volume 32 issue 1 summer 2007 - bushwalking...

Volume 32Issue 1

Summer 2007

2 | The Bushwalker Volume 32, Issue 1, Summer 2007

Walk Safely—Walk with a Club

The same place Summer and Winter.

Where is it? Answer on page 7 (No peeking!)

The Bushwalker | 3


Bushwalker T he

The Official Publication of theConfederation of Bushwalking Clubs NSW

Volume 32, Issue 1, Summer 2007


ISSN 0313 2684

Editor: Roger [email protected]

Graphic Design: Barry Hanlon

Confederation Officers:President: Margaret Covi

[email protected] Officer:

[email protected]

Website: www.bushwalking.org.au

Address all correspondence to:PO Box 2090, GPO, Sydney 2001

The Confederation of BushwalkingClubs NSW Inc representsapproximately 65 Clubs with a totalmembership of about 10,000bushwalkers.Formed in 1932, the Confederationprovides a united voice on behalf of allbushwalkers on conservation, accessand other issues.It runs training courses for members,helps to provide a free wildernesssearch and rescue organisation, andhelps runs bush navigationcompetitions.People interested in joining abushwalking club may write to theConfederation Administration, at theaddress above, for a list of Clubs, but amore up-to-date version can be foundon the Confederation website atwww.bushwalking.org.au, broken upinto areas. There’s lots of other goodstuff there too.

Subscribe to The BushwalkerKeep up with all the news and developmentshappening in the NSW bushwalking scene foronly $10 per year. This is to cover posting andhandling: the magazine itself is free.

Send your name and address and cheque ormoney order to Confederation of BushwalkingClubs NSW, PO Box 2090, GPO Sydney 2001.Make the cheque or money order payable tothe Confederation as well.

Also please indicate if you are a member of abushwalking club, and if not whether youwould like a copy of the list of our clubs.

You do have to be a member of one of ourclubs to enter the ‘Where Am I’ Competition.

From the editor’s desk. . .

IndexWhere is It? 2From the Editor’s Desk 3Kyrgyzstan 2006 4000 Emergency Phone Numbers 5Day Walks in Therabulat Country 5Rafting the Franklin River 6Breakfast Creek as you have never seen it before 8The Hippy, the Straight and the Sphinx 10Blue Gum Forest Burns Again 11BWRS Helps in Large Search 12The Adventure Activity Standards

and the Anti-Parks Lobby 13From the Mail Bag 14

Defending Dunphys Nomenclature 14Nomenclature of the Blue Mountains 14

The Bushwalker is into the third year of colour, and the changes seem to have beenwell received.

Some changes have been introduced with this issue. The ‘Where am I’ PhotoCompetition proved popular with a small number of enthusiasts, but logistics will makeit very difficult to keep it going in the coming year. It is therefore taking a bit of aholiday. For the Spring Photo Competition all photos were successfully identified.

Photo 29 of Valentines Hut in KNP was identified with great precision by a number ofpeople; Silvia French (NPA) gets the prize with a ME voucher.

Photo 30 of the cairn on Mt Guouogang was identified by several people; Michael Smith(Nimbin Bushwalkers) gets the prize with a PP voucher.

Photo 31 was of Queens Cascades from Undercliff. Several people came geographicallyclose but had the wrong Falls or wrong viewpoint. Ian Partridge (NPA) gets the prizewith a TT voucher.

Photo 32 was of Mouin & Warrigal from Clear Hill (above Tarros Ladders). The powerline and road in the foreground are the clue. Several people got the mountains rightbut thought it was from Carlons Head. Mark Agnew (BWRS) gets the prize with a PPvoucher.

In addition, Ian Partridge also identified Photo 22 later on. It is the face of Goolara Peaktaken from Black Glen Spur, which is the spur on the south side of Black Creek. Thiswas apparently a hard one. (So is the bottom of that spur ...)

Photo 28 of the bottom of Tarros Ladders was identified recently by several people, butthe picture had since appeared with identification in Michael Keats’ new book ‘DayWalks in Therabulat Country’, and the photo was therefore ‘withdrawn’ from thecompetition. Sorry guys.

We thank the Paddy Pallin group and the Outdoor Life group for their support overthe last two years.

The idea of renaming lots of places in the Blue Mountains continues to attractcorrespondence, with supporters for both sides of the argument. The debate continuesunder “From the Mail Bag” on page 14.

Despite my appeals, we still need someone with some experience to help us with theadvertising and marketing, both for this magazine and the nascent ‘Bush Pages’ on theweb site. No pay, but plenty of glory! Enquiries please to: [email protected].

We are still asking for good articles to print. Clubs and members are encouraged tosubmit relevant articles, with a very strong preference for those with good pictures. Wewill also accept articles from outside bodies where the articles seem relevant tomembers. Articles may be edited for length and content to help fit into our page limit.Pictures should be sent at maximum available resolution: at least 300 dpi. JPG, PDF orTIFF formats are preferred. The text should be sent if possible as a plain text file (*.txt)rather than in a Word file (*.doc). Please send the pictures separate from the text file;do NOT send them embedded in a Word doc file. And, of course, the Editor is alwaysinterested in receiving bushwalking books and maps for review. Enquiries should besent to: [email protected]

Please note that opinions expressed by authors may not represent the officialopinions of the Confederation or any Club. The Editor’s opinions don’t representanyone at all.

Roger CaffinEditor



There were a few anxious moments,as Hugh and Pam made urgentapplications for new passports after

their home was burgled, John just madethe connection at Tashkent, and Mary’sluggage went missing. However, we allassembled in Bishkek and after a touraround the city and a day devoted largelyto getting Uzbekistan visas (and joining theKyrgyzstan Independence Daycelebrations), we were off by mini-bus toKarakol in eastern Kyrgyzstan with ourguides Mirim and Luba.

Side excursions to the 10th centuryBurana tower and the petroglyphs atCholpon Ata helped break up the 400kilometre trip via the northern shore ofLake Issyk-kul. On arrival at Karakol wewere introduced to our trekking guide,Dimitri (Dima), our seven porters, cookand interpreter, and the camp followers’(CF) guide and interpreter.

After a night in Turkestan Travel’s yurtcamp, we were off next morning aboardour 6-wheeled Soviet army truck, followingthe southern shore of Lake Issyk-kul until aswim was called for. Halfway along the182 km long lake, at Barskoon, we turnedsouth along a decent gravel (gold mining)road, arriving a little over-awed by thescenery for a late (damp) lunch at ourcamp site (altitude 2600m) at the junctionof the Barskoon and Dungureme Rivers.

The cloud lifted in the morning and wefound ourselves surrounded by soaring

peaks (over 4500m) covered with a lightdusting of fresh snow. Saying goodbye toCF, we made good time as we headed forDungureme Pass. However, the altitudewas telling by the time we reached the pass(3773m) in the early afternoon and wedidn’t get as far as planned on the descent,camping at 3460m.

This resulted in an extra-long trek of25km to our next camp, a beautiful site(2500m) selected by Denise and CF (whocame up from Karakol in the food truck)where the Djuuku River meets the Kashka-Suu. By this time we were variously

suffering the effects of altitudinitis,diarrhoea, foot soreness and generalfatigue, with only one fully fit walkeramongst us. Faced with three more passesin the next three days, each averaging1000m ascent and descent, we opted outand took a rest day. Four of us walked alittle way up the proposed route and wererewarded with an impromptu smoko with ashepherding family in a yurt. CF walkedup the Djuuku valley the way the trekkershad come.

At Dima’s suggestion, we piled into thetruck after lunch and moved downstream,then up the Djuukuchak tributary to campnear some hot springs. We cleaned up the

litter then wentfor a good soak.The next morningwe returned downthe valley throughthe striking redcliffs of the SevenBulls and theBroken Heart andthen bumped ourway to oursubsequent campin Chon Kyzyl-Suu(2600m), whichrevealed splendidviews up thevalley to the snowcapped peaks.

