Xmas in July in June in 2021

June 30, 2021June 30, 2021 | flynny101

26/06/2021

Kylie, Jason, Jen, Kristo, Hywaida, Aimee, Ethan, Muz, Sonya, Mon and meeeeeee

With a couple of birthdays around this time Kylie wanted to get the gang together for an excursion. As it was going to be July and the gang likes dressing up Xmas in July made sense

And then we moved it forward a week so Xmas in July in June it was.

Lucky, as that afternoon the Gubberment announced lockdown,/stay at home rules for the filthy flatlanders and extended them to include the pox ridden, beanie wearing, hippies in the Blue Mountains

Anyhoo, We’d been talking about wandering down Valley of the Waters to check out Vera falls (the highest falls in that particular creek, one I had done before but only had vague memories of) and thought why the hell not. Surprisingly many in the group hadn’t ventured further down than the base of Empress falls. Oh man the next two, Sylvia Falls and Lodore Falls are beautiful and not 10min further down.

But I get ahead of myself. Pulling into the car park I see Kylie in candy stripes and Hywaida is busy Grinching up Kris.

Shit! this green stuff doesn’t come off. says she as I get out of my car

Kris looks alarmed. What is a grinch anyway?

Worth it but

Others rocked up, frocked up and off we went

First stop: the base of Empress for a photo op

Mischievous elves in their natural habitat

Christmas didn’t seem to mind being stolen

After lots of photos and nearly as many laughs we continue our way down the trail. Vera is a long way down but it’s pretty walk

Below Lodore the trail gets rougher but not as vague as I remember it and despite the distance the time flies in good company and banter and before long we are standing on the large, slippery AF rock shelf at the top Vera

You are probably thinking, That’s a big group, but technically we are not canyoning and only half of us are doing the abseil. The rest are out for a walk and Xmas in July cheer.

So now we need to work out how we are going to do it.

We want to go through the falls and work out a good anchor option. Aimee and Krys get busy setting it up.

Me and Kylie breifly discuss the abseil. The toppo suggest the falls are 45-50m. My rope is a tad over 50. We left Jason’s 60m in the car. I tie the end of my rope into Aimee’s anchor and toss the end down to see if it will reach. Then try to get to a spot were I can see.

I can’t see if the tail is on the ground.

We know there is a large ledge about 10m from the bottom but I can’t see it. Kylie suggests first person down takes the spare rope and if possible joins the two at the ledge so that we are not needing to pass a knot mid abseil in what is going to be very cold water spray.

From here we had some communication break downs.

I was planning to be anchor bitch… I mean “monitor”. I know me and Kylie spoke about whether to swap over to a releasable or leave it as we would probably need the full length of rope.

Those not planning to abseil had already continued down the walking track to the base so Kylie moved up to a place where she could signal down to them. The rope isn’t on the ground.

People looked nervous and reluctant to go first.

I have ascending gear, I’m happy to go. I volunteers.

Aimee took over anchor duties. We discussed that if I needed to tie the extra rope on at the ledge I’d give 5 clear whistle blasts. Or maybe I discussed that with Kylie. As I said communication broke down. We all put trust in each other and assumed things.

Never assume things

Kylie somehow makes phone contact with Hywaida who confirms the rope reaches the ledge. Relief.

Ok no need to whistle, everyone knows the ropes will be joined and they need to pass a knot on the ledge.

I check Aimee is good, get on rope and go. We didn’t pause to discuss changing the anchor now that we had updated info.

Slippery Start. Then boosh.. I’m into it. It’s pretty much 40-45m of overhanging abseil. You’re in the main flow, then behind it. The wind moves the waterfall meters sidedways and front and back so you are in it then not in it then bam! back in.

I have a shower every 2 weeks whether I need it or not

I stop on a small ledge 3/4 the way down. There are a lot of loose rocks and I kick them off now rather than have them dislodge and smack someone on the noggin later, not thinking the sound of rocks crash down might freak out those up top….

I reach the big ledge. There is 4 or 5 m of rope on the ledge and a large dead tree between me and the edge. Rather than leave a long tail to possibly tangle in the tree I go off rope and signal for the slack to be taken up.

I hadn’t discussed this possibility with Aimee but she takes up the rope and when I signal to stop she is wondering what now? Remember, we hadn’t converted back to a releasable system.

