JOURNAL
JOURNAL
WILD BLUE MOUNTAINS
Multi-Agency VR Practice 30 November 2024 Today’s training was a treat! The Blue Mountains SES Vertical Rescue team and BSAR had a joint training session with Blue Mountains Police Rescue and the NSW Ambulance’s Special Operations Team (SOT). Police Rescue demonstrated the use of what they called a game changer in their operations: the battery-powered personnel winch! The winch can be installed on the rope or at the anchor. This model can take the 8 mm lightweight rope. The range […]
A Peaceful Rainforest 23 November 2024 Another creek exploration on a hot day! Not knowing what to expect, we carried the abseiling gear… A bit of navigation and a bit of contouring and we arrived to a spur overlooking a tributary. We walked across the compulsory swamp and looked for an access to the creek: there were none! We then searched for an anchor and found a lonely gum tree. Accessing the base of the tree took some effort but […]
Rainforest Magic 17 November 2024 The beauty of the Linden area is slowly growing in me. This walk promised rainforest and a pleasant creek so I signed up, secretly hoping for a waterfall… We followed a ridge and eventually found a way through the numerous small clifflines down to a tributary of Linden creek. This was a typical rainforest creek in a coachwood forest setting including some lonely turpentine trees. It was easy to follow but alas, no waterfall! We […]
Secret Wild Swimming Spots 10 November 2024 Not one secret swimming hole spot but at least four! The water is divine, the cliff setting unforgettable but there is a catch! Three kilometres of bush-bashing, plenty of vines and scrub, cliff negotiating and a 350 m ascent including a steep 150 m ascent complete with a thick layer of lawyer vine! It took us three hours or so to reach a small creek and by that time, it was getting hot! […]
Numantia Falls: Leech Paradise? 8 November 2024 Victory Track is one of the many tracks under the Blue Mountains Council control that is affected by a “partial temporary closure” since 2022. Temporary: lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent (Oxford Languages). What are the odds that next year at the same time. the track will still be temporary closed? I was on a mission to find a waterfall in the area so we had to get creative […]
Warrimoo Lookouts 6 November 2024 The mid and lower mountains are so different from the Upper Mountains: lots of rocks and many large trees! This short walk is following the cliffline at the end of Greens Road Fire Trail. Great views of Martins Lookout, Bunyan Lookout, Lost World Lookout and Glenbrook Creek. Perfect walk for a forecasted hot day!
Lightweight Gear VR Practice 26 October 2024 Today’s training was the use of the lightweight gear for vertical rescue. Lightweight up to a certain point as everything must be redundant! So we end up carrying one kg of hardware and software. The highlight was the use of the 8mm rope: it does require some finesse, attention and care. We set up the anchors and practiced going up and down. I got re-acquainted with the Shunt which is not my favourite […]
Property Protection Exercise 19 October 2024 No fire for the last 4 years… I am rusty! So we organised a property protection exercise with the help of the local residents. The goal was for the crews of Bullaburra and Wentworth Falls trucks to arrive in the street, deploy 38 mm hoses, throw some water in the bush so that the pumpies could practice their hydraulic skills (refill the truck while delivering water), make up, move to another location down the […]
Coach Galleries – Glow Worm Tunnel 3 October 2024 While “cleaning” my photo catalogs, I came upon photographs that I took in 2017 at the Coach Galleries. Wouldn’t it be nice to go there again? The plan was set in motion… The regrowth was not too bad and soon we were at the start of a cliff-enclosed valley. The galleries consisting of caves and overhangs were stunning. Although the 2019 bushfire had left its mark on the landscape, the valley […]
A 100 m Along Coolana Brook 29 September 2024 I had planned to do Scorpion Hill in May but Parks did a hazard reduction in the area: the plan was shelved! Then Coolana Brook and Scorpion Hill were on the program and I jumped at the chance! Four brave souls followed the Woodford Oaks Trail and descended towards Coolana Brook. The cliffs were easy to go through but things changed when we reached the creek that led to Coolana Brook! […]