Leaving CFnext morning, weascended theglorious Kara-Batkak valley then

turned up a side creek towards Archa-Torpass. We were in camp (3500m) before 1pm, giving us plenty of time to explore the

surrounds. Kay climbed a 300m ridge forexercise. A wonderful golden light passedover the peaks before sunset. Attacking thepass (3800m) next morning was achallenge, through the scree fields, with arope-assisted vertiginous drop-off on thefar side. Then it was downhill all the way,to a pristine camp (2600m) on the Jety-Oguz in full view of Oguz-Bashi (5168m)and Yeltsin Peaks. We took a day walk up

to near the base of the glaciers the nextmorning for a rewarding closer look, thenheaded back downstream to meet CF at thejunction of the western Teleti gorge.

We headed up Teleti gorge thefollowing morning, to camp at 2900mbefore attempting Teleti pass (3800m).Awakening to the crack of a tent pole at 4

am, we found ourselves covered in 15 cmof new snow, effectively putting the passout of question. A porter headed backdown early to reach a phone and arrangedfor the truck to meet us as we walked backdown the valley, disappointed but safe.However, the uninitiated revelled in theirfirst touch of fresh snow. The truck tookus back to Karakol, to replenish, then up

Karakol Gorgeto camp(2530m)opposite thejunction of theKel-Ter.

The walkthe next daytook us duesouth, past themonument tofallen climbers,for spectacularviews ofKarakol Peak(5218m). Thethree whocontinuedfurthest wererewarded bythe mostsublime viewof themagnificent

peak overlooking the cloudy blue rivermeandering from under the glacier andacross the meadow, all bathed in brilliantsunshine.

The next morning all 11 of us walked acouple of kilometres downstream to

the junction of Kurgok-Tor Gorge. Aprimitive log bridge got us across therushing Karakol River, with packs

Kyrgyzstan 2006

Hugh Barrett, Narrabri Bushwalking Club

Trekking in Central Asia

First camp, Dungureme River

Holy cow! Where did the snow come from

A camp with a view

The Bushwalker | 5



unstrapped in case of falling in. We thenascended to Sirota, a well used butbeautiful camping spot (2900m) amongstthe trees, which again was improved by aquick emu-parade. The triangular buttressof Ayu-Tor Peak (4320m) could be seen atthe head of the opposing gorge. The CFdescended the following morning, whilethe trekkers climbed upstream past thewaterfall, to be overlooking Ala-Kol Lakebefore lunch. We pushed on to half-wayaround the northern side of the 3 kilometrelong lake, where we camped (3535m) andhad lunch. A brief shower hunted us intoour tents for a snooze and later a couple ofus found our way around towards theeastern end of the lake, for a grand vistaoverlooking the moraine at the end of theglacier feeding down from Ala-Kol Peak(4359m).

We awoke the next morning to a lightdusting of sago snow and frozenunderpants drying on the tent ropes. Johncouldn’t be restrained and jumped (verybriefly) into the lake in company with ever-enthusiastic Yarrick, one of our porters,before we trekked up through the scree toAla-Koll Pass (3860m). A rude shockawaited us on the other side, with thedownslope enveloped in cloud and coveredin snow. We slithered our way downbeyond the reach of both, but a drizzlecame back at us as we finished lunch.

The drizzle was largely gone by the timewe reached our camp site at Altyn

Arashan hot springs, but kept returningovernight and in the morning, so weabandoned plans for a walk up the Anyr-Ter. We took another hot tub instead andbrought our “special dinner”, prepared byour extra-special cook, Luda, forward tolunch in the neighbouring yurt. The truckthen returned us to Karakol, nearly a dayearly but, unbelievably, with two weekshaving elapsed.

The CF had done well and for our lastevening in Karakol had organised a specialperformance for us by a top-flight group oflocal musicians. We bade a sad farewell toour special cook and those porters, guidesand interpreters who had joined us fordinner and the concert, and packed ourbags for the trip back to Bishkek and theairport in the morning, via the southernshore of Lake Issyk-kul. Our effervescentguide, Nelly, was awaiting us at Tashkentairport, for a 10 day tour of the fabulouscities of the Silk Road.

But that is another story.

The recent search around Mt Solitaryin the Blue Mountains for DavidIredale has generated some debate

regarding how the “000” emergencyphone number system operates. You willfind an official statement regarding “000”emergency phone calls athttp://www.emergencycalls.aca.gov.au/

As with Distress Beacons (if you chooseto take one) a mobile phone should onlybe part of an overall Safety Plan. Youshould always leave written details ofyour intended bushwalk with aresponsible person such as immediatefamily member or close friend. See theprevious article in this magazine ‘LetSomeone Know Before you Go’. Youshould carry food and equipmentappropriate to the anticipatedenvironmental conditions.

If you have decided to carry a mobilephone as a safety aid you should be awareof its limitations. Do NOT let the batterygo flat. This usually means leaving itswitched off all the time unless you needto use it. Leave the phone in a waterproofbag until you really need it.

Bushwalkers Wilderness Rescue Squad(BWRS) has placed some notes with linksto other websites on emergencycommunications at the web addressbelow:http://www.bwrs.org.au/pages/emergency coms.html

Remember that the mobile phonenetwork is a communication system forcities and towns. Coverage into bushareas is not guaranteed. Technology isalways changing. Currently, CDMAphones are more likely to get throughfrom bush areas than (the usual) GSMphones. Text messaging (SMS) will often“get through” when voice communicationis unreliable.

In an emergency situation call 000first, if that does not work try 112. Thereis NO call fee for calling “000” Thus, amobile phone with no credit should stillbe able to dial “000”.

The first website (above) has areminder memory prompt. BEFORE youcall “000” decide what service (Police,Fire Brigade or Ambulance) you require.What is the nature of the emergency?What is your location? What is your GridReference? What is the closest town ornatural feature a non-bushwalker calloperator would understand? A mobilephone can sometimes be a usefulcommunication tool in an emergency butit should be only one part of an overallSafety Plan.

Michael Keats, The Bush Club

This is a wonderful book, full of colourpictures and immense amounts of detailabout the Wild Dogs area. It is in a veryconvenient A5 format (goes easily in apack) with a stiff glossy cover, hordes ofcolour pictures and runs to 200 pages.The walks described range from simple tochallenging, but the topo map extractprovided with each walk shows the routein plenty of detail. Michael describes thebook thus:

"This text is ‘the’ guide to the WildDog Mountains. Whether your interest isAboriginal History, Geology, the origin ofPlace Names, early European History,Flowers, Animals, a penchant for cattleduffing or to experience any of 19 walksin this area, this book is for you.

The author spent four yearsresearching and compiling the text thatincludes contributions by the NPWS, theGeographical Names Board and theCentral Mapping Authority.

Historian-bushwalker Wilf Hildurprovided many research leads andcomment. The content has been skillfullyedited by bushwalking icon and editorRoger Caffin [aw shucks]."

What does come through from theroute descriptions (and from all the restof the text) is Michael's huge enthusiasmfor the area, and considerable knowledge

000 Emergency Phone Numbers

Day Walks inTherabulat* Country

* Also known as the Wild Dog Mountains in theGreater Blue Mountains National Park

of the history and geology too. The rocksthere are ancient! The willingness of otherBush Club members to go along with hisexplorations must be mentioned as well.

The book can be ordered now for$27.50 per copy plus P&P ($3.50) fromthe author via his email [email protected] .

Peak Karakol



[This was a seven day trip, but for space reasons thisarticle covers just days 4 and 5, which were in theGreat Ravine section. Selecting which photos to showwas difficult!The trip was done with Brett Fernon of “Adventure byWater”, at www.franklinrivertasmania.com - Ed]

Day Four.The rain had gone away and the river haddropped 200mm over night but it was stillrunning strongly. Today we were takingon the largest rapids for the trip and theGreat Ravine. There would also be acouple of portages to get through. Leavingour campsite we travelled through severalrapids and passed Askance Creek on ourleft. All these side creeks were helping topush up the water level in the Franklin.Huon pines were still plentiful along thissection of the river. As we continueddown the river, Blushrock Falls appearedon our right. We pulled in and walked upto the falls, which were flowing inspectacular glory. As we headed for theBend of the Martins, we got our only viewof Frenchman’s Cap from the river. In thevastness of this wilderness, it was hard tobelieve that this mountain was actuallyover 1200 meters higher than we were onthe river. This section of the river wasrelaxing but this relaxed attitude was

about to change as we came to TheChurn, a set of rapids and falls that couldonly be described as wild raging water. Atthis point we got out of the raft andwalked around these rapids while bothguides took the rafts down one at a time.This involved them riding down the firstrapids and pulling out into somebackwater before a large set of falls. Hereropes were attached to the front and backof the rafts and they were left to go overthe falls unmanned. They were thenpulled into a backwater and the guidesbought them back across the river aboveanother large rapid. We then got back inand rode them down the last big rapid.What a thrill.

