Kylie, Jason, Beck, Robin, Alex, Dane and meeeeeee
We were in northern NSW and it was too good an opportunity not to have a New Years Day play date with Jason and his QLD crew.
Every one else had done this one before but it had been on Kylie and my wish list for a while.
Pictures of it pumping in previous years had us frothing.
However, recent photos look like a trickle.
A storm the night before got our hopes up.
We meet at the top secret location (note: location may not be top secret) and skirt private property boundaries to access our canyon.
The storm had done nothing. Nothing !
The creek was dry as a nuns nipple.
Well not quite. There was water flowing, just
Jason wondering where the water went.
Alex on rope while Dane waits
Kylie thinking, well at least it’s a little wet
It might be a trickle but still pretty
Taking on Vecna
Robin wondering if he should avoid the pool or plunge in
There is a teeny tiny lathe you can unclip and jump from
Coming last I made an error. I didn’t unclip it just did the usual Empress release the brake hand and jump.
I knew my centre mark was just beyond the anchor.
I figure I jump out and when I reach the end it will pull the pull strand with me.
I’ve done that before, but I unclipeped first.
This time I’m sailing through the air, there’s “a bit” of a jolt snap the plastic lug it was tied to and the end of the rope recoils up And is now on a teeny tiny ledge 4metres above the pool.
Up I jug to retrieve it.
Lessen learned, double check your centre mark, especially when doing abseils exactly as long as half your rope. And keep an eye on your end of rope markers
I have marks at the 10 and 5m points to let me know I’m getting to the end. I didn’t even look for them. Dumb arse.
Anyhoo all good, no harm, rope retrieved. Let’s never speak of it again.
One more abseil and she’s all over.
Beck doing it in style Only slightly rinsed but Happy canyoners
We spend a bit of time making sure we get it right as the rock can be damn sharp in these parts. Canyon and rope bags are put to use as rope protecter, then I head on down.
It’s a great pitch, slippery start to free hanging in the spray, finishing on a slab into the pool
the sun was in the wrong spot so these photos don’t show the amazing colours of this place.
and the water was warm!
As my old mate, Super Goose, likes to say “It’s like getting hit up the bum by a rainbow.”
Whatever the hell that means. He made it sound like it was good or lucky or sumfink.
Jason and Jonathan
What makes it even better is a quick and easy exit back up to the top. So Jason and I opted for a second run. TBH I could have done this one over and over
But we make our way back to the car and head across to the Hell Hole!!!
Apparently we missed Henrik and his mate by a day here which is a shame as it would have been great catching up with him.
Hell Holes is a little more canyon like, but still just 2 (or 3) pitches down a waterfall.
Again the water is super low so Kylie and Jonathan decide it’s not worth descending.
Probably a good choice.
But Jason and I think we may as well.
More of a questionable choice.
There wasn’t much in the way in natural anchors at this one.
Good Luck. It’s bolted.
Bad Luck. P1 is carrots.
Good Luck. We have bolt plates.
Bad Luck. We didn’t bring them with us this trip.
Good Luck. The carrots stick out a bit and I’m able to hero loop a sling.
Bad Luck. They want me to be crash test dummy….
And again the rock is super sharp so we opt to do the first pitch on isolated double ropes.
the anchor for P2 is solid though the top nut is starting to show signs of corrosion
the start of P2 is, um awkward. It’s a tight wedge with the rope trying to pull you into the wedge. I could imagine in high-water this would be very tricky indeed.
The water is barely a trickle.
You can do P2 all the way to the bottom as a ~52m drop. But the notes say it has a habit of trapping ropes so we had planned to split it into 2 and rebelay off the large ledge 2/3 of the way down.
Turns out my 62m rope was enough to double rope to the ledge which removed the risk of getting a knot stuck the wedge.
Looking over the ledge at a slabby P3 we opted to forego going all the way to the not so impressive pool and walked off the ledge river left onto the exit track, saving ourselves an extra 20meters of vertical to climb back up.
The exit back to the top of the falls was steep with lots of loose rock to be wary of, but it’s reasonably quick.
Back at the top we cool off in the pools and head on out.
All in all a pleasant day. Hell Holes isn’t somewhere I’d rush back to, but it was worth a look.
to top it off Jonathan made this awesome video of our day
There’s some great side canyons along the Wollangambe with the most popular ones clustered around Mt Wilson.
