wildswimming

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

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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.

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Clark Gorge

| flynny101

05/10/2025

Mariano, Letilda, Liliana, Dave, Jason, Kristo, Hywaida, Kylie and meeeeeee

After the epic that was Landers Falls today was all about the chill.

A quick visit to the Blue Pools and a wander down Clark Gorge to Cooleman Falls.

a cozy looking cave
We try not to put Jason on a pedestal but out just happens
Kylie checking out the crystal clear pool

and we head off with the crowds of tourists down the gorge
the multipole river crossing were slippery and the water cold
but generally it was easy going and very beautiful
with lots of spots to stop for a swim if you were that way inclined
and it leads us down to the 15m tall Cooleman Falls.
we grab some photos and have a picnic
And then, lead by Kylie and Hywaida we couldn’t help ourselves. We had to go for a swim.
It was invigorating or sum fink

Then we made our way back out the way we came

Adventure Collectors collecting adventures
with a dash of silly
its a little know fact that Jason is born anew out of a cliff every day ©Mariano
he then bathes in a mountain stream to complete his powers

And recharge and refreshed we head back to camp.

Great Ocean Road

| flynny101

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

Back to Road Trips

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

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Good ol’ henry Deane and thomas Penrose

| flynny101

04/05/2025

Jason, Russ, Vince and meeeeee

I always enjoy discovering there’s hidden canyons in areas I thought I knew fairly well.

Suddenly finding ourselves with a spare day we organised a last minute semi exploratory trip to a little canyon none of us had been to before.

Vince had prepared the lidar maps which suggested the constriction would start a bit further downstream than the spot I had selected to enter.

The one source I had said the lidar hadn’t picked up a small cliffline near the creek. says I. I’d hate to miss something.

So we bush bashed in to the spot I had picked. Somehow picking a path to the only 2 cliff lines in that area, luckily there was a path down in-between the two outcrops that look surprisingly like a butt on the lidar. We went down the crack.

The first part of the creek was a bit of a scrubby dub dub with 1000 fallen trees to clamber over but then it opened up a bit

I’ve visited worse creeks
A nice spot for a dip on a warm day. Today was not warm.
and soon it dropped into something that looked very canyon like

A slippery scramble down brought us to a deep, crystal clear pool. Vince spidermaned across. Russ and Jas follow.

This is going to be a test for my shoulder.

I manage to bridge out but as I try the next move I feel the shoulder giving way….. In I go.

It was refreshing.

It should have been a simple bridging exercise.

Couldn’t support my own weight

Not overly deep or consistent but a canyon non-the-less
With some very noice sections.
the next pool looked less avoidable
Even Russ suited up and swam through
Jason decided to give traversing along the side a go. And very nearly made it.
And more pleasant canyon follows
Getting down this tangle of rotting logs and loose boulders was one of the biggest challenges of this little canyon.
And soon we came to the tributary we had planned as our exit.

A little bit of scrambling and a tad of scrub bashing and we were back at the road and quickly headed back to the car to pick up the ropes and harnesses then head off to visit another little canyon not too far away.

Everyone’s favourite squeezy canyon
Russ sitting on everyone’s favourite dodgy anchor
Jason on everyone’s favourite cheese grater abseil
Everyone’s favourite Go/No Go gauge. Don’t go down go over!
Everyone’s favourite helpful team mate
Everyone’s favourite return to the big wide world.
a noice ramp back up through the cliffline.

Then all the was left to do was to bash some more scrub to the main trail and a 3km walk back to the car.

Searching is half the fun. Life is much more manageable when thought of as a scavenger hunt: J Buffett

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A grand way to juggle back into it.

| flynny101

08/03/2025

Gadget, Darcy, Charity, Jess, and meeeeeee

Maddy A was organising an introductory canyon trip for her friends and a couple of the 9D staff were coming up for it.

And, missing her former work mates Kylie was super keen to catch up with them.

Do you think you’ll be up for it? Asks she.

I’d been recovering for collar bone surgery and was recently free from the sling.

What are they doing?

Juggler

Hmm. I reckon I could handle Grand.

She is equal parts excited and cautious for me.

We meet Darcy and head to the car park.

There is a girl parking a very nice looking car a bit of a walk out.

We offer her a lift. Turns out she is Jess, a friend of Maddy’s who ends up joining us.

There’s a big group assembling.

Maddy gathers us in. We are splitting into 2 groups. Beginners will be with her

More experienced or those wanting to do Grand as well are with Kylie.

That’s Darcy, Jess and Chasity.

At the last minute I decide to join them in juggler as well

It was so good to be moving through nature with this amazing soul again.
Juggler can be a fun little trip
J

We are through juggler fairly quick and head for Grand. Charity has to get back to the big smoke so bids us good bye. The rest of us skip on

Kylie dropping to the slot
It’s a great little abseil into a very pretty slot
Just Jesting, Wild Elly, Darcy Dooley, and meeeeee
It was lovely moody light

We take our time descending the canyon and enjoying the company.

It was an awesome way to easy back into adventure life.

Grateful.

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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.

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