Friday the 5th December turned out to be a beautiful day, as Shane, Trev and myself (Jon) set out to do the first canyon of a two day canyoning trip – Waterfall of Moss Canyon. We first had to go via Katoomba, as I had to drop off some rental wetsuits at BMAC (Blue Mountains Adventure Company) from a few days earlier, which I was unable to return on the day due to running a bit late and getting there after they closed for the day. They fortunately didn’t charge me for the extra days I had them, so a big thanks to them, and I would definitely recommend these guys if anyone needs to rent some gear or for taking a proper guided trip of the outdoor, adventurous variety.

Once we checked in with the local police bushwalking registry, we were on our way and parked at the Mount Wilson Cathedral Reserve. Fortunately Shane knew the route, so we followed him down along the Wollangambe Two exit track towards the Wollangambe. As we approached a large rock outcropping halfway down the track, Shane started telling us about how he had previously had an encounter with a large brown snake in that area, and then within a minute of this, we stumbled over the very same (presumably) snake in the same position. A warning for other people, these snakes are dangerous, so keep an eye out when you approach this area!

We then continued a little further until we reached and swam across the Wollangambe, before using an existing hand-line to climb up a gully on the other side, as we then ascended the ridge in search of the start of the canyon. We lost the path occasionally, but eventually found our way along the ridge before eventually finding a small stream and an existing anchor point. We put on our harnesses and abseiled the first abseil, which was fairly straightforward. There were heaps of mossy ferns and greenery all around, as well of lots of old dead trees which had fallen in our path and required us to climb and navigate around.

The Canyon then slowly began to get much narrower, as we approached the next abseil, which was done from a tree on the right hand side. It was an approximately 8m, with a small overhang. At this point the canyon became really narrow, with the walls getting higher on both sides, and making for a beautiful, constricted section of canyon. The 3rd abseil we did was a relatively small drop, but it was made just a little trickier due to the fact we anchored off a tree a good 5 or more meters from the drop. We landed in a small pool of water, but it wasn’t deep enough to cause any real concern for us (we had not brought wetsuits along since canyon is primarily dry).

The canyon at this point was remarkably beautiful, very lush and green, whilst still being slightly dark and brooding. We were then funneled along to the next 2 abseils, which occurred in quick succession of each other, both around the 10m mark, down into small pools with ferns and moss all around, and a small trickle of water cascading down. Before we knew it, we walked a little further from the 5th abseil and we were at the Wollangambe, and bumping into another tour group which had did another canyon and were floating along the Gambe. In hindsight, we figured we may not have started the canyon at the ‘traditional’ starting point, as Jamiesons ‘Canyons Near Sydney’ says this canyon has 8 abseils, so we think we may have walked into it a little downstream from the start. Regardless of whether we did this or not though, it was a relatively short but still pretty spectacular little canyon.

All that remained was a 30m swim through the icy `gambe waters, wetsuit-less, back to the point where we originally crossed over the river, and then a walk back along the Wollangambe 2 exit track and back to our cars.

We were going to do Empress Canyon Next, however upon arrival we discovered the track was closed for a few weeks a s some plant rejuvenation projects were in effect, so we retired for the evening and went back to our hostel for the evening where we dined on some of Trevor’s sub-par cooking.

Day 2

We had originally planned to do some canyons in Newnes, but we were all a little tired from the previous day’s shenanigans, so we decided to do a shorter, closer canyon. After doing some research (at least Trev and Shane did – I passed out exhausted after destroying the other 2 in a game of backgammon), we decided on Koombanda Canyon. We drove to the supposed parking area, and left our cars next to some train tracks, as we consulted our maps and plotted out a rough route to the canyon start.

There wasn’t much of a path, so we were effectively bush-bashing, as we made our way over a ridge. Fortunately, this walking was difficult but not very long, and after maybe 30 minutes, Shane navigated us to a small stream andright to the start of the canyon. There we found a sling around a fallen dead tree, from which we anchored and did the first 8m abseil into a small pool. The surrounding canyon was fairly open, but there was still a lot of debris scattered around which made for a somewhat more challenging walk, as we needed to climb down and over obstacles.