She realised I needed the rope reset so ties a alpine butterfly and captures the slack in the loop. Yep that’s 4m of rope in the AB’s loop.

Meanwhile, down below I’ve joined the ropes and tossed the end down. Rookie error, I don’t keep hold of the rope and the angle takes it out away from me. Gingerly leaning over the dead tree I grab the rope and pull it back to me.

Unbeknownst to me, Aimee feels this but without being able to see and with communication difficulties she thinks I’m getting back on rope, she is only halfway through tying the alpine butterfly. Understandably it freaks her out and she gets it locked off as fast as possible, leaving a bit of her hair in the knot in the process

So she believes I’m on rope. I’m on the ledge waiting for an OK to go.

Once again the waterfall is swaying in the wind. I’m out of it. I’m in the spray. It’s dumping on me. I’m getting cold.

I look to the others at the bottom for guidance. I get a thumbs up (I think that is they have confirmation from the top I’m right to go, later it was explained it was confirmation the rope now reaches the ground

So I give the rope a gentle test pull. It holds. I pull again. Sweet. I get back on rope and make my way around the tree to the edge of the ledge. There I notice the rope has caught behind a flake on the next ledge up. I flick it a few times to free it and this gives me a tiny bit of slack,

I’m stranding on the lip.

I try to adjust up as I normally would but I’m using the cutaway tag on my harness to leave room for my ascender so where I’m use to the device taking up is 2 inches above where it actually does. I have a little slip

Shit!

Now back in my misspent youth I may or may not have done some dumbshit(TM) that I don’t condone now. One of those dumbshit(TM) things my brother and I may or maynot have done on the odd occasion was the old Hollywood throw a heap of slack out and jump over the edge trick. So as I slip it’s second nature to me to make sure I have the least amount of friction at the device as I can so when the rope takes up it reduces the shock load as much as possible.

As dramatic as it looks my “big slip” was just a few inches (story of my life) followed by a fast but controlled slide into the pool at the bottom (shut up)

Safely at the bottom I dance about to get warm.

How was that rope stretch at the ledge, Jen laughs.

Near shit myself, says I

Kylie and Ethan come down

The post I-was-scared-but did-it anyway-fark-that-was-cold awesome feels, excellently captured by Monica

Jason had opted out of the abseil as he had thought we were doing the dry line and didn’t bring the right gear. I offer him mine and we head back up.

Up top Aimee fills me in on her freak out which freaks me out…. She was still a bit rattled and wasn’t going to do the abseil. We talk it out and she decides to give it a go. It really is an awesome abseil

Aimee-abseils-Xmas-in-July-in-June-style

We all head back up to the top of the falls for a bite to eat, some not so awesome Xmas carolling and bell ringing and a bit of a debrief on how the communication had fallen down (the great thing about this group is there is no blame or finger pointing. Just, this is what we think went wrong and this is how we think we can improve. The conversation continued online over the proceeding days)

Now all that’s left is an hour and a half or so up stairs to get out….. Of course we had to break up the walk with a bit of fun….

Icy cold fun

The tourists were amused

So in the end the falls were about 60m lip to pool, add in the anchor is a fair way back…. Take long ropes.

All in all a very Yuley day out with very Yuley Folk

Find people who inspire you, make you laugh and are great to hang out with. then hangout with them

And remember you are awesome too

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Winter Wolganfalls Weirdos

June 16, 2021June 20, 2021 | flynny101

14-06-21

Gadget, Penny, Chief Quimby, Professor Von Slickstein and Me… I mean, Dr Claw

Whatya doing on the Monday of the long weekend? Asks Gadget

No plans. What do you have in mind? Says I

Options were thrown up before settling on a Go Go Gadget excursion back to Wolgan falls.

We’ve been talking about getting back there to do a wet line after rain. It almost happened after the March deluge but we wimped out fearing the road maybe impassable.

And the stars just haven’t aligned since.

But now we have had a bit of rain through the week, then a good dump of snow on the plateau.

Time to give it a crack

Unfortunately Brain had to bail last minute…. Now I was concerned. How would Penny help Gadget and the others foil Dr Claw without him?

Anyhoo

We meet up at the ZigZag railway on a crispy morning, pile into cars and head in (Yeah we were going the long way, or at least the slow way, but we had our reasons)

The road was boggy but some awesomely excellent driving by Von Slickstein saw him follow us through in his 2WD ute.

