Author Archive | Oliver Holmgren

June 4th: Day 29 – Perry’s Lookdown to Newnes

Returned to Katoomba early for supplies. Raman had lost his little air pillow at the Marrickville house, it seems, so he grabbed another. We found the Katoomba food co-op and stocked up. I sent a 3.3kg on to Brisbane of things I think I can do without. And Raman found my Key in his duffle bag, now I have two spares.

Having met a few fellow adventure riders and picked their brains we had a few good hints for places in the mountains north of Katoomba.

On our way out Katoomba we stopped in at Govett’s Leap. What a landscape this is!

Govett’s Leap

Govett’s caught in the wind…leaping perhaps

The ranges and mountains are definitely blue, weather they are any more blue than else where I am not sure.

After lapping up the view over lunch at Govett’s, we headed toward Newnes. On our way we came across Black Fellows Hand rocks.

We headed for Newnes. What a spectacular Valley! Cliffs tower on each side, clearly defining the valley.

Newnes it self, now in a national park, was a hub of activity in the mid 1910’s as a shale oil mine and refinery although this history wasn’t what took my breath away initially, rather the afore mention towering cliffs.

After setting up, sun down and dinner, I headed off to get a few photographs. I wanted to get above the mist layer that had formed on dusk. 5D, tripod and 17-40 in hand I began climbing, with only the light of my head torch. I followed the first ridge I found. It got very steep very quickly but still trees obscured my view of the valley and the adjacent cliffs. Eventually I reached the base of the cliffs. Disappearing into the gloom above me, the rock face seemed massive. I found I had my phone in my pocket so I consulted the contour map and decided to head east in the hope of finding a way up the cliff for the view over the tree tops.

I spent the next hour scrambling along in the dark and found some amazing spots. Trying to photograph some, only to find my lens was fogging up from the cold that was now deeply chilling. Closer to zero than ten for certain. Eventually my camera equalised enough that it stopped fogging up.

Undercut sandstone cliffs with layers and colouring.

The tower walls above Newnes

The view I was trying to get above the trees for

I never did find a way up. The towering walls of stone were impassable, at least to me in the dark with a tripod and camera slung over my back. I did make a few attempts to climb the rock faces that in several places had fantastic hand and foot holds but I soon decided against the idea when one of these fantastically shaped and grippy hand holds broke clean off! Much of this sand stone is from a course sand up to a few millimetres in diameter, yielded fantastic grip to shoes and hands but the structural integrity is poor. Looking again at my phone I could see that I was nearly three hundred metres above the valley floor!

When I stumbled back into camp at 11:40pm over two and a half hours had passed.

June 3rd: Day 28 – Sydney to Perry’s Lookdown

Said a big thanks and goodbye to Rowan and Lotti this morning.

After packing everything up this morning I couldn’t find the key to Mawson. Looked and looked over and over but couldn’t find it anywhere in my gear or in the house.

In the end I made a few calls to Kawasaki dealers to find out what the story was with replacement. The answer was it would take 3 days to get the $22 blank in, I would then have to get it cut and return it to them to get it activated for the immobiliser in the bike.

I had my spare key in a safe place with me however I wasn’t willing to head bush using the spare. *Sydney trying to capture us*

Raman suggested getting a hardware to cut another from the spare. I didn’t think a hardware was going to have a blank. I called a locksmith in Marrickville and he sounded optimistic. He was only a few minutes ride away. I handed over my spare and less than a minute later the locksmith passed me back the spare with a fresh copy, “$7 thanks”. WOW, done! Problem solved and only for seven bucks and a few minutes ride. What about the immobiliser I “hear” you saying? The KLR doesn’t actually have one, its old school, simple tech. This is one of the reasons I choose the KLR.

We made our way up to Ultimo where we picked up a 32GB SD card for the GoPro (should have tested it). When I did test it later it didn’t work.