Having got through The Churn, thenext section of the river is called

Serenity Sound, a deep and beautifulgorge that terminates at the head ofCoruscades, the longest set of rapids onthe Franklin River. Coruscades consists of

several large boulders and narrow chutes.Again it was out of the rafts for us and wewalked around this mass of boiling water.This time the guides took a raft eachthrough this section and picked us up atthe bottom of the run. It was spectacularto watch them and at times we could notsee our guides in the raft for white water.

From here we paddledthrough TranscendenceReach, the long middlesection of the Great Ravine.

Our next rapid was SideWinder, which was a drop offright on a bend of the river.We stayed in the rafts for thisrapid and rode safelythrough it. After having seeour guides handle the rafts inlast two rapids ourconfidence in their abilityhad grown considerably. Alsowe had now been working asa team for four days and thiswas what we had been

building up to. The next rapid wasThunderush, which was where the rivernarrowed and the water gathered speed.This is a dangerous Rapid and is notnormally run in the rafts. We pulled intothe bank before the top ofthe rapid and unloadedthe heavy top-loadeditems from both rafts.These items were carriedover the rocks by handpast the dangeroussection of this rapid.Ropes were then attachedto the rafts and they werepushed out into the flowwhere they were carriedinto the boiling water pastthe worst section. Therafts were tied up in thefast flowing water andreloaded with thesupplies. We took our

positions in the raft and cast off riding theremainder of the rapid into the stillwaters of The Sanctum. At the end ofThe Sanctum was The Cauldron, a rapidof devouring rocks and white water.There is a high level porterage around theCauldron with a small level camp spot forfour people at the top of the lower cliffline. This campsite has two names: TheSanctum Campsite or The Eagles Nest. Itlooked down on the Cauldron and alsodown the Sanctum section of the GreatRavine.

We padded the rafts into the narrowledge at the start of the porterage

track and pulled our way up and acrossthe top of the cliff using the rope that hadbeen set into the rock face with steel pins.To allow enough room, the two guidesslept on the rafts and the cooking andother chores were done at the rafts. Asafety rope was set up to act as a handrailand to stop people falling over the edge.Dinner was delivered by the guides and Istill do not know how they got those hotmeals up that cliff on plates two at a time.The meal contained bacon and thisbought a Quoll out of the bush into ourcamp. He was not frightened by us andcontinued to walk through and aroundour campsite that evening.

Rafting the Franklin RiverAlwyn Simple – Watagan Wanderers

Rain in Aesthesia Ravine

Descension Gorge

Sidewinder in the Great Ravine

The Bushwalker | 7Volume 32, Issue 1, Summer 2007

Day FiveThis campsite was the most spectacularwe had stayed at. Next morning, lookingout along the Sanctum section of theGreat Ravine, a line of white speckledfoam snaked its way down the centre ofthe gorge like a giant python on thetannin coloured water. As it floated alongwith the river flow it continually changedit shape and pattern but it alwaysremained in the centre of the river.Looking at this it is easy to understandhow the Aboriginal people came up withthe rainbow serpent. Along the peaks atthe top of the ravine the mist floated likea veil softening the colours of the dawn inthe early morning light. As I sat there

taking in the natural beauty of thearea, I was really glad that theFranklin River Dam had neverbeen built as this beautiful placewould have been drowned andlost forever.

Today was a short day andthere was no urgency to startearly. Our first objective was toget past the Cauldron. Because ofthe size and location of the largeboulders blocking the river at theCauldron it was not practical toget a raft through this section.The supplies were loaded in therafts, and, with two people ineach raft, were taken to a largerock on the far side of the river.

Here all supplies were removed from therafts and packed on to a large flat rock.The rafts were then pulled across this rockand dropped back into the river on theother side where they were reloadedwhile tied against the fast flowing current.I had walked over the high porteragetrack to photograph the operation.

With everyone back on board wecontinued down stream through the Innerand Outer Gates and past the Mouse Hole,which is a narrow recess with a cat-likeboulder overlooking a waterfall-wornniche in the river rock. This was a narrowsection of the river. We also stopped tocheck out a set of waterfalls that droppedinto the river through a section of canyonjust south of the Mouse Hole. The rapidshad now reduced in size and ferocity andwe were clear of the Great Ravine. Thenext point of interest was the Biscuit,which is a strata of rock across the riverwith a bite taken out of the centre section

where the river flows through. From herethere was one small rapid and then wewere in Rafters Basin and our camp forthe next two nights. This is the only poolwe saw on the Franklin River. We set upour camp on this pool at the junction ofthe Franklin River and Interlude Creek.

Our thanks to Brett Fernon and hisassistant Josh Waterson who were greatriver guides.

December 2006Puzzle answer

Bluff Tarn near Upper Geehi River KNP

Looking down from Eagles Nest

Leaving the Great Ravine



We met at the Dunphy Carpark ona fine summer morning,checked everyone had enough

water, had some commentary about thesilver mine we were going to look at, thenit was all go down the descent intoCarlons Creek.

The most notable and noticeableaspect of the walk in was the openness ofthe whole valley. Prolonged droughtconditions had removed so much greenmatter – even the nettles were just aboutnon-existent. Everywhere there werevistas of the Carlon valley I had nevernoted before. It was as though this was anew walk in strange country. The deepglades that used to be full of ferns wereno longer. It was all dry, dry, dry.

There was not even a hint of moisturein Carlons Creek from end to end. The bigdry continued all the way to the junctionwith Breakfast Creek with side creeks andbald ridges not normally seen now veryobvious. Arriving at the junction there wassome expectation that Breakfast Creekwould be flowing or at least havesignificant pools of water. Instead it wasdry, just as Carlons Creek had been dry.

As it was now 10:00, we decided tohave morning tea. The openness of thearea was a shock. Where usually it wasnecessary to fight your way around thebushes to switch from the Carlons Creektrack to the Breakfast Creek track, it wasnow a huge, wide and desolate openspace. A check of Breakfast Creek showednot one sign of water with even the

deepest of holes being bone dry. In thewhole length of Breakfast Creek down tothe Coxs River we counted only 7 smallpools of water, most of which were verydegraded and polluted.

The views we had of the banks and thehillsides were atypical of most bushwalkermemories of the area. In the course of ourtraverse we encountered only one black

snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus) and itwas in need of food. Similarly the onlygoanna (Varanus varius), which shot up atree in the creek had empty folds of skinwhere there should be a well-roundedbelly. The wild life is doing it tough.During the course of the day we found thecarcases of 4 wallabies thatpresumably had either diedof dehydration or acomplete lack of nutrients.

The rocks in the creekwere mostly stainedreddish brown, possiblyfrom an algal bloom thathad flourished in the finalphases of the drying upprocess. On the walls of thedeep holes there weresuccessive tide lines as thewater level fell and fell. Atthe point where thewalking track cuts off atight loop and mini canyonin Breakfast Creek, I tookthe party down the dryriver- bed – an experience not oftenavailable. Chris was heard to declaim, ‘Wewould look back on this walk downBreakfast Creek as one of the easiest everdone’.

11:45 and the ‘man-made bench’below the old silver mine filled our sights.Taking water, headlight torches andcameras we set off up the dry ravine tothe opening of the adit. Inside we foundthree geckos (Phyllurus platurus) and at

the terminal end ofthe workings asingle specimen ofthe micro EasternBent Wing Bat,(Miniopterusschreibersiioceanensis) thatquickly moved out ofcamera range.Several wasp nestswere also identified,some with pupaeintact and somerecently vacated.