Packed up, nervous whizs and off we go

The trip is pretty basic, some easy nav along the ridge, and a couple of dry abseils land you on a large flat shelf above the falls.

Its a pretty spot

And it’s from this point we plan to mix things up. The usual line is in 2 stages a few meters to river left of the falls. Despite ice in puddles and a few patches of snow up top we are hoping to rig things to go straight down the guts.

We discuss options, a tree would have us in the perfect spot, but it’s a looooooong way back.

We have everything we need to build a long anchor but ideally we’d set it as a retrievable so we don’t leave anything behind.

Options were discussed before deciding to use a shorter rope around the tree set on the fiddlestick near the edge then tie join the main line below the stick…

Go Go Gadget retrievable anchor and Roberts your Aunty’s husband or sumfink

Should put us right in the flow, says Gadget

So Kylie, now we do the things with the things so we can do the thing we came to do, or sumfink

Von Slickstein offers to guineapig. Trust us Stirlo, sure we’ve never done it before but what could possibly go wrong

Stirlo’s down and so far nobody has died. Wootwoot

Penny gives it a crack ©Aimee

Kylie taking the pull cord with Ed, Aimee and Stirlo bleow

©Aimee

And we are all down, now to see if we can retrieve things

Kylie pops the fiddle stick. Success.

Stirlo and Ed pull the rope. Success

‘Cept the fiddlestick then wedges itself in the only crack on the halfway ledge and the tail of the rope wraps itself around the only stick in the only crack on the halfway ledge…

Luckily the way out goes up to the halfway ledge and a delicate bit of rope work with the spare rope gets me in a position to release both

We high 5 and begin to pack up for the haul out

Voices…. Up above smiling faces pear over the cliff. I recognise Dick. He is with Laurie, Mick, Peter and crew. This is 2 trips in a row we’ve run into them. We head up and say g’day

Then we are back in the cars for a bite to eat and then back through the mudbath for a little add on that took longer to get there than to do.

Worth it but

Artemis a short little canyonette above the pool of Dianna

Anchor trees in this one can be a bit hard to get and ghosting (Fiddlestick/smooth operator..) is definitely the way to go. Would hate to see slings or chains in this one

©Aimee

And 10min later we’re back up at the cars

Another awesomely excellent with awesomely excellent mates.

“Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you; spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.” — Amy Poehler

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Newnes Plateau

May 3, 2021May 3, 2021 | flynny101

02/05/2021

Edwin, Ethan, Russ and meeeeeee

Anyone available to do something on the 2nd? Asks Ed

Sure, says we.

You want to do a Flynny bash to look for a canyon of probably poor quality? says I

And so we find ourselves walking down a long disused fire trail that is barely distinguishable from the rest of the post-fire landscape.

Soon we leave even that vagueness of a trail and make our way due(ish) north down a ridge looking for a short slot. The only thing I’d heard about it was a. “it’s ok for an unpublished canyon on the Plateau” and ii. The last abseil was meant to be “a gooden” (TM)

When I say “unpublished” there is a grid reference in the guide but checking the satellite that GR looks well off what I am sure is the target, so we go with my gut feel and just wander down for a look, find the slot we are looing for and drop on in.

Careful Russ its slippery

The start was pleasant. Straightaway dropping down a small waterfall. We contemplate setting the rope but after a good look I decide to slide. We had considered not taking wet suits…. Glad we did

Almost immediately we were greeted with another drop, one that would require abseiling

everyone safely down, rope and pull cord stowed and just around the corner the bottom dropped out of the creek dramatically.

We set a temporary anchor and throw down 27m or so of rope on a releasable and Ethan volunteers to go first. Its a tricky start and then an awesomely spectacular abseil. I bleed out rope and as Ethan reaches the bottom the end is just high enough off the ground for him to land and dismount comfortably.

Ed follows him down then Russ helps me set the fiddlestick and takes the pull cord.

There are some dry canyons around the edge of the Plateau that have long abseils but it’s rare to get a wet one this high in these parts.

And that was it. All over red rover.

Plenty of action for a shortish walk and 150m of canyon

OK, right should get us out. Says I, but left looks interesting.

We follow Ed and Ethan up to the left through the king ferns

All the (short) way up the gully teased us with the prospect of turning a corner into a canyonette that would ramp up through the cliffs

But in the end it cliffed out in a gloriously over hung ampitheatre

We head back down and up the other side. The gully looked like it would go easily but we opted to climb out early

We have lunch on the cliff tops above what becomes a major gully as it makes it’s way towards the Wolgan. Its barely 12.30.