Of those accessed from the Fire Shed there are a couple of outliers that get less traffic due to being a little harder to get too.
Whirlpool canyon is one of these.
Expecting a stinking hot day and a long scrubby walk in we meet early and head off.
The others had obtained a GPS trace of the entry, I had my usual plotted way point for the canyon start and sometimes/usaul/mostly wackily off gut feel…
Banter made the walk in pass in a flash, well not really but it was surprisingly simple, even if I did get completely turned around at one point, thankfully Clare and Kylie kept us on track. Though when H suggested we try a short cut I was all in.
It was also relatively scrub free(ish)
Slipping down H’s side gully hoping to cut off a fair bit of the GPS trace.
And soon we find ourself at the start of the canyon.
We weren’t expecting much out of this one but a short abseil gets us into a surprisingly nice slot.
Kylie sussing out the first abseil
There was some interesting anchor set ups and a couple of the abseils have very tricky starts. This problem solving aspect is part of what I really enjoy about canyoning.
Don’t get my wrong, on popular trips where hordes of foot steps compact tree roots and pulling rope after rope wears grooves in the rock well placed bolts are a Good Thing (TM) but they do take something away from the overall experience of problem solving. That’s probably not a major draw for most, but for me it’s a big part of it.
Anyhoo that’s off topic.
Back in the land of dodgy anchors, we check each one carefully (as you should every time). Replace what needs to be replaced and carefully consider the remnant dodginess
Before lone you could feel the warmth chimneying up from the ‘Gambe
H leads the way down the last abseil and soon we reach the Junction with the Wollangambe
But the day is not over. Our exit is about a kilometre and half downstream.
Having pretty much traced this enigmatic river from its source at Clarence to below Mt Irvine on various trips over the years I reckon this bit is the most stunning section of the ‘Game
Deep walls and beautiful pools.
That’s said it’s not easy going with deep sand and boulder hoping between long swims zapping your energy after an already longish day .
Having less foot traffic it’s also a lot slipperier in spots.
Just before our exit we catch a group from the central coast who had completed Geronimo.
We chat at the exit, cooling off at the sandy beach before making our way back up to the shed.
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable day but it was also a long day for a shortish canyon so I wouldn’t rush back to repeat the trip.
Whirlpool itself was nice and as stated it’s a beautiful section of the Wollangambe so worth doing at least once.
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
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.
Doesn’t really need words but we road tripped out of Melbourne and made our first stop in The Great Otways NP for waterfalls and old growth Gondwana forests.
Glowworms. Always chasing glowworms
And then we cruise on down the road turning left at every opportunity to look at big rocks sticking out of the southern ocean.
We spend the night at Warrnambool and then make our way back on the slightly less travel inland route to check out the amzing geology of Victorias extinct volcanos and salt lakes
From the Clay Cliffs we make our way up to White Horse Hill campground which is nestled below the towering peak of Aorali/Mount Cook.
White Horse Hill is a paid ground. During the winter the main toilet/shower blocks are closed off as the frequent negative temperatures lead to burst pipes and what not. What you are left with is two of the smelliest drop toilets I’ve ever encountered, And I’ve done long weekends at Newnes Camp ground in it’s heyday.
Take the biggest breath you can here and hold it as long as you can, a young whipper snapper was heard giving advice to her younger brother…..
Don’t let that put you off though, the scenery is well worth a skinny loo or two.
We roll in late afternoon and set the camp up. The temperature is already -2ºC and falling. The little diesel heater fitted in the van is amazing.
As night settles in and the temp plummets to -8º we decide to brave it for the sake of the most amazingly clear night sky.
Clicky Clicky to see full photo
The next day we head out on the Hooker Valley Trail.
Normally this gives the closest access to the base Aoraki the general public will get and also views over the proglacial Hooker Lake, complete with icebergs, however only a short section of the trail was open at the time of our visit due to track work and a bridge being washed out.
the short open section did, however provide great views over the Mueller Glacier and it’s lake.
Next we return to the van and duck over to the village for a coffee. While there we dropped in to the Department of Conservation information centre.
Wow!!!
What an amazing free resource. If you were in the area and the weather was bad you could easily spend a whole day in here. There are displays and videos and more lots more.
