Finishing up our coastal sojourn we head west. Our plan was to come back down the western line.
As usual we had planned to pack a fair bit in to a short time.
The Western line probably isn’t in the forefront of most peoples minds as a summer trip. We are not most people
Are we crazy? asks one of us
Yeah. says the other as if it was the most obvious answer in the history of obvious answers.
The fact was summer was when we both had time off so…
Our first destination was Bald Rock.
I’d never heard of it but Kylie said it was something she really wanted to see.
It’s right on the Qld border and part of the New England Granite belt, which was formed about 250million years ago. It’s called the New England granite belt because, you know, nothing resembles Old England more than goannas running across massive granite domes…
Anyhoo
We pull into the car park and cook up a breakfast then make our way up to the trailhead.
There are several walk options, from super short to all day. We opt for the summit walk.
A reasonably short walk leads us to the base of the massive granite dome. This point is wheel chair accessible and if its as far as you get it still bloody impressive.
A mountain of granite towers above.
White reflectors stuck on the rock were the only indicators of a path up.
Of course we follow them. Mostly
It was steep.
Jokes
It’s a little steep but not *that* steep
It’s a short, punchy walk up to the summit and it was spectacular.
Rising 260m above the surrounding terrain, Bald Rock is the largest granite monolith in Australia and the colours are amazing, even on an overcast morning.
as it levels out we pass a few boulders and suddenly this view bursts into view
There is something humbling about big terrain. Human trivialities seem… Trivial
These guys were everywhere and they were curious but they were friendly enough. The bee not the warn out merrells.
We share the summit with several other groups. Families, grey nomads and, us. (There is a song in there somewhere)
We return to the car and back track a little to our camp site in Boonoo Boonoo.
Ash wanted to head to Surface Paradise so we thought it might be nice to drop him off for a day out and drive up to check out a couple of the touristy waterfalls on Tamborine Mountain.
We knew Jason was up visiting family in Brisbane so we threw him a shout out to meet us there.
Our first stop was Cedar Creek falls.
This is another popular swimming spot and it has limited parking. We needed to park way back at the turn off (Junction of Tambourine Mountain Road and Cedar Creek Falls Road.) which gave us an extra 800m walk each way.
Locals at the end of the road had set up a paid (donation) parking lot in their paddock and the kids had an esky set up sell cold drinks. Kylie half jokingly wondered if said locals rushed out of a morning on public holidays and filled the car park up with their own cars before the crowds appeared. Clever them if so as their paddock was just about full.
And to be fair, imagine having this place pretty much as your private back yard extension before the crowds discovered it and the tourists (like us) rolled in.
From the car park a boardwalk style trail leads you down past a nice picnic area beside the creek then down to a lookout above the main falls.
The trail then continues down to the base of a lower cascade and a nice swimming hole.
There are two main pools accessible from the trail.
A series of other cascades and pools are off limits due to safety concerns and rangers were on and to remind people of the need to comply.
We have a dip and laze about then head back up the mountain to check out Curtis Falls.
There’s a much bigger car park here but it’s equally full, luckily people are leaving and we get a park close to the trail head. Winning.
There is no swimming allowed in this one but is a lovely walk along a shaded creek and a very pretty waterfall.
Veering slightly south we thought we’d check out Killen falls as a spot of cool off
Killen Falls if a nice little waterfall in Tintenbar, near Ballina. It’s very touristy but worth a look.
It’s accessed from Friday Flat road and there is plenty of signage to get you to the car park.
From there it’s about a 400m walk to the base of the falls along a nice tourist trail.
There’s a large plunge pool at the base that is a popular swimming hole.
Being use to the crystal clear waters of Blue Mountains canyons it’s little brown and agricultural run offy but it’s a nice enough spot to cool off on a hot day if you are over the beach
On the drive back Kylie asks, Have I shown you the quarry
No, says I
Yeah I have, says she
No you haven’t, said I
Bexhill quarry is an old brick quarry that operated from the 1890s through to the 1940s. When operations ceased it filled up with water and became a popular swimming spot.
With no through flow the water became quite acidic and was found to have high levels of dissolved metals, such as Aluminium and magnesium, so in 2016 it was shut off due to “safety concerns”.
No sooner had the fence gone up than locals cut holes in it…
But nature seems to have found it equilibrium, subsequent testing found acidity levels returning to normal(ish) levels and plans were submitted 2021 to turn the area into a public reserve.