Shall we do sumfink else? says I

After not much deliberation we opt for one of a pair the rest had not done before. I didn’t have my notes or map with me. But how hard could it be?

Last time I remember the scrub leading to the good bit was horrendous and the fires hadn’t seemed to touch this little bit of the forest so I drive a bit further down the road, check google maps, and aim for the most canyony looking bit.

A lovely little meadow gave us a deceptively steep and slippery way down

and we arrive smack bang on the most canyony bit

Only as soon as I see it I remember the most canyony bit was the very end and we’ve missed a few jumps and slides and fun bits.

And then it’s back up the hill to the car before it pisses down.

another great adventure with great mates.

How many worlds are in your world? Andy Anderson

They are all worth visiting at least once: me

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3 little canyons on a Saturday afternoon, just because

December 20, 2020December 23, 2020 | flynny101

19/12/2020

Izy, Ed, Dick, Madie, Leo and meeeeeeee

‘Twas the Friday before Christmas with zero plans for the Weekend

And it just kinda hit me, I must make amend

So I sent out a late invite, with little remorse

And 5 Friends replied “hell yes”, as a matter of course

We started earlier then planned ’cause Madie was bored

They piled in my ute and the accelerator was floored.

The first canyon we visited was little and sweet

Leo tried his best to wet not even his feet

We jumped, slid and abseiled and had lots of fun

Then Madie threw mud at me, it was the end of canyon 1

Canyon 2 is a cracker, an absolute blast

but the best was to come, we saved it ’til last

The next is my favourite, I whispered to Iz

The thing is I meant it, it absolutely is

Dick left us early, he was coming back the next day

He shook hands, he hugged and went on his way

The rest of us pushed on and our excitement it grew

And we got to the slot and made our way through

We slid and we jumped, we spashed and had fun

And looked around in awe at this place where we’d come

To soon we reached the end and had to turn around

but we smiled as we cherished the joy that we found

this might be a bad poem but I bet you wish you had been us

and doubt all you want but rhyming “Iz” with “is” well… that’s just fucking genius

Party Size: 6

Times

Sheepdip: ~ 2 and a bit hrs car to car

Twister and Rocky Creek: About 3hr car to car

The best friends force you to lever yourself up

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Journey to Dick Rock

November 16, 2020November 17, 2020 | flynny101

AKA: There and Back Again: Just!

14 and 15/11/2020

Leo, Madie and meeeeeeeee

Who wants to visit the Totem Pole? Asks Leo

I’m in. Dad has photos of it from Jeep trips in the late 60s early 70s, though they knew it as the Wolgan Earth Pillar, a name they got from the Luchetti’s who had the farm down Valley. They got it off Carne’s map from his early 1900s mineral survey where he recorded it in his journal as “Earth Pillar, the Pinnacle, Wolgan Valley”. Anyway it’s been on my list of things to visit for a long time.

Of course Madie was in too.

Hey, do you want to go in from the top and check out a few canyons while we are down that way?

Some times I wonder what it would be like to have friends who hear out my hair brained ideas and say things like, That sounds ridiculous, Flynny. No way we should to that….

But noooooo. Despite several epic scrub bashes my friends keep saying things like, hell yeah lets do it.

Lucky, otherwise this blog would be rather boring.

Besides no one is going to be telling there grandkids about the epic weekend they had playing golf, right?

Well unless they win a major or sumfink.

Anyhooo

We were planning to walk out to a base camp Friday night. 3pm and it’s pissing down. None of us want to start walking in the rain but the rain parts, the radar is clear and it looks like it’s going to be a perfect night for a stroll.

Leo and Madie swing past my place to drop off Pippa the Wonderdog.

Should we take 2 cars?

There’s only 3 of us….

Maybe we should have taken 2

Driving up on dusk and the sky to the north looks like something out of an Armageddon movie.

Rolling storm clouds and blasts of lightning heading right to where we are going. That wasn’t on the radar!

We get to an intersection. Swing right. says I. Left has a 4wd creek crossing.

When was the last time you looked? Says Leo. I got a 2wd through there last year.

While I thought they had done a bit of work to the crossing I hadn’t tried going that way since getting rid of my old FJ45 Cruiser.

We go left, much to Madie’s trepidation.

