackheath.
I was heading up with John, Chuin Nee and their 6 month old baby – Jasper. They wanted to take him through the canyon – but considered it a bit risky to take him down the abseil – so instead we headed up the canyon from below. Continue reading
Stu and Enmoore had invited me to join them on a weekend organised by Jeff from the Willow Warriors to do some weeding on Goat Island.
Goat Island is part of Sydney Harbour National Park. It is a historic site with considerable heritage value. The Island has many old buildings dating back from convict times as well as some shipyards, maritime buildings, European gardens and native bush. It was the native bush that we were trying to restore. Much of the Island has been covered with invading weeds – lantana and asparagus weed. After many weekends and weekdays of work by volunteers the Island is gradually being cleared of these weeds. Continue reading
