After an eventful trip involving Friday night

traffic, road works, heavy rain and ME miss-

ing the turnoff to the camping area, I

arrived a bit flustered but relieved and

happy to be among friends.

Due to the rain (it was supposed to be

drought-stricken) and the late hour, I and a

few others decided against erecting our

tents, opting instead to sleep in our cars. Do

you know how big a Getz is with the back

down............not very!!! It was warm and dry.

Saturday morning dawned a little showery

but not enough to dampen the spirits of the

eager cavers and walkers. Quite a number

of us set off on a circuit walk which took in

lookouts/downs over the spectacular Bun-

gonia Gorge. Others tackled nearby caves.

We were fortunate to see many kangaroos

and to observe an eagle in all its glory

which had us snapping our cameras with

delight.

The international dinner on Saturday was all

that was promised with delicious culinary

delights from all corners of the globe. Also a

great chance to share a few drinks and the

stories of the day. Our left-over food was

gladly devoured by a group of young cavers

who arrived back late due to one of their

party being injured.

Sunday saw groups disperse to varying ac-

tivities or to contemplate and prepare for the

trip back to reality later in the day.

It was a wonderful weekend. ―Base Camp‖

gives us all the opportunity to meet with

other club members who we may not usu-

ally encounter on our chosen walks, caves or

camps.

2009 No. 3 SPRING

BANKSTOWN BUSHWALKING CLUB INC. THE OUTDOORS CLUB THAT DOES IT ALL!

Bungonia Base Camp —May 2009 B y K a t h i e G r a h a m

BUSH TELEGRAPH

Bungonia Base Camp 1

Paddy Pallin Rogaine 1

President’s Piece 2

Kurnell Peninsula 2

New Members 2

Cockatoo Island 3

Darwin’s Walk 3

Bungonia caving 4

Larapinta Trail 5

Office bearers 6

Florabella Pass 6

Larapinta trail (cont’d) 7

Club Wiki page 7

Snippets 7

Inside this issue:

Overall Team Score Time Names (220 teams completed the course)

30 112 1050 5:52 Shane Anderson, Alicson Anderson, Linda Broschofsky

42 91 1000 5:55 Mark Hemmons, James Stuart, Bob Tucker

90 103 700 5:49 Neil Beer, Danny O’Connell, Rick Webber

122 42 590 5:41 Lynda Paju, Kim Rossington

166 124 410 5:50 Clara Kelleher, Thaïs Turner

178 105 380 5:55 Lianne Barnes, David Collins, Garry Dobbie

199 111 310 5:37 Louise Glynn, Belinda Rothery

Paddy Pallin 6 hr Rogaine—Coolendel—Sunday 14th June 2009—Club Teams results

Club email address:

bankstownbush@gmail.com

Postal address:

PO Box 7061,

Mt. Lewis NSW 2190

Phone no.:

(02) 9773 9141

Relationships: they are interesting aren’t they? In any club,

workplace, church or family there are people that we find

it hard to get along with. Some people we find it hard to

get along with most of the time, but we find it hard to get

along with almost everybody some of the time.

If you ever meet a married couple who claim that they

have never ever had an argument, you automatically think

that something must be wrong. When I was growing up

we had a minister who used to make that boast. My

mother used to say, ―If he was married to any other

woman he would have had heaps of arguments. It is just

that he is married to such a meek, submissive lamb who

wouldn’t dare argue with anyone.‖

Most of us like to think that there are ―nice‖ people and

―not so nice‖ people and that our friends are the ―nice‖

people and that those we don’t get along with are ―not so

nice.‖ However it is not that simple.

Doesn’t it ever strike you as odd that you can meet the

most wonderful person in the world, fall in love and marry

P A G E 2

but a few years down the track you find that they are actually

impossible to live with. It makes you wonder if the problem lies

completely with the other person. Over the years I have met

some fantastic people who would do anything for anyone. Yet

when you get to work with them very closely, you find that

even they have an ugly side.

