Mt Wilson

Whirlpool

| flynny101

20/12/2025

Gadget, Wisey, Brooke, Clare and meeeeeeeee

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.

©️Kylie

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

The canyon starts with a crystal clear pool snaking through a beautiful twisted hall. Just moments before this shot Brooke was battling diner plate sized spiders like a knight slaying dragons ©️Kylie
The canyon had some pretty sections where the slot would close in
More monsters!
The water was so clear and the yabbies plentiful.
Happy canyoners
A couple of the abseils involved awkward over hanging ledges and careful rope placement was needed to protect from dragging across sharp edges .©️Kylie

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.

back

Waterfall Creek (Mt Wilson)

| flynny101

29/03/2025

Jason, Vince, Hywaida, Kris, Kylie, and meeeeeee

One of the less visited canyons in Mt Wilson beckoned and we headed the call.

The section we did is more or less a creek walk with an abseil but it had some pretty bits and was a relaxing way to spend a rainy morning out.

The theme song for the day was that song by The Presidents of the United States, Leeches. “Millions of leeches, leeches for free. Millions of Leeches all coming for me”

We start down an old tourist trail, cross a small creek then spear off into the scrub, cutting below a parcel of private property. The scrub was nowhere near as bad as expected but the rain had turned the ground into a slippery mud slide.

We had a Grid reference in the main creek below the next tributary upstream and while we doubted we needed to go that far up we also knew there was only 1 main feature in this section and we didn’t want to miss it.

Skirting the private property we optioned to stroll down the nose of the ridge rather than battle our way down the creek line. It was easy going and brought us to a small cliffline over looking the junction of the trib and the main creek.

We roped up and made short work of the 10m drop then scrambled down to the creek.

Waterfall creek itself is a tributary of Bowen Creek and has that lush beauty about it.

She is fernalicious, pondalicious and delicious
H, not on the phone, honest.

The creek tries to canyon up. But we are too high in the strata for a consistent slot.

A fun little abseil in the most canyony bit

And before long we come to the pool known as “Happy Valley”

The rain had turned the water a little murky but the greenery of outstanding

We could have kept exploring down stream but know this is an easy exit option and for today, that’ll do.

A lot of work has gone into the trail in and out of this little pool. It might be a nice spot for a swim on a hot summers day, though it’s a steep haul out.

If leeches ate peaches instead of my blood, then I would be free to drink tea in the mud: E Autumn

BACK

Waterdragon

| flynny101

04/01/2025

Mark and meeee

It had been a couple of years since I had the chance to catch up with this legend so when he messaged to say he was in the Blues I was keen to get in a canyon with him again.

Mark was one of the first Blue Mountains canyoners to head over to Europe and bring back whitewater skills and more advanced rope techniques and he had a fair impact on my canyoning trajectory.

Anyhoo, We decide on a smaller day and head off to check out water dragon canyon.

The ‘Gambie is a popular spot today and we pass several groups starting the lower section, and another on their way to Water Dragon as we cross the river and head up the other side.

We drop in at the usual spot and make our way down to the canyon

It’s much drier than I remember

I tend to forget how dark and pretty the main constriction is. Perhaps because it is so hard to photograph

But after a short time conversing with glow worms re emerge into the light
Back into the Wollemgambe. Its a glorious day

When we get to the exit there is a rescue in place just down stream. We enquire if any assistance is required but are waved off. they have it under control.

And there’s nothing left to do but climb out and stroll back up to the car.

Back

Lower North Bowen

| flynny101

16/11/2024

Kylie, Jason, Matt, Jamelia, and me.

The “Gobsmacker” section of the North branch of Bowen creek is fun and spectacular.

And as a smaller day it was just the ticket.

Matt psyked

Woot
A little rain through the week had the water flowing nicely
Misty day made great light
You can see why it’s described as a mini Claustral
Fernilicious

And a steady hike back up to the hill. About 5hr car to car

They say a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing, but not one half as bad as a lot of ignorance.

Back

Marihuana Canyon

| flynny101

18-05-2024

Gadget and meeeeeeseeee

Go Go Gadget had been in a moon boot with a broken foot for the last six weeks and now she was out we thought we’d ease back into it.

Or sumfink

We’d thrown around a few options and settled on Serendipity canyon at Mt Wilson. But, um well, Unpopular opinion: I’ve never been a big fan of Serendipity. Just always thought it was overrated. Gadgets wasn’t a fan either.

So we changed plans last minute and headed to a little one off the Bells Line that neither of us had visited before.

Named after an elaborate pot plantation in the head waters that got busted in the 90s I had not given too much thought to Marihuana Canyon before and had low expectations but it was something new so why not.

Scrub bashing down we avoid the upper cliff lines but get to the lower cliff and decide to rope up.

And we shall never speak about the tiny shrubs we used for anchors ever again.

As I use to joke with my old mate Della, if it’s wider than your thumb it’s ok. We never did clarify if you held your thumb vertical or horizontal.

Anyhoo

We enter the creek a little high (see what I did there.)

But it didn’t take long to start getting pretty

And before long it drops into a stunning little canyon.

The water was so clear.

And soon we reach the junction with South Bowen

We work our way upstream through some very nice canyon section.

