The Caves of Narrow Neck

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Dave Noble

In the literature, both in books and online, a lot has been written on the many passes of Narrow Neck. I was wondering how many know about the caves found on the Plateau? Narrow Neck is a peninsula shaped plateau jutting south from Katoomba that separates the Jamison and Megalong Valleys. For many years it has been a natural avenue for bushwalkers who want to venture south into the Wild Dog Mountains and Coxs River country. It is called Narrow Neck because it has a narrow isthmus near the start that connects it to the main Katoomba Plateau and another thin section about half way along – the so called “Second Neck”.

Mt Solitary from The Second Neck of Narrow Neck

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Climbing at The Cathedral

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Dave Noble

The Cathedral is a crag located near the Woronora River in the Shire. The closest town is Bangor. I had previously been to the small but very fine crag at Bangor (known as “Bangor West). This was the first time anyone in our party had been to The Cathedral. Details if the location of the crag and the climbing routes are best found on the Sydney Rockies new online guide – and click here for The Cathedral.

I was climbing with Su Li and Albert. It was a quite warm winter day and we had a nice time on the climbs.

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Indoor Climbing

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Dave Noble

If you live in a city – then a good activity during the weekday evenings is indoor climbing. I am fortunate to live close to the Sydney Indoor Climbing Gym at St Peters. It is an excellent place to go for some exercise, some bouldering and also of course some climbing. It is also a good place to catch up with friends to see what they have been doing and a place to make plans for trips on the coming weekend.

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Wild Blue Mountains Calendar 2012

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Dave Noble

For nice images of the wild parts of the Blue Mountains – may I suggest Ian Brown’s calendar. His 2012 calendar will be available mid August. You should be able to get details from his website – www.windycliff.com.au. At the time of writing – there was no information about the 2012 calendar – but it has how to contact Ian. Cost is $35 for one, cheaper if you buy more. It is large format in size and very well printed and produced.

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A Solitary Walk

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Dave Noble

Mt Solitary borders the south side of the Jamison Valley. It is an easy bushwalk – and can be traversed both as a daywalk and a weekend walk. There are four passes onto the mountain – two are well known and well frequented – the other two are lesser known. More on these later.

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Yopyop

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Dave Noble

“Yopyop” was the name that, according to a story, either Olegas Truchanus or Reg Williams gave to the Southern Spur of the Prince Of Wales Range in Tasmania. Chris Cosgrove of SUBW tells this story –

At the southern extremity of the ridge ahead of us rose the evil dark green shape of Mt Yopyop. It was named by Olegas Truchanas after a Lithuanian swear word which was reputedly quite obscene but whose meaning was carefully kept secret by Olegas’ friends. Tragically, Olegas was drowned in the Gordon River while we were doing this trip, and the mountain has since been officially renamed Mt Olegas.

I have been along the Southern Spur on two trips, one in 1977 and one in 1981. Both were tough walks. The first one was the last part of a long trip from the Lyell Highway to Strathgordon via the King William Range and then the Spires and then finally down the Prince of Wales Range. I was joined on that trip by Ian Hickson and Peter Woof from SUBW.

Yopyop from the Hamilton Range

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Plastic Bottles!

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Dave Noble

Not too long ago, “The Onion” had a good headline –

How Bad For The Environment Can Throwing Away One Plastic Bottle Be?’ 30 Million People Wonder

What do you think? This afternoon was a nice time to ride home from work and there was some nice light near the Alexandria Canal Cycleway where it goes past Sydney Airport. The week before – there had been a lot of rain and lots and lots of plastic bottles had washed down the canal. They were soon to enter Botany Bay. A shame!


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Red Rocks Walk

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Dave Noble

It was Wendy’s birthday – and a walk to the Red Rocks was organised to help her celebrate it. The Red Rocks is a great area for bushwalking. It is reached from Newnes in the Wolgan Valley and the main part lies on the Capertee/Wolgan divide. The “Red Rocks” itself is the name given to the huge sandstone cliffs that tower above the Capertee Valley betwen Mt Dawson and Point Anderson to the north. Late in the afternoon – with the setting sun – the cliffs change from a typical sandstone yellow colour to a magnificent red.

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The Abels

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Dave Noble

What is an “Abel”? It is a “significant” Tasmanian peak – or more formerly a Tasmanian Peak over 1100m in elevation and separated by other peaks by a drop of at least 150m. The concept is largely modelled from the Scottish Monroes.

Back in 1994, Bill Wilkinson edited a guide to the Abels of the north east of Tasmania. This was Volume 1. Volume 2 which covers the rest of the state has just come out. Its been a long wait, but the second volume has been worth waiting for. It continues the style of volume 1 with a long essay on each peak and is illustrated by many attractive photographs.

A webpage has been set up for people wanting to obtain the book by mail order. RRP is $39.95 Copies of Volume 1 are also available in limited numbers.

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Spondonicals

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Dave Noble

When I started bushwalking a very useful bit of gear that was sold by Paddy Pallins was a pair of spondonicals (or spondonicles?). These were always referred to as a “pair” like a pair of scissors. Other names for these devices are “billy lifters” or “billy grips” and they were used to put billies on and off fires. And I do mean fires here rather than stoves. The Paddy Pallin spondonicals had long handles – about 16cm long. Much longer than the tiny pair of billy grips that come with Trangia stoves or cooking sets.

The original Paddy Pallin spondonicals

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