That hasn’t happened yet so in the mean time you’ll still need to climb through the holes in the fence. To be fair though, it’s more hole than fence.
The Quarry is accessed of Coleman Street (Bangalow Road) Bexhill. About 10km from Lismore
Not sure if the starling green water will give us superpowers or just melt the flesh from our bones..But the Lilly Pads and Dragonflys seem to enjoy it
And Kylie isn’t scarred
Water was quite pleasant indeed.
It’s a great spot for photography and a nice dip though, I recommend proficient swimmers only because I have no idea how deep it is.
Kylie, Jason, Beck, Robin, Alex, Dane and meeeeeee
We were in northern NSW and it was too good an opportunity not to have a New Years Day play date with Jason and his QLD crew.
Every one else had done this one before but it had been on Kylie and my wish list for a while.
Pictures of it pumping in previous years had us frothing.
However, recent photos look like a trickle.
A storm the night before got our hopes up.
We meet at the top secret location (note: location may not be top secret) and skirt private property boundaries to access our canyon.
The storm had done nothing. Nothing !
The creek was dry as a nuns nipple.
Well not quite. There was water flowing, just
Jason wondering where the water went.
Alex on rope while Dane waits
Kylie thinking, well at least it’s a little wet
It might be a trickle but still pretty
Taking on Vecna
Robin wondering if he should avoid the pool or plunge in
There is a teeny tiny lathe you can unclip and jump from
Coming last I made an error. I didn’t unclip it just did the usual Empress release the brake hand and jump.
I knew my centre mark was just beyond the anchor.
I figure I jump out and when I reach the end it will pull the pull strand with me.
I’ve done that before, but I unclipeped first.
This time I’m sailing through the air, there’s “a bit” of a jolt snap the plastic lug it was tied to and the end of the rope recoils up And is now on a teeny tiny ledge 4metres above the pool.
Up I jug to retrieve it.
Lessen learned, double check your centre mark, especially when doing abseils exactly as long as half your rope. And keep an eye on your end of rope markers
I have marks at the 10 and 5m points to let me know I’m getting to the end. I didn’t even look for them. Dumb arse.
Anyhoo all good, no harm, rope retrieved. Let’s never speak of it again.
One more abseil and she’s all over.
Beck doing it in style Only slightly rinsed but Happy canyoners
We spend a bit of time making sure we get it right as the rock can be damn sharp in these parts. Canyon bags and rope bags are put to use as rope protecters, then I head on down.
It’s a great pitch, slippery start to free hanging in the spray, finishing on a slab into the pool
the sun was in the wrong spot so these photos don’t show the amazing colours of this place.
and the water was warm!
As my old mate, Super Goose, likes to say “It’s like getting hit up the bum by a rainbow.”
Whatever the hell that means. He made it sound like it was good or lucky or sumfink.
Jason and Jonathan
What makes it even better is a quick and easy exit back up to the top. So Jason and I opted for a second run. TBH I could have done this one over and over
But we make our way back to the car and head across to the Hell Hole!!!
Apparently we missed Henrik and his mate by a day here which is a shame as it would have been great catching up with him.
Hell Holes is a little more canyon like, but still just 2 (or 3) pitches down a waterfall.
Again the water is super low so Kylie and Jonathan decide it’s not worth descending.
Probably a good choice.
But Jason and I think we may as well.
More of a questionable choice.
There wasn’t much in the way in natural anchors at this one.
Good Luck. It’s bolted.
Bad Luck. P1 is with carrots.
Good Luck. We have bolt plates.
Bad Luck. We didn’t bring them with us this trip.
Good Luck. The carrots stick out a bit and I’m able to hero loop a sling.
Bad Luck. They want me to be crash test dummy….
And again the rock is super sharp so we opt to do the first pitch on isolated double ropes.
the anchor for P2 is solid though the top nut is starting to show signs of corrosion
the start of P2 is, um awkward. It’s a tight wedge with the rope trying to pull you into the wedge. I could imagine in high-water this would be very tricky indeed.
The water is barely a trickle.
You can do P2 all the way to the bottom as a ~52m drop. But the notes say it has a habit of trapping ropes so we had planned to split it into 2 and rebelay off the large ledge 2/3 of the way down.