There was then a small 5m abseil with an overhanging section which was short but still fun. We approached some climb downs and some areas where we needed to bridge to keep dry, but eventually we had to get wet in a 10m swim which was cold to say the least (once again we had no wetsuits) but at least it was very refreshing and it seemed to get rid of the flies pestering us. The Canyon then came into its own, as it narrowed up and cut into the rocks, often leading us into hollowed out ‘halls’ of rock, with some very beautiful sections which reminded me of Grand Canyon in several sections. The sun pierced through narrow overhead slots, and made for a wonderful atmosphere.

We next approached a drop, where we found 2 potential anchor points from which to abseil. We chose to go down the first one, as it went down through a small narrow slot in the rock and into a deep pool probably 7 or 8 meters down. Shane went first and then Trev followed. The start of this abseil is a bit tricky due to the relative location of the anchor, but they both made it without major problems. Once down, they both checked the depth of the pool, and neither could touch the bottom, so I then jumped instead of abseiling, and I still couldn’t touch the bottom, so this is definitely jumpable, and a hell of a lot of fun too! Definitely one of the better canyon jumps I’ve done. The water was nippy to say the least, but the swim back to land was only a few meters, and it was well worth it, regardless of whether you abseil or jump (if you abseil from the 2nd anchor point, you may not get so wet).

After this, the constricted canyon continues for a bit before opening up into more of a stream, with masses of trees all around. We followed the creak downstream until eventually we hit an old abandoned coal mine, and the natural stream banks are suddenly replaced with artificial concrete banks. Its quite strange to witness this sudden change. We climbed out here, and started our walk back up an existing old dirt road back towards some railway lines and then back to our cars. This walk out was much longer than the one in, but significantly easier and with the spectacular views, it was rather pleasant. All up, Koombanda was a shortish but nice little canyon, which only got better and delivered more as we kept going further into it.

It was a great 2 days of canyoning, and a good time was had by all!

-Jon (Video by Trevor)

Rob, Jake and I were planning on doing Water Dragon canyon sometime during the week, so when Rowan posted on the OzCanyons Yahoo group asking if anyone was available to canyon on the Wednesday, I offered our trip through Water Dragon because I like to meet new people and a group of 4 is better than a group of 3.

We met at the Mount Wilson fire shed at 9am, chatted and got to know each other while we organised our gear, then headed off down the fire trail to the Wollangambe One exit track. We climbed down to the ‘gambe, walked across the reasonably low water level and up the incredibly steep hill on the other side. It was a stinking hot day, and the climb up the hill really hurt at that temperature. We got to the top and followed the single track path along the ridge which would eventually take you to the start of Whungee-Wheengee if you followed it the whole way. Instead we turned off to the left about half way along it down a pseudo-path which quickly faded into nothing. We basically scrub bashed our way down to the creek, then followed the small creek down into the main creek (which Jake and I managed to head up the wrong direction without even realising it).

Once in the main creek it wasn’t a long walk until we reached the first hand line into a wading pool. We stopped above this for lunch, then climbed down and waded through, not yet bothering to put on wetsuits because the day was so warm and we weren’t actually swimming yet. There was still a bit of walking to go before we reached the first abseil which was down a tricky climb down. We rigged up the rope over a huge dead log and negotiated the tricky start (made tricky by the dead branches sticking out over the edge which tended to wedge the rope).

Once down the bottom of the first abseil, we were really into the canyon. Rowan and I went pretty snap happy and took a whole bunch of photos between us as we approached the second abseil. The second abseil was at the other end of a deep pool, so we finally put our wetsuits on, climbed down the hand line into the pool and swam across to the anchor point - a collection of small sticks wedged into the water flow…not very confidence inspiring stuff as you put your entire body weight over the edge of this most hairy of abseil starts. It is actually one of the most tricky abseil starts I have done because the sticks are at ledge level, so you have to get your waist down below the ledge before your weight is caught by your descender, and the abseil is down a slippery waterfall with nothing to hold onto. You have to lower yourself down off the edge as you would lower yourself off the side of a brick wall, and then somehow transfer yourself to the rope… Well, its hard to look graceful while doing it anyway. And everyone knows that this sport is all about grace.

