When Russ said he was in town and keen for a catch up but we both had limitted time we thought a run through this little beauty would be just the ticket and Jason was hell keen too.
It had been nearly 2 years since we first went searching for it and our group was far from the only ones to be inspired by Richard Pattison’s youtube video. Since then it’s be come fairly popular and a track has begun forming through the previously thick scrub. Still we opted for a bit of a scrub bash.
It takes us next to no time to get to the first little abseil.
We slide down this and take what looks to be an obvisous path along a ledge to the left to avoid the next little drop.
Pro tip. Don’t take the obvious ledge to the left. It is muddy, slippery and it’s just causing damage. There’s a much better path to the right of the boulder in the centre of the creek. From above it looks like a drop but when you get to it you’ll see its an easy step down.
And just like that we are at the top of the drop into the impressive slot.
It’s a lot higher than I remember. Belatedly I am glad we opted to throw in 2 30m ropes “just in case.”
It’s a lot wetter than last time too, which was nice
Russ on rope the 30m ropes just reach aross the pool at the bottom.
A bit of careful foot work see us stay dry above the thighs.
A small down climb brings us to the next abseil with some interesting anchor set up… Last time this was prefect candidate for the fiddle stick. Now sling and rope are in place around the boulder. Make sure you double check these carefully.
The Pool of Aphrodite is a well published spot in the Gardens of Stone that doesn’t get lot of traffic due to it being a bit of a scrub bash to get to.
Yuri referred to it as the Heaven pool (Thanks Matt M for that info) but Keats officially named it Pool of Aphrodite with the geographical naming board.
When they published it in the Gardens of Stone Guides people would bash their way around from the more popular Pool of Diana, But it was a long, leg slashing slog.
A while ago I punched a more direct pass down through the cliffs oposite it but got foiled with a last little cliff I didn’t have rope for.
Anyhoo a few weeks ago Gadget and I had a rare spare afternoon and as she hadn’t been to the North Bungleboori Arch we thought why not go for a quick look at that and then pop over the ridge to see if we could make it down to Aphrodite.
The Arch is spectacular.
We scramble down to the bottom of the arch and phaff around with the camera for a bit before heading back up to drive a bit further down the road to see if we could work our way down to the Pool of Aphrodite.
We get down to the cliff edge with a fantastic view to the slot that hides both the pool and the waterfall that feeds it. But for the life of me I couldn’t find the break in the cliff had got me so close many years ago
Kylie pulls out the topo and studies it momentarily. I reckon theres a pass upstream on the other side that will get us there, says she.
We slip back up to the car and drive around the head of the gully.
Her pass was a winner and before long we are at the pool.
It’s barely shin deep, a little underwhelming as far as pools go. But it’s a pretty spot.
Looking up at the slot cutting through the towering cliffs above we agree it would make an amazing abseil. The satelite image suggested there might be a small slot above it.
Keats describes it as being fed by a 30m waterfall. It’s a lot higher than that.
We file it on our list of things to do when we have nothing to do.
Which brings us to today. We had a big overnighter planned but circumstances lead to it being canceled and suddenly we had nothing to do.
And on top of the things to do when we have nothing to do list… that abseil.
A last minute, late night invite was thrown out to see if anyone else would like to join us and to our delight both Ed and Hywaida were keen.
We were expecting it to be a short trip so it was close to 11am when we roll into our car park.
It’s a 600m bash down the ridge, skirting the swamp until a pinch in the cliffs force us into the thickests of scrubs.
Ed resorts to his tried and tested method. Turn, use his pack a a shield and throw himself backwards into the wall of vegetation.
I’ve missed scrub bashing with Ed.
In no time he had bulldozed us a path to the top of the falls.
Unfortunitely there’s no slot above them. Also more scrub and a slippery slope is preventing us from getting a good look at the drop.
We slip up the pagoda next to it to get a view over the impressive slot dropping into the pool somewhere below.
A loooooong somewhere below.
It’s a substancial cliff and the best anchor tree is a long way back from the edge We start to wonder if our ropes are long enough.
We decide to set up and send the first abseiler to the edge to get a better look.
Belatedly I realise I’m the first abseiler!
I’m not scared.
Honest.
Ensuring I have my ascenders at the ready I get on our 75m rope and work my way down to the edge. It’s set as single strand with the 60m attached to the other end in case they need to lower me further.
I can see the pool, calls I.
It’s an impressive if somewhat intimidating drop.
Does the rope reach? Call they
I can’t see, there’s a slope to an overhang then maybe a ledge. I’m going to head down to see.
Living up to Aphrodite’s name its a lovely, beautiful, and pleasurable abseil.