A piece of quartz-rich gossan wascracked open withanother rock toreveal what might

have been the material that sparked theoriginal interest in the area. It certainlygave off a strong sulphurous, acrid smellthat hung in the air for some time. Afteran hour of fruitless activity looking forother traces we set off for the Coxs Riverjunction for lunch.

13:00 saw most of the party underthe casuarinas munching contentedly. I

opted for a swim first. The Coxs River isnot at its best. It was just flowing. Therewere many tadpoles to be seen includinga few very close to completing thetransition to frogs. They shot off to theshallows as I monopolised the deeperwater. The pool I was in was just large

enough to have a few strokes before I wasbeached. At least I was now cool.

Back on the bank I was dry in secondsand soon into lunch with gusto. Later Philhad a swim as well. Just before we leftGeoff wanted to take a picture of MountsJenolan and Queahgong with the CoxsRiver casuarinas in the foreground. Weboth noted that the sky in that generaldirection was darkening rapidly. Irepeated my nostrum that it was unlikelyto rain as we were in the catchment area.Um…

13:45 we started the return trek. Theair was breathless, the humidity rising,drink stops were frequent. About a thirdof the way along the Creek a couple of bigraindrops fell. They then disappeared.Then they started again. The sky wasdarkening rapidly. It was difficult to seethrough the gloom. Several membersprudently stopped to put on wet weathergear. Pam asked me if I thought it wouldbe heavy. I gave a qualified ‘yes’ but likeJohn I did not bother to put on a wetweather jacket.

About 50 m on Teresa said ‘I think thatis a hail stone’. She stopped, picked it

up and sucked its cold surface, confirmingit. Then there were some more. We keptwalking. Suddenly the heavens openedand unleashed a fury of hail like I havenever experienced. We each stoppedunder the nearest tree to get someprotection from the growing intensity andbarrage of hailstones. They were gettingbigger, some pushing it to nearly 2cm indiameter. They hurt a lot when they hit.

The fusillade became heavier, andheavier. We sought protection by placing

Breakfast Creekas you have neverseen it beforeOr What can go wrong on a simple day walk?

the bed of Breakfast Creek

Wilf Hildur, before and after

Photo at left: The Coxs River.Michael Keats

The Bushwalker | 9



packs strategically as the cold missileattack continued. This was no smallstorm. Around us the ground was rapidlyturning white. The trees above weresystematically stripped of leaves andneedles. This white fury continuedunabated for perhaps 15 minutes. Wewere all wet to the skin and increasinglychilling.

As the onslaught abated we decidedthat we had to keep moving and keep

the circulation going. As fingers becamewarm enough to operate cameras photoswere taken. The air was filled with mistand the landscape was pure northernhemisphere Christmas. It was anunbelievable landscape that we nowsurveyed. The contrast with the drydesiccated scene of an hour earlier,unimaginable.

The hailstones formed thick drifts onthe ground. I was concerned that theycould consolidate into ice and makeprogress hazardous. Fortunately for usthey remained as discrete stones and wecrunched our way through them. Thereally good thing was that all spacesbetween smooth rocks were now filledwith temporary white concrete and thegoing was remarkably fast.

Where the hail had fallen on the higherslopes, the ground had been very hot anda lot of hail soon melted sending smallephemeral waterfalls rushing down intoBreakfast Creek. Many of these refroze asthey entered the colder zone. Those thatdid not provided another joy for us – nicedeep drift of ice- cold water and free iceon what was once the track. Soon we gotused to the idea of slushing our wayforward. Any concerns about how deep itwas were immaterial. We were wet andcold anyway in the middle of summer.

The best bits of our progress werewhen the ice cover hid a deeper hole andthen the chilling water went into moresensitive areas (they did not remainsensitive for long as everything chilledrapidly down to the same temperature).

Seeing the way forward was aproblem, even in a valley as confined asBreakfast Creek when everything is whiteand there are no familiar landmarks. Themist caused by the mixing of hot and coldair distorted vision and muffled sound. Allagreed we were in the middle of a uniqueexperience. The hail eased off and finallystopped leaving a changed world that an

hour earlier could not have beenimagined.

Arriving at the morning tea site(junction of Carlons Creek an BreakfastCreek) we just had to stop and takepictures of the contrasting situation. Wenow looked like refugees that had escapedfrom a prison camp in winter in CentralEurope.

As we climbed up the Carlons Creektrack, the hail

drifts lessened andfinally where the oldfence line crosses thetrack theydisappeared leavingthe track scouredand the groundtemporarily refresh-ed. There had notbeen enough hail tocause any runoff orto even form pools inthe creek bed.

It was a relief thatearly concerns thatthe vehicles wouldbe hail-damagedwere baseless, as thehailstorm had beenconfined to a veryspecific area – alldown in the valley. A

quick change into dry clothes and thesingularity of our experience began tosink in.

We had been through something veryspecial. Prospective member Geoff (on hisfirst walk with the Bush Club) announcedto all that he was going to book on mycyclone walk next and, yes, he wanted todo the sand storm and volcano walks aswell!

refugees, but cheerful ones



Sphinx Rock is between Blue Knob(Mount Burrell) and Mount Neville.I can see it from my place.

Returning from a long trip I know I amnearly home when Sphinx Rock revealsitself, silhouetted against the skyline. Iwant to be near it, spend some time there,climb it. I decide to go, but there aremany barriers to this endeavour. Firstly itis mostly surrounded by private land. Youneed permission. Lots of people don’twant you up there. It’s their personalmeditation spot, they are self-appointedprotectors of the aboriginal sacred site orthey just don’t want you to see what’shappening on their land.

A few months ago I joined a groupfrom the Northern Rivers BushwalkingClub who planned a day walk to theSphinx. We got permission from aCommunity whose land we needed tocross and slogged up the slopes of MountBurrell from the valley floor. After 4 hourswe made it to a lookout a few hundredmetres from Sphinx Rock. It was agratifying moment to see the Sphinx, endon. Out of time, we had to turn around(after just 10 minutes) and spend the next4 hours going back down through virgin,trackless rainforest. Much closer, but notgood enough.

A Bundjalung story tells of a sacredcave high on the mountain at Blue Knob(a dangerous place) that was was home toan old woman who had a role in trainingthe men who wanted to become clevermen. They went to this witch to learn thethings that such men should know. At thefinish of the training the final test camewhen the witch threw them over the cliffto see if they could save themselves.Whatever the outcome the witch used hermagic power to stop them from coming toharm.

There is a public corridor in NightcapNational Park that will take you there: theskyline traverse from Mount Nardi to BlueKnob. I have spoken to people who havebeen out and back in a long day. They sayyou have to stride it out. I decide to taketwo days and put the trip in The NimbinBushwalkers Club walks programme. A

young club, not even a year old, this is thefirst overnighter, only one other personresponds. So it came to pass that Francaand I stepped off the bitumen at MountNardi and straight into the forest, not tosee the sun for the next 5 hours. Wewandered down to Pholis Gap, namedafter a timber worker Athol Pholi whowas killed here felling a tree. Catbirds callfrom the forest. Is it a warning or agreeting? We turn left and followGoogarna Road, now overgrown withtrees and weeds. Back in the 1980’sFranca drove down this road all the wayto the flying fox. She was part of theprotest in 1982 that blockaded the MountNardi Road and took on the loggers. Sheremembers silk-screening the banners.The action was successful and logginghere was stopped.

The next four hours are spent ploddingalong this remnant of the logginginfrastructure. Where the canopy opens alittle and lets in sunshine, wild raspberryand lantana thrive. The forest proper isfull of palms, ferns, figs, pademelons,snakes and scrub turkeys. The latter havebuilt nests 4 metres across and 1.5 metreshigh, covering the road completely. Nomaps are needed, leave the ‘road’ and youare back in the Big Scrub, dominated bylawyer vines.

We have lunch at the flying fox, builtin 1948 to lower the logs down the

mountain to the Kunghur Sawmill. Thecable, once 1.6 km long, is still tied to itsanchor point. A lot of the massive timberstructure is still standing and I amsurprised at the size of the trees that havegrown back in the intervening 24 yearssince logging was stopped. Forty fiveminutes later we reach the lookout thatreveals the challenge ahead, how to getup on to the Sphinx. Nobody I spoke tocould give me any specific directions, onlythat you had to go around one side or theother.