The creek crossing is up but it’s much easier than the deep rocky drop off of years gone past. We get through easy enough. Except the hill up the other side is a soft rutted mess. 1 quick go at getting up and the ute sinks to the diffs. Lucky it is very wet and Leo is able to reverse out with help of the steep terrain.

We are going back the other way! Madie puts her foot down. And I’m driving from here!!!

We take the by-pass. But halfway down a sharp log hidden on the inside of a corner rips the side wall out of her rear tyre. Pssssssssssssssss.

We get out to change the wheel. Armageddon skies open and the rain belts down. There is an issue with the jack handle which also doubles as a thingie to wind the spare tyre down. Nothing that a quick adjustment with a shifter or screwdriver to open up the slots wont fix.

Where’s your tool box.

I don’t have one….

Apparently Madie cops one of my infamous eye rolls . My kids take the piss out of me about them all the time but surprisingly this is the first one thrown Madie’s way.

Anyway, a bit of dicking around with a small multitool and a blood sacrifice and Leo has the handle working.

Tyre changed we rock into the car park and decide it’s way too late to start our walk so we set camp for the night .

Before you read on; Part of the joy of visiting lessor known canyon areas is not knowing what you’ll find. Sometimes its a disappointing creek bash and sometimes you get a good one. If you ever plan on exploring this area do yourself a favour and leave the rest of this post until after you come back.

Anyhoo

Saturday:

We are up before the sun and after a quick breakfast we are on the trail a little after 5.30am.

After being closed to vehicle traffic 20 years ago this trail devolved into a nightmare scrub bash, like the type of scrub even I avoid, and that’s saying something. Post fires it’s easy walking and we pick our way along the ridge line the old road use to follow for about 8km before spearing off into untracked territory.

We reach our chosen base camp around 8.30am, dump the camp gear and head off for our first canyon in good spirits.

Despite a series of complex cliff lines we find easy passes until we are directly above our drop in point

To be honest we weren’t expecting great things from canyons out this way but this one had a nice start

And we find a surprisingly nice bit of canyon

After a bit the canyon opens up somewhat and then begins to drop steeply. We abseil the first drop and then I scramble down the next few to see it it’s likely to drop into a lower section. It’s pretty but the walls are getting wider and more impenetrable so we make the call to ascend back up the line and try to force a pass to the ridge and drop into another creek.

We somehow jag a straight forward pass up through multiple cliff lines. Winning!

Views over the Wolgan. You can just make out the conical peak of Tayan Pic, AKA Nipple hill, rising way out in the distance, 30km away

Again we managed to find passes down through all but the final cliff

Children of the Corn…. I mean cabbage bush or whatever the hell this is. It was easier than tea tree, hakea, and Acacia but I would be well and truly over pushing through this by the end of the weekend

But soon this creek, too, drops into a nice section of canyon.

This one had a bit of flow to it. Mostly due to the rain but partly from a dam at the end of a pool on that gave way as we passed it.

And it had an arch. You know I like arches

And then the water dropped down a narrow dark hole and 20m later it ran out this funky tunnel

At about the same point we decided to scramble out of the last canyon we had a quick bit to eat. Despite covering a lot of ground so far we are still full of enthusiasm and even talk about trekking down to Dick Rock today. We must have been delusional

Cute little Boop Noodle. The only one we saw all trip

Once again we jag a straight forward pass back to the tops for more stunning views

Heading down to our 3rd canyon of the day and we drop into a tributary thinking it will be an easy pass down

Turns out is had a short but nice canyon section, though we needed some creative anchor options to get us down. No slings were left behind on this trip

Into the main canyon and straight way we’re impressed. ©Madie

And we find ourselves in the most impressive canyon of the trip

A nice dark, tunnel like section was well worth the effort to get here

We spent longer in this one than we thought we would, definitely longer than the previous two so squeezing in Dick Rock today was out the window. Time to beat a pass up to the tops again

We get out of the canyon and through most of the cliffs easily except for one little bit that Leo scrambled up with a couple of little boosts from me at the bottom and balls the size of a medium sized car at the top.

He dropped a rope for me and Madie to ascend. I go up to to the ledge and haul Leo’s bag then drop the rope back to Madie. She begins to ascend as I go up the ramp and begin to chimney up the last bit.

Rock! Rock! Rock! Fugg!