The thing that really changed my life dramatically was the

realisation that I have an ugly side too. It was the realisation

that I needed forgiveness and that there is a lot of growing

and changing that needs to happen in me. It was the realisa-

tion that I need to accept others just as they are and forgive

them when they hurt me just as I want to be forgiven and

accepted as I am.

We can disagree about all sorts of different things. We may be

totally different to each other. But that shouldn’t mean we

can’t have fun together and enjoy each other’s company. We

belong to a bushwalking club and we may have nothing else

in common other than the fact that we like bushwalking but

we can still accept one another and be friends.

cars via the new commemorative displays marking Captain

Cook’s Landing Place – all very interesting and well worth

checking out.

Enjoying the great coastal scenery, Kurnell Peninsula

Eighteen club members met that crisp Sunday morning for our walk around Kurnell Peninsula from the Visitors Centre to Cape Bailey Lighthouse in the Botany Bay National Park. It was a beautiful clear sunny day and we were soon en-joying the magnificent coastal scenery from the path along

the cliff top platforms and adjacent heathy shrubland.

This was whale-watching season so we were anticipating the prospect of seeing some of these fine marine creatures. Someone asked if we were actually going to see some and I said yes, I had made a firm booking for 11.30 am. So, of course it was no surprise when at exactly 11.30 on the dot we got our first close up view of a group of whales. There they were, about half a dozen or so not more than a couple of hundred metres out putting on a wonderful display for us – breaching, diving with tails vertical in the air, and generally lolling about as whales are wont to do. Everybody thanked me for laying on such a great show, I just shrugged

modestly.

We continued to the Lighthouse from where we enjoyed more great scenery. Soon it was time for lunch in a semi-sheltered spot out of the wind near the cliff edge. We re-turned by the same route, making good time and thor-oughly enjoying the walk in the beautiful warm sunny weather. Regrettably I hadn’t put in any more orders for

whale displays, so we didn’t see any more that afternoon.

Back at the Visitors Centre we enjoyed coffee or other re-

freshments. Somebody commented that everybody should

really pay me about $150 for organising the close up view

of the whales (i.e. approximate commercial cost). I said

don’t be silly, you’re my friends and that $50 would be

quite enough. But strangely I haven’t received a single

cent as yet. We soon said our farewells and agreed it had

been a most enjoyable day. Some of us walked back to the

B U S H T E L E G R A P H

…..at exactly 11.30

on the dot we got our

first close up view of a

group of whales…..

Whale of a time at Kurnell by Jon Gray

President’s piece B y B r u c e C o c k r o f t

Welcome to these NEW MEMBERS of our Club

Luke Hoban-Langton Wen Yan Li

Tessa & Davina King Clara Kelleher

Michael & Ellen Clough Peter West

It is now a tourist attraction and a very good one. It is one we should all be proud of. The view of Sydney Harbour from the island is magnificent. The sunset was brilliant. Watching the twilight sailboat races was quite exciting, especially when they tacked within a few metres of the island. The self guided walking tour was very informative and took 4 kms and 2 hours to do, if you listened to all the tales that were to be told. The weather was kind and the other residents were well be-

haved.

There is a cafe which sells BBQ and salad packs, along with wine and beer, it also sold meals and breakfast and was open from 8.30am to 6pm. There is a regular ferry service, with the Woolwich ferry calling in every hour and the Parramatta ferry calling regularly throughout the day. There are even gift vouchers so you can surprise a relative with a camping experi-

ence in the heart of the city and harbour.

The accommodation has all conveniences and is quite reason-able for groups of 10. There is a minimum 2 night stay and premium rates at weekends and other times. It is located on top of the island and would be a lovely place to take in the sights and sunset. For visitors of groups of 10 it would be an ideal accommodation option with a ferry service at the door or water taxis available out of hours. There was talk in our group of coming back for a few nights, mid week (sorry work-

ers), and doing walks around the harbour over a few days.

I am sure we will see Cockatoo Island on the club program

again.

Organiser: Lyn Gett Participants: Lyn, Ron, Ann, Eric, Gay, Brian, Coral, Charles, Marilyn, Henry, Tracey, John, Lyn, Roy, Judith, Meryl, Wendy, Helen, Lyn and Joan.

