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| Ollie points a stick at a waterfall. |
With Heidi and my holiday stars aligning, we chose to
indulge in a two day adventure to explore somewhere new around our Australian
home. More than ever before, the
deliberation over where to adventure dragged on, with the process a journey in
itself.
After 4 years of adventuring together, Heidi has grown weary of missions which I hastily label as easy, and after experiencing a
joyous weekend of hiking with some girlfriends a few months back, she had a
hankering for some more type-1 fun adventure. These consist of only pleasurable
activities with no excessive exertion, at odds with the type-2 fun plagued by
difficulty, risk and pain which I tend to favour.
Acknowledging the need for a compromise, I embraced the
concept of type-1 fun and we set about plotting our weekend plans. As the days
ticked down we considered bike touring from Bathurst, an off road bike pack
along the 6 foot track to Jenolan caves, and even a last minute flight to
Cairns, Alice Springs or Darwin.
Carrying some bruised knees from a particularly enduro huck to rock (enduro because I was
wearing a
colourful top), the prospect of slogging up or down hills with
a heavy pack didn’t hold as much appeal as a ride, but the absence of a route
with type-1 friendly distances meant it was a hike or a weekend of housebound
misery.
Our last minute decision to walk from Blackheath to Acacia
Flat meant we didn’t get a chance to print the route instructions, but backups
on a phone and GPS meant we could find the route if we became geographically misplaced.
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| Heidi begins the adventure at the Mosman ferry terminal |
A pleasant ferry and train journey and we were off on our merry way, descending
from Evan’s Lookdown into the cool humidity of the gully below, so enthralled
by the moss covered scenes that we bowled right past the turnoff to Acacia Flat.
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| Historic hand hewn steps through the canyon |
Trundling on, we gaped at the chasms of the Blue Mountain’s very own
grand canyon, which was just like the real one only much smaller. Waterfalls
over the track made for refreshing stops, while off to the side of the tracks
we saw speleological enthusiasts lowering themselves into the dark caverns
below.
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| Ollie ponders the steps ahead |
It wasn’t until we’d hiked out the other side of the canyon
that we realized we’d erred, the GPS failing to get a signal through the narrow
canyon opening, and signage proving sparser than we’d hoped.
Backtracking, we accepted that we’d get to know the canyon
just a little bit better, and on reaching the turnoff we kicked ourselves for
having hastily passed the obscured signs.
Descending down washed out tracks, the route took on the
feel of a gnarled bush trail, with rock clambering and tree swinging making for
pleasant relief on my weak cyclist’s knees.
Reaching the river flat Heidi spied a
lyrebird, and adding
this to the snakes and lizards which we’d already seen, our critter count was
racking up.
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| A staunch lizard suns itself |
A final stroll along the flat took us two a beautiful campsite
where we set up a stove and set about indulging our favourite hiking sin; gluttony.
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| The post dinner feast view |
Sleep came easily and in the morning we did the reverse,
branching off at junction rock for a long climb back to Govett’s leap. While
both of us were initially stiff, the heat of the day saw limbs loosened up, and
only when fatigue set in on the long drag along Pope’s Glen Walk to Blackheath did
the spring in our step become saggy.
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| Some serious stair action made ascending the cliff a doddle |
Dragging weary limbs onto the platform at Blackheath, we inhaled
the remainder of our food and contemplated our failed efforts at a type-1
weekend. Despite our best efforts we’d
been lost and got sore, which is how a good type-2 adventure usually ends up
anyway.
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| Views to suffer for |
While I was immediately satisfied, it took a week of recovery and some hilarious
stiff legged hobbling around the house before Heidi could reflect on the adventure
in a positive light. We’d experienced a beautiful part of the world and far
from discouraging our pursuit of type-1 fun, we’ve started a list so that when
the next opportunity arises we’ll have some options ready to roll (or stroll)!