Alternating between steep, near verticle slabs and long overhangs.
And the 75m reachs with about 6 or 7m to spare.
The top of the slot feels like it wraps around and encloses you before funneling out. After 5 days of drizzle there is enough flow that you can’t really get out of the spray. Prefect on a late Autumn day.
And just like that we are all down.
All that’s left now is the traverse around to the exit gully and a quick punch back up to the road.
wild_elly, dw3lla, freedom_runs, mshbee, estonian_pirate and meeeeeeeeeeee
Most people visit Thunder Canyon from the bottom, wandering up from the junction after absieling in from Claustral or Ranon.
After all you get to visit the best bit while also doing another of the Classic 3. The tops not worth it. Said they.
By they are all worth doing once say I.
We’d actually planned this several times. Once we canned it because Gadget and H couldn’t make it.
Then they canned it because I couldn’t make it.
Then we canned it because Jason couldn’t make it.
And we all but canned it this time because Kris and Muz were going to a running race.
But the race fell through so at the last minute Thunder was back in business. Baby!
We head out along the ridge with a couple of options of where we might drop in.
Stupidly I ignored my own advice about wearing long pants in favour of lighter weight and more room in the keg. This meant by the end of the walk in I’d have a bit less skin to carry out too…
About mid ridge we gain a rocky outcrop. The views were stunning and the walking a lot less cutty.
We have more scrub to push through but it’s not as bad from here out.
Finally we get to a spot we think we should drop in so as not to miss a short uppersection of canyon. We follow a minor tributary down hoping it offers an easy break but it cliffs out much too high for our ropes.
We push back out and gain a small nose that leads down, down, down, cliff out.
At least there are ledges below us that have decent trees to reanchor from. Still we seem to be a long way up.
We set a rope and I absiel down and spend a stupidily long time looking for options to get us into the creek. Problem is I can see another ledge below but still can’t tell how far down the creek is. It sounds like a fair cascade or waterfall below.
I have the irrational thought that we are directly above Westaway Falls. The eap shows them a fair bit down stream but I’m second guessing.
I call Jason down for back up. He shares concern about the water echoing below and whether we are missing a good bit of canyon. I show him a couple of options including one a little up stream.
I can see the creek bed there. Says he. He has better eye sight than me but I make out the rocky creek bed amid the dark shadows.
Come on down we call.
We get everyone down to the ledge and Kristo leads the abseil to the Canyon.
Oh Wow this looks like the start of Empress. he calls.
We’d gotten our entry spot on at the start of a short but pretty section, that as Kristo said, had the start of Empress Canyon vibes.
We make our way down stream. some tricky ledge walking and spidermaning keeps us dry for the time being.
The canyon opens a bit and we make our way down a pretty gorge. There’s some scrambling, wading and downclimbs. Basic good fun.
I have the anchor, calls Kris from down canyon right.
But there is an awesome looking slot up here. Calls Jason from back abit canyon right. We check out the slot. It looks great and jason is super keen to drop in but Kris has already set rope. Wait til you see this abseil thou, He calls.
We head down. He is right this abseil looks amazeballs.
Of course this means we’ll need to do a second trip to do the slot option.
Kylie fishing for glowworms
Ms H Bee dropping in
once down…
Glowworms behind waterfalls
While I have visited this section many times from below it always blows me away and coming in from the top was just a bit extra special .
And before long we come to the Claustral Junction. From here down the canyon is well known to all of us and the rest of the trii is prettt cruzy
Remember just like it takes 7 wipes to know for sure you only needed 6, you need to do the canyon yourself to know whether it’s worth it.
They are all worth doing once and I’d definately repeat this one.
After Devils Pinch and Starlight we opted for a lazy Easter morning then a quick trip through Pipeline canyon.
Kylie wasn’t feeling well so decided to sit out.
The rest of us retraced yesterdays steps up the Pipeline trail but speared off early into the side canyon I’ve always known as Drainpipe.
I’m sure I’ve used an easier way into Drainpipe with Tim that avoids all the scrub in the upper gully, but as with last time with Russ we bashed down the gully.
Jess and Wisie were on rope duties and had their work cut out as some of the anchors needed creative solutions. A few of the anchor trees were rotten or completely gone.
Drainpipe lives up to it’s name with trickling skanky sludge rather than water.
will Brooke avoid the sludge?
negative.
A few tricky abseils later and we reach the junction with Pipeline.
The water will be crystal clear from here, says I
I should not of said that.
We get to the first large drop and down I go.
There’s a very dead kangaroo wedged into the corner of the pool below oozing its essence into the atmosphere.