(mostly Sutherland Bushwalking Club members)

Ann and Lyn spotted an article on camping on Cockatoo Island some time ago. After consulting we decided it should go on our list of "must dos". (I have since seen a movie that describes this as a "Bucket List"). Autumn is gen-erally a good time for outdoor things, predictable weather and not too hot, so it was decided that in late March, with a weekend free in the calendar, Cockatoo Island would be

scheduled.

The camping concept has only been going for about 18 months, with more recently accommodation becoming available. Camping comes with an erected tent, thick Ther-marest mats, chairs and a lantern. Provided are electric BBQs ($1), a large fridge, a microwave, zip hot water,

washing up facilities, solar hot showers and flushing toilets.

Cockatoo Island was once a very busy place. It had up to 3,000 people working on it in various trades. It had copper-smiths who were the only trade allowed to work on the hot water pipes, it had plumbers, allowed to work on all the other pipes (we have come a long way, haven't we?) and many other trades. At times the balancing act of man-

aging the unions was a real skill.

It was also a gaol and a school amongst other things, with its last working role being making armoury for submarines.

P A G E 3

Cockatoo Island 20 March 2009 by Lyn Gett

we got to that point we were stopped and told that a lady

had broken her ankle and we would not be able to proceed

until the helicopter had gone. So we had an early lunch with

the crowd growing and growing as more and more bush-

walkers arrived. After a long time the chopper dropped some-

thing off and then took off without picking up the patient.

We were then able to go through to Empress

Falls but were told we would not be able to go

down Wentworth Pass which was our

planned return route. However just as we had

made the decision to return the way we came,

the helicopter came back, dropped a line

down and lifted out the patient.

After the helicopter left we began to make or way very slowly

towards the Wentworth Pass track, slowly with many stops

because of the congestion with the track now crowded with

walkers going this way and that. I’m glad the bush is not al-

ways like this. However once we reached the Wentworth

Pass track the congestion cleared and we were once again

able to enjoy the bush. After about 40 minutes this path

brought us down to enjoy the view of the lower section of

Wentworth Falls from the other side of a wide, sandy-banked

pool.

Then began our ascent up Slacks Stairs. If you look up and see

all the sets of metal stairs going up and up and up it can seem

a little intimidating. From here the return journey was all up.

Beautiful sunshine, lots of cascading water, some drama and

good company: it had turned out to be a great day to do a

great walk.

It was a beautiful June morning. The air was crisp and cool

but after lots of rainy days, the sky was sunny and blue. We

started at Wilson Park in the village of Wentworth Falls. We

walked to the Falls along Darwin’s walk named after the

English naturalist Charles Darwin. This walk along the

Jamieson Creek is probably the oldest walk in the Blue

Mountains. It was already well in use when

in January 1836 Darwin took this walk to

Wentworth Falls. This was more than 20

years before the publication of his ―On the

Origin of the Species‖ book which made

him famous. The vegetation along this walk

has regenerated well and it is now quite pretty.

After about 20 minutes we reached ―Weeping Rock.‖ With

lots of water running all over its dome it looked very pretty.

As we walked on the view of the Jamieson Valley suddenly

opened up. We enjoyed the same sort of view that Charles

Darwin did 173 years ago but he wasn’t able to descend to

the base of the falls as we were. After descending the stairs

to the National Pass we were rewarded with a wonderful

view of the top half of Wentworth Falls, so much more

spectacular with large amounts of water cascading over it.

We stopped here for morning tea to have time to take in

the splendour of the view.

As we proceeded along National Pass enjoying the view of

the Valley below, after a time the peace and serenity was

destroyed by the sound of a helicopter circling around. As

we grew closer to Empress Falls the chopper hovered over

it for some time, and then descended and hovered for a

long time a little above the track leading to the falls. When

N O . 3 2 0 0 9 S P R I N G

We enjoyed the same sort of view that

Charles Darwin did 173 years ago….

