Wollangambe Crater

A group of us spent last weekend on a trip to Wollangambe Crater in the Blue Mountains National Park near Bell, on the way to Lithgow. Fabulous weather, great company, and magnificent scenery.

It's very much the saucer-shaped crater, and there's been some suggestion it might be a meteorite crater, though the weight of serious opinion seems to be against that.

It's a few hours of trekking across 'pagoda country' - with its twisted and contorted weathered rocky sandstone outcrops. And down near the crater there's the Wollangambe River to explore, with twists and turns, canyons and rock overhangs.

Quite a place. We'll be back.

N

Sydney's cup runneth over

When I arrived in Sydney 15 years ago there was a bit of a panic on because Lake Burragorang was less than half full. A very wet weekend fixed that up and suddenly it was full and overflowing. Warragamba dam had collected its full two trillion litres of drinking water. 

Which is just as well because it hardly seemed to rain for the next 13 years. Supply levels gradually dropped to around 30%, a very expensive desalination plant got built, and we all learnt to have two minute showers and wash our cars with a cupful at a time. (Actually some of us hardly ever wash our cars, if the truth be out.)

Suddenly we had two wet summers, and suddenly there are spill episodes again, and quite a sight they are!

I'd been to have a look at the 1998 episode, but had been informed the viewing areas were closed because they were building a new spillway. Then ten years later I made the trek out again, only to be told the spillway was still being built! So I'd never actually got a proper view of Sydney's pride and joy, until today.


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The spill is indeed quite impressive, with water cascading over the top and through what look like small slits in the wall, forcing it into a powerful waterfall. On either side are the smaller cascading falls fanning out into delicate patterns before tumbling into the swirling river below.  Pity we couldn't get closer to the rapids, but we were still afforded a glimpse through the trees of the river flowing calmly again. 

Once done with the grandeur and prettiness of the views we made our longish journey back through western Sydney, stopping for coffee and a browse through the odd 'supa centa'.  Back then to our waterlogged garden where there's not much we can do until all this rain subsides.

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Westleigh's wild weather

The east coast low that's been moving down the coast these last few days have brought floods again to Queensland and northern NSW, and mini tornados to some of Sydney's coastal suburbs. 

In Westleigh we got a good dose of rain, plus some rather big winds.

There was a tree down in nearby Westleigh Drive, bringing with it some power cables. And in the Espanade in neighbouring Thornleigh, we saw we'd driven under a tree which was supported only by the power lines below it.

As usual, the police, emergency workers and power company people did a grand job, and everything was back in order within a few hours.

N

Off road, off bike, and off memory!

 Bob tells me I was speaking fluent Japanese the other day. Which is strange, as I don't know much Japanese! Probably just "Ogenki desu ka?" over and over. Hope I didn't make a fool of myself.

I've almost no recollection at all of the lovely Japanese family who I'm told took me to the Blue Mountains Hospital in Katoomba, or of anything else for a six or eight hour period that afternoon. Concussion is a very strange thing.

I was doing another remote mountain bike ride with Bob, again south from Wentworth Falls, this time along the gravel road down to McMahons Lookout. Then I was lying comfortably in a hospital bed. Everything seemed quite normal - no discomfort, no reason not to be here. Now and again people were showing me pictures, giving me memory tests about who I was, what year or month it was, and what was in the pictures. Apparently I'd been given this routine many times with little success. I had lots of scratches and bruises, and a canula in my arm. So what, life was good!

Then Fenella came in, with friends Jacqui and Liam. Jacqui gave me  more memory tests, including something about a holiday I'd lined up for myself shortly. Goodness! What was this about? And why were they there? Surely I wasn't still on Liam's Sunday walk (an epic adventure in itself, by the way)? And where's Bob? I asked this a few times, apparently. I had no memory of him being there with me all afternoon, of him capably organising the transport of people and bikes to the hospital, and arranging Fenella's visit and the others' assistance. No memory either of the CAT scan that had cleared me of any serious brain damage.

Quite an adventure. I was kept in overnight in the emergency ward. Fenella stayed the night with another friend nearby. My behaviours and memory test scores became more and more normal. I was sent home mid morning.

Later, Bob went through the events he'd witnessed. He'd been cycling ahead. He'd had a puncture and spent 10 minutes repairing it. When I hadn't arrived, he cycled back to find me, only to see me cycling along towards him, and about to commence a rather hairy downhill section! He soon saw something was wrong, stopped me, and commenced the rescue effort.

Some puzzles got solved. My missing watch turned up when I looked in my trouser pocket in the morning. The strap had broken and I must have picked it up myself. The allen key, mysteriously hanging off the bike somewhere, would have been due to an attempt to repair the bent and broken brake handle.

Some memories are creeping back. A lyrebird ran across the road in front of our car. Bob shouted "Lyrebird!" for the benefit of our tourist companions. That seemed more like something that had happened on Sunday's earlier trip, but I'm assured it wasn't. Also, there's a memory of Bob saying something like: "You've come off your bike, mate! You've come off your bike, and this is what we're going to do." This seems like a memory from months or years ago, but probably isn't. And then there's the memory of me directing a carload of tourists towards McMahons Lookout at a track junction. This was the last thing I remember of the morning. They would have been the people who came to the rescue on their way back a little later. No memories yet though of anything that could have caused me to come off on the easy, level section where I came off.

So this mountain biking is a bit of a worry. I've known many people who've had similar experiences, in one case with much more serious consequences. And this time I'd set out determined to be slow and cautious, having had near misses on the previous two rides. Can't give up on it though. That's a bit like giving up on life - and gee, we must get back down there to complete the ride one day. Bob tells me there's a great view!

And where's Bob?

N

More wildflowers!

This time in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, in the Brooklyn and Peak Hill areas. I always try to make a pilgrimage to Peak Hill at this time of year. The weather's conducive, and the wildflowers are at their best. A friendly big goanna popped up to say hello too.

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Wildflowers in Spring

The Muogamarra Nature Reserve opens for just six weeks every year in the wildflower season, and it's one of the places you'll easily see the New South Wales floral emblem - the Waratah - in the wild. There are easy walking tracks with views over the Hawkesbury and helpful National Parks volunteers to answer all your questions.  We were lucky to make it there on a brilliant blue sky day and even encountered a large diamond python trying to cross the track.

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The Delegate dingo

It had a collar on it, so it was presumably someone's pet. But everything about it said 'dingo'. A beautiful dog, it slunk past us with that shy and guilty manner they have.

We were in Delegate on our way south towards Lakes Entrance the other week. I'd first known about the place from my time in a previous life in the paper industry. It was the home of Eucalyptus delegatensis, one of the big three Tasmanian eucalypts (also found in Victoria). One of the Tasmanian specimens is the world's tenth tallest tree - before the loggers ran riot, Tasmania probably had the world's tallest trees in fact, though they would have been of the Eucalyptus regnans species.

We'd stopped for a while to photograph a terrifically photogenic pioneer home they'd restored. I rather liked Delegate.

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