I’ve knocked a large rock loose and it tumbles down the chute. Luckily it misses the rope and gains enough momentum to sail out into space. Madie was 5m up the rope with nowhere to hide. The adrenaline rush was real.

But we are up and encounter our first unburnt ridge of the trip. Thick, scratchy, cutting scrub. It was a relief to finally get to a burnt bit.

It’s getting late. We have a couple of deep saddles to get past on the way to camp but Madie navigates us there easily. I have to say I was well and truly slowing down.

Night descends but we are back to the ridge we walked down on our way to the first canyon.

Then Madie lets out a whoop at the sight of the reflective stripes on my Overboard dry bag I had hung up in a tree above camp.

35km and 3 canyons in 14hrs.

We roll out the sleep mats, have a quick diner, a few laughs and then we’re in bed engulfed with satisfaction and a glorious star filled night

Sunday:

A slightly more sedate wake up time, a casual breakfast and we are off a bit after 8.

I’m feeling a little dehydrated from yesterday so I’m determined to drink more today. The plan is to descend a canyon, punch down to Dick Rock and then up another canyon. We knew of a couple of easy passes up ridge lines but it’s going to be a hot day so ascending up a canyon that is supposedly reversible is more appealing

But first we work our way down through the cliff lines once more. This time we manage to scramble right down into the creek

It’s pretty but never really canyons up

It has some cool caves and tunnels but is really just a creek walk

Ironstone Stalactites. Like the ballerina dancing on the old termite ridden stage, when the mites go up the tights come down. or sumfink

And then we have 3 or 4km of this and worse to make out way down to the main objective of our trip

It’s hot in the valley we have lunch then take a higher route back which avoids some of the the scrub and short cuts the corner and we work our way up to our intended creek.

Where this morning’s “Canyon” was a pretty creek walk this wasn’t even that. The heat is oppressive and despite drinking a shit load I’m starting to struggle.

But we boulder hop and scrub bash our way high enough up to starting thinking of forcing a pass to the tops.

Thoughts of squeezing in another short canyon are out the window.

By the time we reach camp it’s around 5pm and I’m suffering camps. I’ve drank about 8l of water already today but haven’t pissed since breakfast.

We pack camp, I mix some extra electrolytes into my hydrapac bladder and we start up the hill.

I’m really struggling and a few times have to call for a rest. Much to my equal parts chagrin and relief halfway up the ridge Madie and Leo split my gear between them leaving me with minimal weight. I’m still slow but finally we reach the ridge with the old trail. We still have 8km to go but it’s going to be easier walking.

I’m making OK pace now but my stomach is dehydrated and refusing to take much in. I’m taking small sips out of my hydrapack trying to get through. The cramps are bad, the slightest miss step and something locks up. I get service on the phone and text Mandy to let her know we’re going to be late. My finger camps bad. That’s a new sensation for me.

About 4km along the fire trail we stop for a rest. I try and take a slightly bigger drink. 3 steps later I spew that up. We march on.

It’s dark.

I tune out and walk on.

200m to go calls Madie, you can do it Flynny.

All that’s between us and the car is Natural bridge. I stumble my way down. I normally wouldn’t bat an eyelid at the climb up the other side. I stop for a rest. I spew again. There is nothing in my stomach. My whole abdominals cramp and lock tight.

If that’s what period cramps feels like , girls you get even more respect from me.

Finally we get to the car.

68km walking for the weekend, mostly off track, 3 nice canyons, two disappointing creeks, and one big a tick on the bucket list.

Home at last, I spill out of the car and spew again.

He’s alive, Madie tells Mandy, but he’s got a bit of heat stroke. You may want to get him checked

A quick shower and I think I’m good for bed but Mandy suggests a trip to hospital to get checked out.

At hospital they whack me on the scales, I’m 10kg lighter than I was Friday!

They take some blood and put me on a drip. 3 bags in they send Mandy home and book me in for the night.

6 litres of fluid later, do you think you can pee now? we need to see it before we can let you out.

I feel I want to but it’s not coming out.

Well, we can always put a catheter in.

I pee.

Apparently that threat works every time.

They release me lunch time Monday.

It’s the adversity as much as the victories that makes the lasting memories.

This trip has a big dash of both.

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Fringed Lily, Thysanotus tuberosu — *Xanthorrhoea australis*(?)