Once at the bottom there were a whole lot more photos taken in the very dark halls of the underbelly of Water Dragon canyon, some really nice photos coming out of it. Once at this point of the canyon though, there wasn’t much left. We walked for a few minutes through the narrow section until it opened up a bit, then a bit more into a rainforest environment shortly before meeting back up with the Wollangambe.

Just like Geronimo the week before, and Whungee-Wheengee before it, the water of the Wollangambe was a good deal warmer than the water in the narrow slot canyon and you just want to bask in its warmth for a while. We stopped and had a second lunch opposite the exit from Water Dragon before moving on.

Only 100m down the river though, I noticed that my camera wasn’t in my pocket. Very ungood. No one else seemed to have it, so it must have been back where we had lunch. I swam back up stream - it wasn’t there. I swam back and forth two or three times between where I noticed it missing and the lunch spot trying to look down to the bottom to see if I could see it. No luck. I climbed up out of the water onto the edge to see if I could get a better view from there - I couldn’t. It was then that the Canyon Gods decided to smile upon me in a way that they have never smiled down upon someone before. I heard voices upstream. I saw people upstream. I jumped back into the water and swam up to them (I think this confused them a great deal), and asked the most odd question I could think of asking someone in a canyon - “You don’t happen to have a snorkel and set of goggles on you do you?”.

They did. Apparently taking goggles into the Wollangambe is a normal thing to do (I hadn’t thought of it before - but it makes sense to me now). They had two sets and were happy to lend them to us (happy that I didn’t ask them for a first aid kit or Epirb to rescue a dying friend apparently) so I threw one over to Rob and took the other and started swimming. It only took a few minutes to find it with the goggles, and I had to duck dive down to at least 4m depth (causing great pain to my inner ear) in order to pick the camera up. Happily, it still worked! (only rated to 3m)

*very happy*

Anyway, with that little drama sorted out, we proceeded down the canyon to the end, did the usual de-wetsuiting, the usual uphill walking, and eventually got back to the car before it even started to rain (the thunderstorm which hit us on the drive home though, made it almost impossible to see the road!)

A good canyon, an eventful day, and good company.

Shane

See Also:

• Water Dragon Canyon guide notes
• Water Dragon Canyon photo gallery

Here is the Geronimo Canyon video, followed by a trip report written by Rob Luikens:

Having wasted days and nights eating and drinking with family and friends to usher in the new year, it was high time we grabbed our gear and went off to do something fun. We hadn’t heard any first hand feedback on this canyon, but the book described Geronimo Canyon as a great canyon, and that’s more than enough for us.

We left our cars at the fire shed at about 10:30 and walked down to the Wollangambe. We missed our turn off and ended up a bit far downstream. Thankfully, it was fairly easy to find our way back to where we were meant to be. A short walk over a saddle and we were on the correct ridge. At 1:30, we made it to the first abseil. We stopped for a sandwich, and Shane made friends with an exceptionally inquisitive skink, who seemed to love tuna in sweet chilli sauce and was willing to risk life and limb to get some.

Then came the first abseil. I wasn’t anything too difficult, but you have to be careful recovering the rope. The start of the canyon is quite pretty, and has lots of little fish swimming in it. Excited, the group continued on. After about 10 minutes of high canyon walls and Lost World type scenery, we reached the jump in that gives the canyon its name. I abseiled down and checked it out. Once I’d cleared it Shane and Jake jumped down. Both came out screaming about how cold the water was. Even at this time of year it’s pretty chilly in there. A couple more minutes of swimming and scrambling and we were at the next abseil. It wasn’t what I’d call a difficult abseil, more like irritating. The rope got covered in mud making it slow going. The ground was mossy making it hard to get a good footing. After that, it was another fairly short walk and scramble until we hit the Wollangambe. We had a well earned soak in the river, got out of our wetsuits, and began the 2 hour odd stroll back to the car.

