national park

Morong Falls

| flynny101

13-12-2025

Kent, Pete, Joel, Tam, Cotter, David and meeeeee

I’m walking out of Butterbox and I get a missed call from Kent

I hadn’t heard from him for a while so called back straight away in case something was wrong.

Nothing is wrong he’s just been thinking about an abseil trip in one of his favourite places at Kanangra Boyd.

And so a trip down Morong falls is set up

Morong falls is a bit like big brother of Box Creek Falls.

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

Back

Popeye Canyon Lower

| flynny101

23/11/2025

Jason, Kris, Hywaida, Kylie and Meeeeeee

Continued on from Banks Canyon

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.

just what the doctor ordered.

Back

Banks

| flynny101

22/11/2025

Kylie, Hywaida, Kris, Jason, Monica, Levis and meeeeee,

Continued from HITW

I hadn’t done Banks Canyon since the last time I had done Banks canyon.

At that time we had followed Jamison’s guide and went up North East Canyon. We repeated that route when we visited Nose Dive Canyon.

This time we went directly across and found a rough trail up the major north south gully. It was a bit scrubby to start but once we gained the base of the eastern cliff line it was relatively easy going and lead us up to the even fainter trail in from Rail Motor Ridge.

While slightly longer I think this option was a bit quicker as it avoided problem solving some sketchy scrambles in North East and was relatively easy going.

Banks is darker and more constricted than Hole in the Wall and the upper section is more sustained, it just seems to keep going.

And being a bit less visited it has a wilder, more adventurous feel. There’s a bit of problem solving in terms of anchors and down climbs and duck under and squeezes. Which I love.

It starts Green and Lush
and soon drops into a deep dark hole
deep pools lead to tight squeezes

Blue Mountains canyons often have short upper sections that cut through the Banks Sandstone layer. These are usually low quality. Occasionally, though, upper sections, like the ones in Hole in the Wall, South Bowen or Bell are surprisingly high quality. But the upper section in Banks is exceptionally good. Thus the name.

did I mention tight squeezey bits?
There are 3 or 4 short abseils in the upper section, some with tricky starts, some ending in tricky to get out of (unless you are skinnier than me) pools. Some end in dark holes. Some all three.

We had slowed down quite a bit in Banks. Partly because of the problem solving, partly just to soak it in.

But eventually we emerge back into the light.

We are just about at the junction, says someone. We’ll start heading down.

I’m sure there’s another abseil. Say I. I remember a longer one.

We begin boulder hoping and get out on what appears to be a track on the banks.

I dont’remember this, says I

and soon the creek plummets below us and we are forced to back track as bit to get back in.

A tricky down climb later we come to the biggest drop of our trip. An 18m abseil into the wider, shorter lower section

Kylie makes her way down
The water is so clear

1 more abseil gets us to the junction with the Bungleboori/ Dingo Creek

What’s with canyon rocks looking like hulk smash fists?

There is reportedly a tricky exit downstream but this section of the Bungleboori/Dingo creek from Banks upstream past Hole in the Wall to the exit is remarkably beautiful, especially in the soft light of a slightly over cast day. we go upstream.

From here we make our way back to camp to recover for Popeye

Hole In the Wall

| flynny101

22-11-2015

Kylie, Hywaida, Kris, Jason, Monhaka, Levis and meeeeee,

We were itching to just get out and soak up the bush.

We may have got soaked in the bush.

It was a drizzly start to the weekend but undeterred we found ourselves making our way along the entry route with overnight packs and a sense of excitement.

Kylie and I had been held up behind a traffic accident so Monica and Jason already had tents set up and camp established by the time we roll in.

We pitch our tarp, cook a warm meal and settle in out of the drizzle.

Levis arrives a bit later, the drizzle is a bit heavier so there wasn’t a lot in the way of introducing him to the gang.

Kris and Hywaida join us at the crack of dawn and we head off to visit Hole in the Wall canyon.

Hole in the Wall is a classic Blue Mountains canyon consisting of 2 deep, beautiful slots separated by a short creek walk.