There was an intervening peak to getpast. We spent an exhausting and fruitlesshour trying the south side only to bestopped at some dangerous cliffs. Wefound it was possible to just go over the

top and we sat there with our firstuninterrupted view of Sphinx Rock. Atthis spot we were on a narrow web ofrock that was part of the Mount Warningcaldera. If our nerves could take it we had200 metres to go, along a strip of rockjust a few metres wide with a sheer dropon both sides. It had the catenary curve ofa suspension bridge, but was covered ingrass, lilies and stunted trees. There wasno hesitation from either of us, we werebeing drawn to the Sphinx as if by astring.

On the way over I noticed thatwallabies had grazed even here. Wefinally got to touch the Sphinx, appearingas a sheer cliff rising above us. We sat forhalf an hour without speaking a word.The view was breathtaking. To the northwas Mount Warning and the nearbysisters. To the north-west the BorderRanges and to the south Nimbin Rocks,the township of Nimbin and theKoonorigan Range. The sun was bright,

the air clear and the whole place had amystery and reverence similar to AyresRock. This was easily one of the bestexperiences I have had in 44 years ofbushwalking.

Hoping to summit, we followed aledge for about 50 metres on the northside, but it ended in sheer cliffs. A falcontook to the air screeching and tried to seeus off. It may have been the spirit of theold woman, but the message was clearenough. We had a look at the southernside which appeared to be an almostvertical slope covered with trees. Itlooked possible but reckless. Time to finda campsite. We made it back to the flying

The Hippy, the Straight andthe Sphinx.Michael Smith, Nimbin Bushwalkers Club

Photo: Mount Warning from Sphinx Rock

Sphinx Rock from a little way off

The Bushwalker | 11



fox and pitched our home-made tents on athick layer of leaves, over a fine, loamytilth. As night fell Wampoo Pigeons calledfrom the forest, a soapy gargle, the lastgasp of a drowning man, wam-poo, wam-poo. A sugar glider called from a tree, nodoubt attracted by our lights.

Twenty seven years ago Franca left heruniversity art course in Victoria, bought ashare in the Tuntable Community, lived ina tent, knocked up a shack, built a houseand had babies. In 1973 I had justgraduated from university and heard ofthe Aquarius Festival in Nimbin. People,hippies some would call them, werecoming up here and starting communities.

I decided not to, but ended up hereanyway 33 years later. Franca, avegetarian, munches into some nori shehad made earlier. I tell her nothing of mymeal which has home-grown beef in it.Specifically a Murray Grey heifer that Iwatched being born, lovingly tended for18 months and, in an act of betrayal, sentto the place where the knives are sharp.All our food has a history, a life story.

Not much chance of sleeping throughthe first-light chorus of birds in the

forest. Our packs were significantlylighter, each of us had brought 6 litres ofwater. Temperatures of 29 degrees werepredicted. A first for me was the wearingof leather gloves to grasp the thorns thatwould ensnare me. Franca carried a pairof seceteurs to deal with the lawyer vines.Either way we had to wait-a-while.

On the way out we ran into Sandy andRob. They were off to do much the samewalk as we had hoped to do. Their planwas to sleep on the top of Sphinx Rockthat night and continue over the top ofBlue Knob, ending on the Blue SpringsCommunity. They have done the tripbefore and gave us all the instructions weneeded yesterday. For the time beingSphinx Rock was, for us, an unfinishedproject.

We soon passed a dozen members ofthe The Nimbin Bushwalkers Club whohad come out to meet us on a day walk.They needed to climb a mountain beforeturning back, so we left them to it.National Parks have taken all references tothis track off their brochures and signage.It was good to see it still being used.Franca decides to go back and finish heruniversity art course next year, and Iresolve to try and embrace some of theAquarius values. Nimbin is that sort ofplace.

Franca on the abandoned Kunghur Flying Fox

Ian Brown

A large and controversial bushfireburnt the upper Grose Valley lastNovember. While thankfully no

human lives and property were lost, the fireburnt some 15,000 hectares of BlueMountains National Park (and WorldHeritage Area), much of it to a highintensity, and damaged rare plant sites andmany kilometres of walking track. Firesuppression costs were up to $500,000 aday just for aircraft, and the final cost willexceed $10 million. The park restorationcosts and environmental impacts areunknown, but the long-term protection ofGrose Valley ecosystems are threatened bytoo-frequent fire.

Blue Gum Forest burnt in a very hothead fire on the ‘blowup’ day of 22November which threw spots 12 km in frontof the fire. It was the third time the near-sacred forest has burnt in 24 years (1982,1994 and 2006), and this was the hottest.About 80% of the canopy was scorched andmost of the understorey removed. Thefuture of many trees is uncertain.

These impacts were seen by many asunnecessary and produced a groundswell ofconcern in the Blue Mountains andconservation communities. Issues includedthe failure to suppress the fires while small,the large extent of backburning undersevere conditions, the escape of somebackburns, the lack of recognition ofheritage values, the power of the RFS, thecost, the burning of Blue Gum Forest, themedia ‘spin’ and the long-term survival ofpark ecosystems. A particular concern wasthe dominance of road-based strategies andresources over remote area (helicopter-based) firefighting capability. Wouldgreater investment in remote area crewshave paid off in a much smaller (andcheaper) fire?

The outcry included a full pagestatement in the local newspaper funded by143 residents (I was one). It pointed outthat the Grose Valley is burning too often,noted the threat of increased fire withglobal warming and called for anindependent review of the fire. The SydneyMorning Herald ran an ‘expose’ by a localjournalist, in which Keith Muir of theColong Foundation queried whether BlueGum had been sacrificed. It also reporteddisputes within the multi-agency fire teamover how to manage the fire. In the localpaper, former NPWS Blue Mountains fireecologist Nic Gellie published a critique ofthe fire control strategies. Mostcommentators did not criticise those whoworked on the fire, including manyhundreds of Rural Fire Service (RFS)volunteers.

The public reaction from RFSCommissioner Phil Koperberg (who

was the new state Labor candidate for theseat of Blue Mountains) and sitting localmember (and Minister for theEnvironment) Bob Debus was rapid andvigorous. They denounced critics, said the‘campaign’ was ‘political’, praisedvolunteers, refused to acknowledge anyproblems (despite the facts) and denied areview. Now that some time has passed,and more issues with the fire have come tolight, local critics and conservation groups

are pursuing discussions with RFS, NPWSand others to seek better management offires for the future.

While the ‘fog of fire’ still surrounds thefull story, more facts are becoming clear.The first few days were critical to laterevents. The fire began with two separateignitions. A lightning strike was spotted onBurrakorain Head on 14 November andattacked by NPWS remote area firefighters.Good progress was disrupted when theirtwo helicopters were diverted to a secondignition (suspected lightning) west ofDarling Causeway in the Hartley Valley.

In a stiff westerly wind, this second firemoved quickly up to the causeway, whereextensive backburning was undertaken. Acombination of the head fire and backburnscrossed the road-railway corridor in manylocations that night and spread into thenational park in the head of the GroseValley. These were not contained, andmeanwhile the unattended Burrakorain firehad also spread significantly.

The decision was taken to fall back to alarge area backburn around the north

of Blackheath and Mount Victoria andalong Bells Line of Road. Several lineswere attempted to hold the fire across thevalley between Pierces Pass and BanksWall, but more backburn escapes inworsening conditions caused these to fail.One breakout sent fire across ThunderGorge towards Mount Tomah and anothernear Anvil Rock sent fire into the valleytowards Blue Gum and around theescarpment towards Blackheath.

When all this fire, enlarged bybackburns, blew up on 22 November it raneast into the area burnt in the 2002 Mt Hayfire. Low fuels combined with an easterlyweather change enabled close containmentto finally work – but the fire also threwspots beyond the 2002 fire to threaten thelower mountains. A huge extension of thebackburn to Faulconbridge (and the entireGrose Valley), pushed by some in the RFS,was only narrowly averted by dampweather and RAFT suppression of thespotovers.