One day in June by Bruce Cockroft

It was with feelings of anticipation that I drove down to Bungonia Caves early that Saturday morning, ready for some exciting adventure. Little did I know that it would be with feelings of relief that I would be driving back home. Relief at being on solid ground in the open air, and in one

piece!

I was glad to make it down to the Bungonia campground before the first cave trip left (my alarm having failed to go off at the scheduled time). I joined a group of about 10 to do the B4-B5 Cave, led by Tim Fox and others. It wasn’t long before we were crawling along on our stomachs through several long tight squeezes. One such stretch was aptly called the Rat Run. I was enjoying it, but wondering

why people like us do this in the name of fun!

There were a few tricky parts, including a section where we had to slither down a sloping rocky ledge, holding onto a chain to stop from sliding off into the dark oblivion below. A couple of people found this a particularly daunt-ing manoeuvre, and had to retreat before summoning the courage to have another go and eventually get down. A couple more tricky short climbs were required but eventu-ally we all got through and emerged out into the daylight

in high spirits.

After a bit of rest and sustenance over lunch in the camp dining hall, I was keen to join an afternoon caving trip into Acoustic Pot. We were a small group of five: Tim, Rick Web-ber, John Smith, Thaïs and myself. Another group was doing one of the other caves. After some initial crawling and squeezing along tight narrow passages we came out into a larger cavern and to the top of a dramatic 35 m drop down an almost perfectly cylindrical tube some 5m in diameter. This was a spectacular abseil – a truly awesome experience that I savoured. Some coo-ees were perfectly amplified, making me understand how the cave got its

name.

After we were all safely at the bottom we pushed on, which involved dropping deeper and deeper down the cave system. Of course, it goes without saying that there were plenty of tight squeezes and tricky ma-noeuvres; just what we like! Eventually we got to a particularly difficult point, which was near the bottom anyway, so we agreed it

was best to start heading back.

Soon we were back at the base of the magnificent deep cylindrical tube, preparing for our 35m prussic up. John was the first up the long slow ascent. He had problems with his lights when he reached the top and had to sit in the dark to wait for the next comer. This was me, but un-fortunately it wasn’t to be a short wait for John. After a slow prussic up, made slower by a too short prussic cord, I eventually approached the top and was relishing the

thought of a nice well-earned rest.

But this was actually when the ordeal started. What hap-pened? I couldn’t get over the extended sloping lip at the top edge. As all who have prussicked before would know, getting over the top edge can be tricky, as the rope is forced down on to the rock, making it hard to slide the prussic loops up. Normally it is not too difficult to manoeu-vre your body so as to pull the rope away from the rock face, but this was in a constricted, irregular space and I just couldn’t do it. I was able to make some progress by inch-ing the loop upwards with great exertion, tearing skin on my fingers and hand in the process. But I could only work

P A G E 4

in 60-second bursts, because I had to hold myself up in the standing position with my other hand due to the awkward orientation of the bulging rock. Then I would have to slump

back down to regain my breath and strength.

The difficult situation was made worse by the fact that John sitting above couldn’t help as he had no lights. Cramping in my hand and at one stage my stomach led me to fear that this may start to get serious. I tried to avoid thinking that it was only that miserable 6mm cord that was stop-ping me from plummeting down the deep drop below. All the others above and below me gave constant

advice and encouragement.

Eventually, after 30-40 min-utes I was high enough to be able to shine light over the ledge, meaning John could at last come to help me. He was able to attach another long prussic loop above the lip, which I hooked onto and was soon able to pull myself up on to the top. I collapsed down with

relief and exhaustion. Pheuwhh!

Rick used jumars (mechanical ascenders) to quickly come up next, and he set up another rope should Thaïs need it during her prussic up. But Thaïs, being more experienced, was able to navigate the lip more expertly than I and didn’t even need the second rope. Finally, poor Tim, who had been waiting in the cold at the bottom for over 2 hours, jumarred up easily. We eventually got back to camp about 8 pm. I was mentally

shaken and physically exhausted.

