Back in early March we headed up to the Blue Mountains for three days of ANUMC-fueled outdoor action.

I don’t remember why but we were busy on the Thursday, so we packed on Friday night and drove up, which was pretty epic, we got in just before midnight. Boy did I sleep well .. until 7am when we were supposed to be up!

After lots of mucking about organising things and sorting out gear, we were just about ready to head off canyoning. We drove for half an hour or so to Medlow Bath and then got a bit lost trying to find the exact right dirt track to head down. Luckily Felix and Helen knew where we were going more or less.

To start with we did Jugglers Canyon, which is not super speccy but quite nice. No swimming, but a few puddles and a waterfall abseil, so wetsuits on. The final abseil is the highlight, must be 20 odd metres free fall, and the canyon opens right out so the view is pretty impresive.

After a spot of lunch we then walked up to Grand Canyon, which is a standard with only one easy abseil. Once you’re down there’s lots of scrambling and a few swims, one reasonably long. Boy was it chilly.

I must take a tripod in future to get some decent photos inside the canyon, it’s too dark for hand held. There’s some good shots here from Tom Brennan, this one in particular.

The walk out was pretty good by canyoning standards, up the ridge on a fairly well worn path, although the start was almost impassable due to a land slide – if it slips much more the walk out could become the hardest part.

All up a great day, brilliantly led by Felix & Helen, and with impromptu singing provided by Rob.