Turns out my 62m rope was enough to double rope to the ledge which removed the risk of getting a knot stuck the wedge.
Looking over the ledge at a slabby P3 we opted to forego going all the way to the not so impressive pool and walked off the ledge river left onto the exit track, saving ourselves an extra 20meters of vertical to climb back up.
The exit back to the top of the falls was steep with lots of loose rock to be wary of, but it’s reasonably quick.
Back at the top we cool off in the pools and head on out.
All in all a pleasant day. Hell Holes isn’t somewhere I’d rush back to, but it was worth a look.
to top it off Jonathan made this awesome video of our day
There’s some great side canyons along the Wollangambe with the most popular ones clustered around Mt Wilson.
Of those accessed from the Fire Shed there are a couple of outliers that get less traffic due to being a little harder to get too.
Whirlpool canyon is one of these.
Expecting a stinking hot day and a long scrubby walk in we meet early and head off.
The others had obtained a GPS trace of the entry, I had my usual plotted way point for the canyon start and sometimes/usaul/mostly wackily off gut feel…
Banter made the walk in pass in a flash, well not really but it was surprisingly simple, even if I did get completely turned around at one point, thankfully Clare and Kylie kept us on track. Though when H suggested we try a short cut I was all in.
It was also relatively scrub free(ish)
Slipping down H’s side gully hoping to cut off a fair bit of the GPS trace.
And soon we find ourself at the start of the canyon.
We weren’t expecting much out of this one but a short abseil gets us into a surprisingly nice slot.
Kylie sussing out the first abseil
There was some interesting anchor set ups and a couple of the abseils have very tricky starts. This problem solving aspect is part of what I really enjoy about canyoning.
Don’t get my wrong, on popular trips where hordes of foot steps compact tree roots and pulling rope after rope wears grooves in the rock well placed bolts are a Good Thing (TM) but they do take something away from the overall experience of problem solving. That’s probably not a major draw for most, but for me it’s a big part of it.
Anyhoo that’s off topic.
Back in the land of dodgy anchors, we check each one carefully (as you should every time). Replace what needs to be replaced and carefully consider the remnant dodginess
Before lone you could feel the warmth chimneying up from the ‘Gambe
H leads the way down the last abseil and soon we reach the Junction with the Wollangambe
But the day is not over. Our exit is about a kilometre and half downstream.
Having pretty much traced this enigmatic river from its source at Clarence to below Mt Irvine on various trips over the years I reckon this bit is the most stunning section of the ‘Game
Deep walls and beautiful pools.
That’s said it’s not easy going with deep sand and boulder hoping between long swims zapping your energy after an already longish day .
Having less foot traffic it’s also a lot slipperier in spots.
Just before our exit we catch a group from the central coast who had completed Geronimo.
We chat at the exit, cooling off at the sandy beach before making our way back up to the shed.
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable day but it was also a long day for a shortish canyon so I wouldn’t rush back to repeat the trip.
Whirlpool itself was nice and as stated it’s a beautiful section of the Wollangambe so worth doing at least once.
But Having a much larger catchment it can be a disappointing trickle or a wall of white water death.
We got it almost perfect.
We meet up and waste no time walking to the end of the fire trail and making our way down to the upper falls.
We bypass the first cascade and its inviting plunge pool.
Kent leads us pass an anchor set mid river left to find another just to the left of the main flow.
All abseils except the big one have easy escape routes back to the exit trail so you can pretty much choose your own adventure with doing a part or the whole.
Our first 3 slabby abseils are between 8 and 15m high. They are a bit of fun and nothing technical.
It’s a beautiful series of falls interspaced with plunge pools
Joel and I have the long ropes and get sent ahead to set the big drop.
From Kent’s description I’m nervously looking for a narrow ledge I need to traverse across which may or may not be slippery.
I’m standing on the edge of a wide slopping platform with heaps of grip looking for something below.
Bolts are behind you. Says Joel
I look at the wall behind me.
On the ground.says Joel.
Oh
I know this particular drop was pioneered by members of one of the caving clubs a few years ago.
2 odd looking bolts are set on the ground 7 or 8m back from the edge. 1 is a 8mm cap screw. The other a type I’ve not seen before….
A nice shiney new glue in has been added and all 3 equalised using D shackles.
We set up and Joel leads the way down. We have about 76m of rope out and by the time he gets to the next big ledge and traverses across to the rebelay there is maybe 3m of tail left.
