Weekend at Barrington Tops

I spent a wonderful three days exploring the world heritage-listed rainforests of Barrington Tops, about 250 km's from Sydney.  The first two days was with a Meet Up group  (Sydney Explorers), the third day by myself.

Highlights included:

• The great place where we stayed (Wangat Lodge) set in the tranquil forest, teaming with wildlife.
• Ken, the wonderfully friendly, passionate and knowledgeable proprietor of the lodge who took us on some stunning walks, and regaled us with some great stories.  Ken had a gorgeous little daughter, and their close, loving relationship was beautiful to watch.
• The lovely, chilled out group.
• The first day hike (22 km) to the top of Carey's Peak through misty forests and our elation when the mist magically cleared for a little while at the top so we could enjoy the vista.
• The gorgeous flowers and leaves along the way and the changing vegetation as we gained altitude.
• A bracing swim after the hike that felt more potent than a trip shot of espresso coffee!
• A really fun game of table tennis with Maj-Britt.
• An early morning hike on the second day which was a bit like a treasure hunt as we searched for bottle tops to show our way.
• Ian's great navigation skills.
• The beautiful reflections in the river, along the way.
• A freezing, but exhilarating swim in a forest pool that I don't think had ever felt the sun.  I screamed like a little girl when I hit the water!
• Great fellowship and conversation around the fire in the evenings and on the tranquil patio during the day.  
• Some lovely heart to hearts with Elna, a fellow South African.
• Adrian and Rudi, wonderful characters, who made me laugh a lot.
• Great spiritual discussions and some wonderful laughs with Maj-Britt.
• A fun hike guided by Ken. The highlight was the enormous fig tree in the forest, which some intrepid adventurers decided to climb.
• Lying on the helipad at night as a group, and looking out into the vast night sky, filled with awe at the beautiful stars. On the final night, when I was alone, I went back and spent hours doing the same.
• A fantastic discussion with Ken on my last night over a glass of port, about life and death, religion and spirituality, music and poetry, nature and wonder.  Ken gave me a collection of poetry by his recently deceased friend and it's inspired me to start writing poetry again.
• A fantastic hike at the Williams River on the final day, through pristine rain forest.  The highlight was sighting of Regent's Bowerbird.  I've only seen it once before.

First day: 22 km hike to the top of Carey's Peak

Walking through the beautiful trees

Leaves of every shape and variety.

The spring flowers were still out in force.

This amazing hut is ticked away near the peak. It's in a beautiful spot, definitely somewhere I'd like to come stay sometime.

A beautiful rock pool near the hut.

Here we all are, elated at the peak.

Having fun on the way down.

Surrounded by a bevy of gorgeous woman.  Tough life here in Australia!

No hike is complete without a leap.

Having a bracing but wonderful swim after the hike.

Second day early morning hike

A restful hike through forest glens, following bottle tops.  The swim was one of the coldest I've ever had.  What a way to wake up!

Beautiful reflections in the water.

Coming out of the forest, into the sun, which felt amazing as we were cold from our swim.

Third day hike with Ken

Ken, our wonderful guide, is the friendly looking guy in the middle.

Playing around with Ken's magnifying glass.

Group photo in the forest.  What a beautiful fig tree.

Beautiful wildlife along the way.

Life back at the lodge

Third day hike at The William's River

Pristine rainforest.

Beautiful textures in the rain forest.

Old buildings on the way

Old farm buildings in The Hunter Valley

These photos were taken during a photography weekend to The Hunter Valley.

Abandoned Shale Mine, Glen Davis

I felt a lot like I was Indiana Jones when exploring the abandoned shale mine in Glen Davis.  For several reasons.

Firstly was the nature of the ruins themselves.  They were only abandoned 60 years ago, but the remaining rows of pillars and soaring brickfaced walls and arches make them look a bit like ancient classical ruins, like Ephesus in Turkey or Pompeii in Italy.  

Secondly, nature has done a remarkable job of reclaiming many of the ruins, with huge trees growing inside the old walls and monstrous, thorny weeds, the size of small trees, just as you'd find in an Indiana Jones movie.  

Third was the marvellous natural setting of the ruins.  Set right in the heart of the Capertee Valley with sandstone cliffs on either side.  Not quite like Petra in "Indiana and the Last Crusade", but beautiful nevertheless.

Fourth, I had to do my explorations in secret.  The mine is only open to the public on Saturday afternoons at 2 pm for an hour, so I had to slip over the fence and creep in quietly, and I faced the constant threat of discovery and capture.  

And finally, but most importantly, there were snakes!!!  Not pitfulls of snakes like Indiana faced in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", but I did see two large black ones in the space of just two minutes!  And as I had snubbed my toe the day before, I was wearing open sandals, so totally vulnerable to poisonous bites!  

So all in all, it was a marvellous adventure.  Of course, I was not there to find priceless relics, but to take photos and this I managed to do without capture or being bitten, so mission accomplished.  I think Indiana himself would have been impressed, except for the girlie squeal I made when I nearly stepped on the first snake.

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Scenes from Glen Davis in Capertee Valley

Glen Davis is a tiny town situated in the Capertee Valley. The valley forms a canyon that is apparently (according to Wikipedia, so it must be correct!) the second largest canyon in the world.  Only the Grand Canyon is larger.

From 1938, the town became the centre of an oil shale industry and housed over 2000 people at it's height. However, the township was almost completely abandoned in 1952 because shale oil was not viable in a non-war, non-government supported economic environment. After the closure of the oil shale mine, the skeleton of a town survived in the form of some properties, a post office (that is now closed) and a shop or two that survived intermittently.  Now the shops are closed too.

The creation of the Wollemi National Park has brought a degree of tourism to the area, especially attracting birders like me who can see an unusually high number of species here.  That's what attracted me here in 2007 but this time I was on a mission to photograph the old, abandoned shale mine.