Afternoon Delights

November 3, 2020November 9, 2020 | flynny101

3/11/2020

Madie, Leo, Libby, Russ and meeeeeee

Whadda ya doing this arv? Wanna Canyon after work? Says Madie

This is becoming a habit. I kinda like it.

Should we invite others? say I

Yeah, I miss people

A flurry of last minute invites were sent out. Sadly no one was available for an early Tuesday afternoon adventure with zero notice. Go figure

Bummer

Madie and Leo arrive at the car park and after I field some work calls it’s about 4pm as we make a dash down into the canyon.

We were traveling lightish and fastish (For me) and my camera is playing up so not many photos were taken.

Some giggles, banter and poking fun later we are through the canyon and me and Mads start up the hill while Leo pulls the rope on the last abseil. He still well and truly beats us to the climb and ascends up ready to belay us

Up I go and start up the next bit while he belays Madie up.

I get almost to where it starts flattening out when he jogs past, Come on Flynny.

I have a bit of a jog. Legs are cramping. I walk for a bit. Looking back Madie is jogging and gaining on me fast. Leo is heading up the last little hill to the car park. I try to jog again. Stubborn or determined or sumfink

Back at the cars we laugh as we change into dry clothes.

Hey, Russ and Libby are going to do Juggler!

We should join them…

We drive around to meet them and then head off into Juggler at a slightly more relaxed pace.

There was a rope. it was quicker but log humping is fun

Hey Flynnsticle, upside down photo for old times sake? There was a bit of inverted rope twirling.

And we reach the end and walk out in the darkening twilight

Party size: Butterbox, 3 Juggler, 5

Time: Is irrelevant when you are hanging out with awesome friends or Butterbox 1hr 45 Juggler 1hr 35

Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving: Terry Pratchett

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Wolgan Falls

October 22, 2020October 23, 2020 | flynny101

22/10/2020

Laurence, Kylie, Heni, Peter, Richard, Kent and meeeeeee

A while ago Laurie asked me if I’d ever been down Wolgan Falls. He’d been trying to find away into the top and bottom for years but had not long taken up abseiling.

I hadn’t. A few of us discussed running a trip. Then life happened.

Laurie and others pioneered a route in and out. And began to run the trip regularly. I usually got an invite but it was mostly midweek trips and I never made it, until today.

As I head up to meet Kylie, she messaged saying she was running 10min late because there was a Koala crossing the road.

Best excuse EVER!

I was a little worried about the meet up as the others were coming in from the other side of the plateau.

In the end we all arrived at the car park at pretty much the same time and head off into the untracked wilds of the upper Wolgan river.

Anyhoo

A lump sat alone on a rock in a park, my name is Flynny was his casual remark.. or sumfink ©Kylie

And that’s just the falls before the falls

And all too soon it’s over. As we were preparing to hike out Richard tripped on a rock and pulled his calf muscle. A quick bit of bandaging and a make shift walking stick and he soldiered his way up the steep exit track

Kylie taking in the views on the way out

Group size: 7

Time: 4hrs very relaxed pace

Back at the cars it was still reasonably early so me and Kylie decide to do a quick dash through Alcatraz on the way back to her car

All in all another excellent day in the great outdoors with great outdoors people

Someone, somewhere thinks you are awesome. Hopefully you do too

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Fools, Pools and Prison Islands

September 20, 2020September 21, 2020 | flynny101

19-9-2020

Dicky, Izy, Libby and meeey

Many years ago I helped carry a girl with a broken leg out of a little known canyon in the Newnes state forest. For the life of me I can’t remember how I got involved in that but I remember asking her party what the canyon was like.

The pools were really pretty, says they. But not worth the scrub bash

Certainly the scrub hiking back up the hill was not pleasant that day.

Figuring that may not be such an issue just now I thought I’d go for a look and the above named legends decided to join me.

Beforehand I asked my mate/guru, Bob if he knew the creek, he mentioned there was an old 4wd track right down into the creek and he use to take his kids down there to teach them to abseil and go yabbying in a pool in an erosion cave but he hadn’t followed the creek further down.

Now I may or may not have misinterpreted the track notes I made from the aforementioned party’s description and so we may have taken far more rope than we needed. Where I wrote Second abseil 50m down creek. I should have wrote 50m further down creek to 2nd abseil… Carrying 100m worth of ropes where the longest abseil was less then 10m may have been overkill…

Anyhoo

Despite some dire weather predictions it was a glorious spring day, mostly, and after Dick and Libby met at my place we swung over to pick up Izy at the crack of d̶a̶w̶n̶, I mean 11am

I chose not to take the 4wd track that goes all the way into the creek as one on the opposite ridge should give us a sorter walk out while still getting us within a few hundred meters of the start of the canyon.