A wider section of South Bowen

TBH it was hard work making our way upstream so we got to our exit and hauled out.

He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it: D Adam’s

BACK

Water Dragon

| flynny101

17-02-2024

Gadget and meeeeeeeeee

We were looking for a quick and easy one for a lazy weekend and Kylie hadn’t done Water Dragon, A.K.A Kelvinator , before so we thought why not.

It’s been a while since I’d done it so we double check the notes and as usual Ozultimate is spot on with up to date track notes and condition reports.

We stroll down to the Gambie and skip up the other side.

It starts nice enough
Gadget dropping in
I’d forgotten how the colours pop in the top section
©️Kylie.

©️Kylie
Kylie on the main drop
It’s a nice place to be on a hot day.
Gadget entering the dark section
You know I sang the glowworm song. if you are not singing now I’m not sure we can be friends.

This section is accessible without abseiling by scrambling up from the Wollangambe .

Even after it opens out it’s pretty
Yours truly scrambling down the lower section ©️Kylie

It’s then a pleasant swim down the ‘Gambie for a long lunch at the exit before making our way back to the car.

And a quick stop at Winnie’s rock to admire the storm rolling over the Wollangambe Wilderness.

I think I made a better boy than I do a man, I admitted ruefully to the wolf.- Fitz to Nighteyes. Robin Hobb.

BACK

South Bowens.

| flynny101

02/12/2023

Jason Muz and meeeeeeee

When I first did a trip through the upper middle section of South Bowen creek with Ed I thought it was a spectacular canyon and I’ve been meaning to repeat it ever since.

But, despite having a look through the exquisite upper section I haven’t revisited this section until now.

Jas scrambling into a side canyon
Muz abseiling into Bowen creek
Almost plate size

We took a quick look up the Corkscrew section.
©️Jason

We then make our way down stream. There’s a bit of creek walking down through pleasant coachwood forest before it drops into another dark canyon section.

Jason and Muz making their way down the canyon
The cool misty day made the light sweet

It was every bit as beautiful as I remember but now there’s nothing left to do but to scramble out

We are not nouns we are verbs. Stephen Fry

Back

South Bowen, upper

| flynny101

Upper upper. Like, the very top bit.

08-04/2023

Kylie and meeeee

It’s been a while since I’ve organised an obscure trip.

Others take the piss out of my scrub bashes to shit canyons but I get a kick out of checking out places the majority wouldn’t bother with.

So when we were thinking about what to do and South Bowen formed up as the front runner I suggest how about we go in fro the top.

Not that’s it’s overly obscure, for as long as I can remember David Noble has been commenting that people miss 3 or 4 canyon sections by going in the “standard” entry.

Still upper sections tend to be hit and miss so I wasn’t expecting high quality but they are all worth doing once.

The only hitch was the car shuffle. We didn’t have a second car.

Let’s just do the top and scramble out the Cork Screw entrance. Says I. That way it’s only a 2km walk back up the highway and we can do that first.

Deal.

We pick one of the branches below Mt Wilson turn off and make our way in. It was scrubby on the spur and muddy in the creek line.

Like scrubby scrub and muddy mud

But it’s only a short bash to the first canyon section. And it’s surprisingly high quality.

And once we got to the junction with the “standard” entry we reversed back up the Cork Screw section and found a break in the cliffs to scramble up.

Party size:2

Time: 4.5hrs car to car.

BACK

Geronimooooooooo

| flynny101

17/12/2022

Kylie, Aimee, Ethan Stirlo and me

It’s been a hot minute so the inevitable call goes out.

Any one want to go canyoning?

Me. said they.

And so it went

A quick meeting of good friends. A hello to the tour groups and then we make our way in to cross the ‘Gambe and bash our way up the other side

Cool for cats
The Wild Flowers are stunning this time of year. We almost had to swim throu fields of Flannel Flowers

And as Paul Kelly once sang, Before too Long…… Um, we found ourselves gearing up and plunging in to Geronimo

Ethan
Some of us brought full wetsuits and were smiling at the pool below
Some of us went a bit lighter
Aimee and Ethan and selfies in a stunning part of the world
Geronimo has such a pretty start
It has some lovely bits of canyon
Clear and cold

Ok I may have pulled out my shark skin jacket here
Kylie had lead the way and was waiting in the cold for the rest of us.
Did I mention pretty ?
And the Canyon opens out just before it rejoins the ‘Gambe
The water is warmer here but not by much
To me this section and the bit just upstream of the Geronimo junction are the most stunning bits on the Upper upper Wollengambe

And soon we are back to the spot where we crossed the river earlier. A quick bit to eat and the guys decide to scramble back up for a quick run thou HorseShoe canyon

Guns out
Hey Flynny. Says Stirlo, This is the first time I’ve ever set and anchor on my own. Now get on rope…
Ah the old dam the flow with your bag until he’s half way down the abseil trick. Leo would be proud.
Horseshoe canyon is pretty much all about this chamber

The wall is slippery as snot
As Ice T once rapped: Colors Colors… Being a Seppo he was all out of Us

And then, about an hour and a bit later we are back at the ‘Gambe

Another great day with truly special people

You need to practice your flow state by getting into some dangerous positions: Andy Anderson

BACK