My story has gone long enough already so I won’t tell you about the veritable feast we had in the warm camp dining hall that night, where everybody had brought along delicious food offerings to share. Next morning, the choice between another cave and a short gentle walk was easy. I have never enjoyed walking on solid land in broad daylight so much! Arriving home late that afternoon, I reflected on what had been a dramatic and certainly memorable weekend for me. I

reasoned that putting ones self in tricky and po-tentially dangerous situations is an essential ingre-dient of adventure, and in fact part of the reason we love to do it. It wouldn’t be so much fun or as memorable if it was always easy. One thing I do

know is that I will now be spending more time practicing with the prussic loops, especially getting over those damn top

edges!

Caption describing picture or

B U S H T E L E G R A P H

...this was actually when the

ordeal started….

Bungling in Bungonia (but living to tell the tale) by Jon Gray

at 5am, in the blackness of the night, forced down some

breakfast, would break camp and hope that our torches al-

lowed us to see enough not to forget anything. Then just as

the first rays of light appeared we hoisted our packs onto our

backs and set off, in the bitterly cold mornings.

We no longer followed a track but merely a marked route, scrambling over boulders, along dry river beds, climbing up dry waterfalls and canyons. We climbed ridges with razor sharp rocks underfoot, and panoramic views in every direc-

tion.

On Day 6 we reached the top of Brinkley’s Bluff, after a taxing climb up the ridge. A wedge tail eagle greeted us, by circling not more than 10 metres above our heads. After enjoying the views, we faced the inevitable, a very steep, slippery descent on extremely loose shale. Hmm… just what I love, and with 15kgs forcing me down even faster. We made this descent, only to have to climb again, over another saddle and yet an-other steep descent to Stuarts Pass below. At last flat sandy tracks….lots of them. Horse tracks, in every direction. We be-came complacent, it was getting late and we were tired. I went into automatic, and soon found myself….Lost. We’d managed to get separated. Retracing my steps after checking the map and the GPS, I found my mistake and caught up with my buddies, who were rather relieved. Exhausted, we pitched

our tents at Birthday Waterhole.

Another huge day lay ahead of us. For the third day in a row we woke at 5 am. What a way to start. Straight up a rocky creek bed and then the same along Spencer Gorge. The gorge was stunning with its many cycads and native pines but it was slow and hard going. And it didn’t end there. Using hands and feet we climbed up and over huge boulders, following a dry stream to reach the saddle above. From there it was tough going on a very narrow ridge, the smooth boulders from be-low replaced by razor sharp rocks. It was blowing a gale as we

tripped over numerous rocks.

What goes up eventually comes down and we were faced with another scramble on very loose rocks to reach Fringe Lily

Creek below. By now it was lunch time and it seemed that we had only done 8.5km. We took a well-earned break in the shade of the only trees around. We were tired but again we hoisted our packs and scrambled up another creek bed to the

saddle. We finally came upon Hugh Junction and I sat down wearily. I was totally exhausted and knew I still had to scram-ble 3 and a bit km along Hugh Gorge to get to camp. I sat down defeated, totally ignoring the witty comments that were supposed to keep me going. ―No... I can't, please just send a helicopter... I want to go home.‖ I don't know how much longer I sat there but we did walk up Hugh Gorge and arrived at our campsite after a 9 hr 40 minute walk from Birthday Wa-terhole. We sat ourselves down and reflected on the hard days behind us and looked forward to much easier walking the next day without a dawn start. Oh what bliss, waking up at

day break!

Four more days passed, easy compared to what we had just

encountered but never any flat sections. We continued on-

wards…Rocky Gully, Ellery Creek with its very cold permanent water hole, Serpentine Gorge, Serpentine Chalet Dam. Names that conjure images of lush, wet areas, that were anything but

what they described.

…..Continued on Page 7

A passing comment between friends, some months ago, planted an idea in our heads. We would walk the length of Central Australia’s West MacDonnell Ranges. There is a trail- the Larapinta. We would do this largely unsupported, with the exception of three food drops that I’d pre-arranged. This allowed us to keep weight to a minimum by only having to carry five days worth of food at a time. So some two months after the plan was hatched we walked out of the Todd St. Mall in Alice Springs, knowing we wouldn’t be back for an-

other 19 days.