Mon entering the upper constriction

The top sections contains some scrambles and wades between deep twisting walls, but no abseils

The bottom sections starts with an abseil into a very pretty pool

and then straight into the glowworm cave.

The glowworm cave is different every time I visit.

This time was probably the least spectacular display of worms. To be fair it was cold and wet outside, so potentially less insects to attract into their web, and it is early ion the season.

The hydrology of the cave also changes. The exit squeeze down to the left has long since collapsed. But what has been a deep swim requiring a difficult exit in recent years has silted up again resulting in a shallow wade.

Still it’s not as bad as it was in the early 2000s when you had to belly crawl in.

Then there’s the exit. Every year I think is this the year I’m too fat to make it. I’m not built for caving.

Jason in the green pool
Mon
Kylie in the lower section of the lower section

Levis’ mate Jackie
The final abseil
Lush green walls
And the final little waterfall before the Hole in the Wall of the Bungleboori

From here we head upstream.

Yeah yeah I know this creek has been officially renamed “Dingo creek” and has been since 2006 but that really is an unimaginative name for such a beautiful creek. On the old 1 inch to the mile Wallerawang map Dingo creek was marked as a small side creek (with an impressive rock arch). The major creek was Bungleboori Creek. The Southern branch that creek lower down was called Bungleboori creek, Nine Mile branch in reference to the Newnes Railway.

I’m assuming Bungleboori was the native name.

Anyhoo, we head upstream to the lunch rock at the usual HITW exit, we have made good time and enjoy a quick bite to eat in the drizzle before crossing the creek and heading up the other side for your next adventure.

Continue to Banks canyon

Hand Over Hand Canyon

| flynny101

08/11/2025

Gadget and meeeeeeeee

It had been a hectic week, we needed to get out and wanted to do something neither of us had done before but had limited time.

What about Hand Over Hand? It’s suppose to be a short half day.

Kylie did a quick bit of research and noted the trace on ropewiki did not match the description on ropewiki. While the notes mention several exit options the main description was for the shorter exit. The trace was for the longer exit if you went down South Bowen.

TBF the South Bowen option would make a good short day trip but if you had just glanced over the description expecting a couple of hours then blindly followed the trace you’d be in for a shock.

With mapping apps like alltrails becoming more popular this is becoming a bit of an issue. There have been reports of people looking for the infinity pool at the end of Fortress or the bush walker route to Dalpura but unknowingly loading the GPX trace for the canyon trips instead and getting themselves into trouble.

Don’t get me wrong, Alltrails and other mapping apps are a handy resource, but like any tool you need to know how to use them.

A good tip is to start with the premise that you have no idea who uploaded it, what their skill and experience is (an easy rock scramble for a gun climber might induce a BLM (Bowel Liquifying Moment) to the average canyoner). You don’t know what information or directions they themselves were following or if they just stumbled along and got lucky. You don’t know if it’s their trace or one they got off someone who got it off someone who got it off someone. Hell, you don’t even know if they have actually done the route, it might be just a speculatively drawn line on a map.

So, load it onto your mapping app and have a good look. Does it look to follow the best contours? Are there other options? Why does it do that big zigzag at the cliff? And does it match your expectations from the description?

Cross referencing the track notes with other sources and trip reports will also give you a broader understanding of the trip.

Anyhoo, enough pontification. that side track was longer than the trip and maybe well over the top for experienced canyoners on a simple trip like HoH but it’s how we role.

Now onto the canyon.

We leave home at the crack of 10:30am and make our way across to park up at the start of the Mount Wilson East Power Line fire trail. A short distance down here and we swing down under the powerlines.

The description hinted at horrendous scrub in the creek so I had hoped to drop in a little lower. I choose a nose I hoped goes between two side creeks and we make easy time down to the cliff line.

Right creek looks like it cliffs out. Calls I

Left looks like it goes, answers Gadget.

I make my way across and scramble into the side of the side creek. In doing so I disturb the biggest copperhead snake I’ve ever seen. Chunky boi makes a bee line toward Kylie.

Snake coming directly at you! warns I

WTF! yells Kylie. But in long form. This is no time for three letter acronyms.

Snekie snek dodges her ankles and disappears into scrub.

Well that was fun.

