Life Trove: Joe

27 October 2014

Wingello State Forest and Morton National Park

A lovely weekend camping and hiking in The Wingello Forest on Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday afternoon, we passed through Bundanoon to visit The Morton National Park where we did a beautiful, short but steep walk to base of The Fairy Bower Waterfall.

Highlights included ...

Lovely people. Jo and Wendy always seem to attract a laid back, friendly group.
Hiking along a road with pine trees on our left, and indigenous Eucalyptus forest on our right.
Beautiful spring flowers still out in force, including some beautiful red ones I'd never seen before.
The tranquil camp site set in the pine forest with light filtering through.
Wendy's delicious burritos - she always makes the best camp food.
Two wonderful encounters with red bellied black snakes, including one swimming across a lake and showing off it's beautiful red belly.
Yellow tailed black cockatoos in the forest close to camp and getting to photograph them in the air.
Beautiful cloud formations on Saturday evening.
Adventurous bundu bashing and clamboring down the walls of canyon to reach a pristine river for a refreshing swim. Well done, Joe, for finding a way down!! I felt like an early explorer, going where no-one had gone before.
An invigorating swim in a beautiful pool at the top of the Fairy Bower Falls. Getting munched by a couple of hungry leeches was a small price to pay!
A gorgeous walk with great views to the base of the falls. The old forest trees with their gnarled truck and roots were stunning.
A delicious pizza in Bundanoon. Food always seems to taste particularly amazing after a camping trip.

All in all, another fantastic weekend!!

First day hike (Wingello Forest)

Pine forest on our right, Eucaplytus on the left.

Nice wide paths so we could chat while we walked.

Both red flowers above were new for me. So gorgeous.

Nature sure does love yellow.

Some lovely textures on the trees.

What would a pine forest be without pine cones?

Evening stroll to find yellow tailed black cockatoos

Yellow tailed black cockatoos that proved hard to get close to. Thank goodness for my 400 mm lens.

Beautiful cloud formations.

Camp life

The camp site was set in the trees. A very tranquil place.

Second day hike (Wingello Forest)

Here we are in a beautiful and very secluded river after venturing off path and climbing down a canyon to get to it. The water was gorgeous.

How beautiful is this snakes red belly? I'm seen 5 snakes on my last 4 hiking trips! Not that I'm complaining, I love them.

Hiking to Fairy Bower falls (Morton National Park)

The beautiful rock pool at the top of Fairy Bower Falls. The water was seriously cold!

Hiking down to the base of the falls.

At the base of the falls, enjoying some pristine rain forest.

28 September 2014

Camping and hiking in the Megalong Valley (Blue Mountains)

I went camping and hiking with my favourite Meet Up Group, Sydney Bushwalkers, this weekend. We did two hikes along sections of the most famous trail in the area; The Six Foot Track.

Highlights of the weekend included:

The beautiful camp site in pristine natural surroundings with a tranquil creek flowing through it.
The wonderful, sunny weather we were graced with.
Jo and Wendy, the friendly leaders, who were so keen for us all to have a great time.
The great group; such lovely people all.
The cute horse who came over to say hello on the first day hike. She was rewarded with an apple for her friendliness.
Exploring a tucked away waterfall off the path near Nellies Glen.
A steep walk up the stairs at Nellies Glen to get the heart pumping, and not being too disappointed when we had to turn back to rejoin the group.
Sitting by the camp fire at night, munching delicious toasties and marshmallows (thanks Wendy!)
Chatting to Rob, a fellow SAFA, about South Africa - always so great to reminisce.
A display of the most amazing tree climbing I've ever seen!! You had to be there to believe it. See the photos below.
The gorgeous scenery, especially on the second day.
Plucking up the courage to cross the very wobbly suspension bridge over the river. My rampant fear of heights nearly got the better of me but I managed to get across and back.
A gorgeous, bracing swim in the river and lying back in the waterfalls. Such a beautiful spot!
Putting my little camera to the test. She did well. My SLR didn't come out the whole weekend.

The number one highlight of the weekend for me was watching a two metre black snake swim across the river to within meters where we were sitting. I've never seen such agility and grace. I was so mesmerised I forgot to be scared! I will look twice before diving into rock pools next time though.

All in all, an awesome weekend. I can't wait now to do the full length of The Six Foot Track (covering 42 km's).

First day hike