The official trail starts at the Old Telegraph Station and ends at Redbank Gorge, and includes a climb up Mt. Sonder. It was late April and the weather was still pleasantly warm. But oh…. the flies! By lunch time they were bad, literally driv-ing you to insanity. We were prepared! Our fly nets became our best friends, yet these sneaky little pests still managed to get in underneath. After much cursing, we mastered eating

and drinking with the nets on.

The first day tested us all. My muscles objected to the 15kg on my back. It was still hot and did I mention the flies? We walked into our camp in the late afternoon sun and were relieved to discover that as soon as the sun set the flies dis-

appeared.

That first day was a little out of the ordinary. Our routine needed to be set. No 1. Start early, fewer flies!! Try to make

camp by lunch time. Have a wash, take a nap, less flies.

So for the rest of the walk we got up at first light and were

well and truly on our way in the cool of the morning.

Most people think Central Australia consists of sand as far as the eye can see but the West MacDonnell Ranges are far from this. They are a rugged mountain range speckled with spinifex grass and mulga shrubs. Trees are stunted and short, providing minute amounts of shade. The rocks are red, redder than you imagine. The sand is red. The soil is red. And the setting sun turns the sky an unbelievable

shade of crimson, each day.

We all asked each other, what was the thing we most wanted to see, while we were out there. ―The night sky, the sunsets, the views from the tops of the ridges ―, were the replies. But for me, the thing I wanted to see the most, were wild budgies. So on Day 3 and with much excitement, I shouted, ―I hear budgies…. I can see them!‖ There in a tree before me were a large flock of green and yellow budgies. Of course they flew off as I approached but from then on

they became a regular sight for the duration of our walk.

Day 4 saw us come across a feral bull. It was a standoff… he wasn’t moving and neither were we. We were approaching Jay Creek - an area that used to be an old cattle station.

Cattle bring flies with them. The bull eventually moved on.

That afternoon we had our first swim in a beautiful water-hole called Fish Hole, surrounded by cycads and native pines. This was the only waterhole that was not icy cold. The temperature dropped that night and gave us an indica-

tion of what was to come. The balmy nights had ended.

The next 3 days were the toughest of all but the section

between Jay Creek, Standley Chasm, Birthday Waterhole

and Hugh Gorge, are the most spectacular. Each day we

would walk 18-20km, climb and descend between 700-900

m. Each day we would be out there for 10 hours. We rose

P A G E 5

Walking the backbone of Central Australia by Linda Broschofsky

N O . 3 2 0 0 9 S P R I N G

After enjoying the views, we faced the inevitable, a

very steep, slippery descent on extremely loose shale.

OFFICE BEARERS 2009

POSITION NAME

PRESIDENT Bruce Cockroft

VICE PRESIDENT Mary Flynn

SECRETARY Belinda Rothery

TREASURER Louise Glynn

MEMBERSHIP REPRESENTATIVE Cheryl Ferrington

WALKS COMMITTEE: Geoff Bovard, Lynda Paju, Mike Robinson,

Belinda Rothery, Ron Smith, Carol Weston

ABSEIL COMMITTEE: Peter Figiel, Danny O’Connell, Lynda Paju,

Mike Robinson, Rick Webber

SOCIAL COMMITTEE: Louise Glynn, Trish Hamilton, Janelle Harris

AUDITOR Garry Dobbie

CONFEDERATION REPS: Lyn Gett, Ron McMillan, Belinda Rothery

EQUIPMENT OFFICER Janelle Harris

MEMBERSHIP OFFICER Louise Glynn

NEWSLETTER EDITOR Thaïs Turner

PROGRAM EDITOR Lynda Paju

TRAINING OFFICER Peter Figiel

WEB MASTER Lynda Paju

PUBLIC OFFICER Bruce Cockroft (if required)

CHILD PROTECTION OFFICER Carol Weston (if required)

Subject: Thanks Bushwalkers - Sunday 21st

June, 2009

Dear Bushwalkers (21 June, Sunday)

I wanted to write to you all, as soon I

can.