Not a bad day all in all. The canyon gets its grade 4 more from being slippery and sometimes tricky that extremely physically demanding. It’s nowhere near as demanding as say Claustral. I wouldn’t call it one of my all time greats, but it was a good, albeit rather short day.

Rob Luikens

 

See Also:

• Geronimo Canyon Guide Article
• Geronimo Canyon Photo Gallery

Open my book of favourite canyons ever, and stick Whungee-Wheengee straight on top of the list. I had such a great time doing Whungee-Wheengee that I am sure I will be back many times in the near future, and will probably even do a Serendipity-Whungee-Wheengee double day of awesomeness sometime too, just to cram as much incredible canyoning into one day as possible.

Stewart from the UNSW Outdoors Club ran this trip, and he took Su Li and myself on this adventure through one of the most interesting, and sustained canyons I have ever done. From start to finish, you are having a good time. The canyon stays narrow, stays beautiful, and stays interesting the whole way down to the ‘gambe. And then when its over, you get to bask in the sun as you float down the ‘gambe, reflecting on all of the cool stuff you just did!

For example, the first thing we did in the canyon, was climb down into a pool, swim 5m, then swim UNDER a chockstone, pop up on the other side where things were getting darker, then swim a few more meters in a very very narrow section only to find another chockstone which we had to swim under. Because we couldn’t see any light on the other side of the chockstone, we weren’t certain that we were in the right spot, so Stewart pulled out his headlamp and went under first (luckily there was a bit of a gap between the water and the chockstone, so we could get light through.) It looked like there was room on the other side of the chockstone, so we swam under. Boy am I glad we did - you duck under this rock, swim a meter, then come back up for air only to find yourself in a pitch black cave with a roof covered in glow worms. It felt like I had just stumbled into a planetarium and I was meant to be looking up at the starry night sky… A hint of light up ahead then turned into dim beams of light pouring in through a tunne, creating another incredible light/dark effect which I only wish I could capture on film somehow to show everyone.

And that was the first thing we did in the canyon. I was immediately blown away by it. And while there were no more super cool duck under glow worm caves, the canyon still continued to impress simply because it stayed to perfect the whole time. There was no boring creek walking bits, and no ‘connecting’ bits as you find in most canyons, Whungee-Wheengee was canyon from top to bottom. No filler. Lots of great swims, often through ridiculously narrow slots, several duck unders, lots of great light beams filtering down through the narrow canyon walls, illuminating ferns that bright green.

Even the hard bits were good fun. Graded at a 5, I expect that simply comes from the difficulty and regularity of the climb downs, overs and arounds. Rock climbing experience definitely helps in this canyon, the ability to jump onto small slippery surfaces without falling off the edge, and a reasonable ability to not be too scared by heights are all highly recommended traits. Even with those, you won’t find the going through Whungee-Wheengee ‘easy’ - you have to pay attention the whole way through the canyon.

That said, the abseils aren’t very difficult. There was an initial one to get down into the creek, then shortly after the duck unders we did a second abseil which I think you can avoid by climbing down a difficult bit. The last two abseils are unavoidable and follow rapidly one after the other. Once at the bottom of the last abseil, it is only a short walk to Wollangambe Two, but even that short walk is incredible - it is walking through this 1m wide slot with 50m vertical walls straight up either side of you. It is quite a surreal place to be. And then suddenly it goes around a corner and we found ourselves stepping into the bathwater temperature of the Wollangambe. Well maybe it wasn’t bathwater temperature, but it sure was a *lot* warmer than the frigid waters of the Whungee-Wheengee.

We had a second lunch on the side of the Wollangambe as the group behind us through Whungee-Wheengee overtook us, then we caught up to them again around the corner where they had all started jumping in from a side cliff. Stewart and I had a jump each, then we meandered our way down to the end of the canyon, then up the long and slow climb out.

Awesome canyon, everything about it is perfect. Just make sure you are physically capable and with someone who has done it before if you want to try it. And never try to do it in high water or with a threat of a thunderstorm. Those duck unders could be quite dangerous if the water was any higher.

See Also:

• Whungee-Wheengee Photo Gallery
• Whungee-Wheengee Guide Article