As Kent heads down the rope snags behind a nub of rock which gets dislodged as he traverses at the bottom. He calls up a warning over the two way.
Dave about to descend
The rest of us get down no drama but Kent is reluctant to pull rope from directly below.
Joel devises a plan which will allow us to descend the next 12m abseil on a biner block, tie the pull cord for the previous ropes to the biner and pull rope from both pitches together from a safe spot on the far side of the plunge pool
We all head down. Most swim across the pool. Joel does a nice traverse climb to avoid the swim.
Pete follows Joel but does not avoid the swim…
I stay dry, just
The main falls. Around 90m
We start to pull and the system works perfectly
1 rope down.
2 two ropes down
3rd rope clears the anchor the end tumbles down and lands in a ledge. I start to pull.
It comes.
It comes .
It does not come.
Joel and I spend a bit of time trying different angles and stuff and it’s stuck good and proper on the only ledge not accessible from the exit track.
Next time we think we’d set this drop, leave the rope there and collect it on the way out. Not only would it avoid a stuck rope but it would avoid the need for 2 x 76m+ ropes and carrying it out the bottom half of the exit.
Joel looking further down as storm clouds begin to roll in.
Kent on the next one which passes under big boulder halfway down
Looking back up the main series of drop. Can you spot Dave, Cotter and Joel?
Finally we get to the wetter part of the trip. We are not quite 3/4 of the way down, still 150m or so above the Kowmung.
Below a series of falls and plunge pools
Above thou, the sky is cranky.
Dark clouds, thunder and a spattering of rain.
Big storms were predicted for later in the day. It looks like they arrived early. Standing on exposed granite in a lightning storm probably isn’t the best idea so we opt to abort the trip and scramble out to the exit track.
The storm doesn’t really hit in full, thou I later learn it hit the mountain with a good smash of hail. While disappointed not to complete the trip to the bottom we are comfortable with the call.
Besides, it gives us a good excuse to comeback and finish the journey.
“A river cuts through a rock, not because of its power but because of its persistence.” – Jim Watkins
It teemed down overnight at camp. But our trusty tarp kept us cozy and by morning the sun was peaking through the clouds.
We had said goodbye to Levis and Monica and talked ourselves into another short canyon while we were out here.
Kylie, Jason and I had visited the top couple of sections of Popeye Canyon as a day walk a few weeks earlier which had some pretty bits in it, and so we were keen to have a look at the lower section.
I cooked up a plan to head straight down from camp to the grid reference that the Jamison guide lists as the start of Popeye (a kilometre or so below the upper section).
We start down a ridge in between two faint gullies. These soon join to become a stoney bottom creek that tumbles over a substantial cliff line. We only brought a short rope with us today so make our way a bit further long the left hand bank and find a way down into what we came to christen MCPCC. Mega Clear Path Creek Canyon.
heading out to enter via the upper section may have been easier.
Anyhoo we find ourselves in Popeye creek. It’s not looking like much but H and K don light wet suits.
Looks like there’ll be some more creek walking, I’ll suit up later, the rest of us say.
10 steps later, literally, like literally 10 steps babes, we round a bend and the creek drops into a tunnel like canyoney section.
This would be the theme for this section of Popeye. boulder hoping interspaced with tunnels and cavey bits. A few abseils and short swims
and awesome company
but not much quality canyon.
Plenty of weirdness thou
we head all the way down to the…… it hurts to say it…. Dingo *fugging* Creek for the final 10m of “canyon”
The plan is to head down said creek to an exit Kylie had mapped out opposite gateway canyon. I’m hopeful this section is similar to the bit below HITW and we can just float with the current.
There was a bit of floating.
A bit of boulder scrambling.
Some scrub bashing.
And lots of sinking knee, sometimes hip, deep into fine sand to have it defy the sand traps and fill the bestards.
I still have sand in places sand has no place being.
Still, it’s a wild and beautiful part of the Bungleboori system worth visiting. Once.
The bottom of Gateway canyon was a welcome site
The walls lining the creek had gone from broken slopes to towering cliffs and I’m wondering just how tricky this exit is going to be.
Surprisingly it’s straight forward, cutting back along a gentle ramp to a not too steep nose that avoided the cliffs altogether.
Nice one Gadget
All in all a fantastic weekend out in the wilderness with my kind of people.