The upshot is that all of the upper GroseValley from near Mt Hay has been burnt,including Govett Gorge and parts of the MtHay plateau. The valley and all walkingtracks between Mt Victoria and EvansLookout will remain closed untilreconstruction can be completed. Whetherany of this could have been avoided bybetter initial attack or different strategieswill be debated for some time, as will long-term improvements in fire suppression forour national parks.

[Ian has attempted to be fairly neutralabout the RFS management of thefirefighting as he is still involved in theassessment process. I have seen and weptover the carnage inflicted by the methodsused to handle the whole fire incident.Surely we can do better than to controlburn the entire Grose Valley just to protecta few bits of badly-sited private property? -Editor]

Ian Brown is a Bushwalker, former NPWSRanger and Operations Manager with 20years firefighting experience (mostly inBlue Mtns) and currently an environmentalconsultant

Blue Gum Forest Burns Again



IntroductionBushwalkers Wilderness Rescue Squad(BWRS) was called out for an 8am start onFriday 15th December at Queen VictoriaHospital, Kings Tableland Road, WentworthFalls. The task was to assist in the search forDavid Iredale, a 17 year old bushwalker, whohad been missing since midday Monday.

Three boys were doing a 3 day walk overMt Solitary as an unapproved practice walkfor their Duke of Edinburgh gold trip.Sunday night they camped on Mt Solitary butcould not find water. So they were out ofwater when they started the descent to theKedumba River, where they knew there waswater. They had purification tablets becausethe water is polluted from Katoomba sewage.Near midday the boys rested at a spotperhaps about 15 – 20 minutes away fromthe water. For some reason David wentahead of his companions. He rang “000” ashort time later saying he was lost. Therewere some more “000” phone calls over ashort period. The other two boys continuedwalking and when David wasn’t at thelocation where the track crosses the river,they assumed he had gone ahead again andcontinued up the track towards the fire trail.A rescue party met the two boys. This wasthe first time they knew that David wasmissing. A search was commenced thatcontinued into Tuesday, Wednesday,Thursday, with absolutely no trace of David.

Friday – day 5The tasks given the two BWRS teams(assuming that David was looking for water)took them into a close search of the creeksystems south of the foot track and then ageneral search of all the other ridges andcreeks in the area. The BWRS Toyota TroopCarrier joined other vehicles in the extensivemovement of personnel in and out of theKedumba Valley via the (normally locked)Kedumba Pass road.

The area was steep in parts withnumerous small waterfalls and cliffs in thewater courses; some scrubby places withlawyer vine but generally fairly open under acanopy of tall trees, with lots of fallen timberand the occasional rock outcrop to search.Despite the continuous drizzly rain there wasvery little pooled water even in rockdepressions that would normally be a pool.

Later in the day BWRS did a more generalsearch of the remainder of their allotted area,concentrating on the creek systems andridges between which included checking thedeep pools of the Kedumba River and thethick vegetation along its banks. Generallythis area was not as steep but did have morevegetation and fewer tall trees.

BWRS personnel camped at KedumbaCrossing. This good camp site wasreasonably flat with plenty of wood besideflowing water that unfortunately was unfit todrink.

Saturday – day 6Extra BWRS personnel along with four NSWCave Rescue members arrive asreinforcements. The task was to do athorough line search (in one big team of 17)of the area west of that searched on Friday upto the cliffs below Mt Solitary. The area hadsome cliffs and was generally very ruggedcountry, including logged areas with lots of

forestry off-cuts covered in lawyer vine. Thefinal line search down a steep slope wasdefinitely easier than searching across thecontours. Still misty rain in the morning butmainly overcast by afternoon with someslight drizzle. Creeks still dry but theoccasional small pool of dirty water youcould have sucked up in desperation.

The fact that no clues had emerged after 6days of searching was puzzling and meant weneeded to have a wide search so we couldtick off areas. No result of any kind so far!

The Troop Carrier carried in fresh waterand food from the Salvation Army EmergencyServices Catering Unit now at the QueenVictoria search base. BWRS personnel fromFriday had to conserve their food supplies incase they needed to go out overnightsomewhere else.

Sunday – day 7This was a warm, sunny day tending to hotby midday. The task was to conduct acontact line search of the more southern partof the area searched on Friday (between thefire trail and the first major creek). About 10am BWRS met a combined SES / RFS team inthe same area. BWRS was then re-tasked tothe corresponding area east of the KedumbaRiver. This has some much steeper countrywith much loose footing. Black snakes wereseen on the banks of the Kedumba River(surprise, surprise). One footprint size 7-8was sighted in a Lyre Bird mound track trapand noted. Details were radioed back tosearch HQ.

Many BWRS members had to return homeso Kedumba Crossing was abandoned.Remaining BWRS members stayed (forsecurity reasons) with the BWRS tent andother equipment at Queen Victoria Hospital.During Sunday the Troop Carrier drove alongfire trails to the south and west of MtSolitary. Great drive along usually closedaccess roads but no sightings.

A late afternoon quick search wasconducted along the Kedumba River south ofKedumba Crossing by a combined team ofNSW Cave Rescue, Blue Mountains ClimbersRescue (BMCR) group and BWRS. Theevening feed, again provided by the SalvationArmy, was much appreciated.

Monday – day 8A pleasant clear night and warm day. Thetask was a contact line search of an area eastof the Kedumba River north of the foot trackup to the fire road. The area is extremelysteep with some large water falls, lots of layervine, difficult creek beds and much brokenrocky country, very steep dirt banks in parts.Very difficult country to search thoroughly.

Water levels in the Kedumba River mean akayak search of the lower reaches of the rivermay be possible. Two kayakers (suggested byBWRS) from Wollongong were contacted byPolice for an early start on Tuesday.

Tuesday – day 9New information meant a change of tacticswas required. The task for a combined teamof NSW Cave Rescue, BMCR and BWRS was aclose-order search either side of the MtSolitary track from top to bottom and someadjacent areas. BMCR also have a team tothe south side of the BWRS area.

The water level in the Kedumba River iscontrolled by Katoomba sewerage treatmentworks. Unfortunately, the river level wasdown from when the kayakers weresuggested. After paddling a few pools uphigh in the system, the remaining 9 km was askull drag over mud and sand (up to theknees in places). The level of the dam is solow at the moment. This area needed to bechecked, so thanks to them for a job welldone.

The BWRS search area was extremelysteep with cliffs and very rocky, brokensometimes steep ground. This made thegoing very tough. Some parts required verycompetent people to go back and searchsome of the cliffs without day packs.Fortunately the vegetation was sparse.

The BWRS task was completed beforelunch. During lunch we overheard radiotraffic confirming that a body had been foundwhich was probably David. A very sombreteam packed up and filed back to theirtransport.

ConclusionThe task of finding David was achieved,although all searchers would have preferredto have found David alive. They naturallyfelt ‘flat’ after such a sustained effort.However, this outcome must be of somecomfort as in south west Tasmania there stillare unlocated bushwalkers. (BWRS assistedin the search for Wade Butler nearPrecipitous Bluff in 1995)

At the time of writing, conjecture only ispossible regarding the death of David. At 17David was too young to have done muchbushwalking and have much stamina forwalking in hot, dry weather. The lack ofclues suggests that David was suffering fromheat stroke (not thinking clearly) and mayhave died quite quickly.

Over 30 members of BWRS assisted forone or more days of the five days that wewere involved. We completed our tasks withobvious professionalism and dedication thatwas appreciated by David’s family. OurBWRS headquarters tent was able to provideshelter for David’s parents in the heat andrain of this search.

This has been one of the biggest searchesin the Blue Mountains for quite a few years.We were all impressed at how well it was runwith such large numbers from so manydifferent agencies. The sheer number ofvolunteers from all agencies over the manydays was staggering. There were personnelfrom SES, RFS (Rural Fire Service) and BlueMountains Climbers Rescue group. BWRSwas allowed to call in assistance from severalother VRA Squads to maintain the overalllevel of VRA personnel present. BWRSwould like to thank NSW Cave Rescue, SouthCoast and Cessnock VRA for their assistance.