But today was a blue bird day so we have a quick look and then head over towards the Tasman Glacier.
Here you can take helicopter tour or a boat tour on the lake. We opt to just do the tourist walks.
Sitting between NZ’s two tallest peaks the Tasman is New Zealand’s largest glacier, being up to 4km wide and 600m thick in places. It had remained a fairy constant 28km long through out its recorded history up until it starting to retreat in the 1990s. It’s currently 23km long and retreating on average 180m/year.
Looking up the lake from the tourist lookout the glacier is’t much to look at. Compared to the white snow and crystal blue ice on the Franz Josef, the Tasman crunches up and contains a lot more rock and minerals (Glacier flour), giving it a dark, almost dirty appearance. Without the information sign at the I doubt most people, me included, would pick it out in the distance.
The lake, however is stunning.
The Blue Pools. When named they were connected to the glacier and very blue. Now they are cut off they are more a stagnant green.
Back at the van we start heading back down the valley.
On the way in I’d caught a glimpse of Wakefield Falls. It caught my eye on the way back out.
Is that waterfall frozen?
Looks like it.
It’s difficult to come to terms with scale here. That waterfall tumbles 230 vertical meters.
We pull over for a better look.
Na, it’s flowing. Looks like a cracker of a slot it’s tumbling into.
Should we go for a look.
hell yeah.
I grab the camera and off we go.
There is what appears to be a former tourist trail that comes and goes through the scrub and scree.
Did I mention it is hard to come to terms with scale here? It becomes apparent it’s further than it first looked.
Belatedly I realise in my excitement to get going I failed to grab my puffer jacket and beanie. This is how silly tourist get themselves on the news kids. Luckily not today though
Halfway up we meet to Russian(?) guys coming back down.
Did you get to the waterfall? ask we
Yes yes. Beautiful. Very careful. Very careful.
We push on. We reach the end of the flatter basin and the terrain gets steeper and looser. We had been yeeting up but slow here. A rolled ankle, rock fall or dislodging the scree here would be bad indeed.
There is still a fair way to go. Says Kylie. We should set a hard stop point.
Good idea.
It had been about 2:15pm when we left the van. We decide at 3:15 we need to turn around to get back prior to loosing the light.
I think we gained about 200m of elevation from the road. A bit after 3pm we get to a point where we had a a reasonable view into the slot where 3 streams of the falls converge.
We are so close. Another 10-15min and we’d be at the base of the falls. but hard stops are hard stops and but I know by the time I get the camera set up and get some shot we’d be close to time so thats what we do.
I’d guesstimate the bottom tier you can see here is about 50m tall
We get the shots and video in and scoot back down.
Part way down we come across this old information sign. Weird spot but I guess the old tourist track came up to this vantage point.
Explaining how the moraines pushed up by the glaciers formed dams in the rivers as the glacier retreated. or sumfink
Back at the van we chug down the road making for a freedom camp at lake Pukaki
From Wanaka at the end of the Haast Pass we head up to Omarama for another geological wonder, the Clay Cliffs.
We miss timed it a bit and got there pretty much at noon which meant the contrasting light made photography difficult but hopefully the epicness of the landscape still came through.
The Omarama Clay Cliffs are on private land and there’s a honesty system donation to enter.
Formed from millions of years of sediment deposit at the bottom of a lake then uplifted and tilted, the Clay Cliffs are a classic example of what is termed “Badlands erosion”
They really are spectacular.
Kylie has a much better and more scientific explanation of these formations.
Here’s what she said
“I still remember the first time our lecturer brought us here and told us to “run wild and free” as he explained to us this magnificent example of tectonics in action. The Clay Cliffs are sedimentary deposits that were once the base of river bed. Due to the position of the Ostler Fault line under the South Island of New Zealand the river bed has been uplifted overtime and then eroded to form these strikingly alien planet like features.
New Zealand is an amazing country to see Earth in motion, similar to Iceland where tectonic forces are still very much at play building the landscape as we speak. Unlike Australia that is so ancient it only erodes now.
Anyway the Clay Cliffs are totally cool, I’m still finding new parts of it to explore every time I come back.”
Click to make the photo go biggish
it was still a little chillyIce
After spending most of the afternoon here we jump in the van and make tracks up to Aoraki aka Mount Cook.