Today's walking in some parts became very

challenging for me (a bit of rock climb-

ing).

It was steep, narrow, slippery and rocky,

I did think very seriously I can not do

it, BUT the group's spirit, support

(physical, mental and emotional) just was

Great. With practical advice;

just take one step at a time,

and members (Jon and Thaïs)

physical protection from both

sides around me just gave me a

strength - physically and

mentally - to push my scare

and worry away and just to fo-

cus, concentrate and do it.

I did it!!!!!!!

Not just down, but up as

well, because we have to go back to find a

suitable track in the rainy, wet weather condi-

tions.

It was always some one who held my umbrella, my

shoulder bag (even if it is not his custom to

carry a woman’s bag) .....my jacket, so a mil-

lion thanks again to All members for the under-

standing, a sense of humour and laughter in

this difficult situation.

Without this excellent Ozzy spirit I would

probably still be standing on the edge of the

rocks, and waiting for a miracle....

I would like to send a Big Thanks to all the 17

members (some from the Catholic

Bushwalking Club) for their excel-

lent help because without them I

could not do what I did.

As I don't know all members con-

tact details please send my e-mail

to others or just let them

know, if you can, I said, Thank

you.

Cheers,

Gabriella

F l o r a b e l l a P a s s a n d a g r a t e f u l w a l k e r — E m a i l f r o m G a b r i e l l a A g o s t o n

Contributions to this newsletter are always welcome & can be emailed to Thaïs on

tmaturner@yahoo.com

Deadline for SUMMER 2009-10 issue:

Fri 23rd October

Meetings coming up in 2009:

September 14th October 12th November 9th

The party descends the steep track to Glenbrook Creek

We’re on the Web!

http://

bankstownbush.110mb.com/

CLUB MEETINGS EVERY MONTH

USUALLY HELD ON 2ND MONDAY OF MONTH—

EXCEPT JANUARY

Arts & Craft Centre Cnr Olympic Parade & Dale Lane

Bankstown NSW 2200

Club email address: bankstownbush@gmail.com

P A G E 6 B U S H T E L E G R A P H

N O . 3 2 0 0 9 S P R I N G P A G E 7

LARAPINTA TRAIL (continued from page 5)

As we sat and ate our dinner at the end of Day 11 we con-templated the next two days. These were the waterless sec-tions. There are 28.6km between Serpentine Chalet Dam and Ormiston Gorge with absolutely no water en route. There would be no water tanks waiting at the camp site at the end of the days walk either. In fact there would be no camp site. We had to carry all our water for 2 days of tough walking. Now I’m a bit of a camel and can function quite OK with very little, but the others were concerned. Dehydration was a real possibility. What was a major concern was the added weight that this would bring. My pack was now close to

20kg.

Day 12 began with a long and tedious climb up to a saddle and then down the other side. We all struggled under the added weight. We would camp at Waterfall Gorge. Now that’s just cruel. No waterfall awaited us, well not in the dry season anyhow. It was difficult finding a place to pitch the tent. The sandy creek bed was dotted with spinifex grass but we managed to find a clear area just big enough to squeeze in a few tents. Yikes that grass hurts. It has a razor sharp

point and often drew blood.

The second waterless day was less tedious as most of the extra weight was gone. Again we had a short walk up a creek bed and a stiff climb up to Giles Lookout. This was one of my most favourite on the whole trip. The views over Orm-iston Pound were spectacular. A gradual descent brought us to the Base of the Hill and more undulating terrain all the way to Ormiston Gorge. We were all looking forward to this. The camp ground had hot showers, a beautiful waterhole AND my friend was driving out from Alice Springs with a bunch of friends to meet up with us and treat us to a BBQ. We would be here for an additional rest day after 14 days on

the trail.