[Editor's note: subsequent informationsuggests that David may have become lost onthe initial descent from the col at SolitaryLookout, going straight down the hill onanimal tracks rather than sideways at thefoot of the cliffs to the crest of the spur. Morethan a few bushwalkers have been caughtthis way - including your Editor! It seemsDavid may have fallen and died the first day,although this remains with the Coroner todetermine.]

BWRS Helps in Large SearchDoug Floyd and Keith Maxwell

The Bushwalker | 13



An Update by Adventure Victoria[Reproduced here as a warning to all walkers andClubs in NSW - Ed.]

You might be aware that in its Septemberreport on the Adventure ActivityStandards, the Outdoor Recreation Centrelent strong support to two lobby groupsthat are campaigning on an anti-parksplatform in the Victorian elections. Manyin the outdoors community, regardless oftheir view on the AAS issue, will find thisdisturbing.

Recreation Environment Group (REG)is opposing the Greens on an anti-nationalparks platform. Push for the Bush lobbiesagainst national parks, land managementrelated controls generally, the Greens andthe current Victorian government. TheORC has expressed its backing for boththese organisations under the AAS andVictorian Government banners.

In a subsequent circular, the ORC hasnow said that is was simply passing oninformation rather than expressingsupport. The original statement is quotedbelow and you can judge for yourself.Also, the ORC now says that theorganisations in question are not politicaland want only to support access to crownland. This is not so and their natures areplain to see. Their websites are quotedbelow and you can check their websites.

Adventure Victoria has several pointsto make.

1) We do not wish to deny anyone theopportunity to make a mistake and makeamends. But the ORC’s statement was nota slip of the tongue. It was unequivocaland unambiguous. It said what it said andit obviously meant it. It is extremelyunlikely that it did not know the policiesof these organisations. But if not, whydoes it now pretend that theseorganisations have a narrow andinnocuous focus when their websites showplainly that they are party political andoppose national parks?

2) The ORC made a mistake inprinciple. It now acknowledges that itshould not air its political views under thebanner of a government funded project.Whether principle is the reason for theORC’s backdown or fear of jeopardisingfuture grants, we can’t know.

3) It is false for the ORC to representthese groups now as simply pro-access.The aim of the Recreation EnvironmentGroup is to remove impediments toinappropriate vehicular access to sensitiveareas. The aim of Push for the Bush is toremove management controls on a host ofrecreation and commercial activities. Bothare openly and fiercely anti-Greens andanti-parks. I don’t like to paraphrase, soplease read their websites for yourself.

4) We do not reproach the ORC forrepresenting their eighteen or somembers, one of whom is the drivingforce behind REG, and perhaps many ofwhom support the anti-parks philosophy.But insofar as the ORC operates itsAdventure Activity Standards project itpurports to represent a vastly widerstakeholder group. It is an abuse topromote its political/philosophicalpositioning through the AAS project.

5) The AAS threatens recreation accessto public land and this is one of AV’s mainreasons for opposing the AAS project in itscurrent form. It is ironic that the ORCshould belatedly attach itself to the pro-access bandwagon while doggedlypersisting in the AAS as it is.

6) This development forces AdventureVictoria to take a position on theunderlying issue. We do so with littledifficulty. We believe that the vastmajority of our members are pro-parksand pro-conservation. As a committee, wehold the view that remote and naturalareas are integral to the activities that wepromote and represent. Further webelieve that our broader socialresponsibility requires us to support landand nature conservation measuresregardless of the compromises that mightthey might impose from time to time onour recreation. Adventure Victoria is pro-national parks and supports conservationin land management.

The following excerpts provide thebackground. First, from AAS Update No.28, Sept 2006:

‘Getting politicalThe ORC Victoria has receivedinformation regarding two separateinitiatives that are being established toput some power back into the handsof the many individuals (andorganisations) that depend uponaccess to Victorian crown land fortheir livelihood and/or simply fortheir sanity (recreational access).

Though these are distinctinitiatives they are worthy of mentionin this part of the AAS update becauseyou may wish to contact, join, supportor even help lead these worthy causes.The similarity seems to be that theyboth support the need to conservationand careful land management but,particularly relevant in the upperhouse, they wish to place a voice thatcan clearly be heard supporting theabsolute need for public having accessto public land now as well as in thefuture.

For more information you cancontact the ORC or the newlyestablished ‘RecreationalEnvironmental Group (REG) or The‘Push for the Bush’ campaign led bythe Mountain Cattlemen.

ORC subsequently issued a denial in AASUpdate No. 29, Oct 2006:

‘In the last update we added asection called “Getting political”. Thiswas to pass on information we hadreceived from two groups lobbying foraccess to crown land. These wereRecreation Environment Group (REG)and Push for the Bush. We receivedsome comments that the ORC shouldnot be supporting such groups andreminding us that we are not apolitical organisation. In this issue Ijust want to re-assure readers that theORC has no political allegiances otherthan lobbying all to all groups toencourage the development of theoutdoor recreation industry in Victoria

through communication, networkingand representation. & encourage safeand fun involvement in outdoorpursuits at all levels throughinformation education and direction.However as part of these aims it isimportant to inform the industry ofinitiatives that may be of interest toindividuals within the outdoorindustry. I apologise to anyone whowas offended by the circulation of thisinformation.’

Adventure Victoria obtained the followingfrom the websites of the twoorganisations:

‘The Recreational EnvironmentGroup is an alliance of recreationalusers of public land in Victoria who arevery concerned about the likelihood ofpoliticians from the ‘Greens’ politicalparty holding the balance of power inVictoria’s Upper House following thestate election on the 25th November,2006. To stop this happening, REG willbe contesting two seats in the VictorianUpper House.’

‘We want to ensure that theopportunity to participate intraditional outdoor activities isprotected, as is the environment inwhich they are conducted. Recentyears have seen a ‘lock-up and lock-out’ mentality in relation to Victoria’spublic land. ‘Lock-up’ areas in nationalparks, marine parks etc and ‘lockout’recreational activities.’

‘The Green policies for theNovember election include establishingmore national parks, alongside givingfree heroin to addicts. REG’s focus ison encouraging people to participatein healthy, outdoor activities - ratherthan those at the end of a deadlyneedle.’

And‘What we [Push for the Bush] stand

for …Fighting for public land access,sorting out “the neighbours from hell”[DSE and Parks Victoria], alpinegrazing, better fire management,supplying Victoria’s timber needs,private land rights, farmers, irrigators,fishing, horse riding and especiallyexposing the hypocrisy and danger ofthe Greens’ party policies.’

‘The current review of the permitsystem for organisations conducting atrade or business upon crown land andthe increased push to upgrade state toNational Parks threatens or isperceived to threaten the availableland for Victorian community groupsand individuals to undertake theirleisure activities.’

The policy of Adventure Victoria inrelation to Adventure Activity Standardsis that the question of standards foramateur recreation should be removedfrom the scope of the AAS. Relevantrepresentative bodies should be free tocreate such guidelines only if it suits theirneeds and should be free to createrelevant, satisfactory guidelines specific totheir circumstances.

Rod CostiganPresident, Adventure Victoria (Bush and

Mountain Recreation Association of Victoria)http://www.adventurevictoria.org

The Adventure Activity Standards and the Anti-Parks Lobby



From The mail bag. . .

Nomenclature of theBlue MountainsRe the article by Jim Smith —Can the word ‘contentious’ be removed fromthe debate about the nomenclature of the BlueMountains please?

As a bushwalking/environment movementthat claims an empathy with the naturalworld, I think we can support the renaming ofthe Blue Mountains to indigenous nameswhere they exist and are desired by localindigenous people. This ned not diminish thecontribution of Myles Dunphy and WilliamCuneo to conservation.

Having just finished reading ‘Blood on theWattle’ by Bruce Elder, I am very conscious ofthe human and cultural annihilation imposedupon Indigenous People, and of the land theftthroughout our Australian History. IndigenousPeople are still fighting for their land - thevery least we can do is to become involved ina reconciliation process of renaming thelandscape. Let’s move forward and heal thepast.