We gain the creek. Scrub and dead fall awaits. We hadn’t saved ourselves as much creek bashing as I hoped but we make our way down to the upper section of canyon.

It starts with a bit of promise, with a crystal clear pool below a small down climb as the cliffs close in.

But to call it an upper section is a stretch.

The “canyon” opens back out and a short way down the creek the cliff open as well. There is what looks to be a gentle ridge entering on the left. In hindsight this could be a much better spot to enter. It’s not to far a divert if you want to head up stream to bask in the glory of the upper section and it would miss a 1km of creek bashing.

We all know I have a rep for horrendous scrub bashes to canyons of questionable quality but up until now even I was wondering if this one was going to be worth it.

Just downstream the bottom bit makes up for it.

Gadget above the first drop
One of the few keeper potholes in the Bluies.

There is a couple of ways to get out of the pothole. 1. Scramble out over the lip or, 2. duck under and swim through an arch

Water levels looks low so scrambling over the slippery walls may prove difficult and we couldn’t see if the tight duck under was clear so we opted to by pass over the top and abseil in the side.

Once down I thought I’d try the duck under. It’s a bit deep to be called a “Duck Under” it’s a full on swim under and it’s silted up making a tight squeeze.

yes I chickened out. Got my head under the arch and thought screw that for fun

pretty but

A lot of these little side canyons have 1 really nice chamber and that’s it. I was kinda expecting that to be the case here but what we got was a very beautiful series of enclosed dells. it reminded me a bit of an untouched deep pass.

the water clarity was amazing

and the canyon opens up. We are a bit above the junction with South Bowen but follow a break in the cliff lines up to the left where a rough bush walkers trail leads up back up to the powerlines near where we first dropped in.

Seeing places few others see and doing things few others do is what it’s about

About 3hrs car to car with a lot of photo phaffing

BACK

Popeye canyon, upper

| flynny101

02/11/2025

Gadget, Jason and, me.

Popeye creek pops in and out of canyon sections along much of its course and it’s one I’d not done before.

A big Saturday trip had been foiled by thunderstorms and we just needed to shake out the cobwebs but couldn’t be arsed repacking ropes and stuff so thought why not have a look at some non abseil sections in Popeye.

Meeting at the crack of 10am, or there abouts we make our way in in no time.

We’d be entering the canyon a long way upstream of where the jamieson guide recommends but not too far from the increasingly popular Popeye falls.

The creek cuts a deep, promising looking cleft in the sandstone.

A short section of narrow u bends hide a pleasant little canyon.

There’s a bit of bridging to stay dry above the knees. But the water is a pleasant temp anyway

Not the figure 8 pool
It is very pretty.
Parts very similar to the Dumbano tunnels.

We are already impressed. the canyon opens up a bit and Waratahs line the banks.

Waratahs along a spur off Waratah ridge? Who would have thunk it

And soon we come to the falls.

Most visitors to here avoid the canyon bit and keep their feet dry by scrambling down the nose.

It’s a funky little waterfall through an arch in a side creek

We phaff about with photos for a bit, we have to pool all to ourselves., but then push on downstream to the next canyon section.

A bit wider and deeper it’s a nice walk through section
It’s nice

Again the canyon opens out. We believe it’s a 1km scrub bash down to the next bit so, happy with our easy day, we retrace our steps back up to the waterfall. A crowd of people are here now.

There’s an easier way in, says old mate sucking in a vape.

We came that way, replies Ellie very politely. We just had a look at some other stuff while out here.

We leave the guards and scramble out into the cliff top for lunch.

It’s a beautiful day.

BACK

Kosciuszko 2025

| flynny101

We were keen as mustard to give the new Alucab camper a proper test out and as luck would have it Kylie had organised a long weekend of adventures in and around Long Plain, Kosciuszko NP.

Rocking into Cooleman camp late Friday night it was so good to just pop the top and be able to crawl into bed

A near full moon blazed out potential milky way or comet shots.

We get a good night sleep but are up early for what would become and epic adventure in Landers Falls.

