Wollemi National Park: Easter Canyoning in the Wolgan Valley

Over the Easter period, Bruce and Monika plan on canyoning in the historic, beautiful and isolated Wolgan Valley. Canyons that might be done include Devils Pinch/Starlight (reversed), Nightmare, Firefly or Looking Glass, and Pipeline. If it rains there are walk and mountain bike alternatives. However, as canyoning is the priority, booking preference will be given to participants who want to canyon. That said, any canyoner who wants to bring their partner along can book them in.

Campsites have been booked for 4 nights with Thomas, the owner of the old Newnes Hotel. His campsites are adjacent to the Wolgan River. There are basic toilets and hot showers. There is also a pizza oven that will be booked for one night. The Hotel offers drinks and snacks.

The campsite booking includes Thomas' escort of 4 x 4WD/AWD vehicles as a group into the Valley via a steep gated private road called the Donkey Steps. This road was built as a detour following a landslide on a section of the Wolgan Valley Road. The total cost of the campsites and escort is around $570 spread across 9 participants. - so around $64 per person.

The campsite booking (and escort) requires that the group travels in convoy into and out of the Valley. It won't be possible for individual participants or cars to arrive or leave at different times into and out of the Valley, unless they are willing to incur an extra cost of up to $200.

Participants should have canyoning experience (eg such as participation in the recent CBC canyoning program in January) and good fitness. They also have to arrange their own wetsuits and equipment (eg helmets, harnesses, devices, canyoning pack). Canyoning equipment is available for hire from the Club (Rob Horsfield via equipmentatcanberrabushwalkingclub.org), or contact one of the leaders to see if they can help out. The leaders will be charging for the use of their ropes - a single rope will cost $3 per person per day.

Start and end times to be confirmed.