Date: 29/08/2020-30/08/2020
Duration: 2 days
Group: Wollemi Wanderers
First day: Coachwood canyon
I joined another Wollemi Wanderers canyoning trips! It gave a very different feeling to SUBW's because Phil, the trip leader is a more rigid person. He picked me up at Lewisham station and drove to Zig Zag railway station first then Barcoo campground to meet with everyone in the trip. The sky was exceptionally gorgeous, there were no clouds and it was very clear.
We explored Coachwood canyon on the first day. Walking along the cliff lines, I was very excited as I brought a wetsuit and was ready to use it the first time for today. Its interesting watching the strong epicormic growing of the trees in the area.
We dropped down to Coachwood forest via a hidden track down from a cliff. It was a very clear track, surprisingly. The forest was very beautiful. It stood between two magnificent cliffs and had plenty of cracks to explore. I ended up explored one of the cracks. It was like going under tunnels! As the name expected, there were a lot of Coachwood trees in the forest.
The crack we explored
We walked for around 4 km and passed a creek to our first abseil. Phil and I was the only ones who put on our wet suit! It felt very tight but warm at the same time. The first abseil wasn't wet at all. However, I dropped down to the canyon which was amazing. Although it certainly was wider than most of the canyons than I went and opened up quite a bit, it the rocks walls on the two sides certainly gave it a canyon feeling.
Approaching the canyon
Entering the canyon via the first abseil
I walked to the second abseil, this was a little bit longer and it dropped down from a waterfall into a pool!
Finally I can get wet! As I abseiled down, I realised that it was only knee-depth. Still, my wetsuit kept me warm and I also put on my rain jacket.
The second abseil, it was getting chiller
The third and fourth abseils required a bit of climbing but they both dropped down from waterfalls! In the end I abseiled down three waterfalls! I landed on a log for both the third and fourth ones and was able to not get too wet! We ended in the Rocky creek.
The second abseil was more difficult, we went over a log
The canyon was beautiful
The last abseil
From which I know there is another canyon! But we didn't do that since we don't have time. We had lunch in a sunny spot and I was able to change clothes.
Crossing Rocky Creek to lunch spot
We had to walk downstream on Rocky creek for a fair distance. The interesting part when we walked along the creek is the abundant of quick sand. One of our group members got sank to his hip and it was hilarious. I tried to walk on loge or rocks. Never trust any sand!
The sand looked sturdy but be careful! They sank
Members found a log to walk on so we could avoid the sinking sand
We arrived at one ramp which we walked up and arrived at a junction. Phil couldn't figure out the GPS so we just walked up to the top of the ramp which ended at the cliffs. From there, Phil finally figured out his GPS and could lead us to the rock climbing spot that he had been talking about. We passed a huge boulder and did a lot of scrambling! We arrived at the cliff that according to Phil was very exposed. Luckily for me I'm not afraid of heights and while climbing up, I turnt around and was able to get some really nice photos!
We spent another hour and a half to walk back to our car. It was a very pleasant walk.
Returning to the campsite, which is called Barcoo swamp campground. I set up the tent and spent the whole night with the group by our bonfire. Could not ask for anything more than this.
Day 2: Windows canyon
The day started early at 7:30, although most of us were already awake at 6:00 am as Pete, Phil's friend who were also camping at the campsite cooked a really nice egg and bacon breakfast that gave out a really nice fragrance. I love how they have an early morning fire which definitely warmed me up. We left the campsite and drove along Old coach road to the car park.
The track to Windows canyon were the same with Tigersnake and Penrose Gully. We passed through Penrose Gully canyon actually.
Pagodas could be seen
The view as we approached Windows canyon changed quite quickly, with lots of pagodas sticking up. The first abseil down the canyon was quite lovely.
There were a small stream and the section opened up quickly.
We walked down a creek to the second section of the canyon.
Surprisingly, an oasis with a little waterfall popped up out of nowhere, in the middle of a very burnt out place. That was interesting!
The creek led us to the second and last section of Windows canyon. There was a double abseil down to the middle of the canyon. The first part I had to squeezed myself through a rock blockage down to a knee-deep pool. The pool looks beautiful but other people were waiting so I couldn't take a picture of it. After that, I abseiled down another pool along a stream. Standing under and look at the two abseils made me realised how beautiful the canyon is.
We finally reached the famous "Windows" or the Windows canyon. It was a rock arch looking down at a pool, and we were going to abseil under the arch. The view from the last abseil was amazing, especially looking down the clear pool through the "windows" while abseiling down.
We had lunch with a spectacular view of the Wolgan valley.
After lunch, we finished the canyon with a final abseil down a cliff. I got stuck on a tree but manage to de-tangle myself.
The walk back up was very easy. We followed the old railway track back to Old coach road.
At one part we found out a land slide which was caused by the bushfire destroying all the trees. This made the track to completely disappeared. We walked around and arrived at Old coach road. From there although the track was steep it was very luxurious in that the track was very well paved. Another successful trip on my list! I must say this was a very exciting trip since this is my first time canyoning with a wetsuit!
The view up to was so amazing