The remaining days were no easier than before but finally on Day 18 we walked into Redbank Gorge - our final destina-tion. We’d made a pact to swim in every waterhole no matter how cold it was. Redbank Gorge is well known to be the coldest of them all. My eyeballs hurt as I swam the 30 m length of the pool to the far end. I clambered out onto the rocks to see that my skin had turned red from the cold. It was worth it, the canyon was gorgeous. But I still had to swim

back.

That night was the most relaxing knowing that we only had the climb up Mt. Sonder and back to complete our long jour-ney. The soft sand underneath the tent lulled us into a com-fortable sleep until the dingoes howled and ran through our camp. I’d miss the sound of the dingoes at night. Their eerie

howl reminding us of the wilderness around us.

Day 19, our final day. We climbed Mt. Sonder - a 15.6km round trip. Completing this in less than 5 hours, we were back for lunch at camp. How wonderful to climb the moun-tain without a pack. The 360 degree views are worth the

additional effort.

So 19 days and 274.5km after walking out of Todd St. Mall,

we returned to Alice Springs, pleased with our achievement.

The Larapinta Trail- harsh, beautiful and one of the best long

distance walking trails built.

Right: Standley Chasm

Left: Mt. Sonder

summit

SPOTLIGHT ON: The Club Wiki

When you visit the Club website:

http://bankstownbush.110mb.com/

you will see our programmed activities displayed and a number of links to other pages, including the Club’s Wiki.

This is a section of the Club’s website where we have placed all of our information resources for existing and new members. You can navigate through the Wiki by means of an alphabetical menu on the left side of the page.

Visit the Wiki for information about:

Activity gradings

Abseiling, canyoning & caving information pages

Bush Telegraph – current and previous issues

Constitution, policies & forms

Committees, office bearers & club contacts

Etiquette, ideas for safe walking & what to take on activities

Info for leaders & new members + fees info

Insurance cover & incident reporting

Library, maps & links to other sites

Photo albums of club activities

Things to hire and borrow

Check it out today!

SNIPPETS

Club members are reminded that we can learn les-sons from the story of Jamie Neale—lost in the Blue Mtns for 12 days. Walk safely, Walk with a Club.

Take advantage of the TREK program and hire free a PLB (Personal Location Beacon) from Springwood or Katoomba Police Stations when needed. Others have been saved in the Blue Mtns and elsewhere by using these beacons.

Adventure Activity Standards (AAS) debate is pro-gressing. Check the Autumn edition of Confedera-tion’s magazine—The Bushwalker, and contact the Club Secretary for an update on how these guide-lines may affect our club activities in the future.

Grand Canyon walking track will experience partial closures until Jan 2010. Funding has been received for major upgrading works.

Expressway plans across the Newnes plateau were shelved earlier this year but the State Opposition seems to have the Newnes option back in their sights

Scenic World at Katoomba has recently published a book on the history of mining in the Katoomba area.

World Masters Orienteering Championships will oc-cur at Lithgow as part of the October 2009 Sydney World Masters Games activities. If interested, volun-teer positions may be available. Contact NSW Orien-teering Association directly or look at SWMG website.

Along with a large number of adventure races run through the Blue Mountains this year the Woodford to Glenbrook Classic was recently held.

NavShield—the emergency services rogaine run by BWRS, was also held this year in the Blue Mtns NP—around Euroka Clearing at Glenbrook.

Centenary of the National Pass Walking Track and it’s award winning restoration was recently celebrated with a website launched.

Blue Mtns City Council has recently issued licences to various commercial operators for using council land for organised nature-based recreation activities.

Fri 28 Aug 2009 is the deadline for stakeholders to make submissions on Plans of Management for Blue Mountains, Kanangra-Boyd and Wollemi National Parks which are currently under review.

1045 Victoria Rd West Ryde NSW 2114 Tel 9858 5844

Tents

Bushwalking Packs

Travel Packs

Travel ware

Sleeping Bags

Rainwear

Icebreaker Merino

Snow wear

Bushwalking boots

Sleeping mats

Climbing Equipment

Cookware

Water filters

GPS

Books & DVD’s

alpsport@optusnet.com.au

Parking at rear of shop