</Spewie face>
Emerging from the Roo Stew pool
The log slide
Making our way down the narrow canyon
And before we know it we pop out of the canyon on the last 2 abseils.
After a bite to eat we follow the base of the clifflines back to the Pipeline track passing this little cutie along the way.
“There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar.” — Lord Byron
Some of my earliest memories are of 4wding and camping with my dad in the Wolgan Valley.
The valley has a Genius loci.
A sense of place.
An allure.
It’s history of occupation, both Aboriginal and European, hangs in the air and hides in the undergrowth.
It’s special.
I remember times when it was less known, camping far down the river on unexpected flats.
I remember the hight of popularity when you had to get there early (On the Thursday or even Wednesday prior) to get a good spot on a long weekend.
And I remember more recent trips, where the restricted access returned a feeling of being almost alone in the valley.
So when an old footy mate offered to let me camp on his block of land hidden deep up a gully rarely travelled by the masses I jumped at the chance.
It’s Easter weekend, we wont be alone in the valley. Many campers were utelising Thomas’s shuttle, cabins and camp facitlities at Newnes Cabins. A few more walked in and set up in the NP camp ground (Why they still require bookings and charge fees when it’s walk in only is beyond me).
The road up to our campsite was rough and overgrown in parts but passable. The old hut was no longer there, another casualty of the Gospers Mountain fires, but the block itself every bit as beautiful as always.
We could have been a million miles from anyone, anywhere, and anywhen.
We are up and on the trail early. The pass up via the Pipeline trail is straightforward and Kylie leads us out along the ridge top that separate Newnes from Glen Davis. There’s a good trail for much of the way but as we near the top of Devils pinch creek we veer off, taking a short cut over a knoll and down into the creek.
H leads us down the creek to the first drop, there’s nothing really indicating the deep chasm to come.
We bypass the first few scrambling drops, favouring the longer drop off the ledge to the right.
I set the rope and Kylie leads the way in.
I’d forgotten how spectacular the top section of Devils Pinch is.
Gagdet remarks it’s second to Crikey in feels of depth and narrowness.
The second abseil comes straightway and has a very tricky start but Gadget is on anchor duty and guides us down no dramas.
Brooke regales us with a song.
Just around the corner the deep channel is filled with light
The canyon walls open out and we make our way down to the lower constriction.
Some scrambling and careful bridging keeps us out of the manky water, mostly.
And soon we come to the 20m abseil into the drier lower hallway.
As the canyon opens out we pause for lunch, then dump our canyon gear and make our way along the base of the cliff for a couple of hundred meters to the bottom of Starlight Canyon.
While worth doing on it’s own from the top I think combining it with Devils Pinch in this way makes it a great day out.
We reverse up the canyon, there’s a couple of scrambles but nothing overly tricky, unless you decide to try an alternative squeeze up a chute rather than the easy climb up and along the tree roots like I did…
The bottom of Starlight is like a hidden world and you half expect triceratops to be grazing on the fernery.
And then the canyon closes in.
I get the camera gear out and send the others ahead.
Just a hint of what’s to come
A young eastern brown snake. Pseudonnaja (meaning “Fake cobra”) Textilis ( meaning “scales like my wife’s stockings”).
And soon the walls close in futher and all light is lost
Well not all light.
Your description of a tunnel section severely under sold this. They say when the meet up halfway through as they were coming back down. “Cavern” would be more appropriate.
Over head bats chittered and fluttered.
But we need to head back to the light.
It’s just the way we do it.
We follow the cliffs back around to the bags then make our way down to the river and back to camp.
“Because when you stop and look around, this life is pretty amazing.” — Dr. Seuss
Kylie and I had done this one before and really enjoyed it.
It’s a fun little waterfall style canyon and the water was up a little today compared to last time so we were keen to see what it would bring.
view from the tourist lookout
We suit up on the open slabs and then make our way down to the first abseil
There are 2 choices here, You can scramble over and say out of the flow or you can get frothed
Kris Emerging from the white out
There’s a short drop on to a knub, From here there is the option to drop down through a hole behind the chockstone but with the water a bit bumpy we opt to go in front.
it was at that moment Gadget realised she was going first
Kylie leading us into the froth
the creek is beautiful and the water warm.
Next up is the abseil through another hole. This time we go through.
Gadget
Hywaida
Kris
Vince
and more pretty water falls come
we get to the infamous drop that goes down through a massive log, last time we have avoided the hazard using the bolted traverse. this time we followed Jasons advice and cross to creek right and abseils off a tree. Much simpler
And before long we are at the jade pool and exit stage left up a steep Ridgeline back to where we had dropped a car.
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