It also gave us great views

Libertybell zenning out as the creek starts to look promising

Dick on another down climb. It would be a fun slide into a crystal clear pool except the pool has silted up with sand

So far it’s a pleasant, canyonish creek. Unfortunately it’s about now my camera battery died and I realised I left my spares at home. Everyone else had left their stuff at the car as it was going to be a short one….. Thus we’ve no photos of the best bit, 3 abseils in a very short but very pretty canyonette.

The fires had taken out any decent anchor trees so the fiddle stick came in handy on the first two. 1 off a big log over hanging the drop and the other off a rock wedged low down for a short abseil to a ledge and then a jump into a stunning pool

The third drop proved a bit harder to find an anchor. I was searching in the creek for a suitable rock or some where to wedge a log when Libby says What about that!

She is pointing to a stone pillar in a small overhang up on a ledge just down stream of the waterfall.

We slip up to check it out. Some delicate traversing along the narrow ledge gives me access to the pillar that is in an alcove above a wider ,dirter end section of the ledge, It is about 30cm in diameter and looks and feels nice and solid. I give it a test and drop on in then dig out phone to grab a few final photos.

The little section on top of this was quite stunning. Pity it wasn’t 3 or 4 or 5 times longer. Again this pool was full of sand, that you sank waste deep into. I remember a lot of pools silting up like this after a big fire in the 90s. took a couple of years an some big rain events to clean them back out

A final bit of canyon like creek

And then it’s up the hill, across a narrow saddle and back to the car

Did I mention the pogodas out here are awesome

So it’s still early and we decide to leave the wetsuits on and drive across to drop into Alcatraz

all the alcatraz photos are copywrite to Izy

Party Size:4

Timings: First one 2hrs car to car

Alcatraz: ~1.5hrs car to car

You can’t please everyone, unless you’re an avocado: Maddy G

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Kamarah Gully

September 8, 2020September 13, 2020 | flynny101

8/9/2020

Meeeeee

Kamarah:

Aboriginal word for Sleep
Sleepy little town on the outskirts of the Riverina
A small sleeper of a canyon somewhat less visited than it’s neighbours

The name fits with other creek names in the area. Yileen = To dream/dream like. Dalpura = Peaceful, Kamarah = Sleep. I’ve not been able to find a meaning for Koombanda, Jungaburra or Jinki but assume they fit the theme somehow.

Like most canyons in this area it’s not that deep or sustained but has some pretty bits to it.

From the bottom of Koombanda it’s possible to scramble up the nose below the junction and drop back down into the top of Kamarah. I guess this is the way most people do it, it makes sense as they are both short and adding in Kamarah then exiting up to the west via convenient tree roots can be a quicker than exiting via the old mine, especially if you don’t want to do a car shuffle.

You do, however miss some nice erosion caves further up the gully

Anyhoo this description is almost longer than the canyon already

With a day off and everyone else seemingly busy I took the opportunity of a quick afternoon stroll. The creek is drier than I’ve seen it before. I wander down off the ridge, check out the caves which seem to have a lot more block fall than I remember, then make my way down until the walls start to canyon up

The water level is down at least 30cm from my last visit

But it’s still a lush green in contrast to the burnt out ridge lines nearby

First drop is about 3m, some careful bridging meant I could keep my feet dry today

You can see how far down the water level is from usual

Then the creek drops into a dark hole

Typical of canyons in this area it has one, shallow but stunning chamber

And then just before the junction with Koombanda brook you can climb out on the right, or continue down this this nice overhang to scramble up on the left

Time: 2.5hr car to car with a lot of faffing around

Whatever you do today don’t forget to be just that tiny little bit awesome

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sleepwhenwearedead

blue, mts, canyon, canyoning, mtb, mountain bike, gardens of stone, Lithgow

Abseil

Xmas in July in June in 2021

Winter Wolganfalls Weirdos

Newnes Plateau

3 little canyons on a Saturday afternoon, just because

Journey to Dick Rock

Saturday:

Sunday:

Afternoon Delights

Wolgan Falls

Fools, Pools and Prison Islands

Kamarah Gully