Bundanoon Dam

A very hot day in Bundanoon with some friends staying over so it was time to go and find Bundanoon Dam for a swim. A short walk down to the water from Meryla Rd in the state forest with a lovely stretch of cool water.  

More of an explore later, possibly on Li Lo's to find the dam wall.

Recovery Walk

It's been an interesting week. An ambulance ride and a couple of days in hospital with a kidney stone, and then some recuperation time at home with a stent in to help with the flow from my kidney. So with the stent still not out, I was looking for a short easy walk close to home.  Had always wanted to stop on the expressway near Jolls Bridge and take a look from the ridge separating the Hawkesbury River from Mooney Mooney Creek.

A very foggy morning meant a wait for it to lift before I started on the walk. With 4 or 5 separate viewpoints it was a great way to spend a couple of hours.

Snake Island in Mooney Mooney Creek

Creek views 

First window on the Hawkesbury from the lower viewpoint. 

Then south along the ridge to a higher viewpoint over Mooney Mooney. 

Cheerio Point on Mooney Mooney Creek 

The village of Mooney Mooney with Spectacle Island and the Brooklyn Railway Bridge in the background.

From the higher viewpoint looking over the Hawkesbury River and Milson Island 

Milson Island 

Mid right on this shot is Cascade Gully with the wreck of the original HMAS Parramatta

A very enjoyable interlude, not the least for being back out again. 

When talking to my son he did mention that as a teenager I had told him to not worry about me as "I am f...ing invincible". The answer to that is that I'm still here. That will work up to a point. Make of that what you will.

Bangadilly National Park

After scouting the access to the southern portion of Bangadilly National Park last week it was time to walk in and camp overnight along the river. No tracks are noted on the ground to link up the two fire trails but some easy navigation and a good track out along a ridge kept the bush bash to a minimum.

With a hot day with temperatures in the 30's I put off the walk until the afternoon. Starting from the Mt Penang Rd at 1530hrs with the temperature still 32 degrees I headed down to the Bangadilly Trail and followed this until I found a side track heading north in the general direction I wanted to go. This followed a ridge with good views into the Wingecarribee Valley and eventually led me out to spot height 621 as noted on the Hanworth topographic map.

Would have liked more time to explore this outcrop at spot height 621 but as it was nearly 1800 hrs I needed to keep going and set up camp.

 From here a very steep drop off the ridge with no track through open forest with little undergrowth on the bare shale slopes. Once at the base of the ridge I followed the fence line along the edge of the National Park. The paddocks on the other side of the fence had deer grazing. By this time it was 1800hrs and overcast so with the poor light the deer photos were too fuzzy to blog.

The Wingecarribee river Trail starts at the end of the paddocks and winds along the river to a large clearing where I set up camp for the night. Access to the river is limited with a belt of scrub and weeds between the trail and the river. The river banks are at least 1 metre vertical and mostly undercut so not easy to even get down to the river to replenish my water. 

1830hrs by the time I made the clearing after walking 9klm. Quickly putting up the tent and collecting some wood for the fire gave me a little time for feet up and a read of my book.

 A dinner of  Back Country Cuisine Beef Stroganoff which was very good before the obligatory night photos to pass the evening. Then some more reading in the tent before sleep at 2300hrs.

The campsite clearing in the morning. 

Up at 0600hrs and after a quick coffee I walked back along the trail for about a kilometre till I found a way down to the river to collect some water to filter. Watched a platypus here for a while before returning to camp for breakfast and a leisurely pack up of camp to start walking again at 0900hrs

Rather than return the way I came I headed further up the Wingecarribee River Trail before it  ended abruptly at the park boundary and I crossed into some paddocks and pushed through some regrowth to hook back up with a firetrail which headed down to a ford over Barganglo Creek under Mt Penang. Before I got to the ford though, I cut through some paddocks to meet up with Mt Penang Road again for a steep uphill back out of the valley and an easy 4klm walk back to the car, completing the 8klm from camp by 1130hrs 

Looking across the paddocks to Mt Penang, where I walked last week. 

Fire trail out through Grey gum / stringybark woodland along the ridgetops. 

Mt Penang

Mt Penang is in Bangadilly National Park near Canyonleigh in the NSW Southern Highlands. The park is in three sections and is centred on the Wingecarribee River. The northern section has a short 3klm return walk to Mt Penang with views over the surrounding valleys and the Wingecarribee River Gorge.



Before the Mt Penang walk I stopped to find Mt Penang Rd which allows access to the central section of the park and the Wingecarribee River. A gated public road leads down between two private drives. The road is narrow with overhanging scrub and it is not long before this washout across the road. The entry into the puddle was a vertical drop of 50-60 cm and this depth was maintained for the length of the puddle. Someone had placed a solid tree branch which looked like a stump at the exit point.

Walking from here it was only about 1klm to the Bangadilly trail within the park. As is often the way, the road after the puddle was in very good condition. Open Grey Gum forest on one side of the road and cleared paddocks on the other. 

Having established access for a future planned walk, we returned to the car and drove on to the next section of the park and the walk up Mt Penang.

Views south and east from the top. 

I have been here before and liked the fallen timber and the colour of the lichen on the dad treees.

Views to the north over the Wingecarribee River and on to the Blue Mountains and Nattai National Parks. 

I think this is Mt Colong in the southern Blue Mountains wilderness. 

The top of Mt Jellore with Joadja Hill on the right