Monthly:May 2023
GUZZLERS ARCH 31 May 2023 Bill and John had tried to find the arch previously and ended up benighted by the vegetation. Armed with a 6-figure reference for Guzzlers Arch, we set off to Deep Pass. After climbing on the ridge on the other side of Deep Pass, the group organically split in two: one wisely followed a track, the other – of which I was – contoured the hill, the rationale was to follow a cliff line and have […]
THE ENGINEERS TRACK 24 May 2023 This was a spur-of-the-moment walk. Chris had never walked the Engineers Track so we obliged! After some kerfuffling, we finally found the track. It had been 18 months since I had last been there and the vegetation was doing its thing: growing! The track was in good enough nick but towards the Grose River it was anything but as Mother Nature was reclaiming what was hers!During the compulsory tea break we considered our options. […]
MGA NORTH 22 May 2022 MGA NORTH I came across this term last week when someone mentioned MGA North during an instructor training course. MGA stands for Map Grid of Australia. It is a projected coordinate system using a Transverse Mercator projection with zones 6 degrees wide and based on the Geocentric Datum of Australia (GDA). The projected coordinate system associated with GDA94 is the Map Grid of Australia 1994 (MGA94). While the map projection associated with GDA2020 is the […]
NAVIGATION INSTRUCTORS WORKSHOP – DAY 02 20 May 2023 The day promised to be cold and it did deliver. We continued on with the classroom material and plotted our points for the navigation exercise. We left for Sunny Corner State Forest and soon enough we were at the “obstacle” which proved too much for some of the PCs. Only two RFS vehicles and a 4WD made it to the top: with no diff lock and city tyres, it was not […]
NAVIGATION INSTRUCTORS WORKSHOP – DAY 01 20 May 2023 Operational Field Support had organised a workshop for the Operate in Remote Environments (ORE) course instructors. ORE is a qualification required for all remote area firefighters.The workshop was delivered by Way-Finder. Most of the day was spent in the classroom. We discussed group dynamics and better ways of presenting map reading and navigation topics. Our instructors introduced some basic navigation exercises and soon enough we hoped in our PCs and were […]
TEETERING CLIFFS – MAELSTROM CAVE 17 May 2023 Yuri wanted to revisit this area off the D’Arcy Range before the gate was shut. The word “teetering” did not inspire confidence: I imagined small precarious cliff ledges – it was a Yuri walk after all! We descended the slope and reached the cliff line level stopping to look at caves/overhangs and the marvelous sandstone patters. The teetering cliffs materialised: no smooth walls, just a bunch of large rocks thrown together: it […]
UPPER WOLLANGAMBE 14 May 2023 This was a short-notice club walk on Mother’s Day which promised not to be well-attended. I like this area so I went. The bush is slowly regenerating but has not returned to its fomer glory yet! Submarine Rock was there and did not disappoint! As we made our way towads the Wollangambe River, Lizard Rock took shape! There was a discussion whether this was more Turtle than Lizard! A short steep descent to the Wollangambe […]
HYDRAULICS ASSESSMENT 13 May 2023 We had a few people from the hydraulics course who needed to complete their assessment.One of the participants needed to draft from the Cat 1. We built a makeshift buoy wall using a tarp and ladder. It all worked out fine and the participants passed!
BOWENS CREEK – RED HILL RIDGE 10 May 2023 Red Hill Ridge: Part Deux! The approach this time was from the Bells Line of Road down to Bowens Creek and up a gully. The vegetation was thick but became sparse once we were descending the hill. We were able to see the hills we traversed on Red Hilll Ridge two weeks ago. The map indicated a possible way down to creek. After a cup of tea, we walked down to […]
LAND SEARCH – DAY 02 6 May 2023 Day 02 of the search: we were sent not far away from the area we searched the day before. The pines were younger and the vegetation was thick. We did maintain our line however! Less mushroom in this forest! The second tasking was in regular bush in National Park and it was easier (and more enjoyable) to search! We finished with a short steep hill and back to the staging area where […]