We’ve seen some amazing thing so far and the next adventure was one I was looking forward to.
We opted for a super early wake up at Bruce Bay and made our way down to Haast for breakfast and coffee. Today we would be driving the Haast Pass, in an of itself a great scenic drive but we were leaving ourselves plenty of time for exploring.
Haast Pass is home to some of the most popular canyons in New Zealand. It would be too cold to descend them this time but with the constrictions often ending in stunning waterfalls just off the road we planned to take most of the day exploring them.
Some of the waterfalls are sign posted tourist attractions, others you just need to keep an eye on the bridge names and find a place to park. We had several picked out that we wanted to check out but there were plenty more.
Note: The Haast river is known to have Didymo, an invasive fresh water algae also known as Rock Snot, so if you enter the river bed or water it’s important to Check Clean Dry shoes and gear before entering another waterway or traveling.
Anyhoo our first stop.
Depot Creek
A camping area on the right just after the bridge made a good spot to park and a trail headed off leading upstream. Less then 5min later we came to the 10m tiered Depot Creek Falls.
Click to see the full photos
Imp Grotto
When I say the canyons open with a waterfall near the road, Imp Grotto finishes right under the bridge. We had to park a little up the road and walk back but it’s a cool spot
Roaring Billy
Not far up the road Roaring Billy falls is a signposted tourist stop. A dedicated parking area gives access to a trail that takes you down to the Haast river for views across to Roaring Billy falls, it’s around a 30min round trip with a bit of time taking photos. Thou the mountain mist made getting a decent shot hard today
Douglas Falls
Another small waterfall right by the road
Thunder Falls
Thunder falls is signposted with a constructed tourist walk down to the stunning 30m waterfall
Pyke Creek
This one was a little harder to get to. Being directly fed from the Brewster Glacier the water is even colder. Kylie decided to sit this one out. I carefully made my way up stream on a rough track that at times traversed narrow ledges. Im handy in the outdoors and a good scrambler with a head for heights but this was at the limit of what I was willing to brave on my own in unfamiliar terrain so take care.
In summer you might be able to work your way up the creek itself but I’d imagine with ice melt the water flow would be treacherous as the canyon descent has rarely been repeated.
Fantail Falls
Another signposted waterfall with dedicated car park and walking track to views across the river towards the falls.
Robinson Creek
One of the more popular canyons in the area for which the bottom chamber is easy to get to
Wilsons Creek
The show case canyon in the area, Wilsons creek is spectacular and if you are willing to brave cold water and wet feet you can visit the last little bit just in off the road.
Other waterfalls within 5min walk of the road or visible from the road that we didn’t visit this time around include
Orman Falls (10m high)
Joes Creek Falls (150m High)
Gunboat Falls (150m High)
Diana Falls (15m High)
We decide if possible we’d spend a night at a van park to get a descent shower and stuff. A quick google search revealed Mt Aspiring Holiday Park to be cheap as chips and referenced something about a hot hub.
Calling ahead the lovely Erin assured me they had plenty of spots and if we could get there by 6:30 we could book the last allocation for the hottub.
How mush is it said /i
$10 each for 25 minutes. Says she
Book us in said I.
We got there around 5 and Erin informs me she’d given us their best non-powered site. She wasn’t wrong, close the kitchen and amenities while not too close but better it gave an amazing view out the back of the van to the snow capped mountains reflected off the lake.
No only that but she also said no one had booked the 6pm spa spot and she was keen to leave early so if we wanted to pick up the key to the spa at 6 it was ours for the night, just put the key in the safe when we finished. Winning.
But wait, there’s more!
Um, I saw a sign for a drying room how much is it to use that?
What gear do you have?
Just some old boots, we were in the Haast and have done the check and clean and gave them a good scrub but it would be good to get them dry.
Oh yeah of course, no charge. Leave them outside the door and when I get a chance I’ll pop over turn the heating on and put them in for you.
I like Erin.
So that’s an unpowered van site, pretty much unlimited use of the hot tub (TBH we were tired and hungry so only took the 30mins anyway but still.) and they turned the ski gear drying room on all night just for us for a grand total of $68NZ.
We do a nice diner in the kitchen, get a good night sleep and then head to the Clay Cliffs of Omarama
sleepwhenwearedead 