Wild Blue Wanders

Werrikimbe Wilderness

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Jo — Leave a reply

The generous offer of babysitting for a couple of days was too good an offer to refuse. Joel and I were keen to head into the hills west of Kempsey, and after talking with a family friend who knows the area very well we were persuaded to visit Werrikimbe National Park. This park was recognised as a World Heritage Area in 1986, and is one of many scattered rainforest remnants along the Great Dividing Range of NSW and southern Queensland that comprise the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia. We drove through the lovely farming Continue Reading →

Ruined Castle

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Jo — Leave a reply

I arrived at Katoomba Falls Kiosk around 8am expecting to beat the crowds, but there were already quite a few people out and about. My plan was to head out to Ruined Castle, but before that I wanted to do some exploring on and around Furber Steps. It was a clear morning and there was another decent frost, particularly heavy around the top of Katoomba Falls. Overall it has been an unseasonally mild winter so far though. Never having done the Round Walk before, I started by heading towards Vaniman’s Continue Reading →

Crossing Katoomba Creek

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Jo — 6 Comments ↓

The crossing of Katoomba Creek had been a goal for some time. It was the missing link in my exploration of the western part of the historic Bruce’s Walk. This time I started from the end of Minnehaha Road and headed down the track towards the falls. Before long I took a fire trail off to the right and onto the ridge between Katoomba and Govetts creeks. I’ve been exploring short sections of this track as time permits, and over a number of previous trips had made it from Wentworth Falls to North Katoomba. Continue Reading →

McMahon’s Lookout

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Jo — Leave a reply

We were going a bit stir-crazy at home, so I bundled the kids in the car and we headed out to McMahon’s Point for a short walk and a picnic. This spot is out on Kings Tableland, about 20km past the old Queen Victoria hospital. From the carpark it is an easy 800m walk through damp fern forests to the lookout, where there are panoramic views into the Kanangra-Boyd Wilderness Area and out over Lake Burragorang. We ate our homemade sushi while perched on a rock, soaking up the winter Continue Reading →

Lindeman Pass

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Jo — 1 Comment ↓

Ever since reading Jim Smith’s wonderful book about the Lindeman Pass I’ve been captivated by this historic walking track that links Roberts Pass at Wentworth Falls with the Federal Pass at Leura. This track has suffered from a series of unfortunate events which have meant that it’s never become a popular tourist track, despite its obvious beauty and the convenience of joining with other well-established tracks. On previous forays I had walked the eastern section between Gladstone Pass and Roberts Pass and the western section from Copeland Pass to Leura Falls, but I was Continue Reading →

Early morning at Mount Banks

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Jo — Leave a reply

I woke with a start, thinking I had overslept.The room already seemed quite light so I quickly got ready, then glanced at my watch and realised it was only just after 4am! Oops. I’d intended to make an early start, but with sunrise still three hours away I decided to go back to bed for a little while. After dozing briefly, I rolled out of bed at a slightly more respectable hour. It was still very dark when I arrived at the Mt Banks carpark at 6am, with the temperature hovering Continue Reading →

Terrace Falls

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Jo — Leave a reply

I had previously accessed the beautiful Terrace Falls Reserve from Valley Road, via a short, steep fire trail. We tried to walk down this way once when Clare was young but the rough, rocky ground was too much for her, and after a nasty fall we had to turn back without ever reaching our destination. It’s such a shame as the walking tracks within the reserve are quite gentle and child-friendly but the poor access makes them rather difficult for little ones. Today I decided to instead try the access from Lake Road, Continue Reading →

Bushrangers Cave revisited

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Jo — Leave a reply

It was only last week that I explored Little Zig Zag and Reinits Pass for the first time, but I was keen to come back with the kids to show them the Bushrangers Cave. In the spirit of adventure, we invited some other young friends to join our little expedition. We lunched in sunshine at Pulpit Rock before setting off down the zig-zagging track below. After an odd encounter with a group of clients from a local guiding company who had somehow lost their leader, we reached the cavernous entrance to the cave, donned headtorches, Continue Reading →

Little Zig Zig and Reinits Pass

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Jo — 2 Comments ↓

After a very rare and fabulous night out celebrating a friend’s 40th, I felt like I needed a recovery stroll, and this short walk seemed to fit the bill. The tourist tracks around Mt Victoria seem to be used mostly by climbers, and from what I can tell are otherwise not very well known outside the small Mt Vic community. I don’t get up that way very often, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the tracks I’ve discovered so far, and this one was no exception. The low cloud hanging in the valley quickly burnt off as we headed Continue Reading →

Gladstone Pass

Posted on May 17, 2015 by Jo — Leave a reply

It was a perfect Autumn day as I headed off from the Fairmont Resort. The resort was particularly busy with the North Face 100km race passing through today so there were runners everywhere. I could also hear helicopters overhead, but the noise and bustle quickly faded away as I descended into the beautiful fernery of Gladstone Pass. The track follows along beside a small creek and is very muddy in places. There are a few fallen trees and small, slippery scrambles to negotiate, but it is still a fairly well-defined route. At the Continue Reading →