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.
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.
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.
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
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
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
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 much 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
Anyone want to come on a trip that might be a big day of scrub bash to a poor quality canyon? Say I
Hell yeah! says the above awesome folk.
It’s been a hot minute since I’d organised a semi exploratory trip to a canyon I’d not visited before so it was about bloody time I got out of my funk and Kylie might have gave me a bit of a nudge.
The entry in the Jamieson guide labels it “Ashcroft Ravine” with the description it includes the best bit of Wentworth Creek. There was a reference elsewhere of “Cut-throat canyon.” None of it was clear on what was what and where was where but anyhoo.
The little information we could find suggested the first part of the creek (Variously marked on maps as “Franks” or “Franki”) was a viscous scrub bash so we substituted that for a slightly less scrubby bash down a ridge to drop in right at the start of a canyony bit via 2 short abseils.
Straight away it was more impressive than I was expecting and every bit as slippery.
No scrub in sight and a pleasant bit of canyon greeted us
It was dark and cool but pretty
The canyon section only went a short way before opening into a beautiful, more open gorge
And that would be the theme of Franks(i) short, South Bowenesk canyon sections and more open ravine.
With some tunnel sections and squeezy bits along the way
And it kept going
Very South Bownen like in spots
With tunnels
And happy smiley faces
We made it to the junction with Wentworth creek and had Elevensies.
Wentworth creek put me in mind of the end of Bell creek or sumfink big and grand.
And soon we came across one of the features that when I heard about them really piqued my interest
Tucked away in alcoves along the walls are a series of Stalagmites and Stalactites. In sandstone! I’m assuming there is a drip line passing through an ironstone layer high in manganese or some such, but if any geologist out there have a better explanation please leave a comment.
Older flowstone covered in moss and algae
They were awesome and more numerous than I had expected
On we went and the gorge continued to be impressive
The banks opened out a little and we alternated between traversing high on banks and wading down the creek depending.
Just before the tributary we had marked as our exit Jen and Kirstie spotted a ramp leading up in roughly the right direction that looked like it might bypass one of the 3 climbs Jamieson described.
Kylie and Kirstie scouted up while the rest of us got changed.
It’s bit dodge but it looks like it goes, Called they.
Be careful, called us.
Before long the agreed whistle blasts came to inform us it did indeed go.
We were now in the exit creek but soon came to the small waterfalls that would be the main challenge of getting out.
Reports I had been able to find described a climb on the right.
Kylie gets up to a series of fractured ledges that looked doable but sketchy and dropped a rope down. Jason and I ascended up to her.
The next section looked shit and we weren’t sure what was above. Kylie stood on a log to step up to the next ledge but the log snapped with a thud.
In the meantime the rest of the group were looking for other options.
Back to the left might be doable. Called they
The lidar looks better on the left. Says Jen
I’ll drop back down and check the left option. Said I
Kristie leads me back around bulge and across a very narrow ledge. A short slab climb (maybe grade 7 or 8 but very exposed) presented itself. Up I went. A narrow ledge ramped up below the cliff line.
It goes. says I.
We got a rope up and the rest followed.
It had taken us about an hour and a half to work this puzzle out but once solved it was simple enough.
From there is was a trudge back up to the top of the ridge and back to the cars.
William Charles Wentworth, Billie C-Dubb to his mates, was a statesman, pastoralist, newspaper editor, politician, author, reformist, and advocate.
That’s the type of stuff people could achieve before TV or social media.
That and having 10 kids (Seven daughters and three sons.)
Who Frank, Franki or Ashcroft were I have no idea.
But the creeks named after them are both worth an explore.
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
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.