©Hywaida
There is something about sitting around a camp fire debriefing a big day
Sunday we got a sleep in and take advantage of sunrise in the Alucab

Then it was off to Clark Gorge for a more touristy micro adventure.

before returning to camp to chill out and dry off

not sure what’s that’s about

And we round the trip off with a slightly less cold dip in the Yarrangobilly thermal pool

back

Hat Hill 2025

| flynny101

23-08-2025

Kylie, Hywaida and meeeeeeeeeeee

Despite just getting back from Blue Lake hot on the heals of New Zealand we were feeling like we hadn’t been too active this winter. I hadn’t really been riding and Kylie was missing regular trips to the climbing gym and we were both missing canyoning.

We briefly considered a simple Empress run then I thought to myself, I haven’t done Hat Hill in like forever.

Hey Kylie, says I, I haven’t done Hat Hill in like forever.

Me neither, says Kylie.

So we put a last minute call out and H joins us.

Driving into Blackheath, Um, Does anyone know where we are going? say I

A quick check on Ozultimates to confirm the car park and we are off.

We had considered abseiling in via one of the side canyons but there had been a crap load of ran through the week and since we hadn’t done it in like forever we decided to stick with the standard trip as a reccie for later adventures.

We are expecting the water levels to be up and were prepared to abort the trip if it was too high.

The walk in is short and easy we get to the start of the first section now dramas

The water was a bit pushy, making the down climb a bit tricky

The first section is a nice little teaser, the walls close in then pretty much open out.

But it’s pretty creek walking in between the canyon sections

We take the time to explore up the side canyon on the right making plans for future trips before heading down stream
The high water made some features a bit harder to negotiate than usual.
We scope out the entry to the middle section and carefully consider it before committing.
A still from Kylie’s Video. Might not look like much but personally I would be reluctant to try it any higher. If you needed to reverse out for any reason it would be problematic

There is a lot of tree fall which would also create dangerous hazards in high water. the calmer bits between, though were noice.

The lower section was as pretty as ever with multiple side waterfalls
the infamous double arch waterfall in a side canyon

Making our way back up to the exit through the lower section was surprisingly hard work. The extra water flow and deep sand working like resistance training on every step.

And back at the exit there was nothing left but to have lunch then haul out.

It’s a different world out there.

How many worlds are in your world? Andy Anderson

back

Wild Swimming in the Wollemi

| flynny101

16-05-2025

Kylie and meeeeeeeee

Our weekend plans had fallen through so we thought we’d go in search of some waterfalls neither of us had been to before.

Kylie suggested a spot and during research got a tip off that the fire trail out to them had recently been gated.

So we put the mountain bikes in to help eat up the kilometres.

Not only are the swimming holes spectacular this could now be my favourite fire trail ride (Did I just say that? what have I become?) I have a feeling the guy who did the road work is a mountain biker. Each waterbar seemed to be a perfectly shaped step down. Even though recovering from a shoulder injury meant I couldn’t take to the air it was still a blast.

Anyhoo, that’s not what we are here for.

20min later we are stashing the bikes in the bush and heading down a steep trail cutting through subtropical rainforest quiet different from anything you usually see in the upper mountains..

This brings us to a pleasant creek and we head downstream.

the stunning cliff lines close in ©Kylie

And we reach the top of our first waterfall

It really is breath taking
stunning

We play around here for a bit then continue down stream.

At the junction with the next creek is another spectacular pool.

It’s a beauty

We slip up to a large rock shelf above the falls to find a bit of sunshine.

The shelf was riddled with keeper holes. ©Kylie
beautiful

We have some lunch and a splash then make our way out.

The Haul up the hill is steep but interesting enough that I wasn’t in a world of suffering. And while I thought the ride back to the car might be tough it was just as much fun as it was coming in, with some pinches to keep you honest.

On the way back we spy some interesting mushrooms.

So of course we had to head back in the dark to see if they still had a shine.

It was faint, barely able to be made out with naked eye but some long exposures brought up their beauty.

Click to enbiggen

Ghost Mushrooms produce bioluminescence for around 22hrs a day. And for 14 of those hours you would think they are just another mushroom. People are like ghost mushrooms, if you can’t see their glow you are looking at them in the wrong light: C Flynn

BACK