Meredith Brownhill

CommentI doubt the word ‘contentious’ can be removedfrom the debate as many people stronglydisagree with the proposals.

Countries have been invaded, conqueredand renamed for thousands of years all aroundthe world. It is a fact of life. These names havebeen in use for long enough.

The First Fleet arrived here over twohundred years ago: many generations havepassed since then. Surely it is time we stoppedliving in the past and moved on into the 21stcentury. This land belongs to us ALL now. Weshould ALL call ourselves Australians, withequal rights and equal opportunities for ALL.

Editor

Defending DunphysNomenclatureJim Smith (see “Myles Dunphy and WilliamCuneo: Two Misguided Nomenclaturists of theBlue Mountains” Place Names Australia,March 2006, and The Bushwalker, Winter2006) takes aim at Myles Dunphy for hisnomenclatural work in the Blue Mountains,accusing him of stealing names andmisappropriating others.

I personally believe that Dunphy’snomenclature was a great achievement. Hewas neither anthropologist nor historicalresearcher, but his mapping andnomenclature brought the Blue Mountains tolife to a wider public, not least to those whodesired to experience the mountains withminds sympathetic to its appreciation andpreservation.

To the best of his abilities Myles tried topreserve as many of the authentic old namesas he could. He may have made somemistakes but many authentic old names areknown to us today because Myles preservedthem. It was Myles’ policy to give aboriginalnames precedence and to the best of hisability he did so. If he did not know theaboriginal name for every ridge and range it isbecause no individual from his time or beforehad the resources to make such a study. IfDunphy did not know the aboriginal system ofnames, it is likely that few, if any, of his localinformants did either.

The task of obtaining genuine local nameswas not always straightforward. The fact isthat some of Dunphy’s local informants werenot very good sources of information when itcame to place names. Generations of settlersand cattlemen had filled the countryside with‘Rocky’, ‘Stony’, ‘Stockyard’ and ‘Breakfast’creeks. These names were not so set in stoneas some might think, and could be appliedfluidly. A feature with such a name might alsobe known to some by the name of the settlerfamily who lived there, and there was nocertainty that the family at the opposite end ofthe valley used the same names.

Dunphy found some good sources ofinformation in men such as Bill Morton,manager of Colong Station. But others such asTimothy Brennan (1851-1938) of Oberon whoknew Kanangra and Burragorang well andcould talk horses all night, were not soforthcoming. After drawing blank on anumber of questions put to him by Dunphy,the questioner did not quite know what tomake of it when Brennan told him thatBurragorang pioneer John Lacy and hisfriends called Kanangra (which presumablythey were able to view from the rim of theBurragorang) ‘Mini Mini’ (though we knowthe earliest name, recorded by Govett, to beThurat). Dunphy was incredulous that a manwho seemed only capable of refering to thenames of the major creeks in the same area interms of ‘the left creek’ and ‘the right creek’could come up with assertion like that. Wemight have reason to doubt the veracity ofBrennan’s claim (or even of Dunphy’sinterpretation of it) but on the other hand, ifBrennan’s statement is indeed reliable (andpresuming ‘Mini Mini’ to be aboriginal) thenperhaps it is that the aborigines themselvessometimes had more than one name forspecific features.

Names can also be buried deeply in locallore. Such, I think, could be the case withBernard O’Reilly’s belief that Yellow DogRidge (at the centre of Dunphy’s Wild DogMountains) had for long been known as PeterO’Reilly’s Range. Bernard O’Reilly (1903-1975) made this known in 1954 in his book

“Green Mountains”, where he stated that forupwards of seventy years the ‘granite’ peak ofYellow Dog had been known by his father’sname. This fact though does not appear tohave been communicated to bushwalkersprior to this, nor am I aware of any map orearlier reference to corroborate the claim,although Bert Carlon (adopted son of “GreenGully” pioneer Norbert Carlon) restated it in aletter to the Geographical Names Board in1968 when he pointed out that “Yellow DogRidge was always Peter O’Reilly Range.”

It should be taken into account thatDunphy and Alan Rigby (who were at theforefront of bushwalker explorations in thearea) both approached Norbert Carlon,Burragorang-bred resident of “Green Gully”since 1908, for information. Before Dunphycoined “The Wild Dogs”, the region wasreferred to by some bushwalkers as TheMouins, and I suspect Norbert Carlon to havebeen the likely source for this name. At thattime Dunphy and Rigby referred to the threemain peaks as Mouins One, Two and Three.Dunphy thought the name Mouin should bestapply to Mt. Mouin itself, I think with somejustification. He named Mouins Two andThree Mounts Warrigal and Dingorespectively. This was the beginning of his‘Dogs’ theme which was developed on thebasis of older cattlemen’s names in the vicinitysuch as Black Dog and probably also WhiteDog. This to me is one example that showsDunphy, if inventive, was also a thoughtfulnomenclaturist.

According to Alan Rigby, Norbert Carlonmaintained that stockmen never ventured intoThe Mouins as the place provided little feedfor livestock. Carlon considered that the fewwalkers who explored the tops were probablythe first people to do so. This they might ormight not have been. A few years ago I askedlast of the Cox’s River men, the late BenEsgate, who spent a lot of his youth in theMegalong and Cox’s River regions in the1920s and 30s, for his view on the claim ofprecedence for ‘Peter O’Reilly Range’. Ben wassomewhat dismissive of it, saying in fact hecould not recall his mentor Norbert Carlon (anO’Reilly relative) using the term. It istherefore possible that if the name was in useit was, in the main, used by the O’Reilly clanand that it left the district when the familytransferred to Queensland towards the end ofthe 1st World War, when Bernard O’Reillywas in his early teens. It was in fact a voicefrom Queensland (Bernard’s) rather than (asfar as I understand it) a clamour from theMegalong that first put forward the claim ofprecedence for ‘Peter O’Reilly Range’.

In light of this I think the proposition byJim Smith and others (see Michael Keat’s “DayWalks In Therabulat Country”, 2006) to namethe entire backbone of The Wild DogMountains from the end of Narrow Neck tothe bottom of Yellow Dog ‘Peter O’ReillyRange’ a big call. If this is to be justifiedsubstantiation is required for unconvincingstatements such as the one in Jim Barrett’s“The Place Names of the Blue Mountains andBurragorang Valley” 1994: “During the annualmusters at Konangaroo Clearing… PeterO’Reilly (father of Bernard) would often lookup and admire the hump across the river andhe eventually became (probably) the first toclimb it.” This statement has more the ring ofsupposition to it than it does of actual fact, yetit is included twice in Michael’s book. Michaelalso cites unspecified and undated personalnotes prepared by Jim Smith, in which it isstated categorically – “The residents of theBurragorang and Megalong Valleys called themountain which, at the end of Narrow Neck,separates the two valleys, Peter O’Reilly’s

Mountain.” This could be interpreted as TheMouins generally, or Mount Mouinspecifically, but supporting evidence again isneeded.

I would suggest a cautious approach toany proposed wholesale revision or “cleansweep” of Dunphy’s nomenclature asrecommended by Jim Smith in his article. Forinstance I am not sure what would beachieved by modifying Dunphy’s‘aboriginalised’ names such as MorriberriPass. The allegation that such names mockaboriginal language should be discounted.Myles delighted in aboriginal words:aboriginal languages and English are repletewith borrowings from one another. The‘aboriginalising’ of Maurice Berry’s name is anexample of Dunphy’s recognition andappreciation for aboriginal linguistic euphony,and should be left as such.

Dunphy was determined there be a futurefor wilderness in the Blue Mountains. To himblank spaces on the map without namedfeatures were vulnerable to unsympatheticexploitation and destruction, and who is tosay he was wrong? His nomenclature madebushwalkers aware of the history in themountains, and gave them a sense of theirown part in it. The claim that Dunphy wasmisguided is just not true. He did not geteverything right, but what he achieved withhis nomenclature showed great foresight forits time. His maps and nomenclature wereimportant cornerstones for decades ofconservation work which time has vindicatedin the achievement of the Greater BlueMountains World Heritage Area.

Colin Gibson

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volume 32 issue 1 summer 2007 - bushwalking...

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