Thanks to a late start and the loss of my key, it was now mid arvo. Playing cards till late is all well and good but getting away after mid day is a bit of a problem. The camping time schedule is very different to that of the city. Its so easy to stay up late when lights are on everywhere.

We copped the traffic badly. Stuck in long queues of cars with the low sun straight in our faces wasn’t so much fun.

When we finally did get out of the urban madness and began the climb from the plains up into the mountains, the sun had set and we were riding in the dark. The air at Kataoomba (approx 1000m asl) was cool, even cold, but we felt relieved to have escaped the clutches of Sydney. Both Raman and I are most grateful to Rowan, Lotti and friends for making out time in the big smoke a lot of fun and yet, despite this gratitude, we are glad to be in the mountains once again.

We sat down for a dinner in Katoomba and before my food had arrived I got a call from a friend from home, Kaya Storm. Answering the phone, I walked out of the restaurant. I told Kaya I was in Katoomba and he responded that he knew that I was…I was just about to ask him how he knew that when I realised I was looking at him. What a surprise!

After dinner we had a chat and I had the pleasure of meeting his fiancee, Marcel.

We headed out of town in the dark to a place called Perry’s Lookdown. There are so many places around Katoomba that are perched on the edge of cliffs with views that are hard to rival!

May 29th: Day 23 – Oberon

We are camped at the Jenolan caravan park in Oberon. It’s quite nice here really. The park itself has lots of grass and trees. The facilities are good and everything is very well kempt. Being low season we have the run of the place really. The owners are lovely and chatty. A great spot to stop to get some technical things sorted out.

Bringing a laptop, and a heavy one at that, on this trip was a tough choice. I  am using it for several functions. Principally photographic processing, cartographic preparation and blog posting. Keeping it charged has been tough going. I finally decided I needed the mains power charger for it today. I left it at home thinking I would be able to use the bike battery more than it actually can. After spending much of the morning trying to figure out how to get mine sent up and when I could get it, I decided getting one up here would be better. Looking around it became apparent there were none easily available. Even second hand Mac shops in Sydney weren’t able to help. Anyway, I decided to go for a ride. Ended up in Lithgow and picked up a power supply there. Not a Mac one but of the correct electrical specs. When I got back I chopped the end off the 12v charger and spliced on SAE dc plugs onto the tree ends.

Chopping things that are working.

So now I have a 12v and a 240v charger,  it all cost less than an apple power supply, is half the size and weight and I have been able to make use of it to update the blog and a bunch other things while here in the caravan park.

May 30th: Day 24 – Oberon to Duckmaloi

Packed up after lunch and headed out of Oberon to Duckmaloi reserve which is on the Duckmaloi River. Plenty of little ponds and flowing water for fishing. Found lots of worms but nothing even ate the worms let alone getting on the hook.

Camped by the river hear is peaceful after the 24 hour wood processing facility that operates out of Oberon. I didn’t notice the noise too much at first but getting back out into the woods is fantastic.

I have to say I am not exactly looking forward to heading into Sydney this weekend but I am keen to meet my great uncle Norman, Venie’s brother.

May 31st: Day 25 – Duckmaloi to Sydney

Heading for Sydney, we passed some spectacular escarpments. The towns Katoomba and Blue Mountains are perched high on these escarpments.

The Three Sisters, Katoomba

Rode into Lane Cove nation park in Sydney. Met up with an old friend, Rowan, who is now living up here. He came out to Lane Cove for the evening, bring with him lots of urban forage. Thanks for the tucker mate.

June 1st: Day 26 – Sydney

Having organised to meet up with Norman Rich tomorrow, we went out with Rowan for the day. Thanks for being our urban guide Rowan.

Subterranean caverns

Following the guide

Picked up a second hand action camera to compliment our current equipment for recording the trip while in town.

Played cards until late at Rowan’s and got half way back to Lane Cove before the trains stopped. Had an amusing late night mess-up with transport and ended up getting back to our wet tents at Lane Cove awfully late.

June 2nd: Day 27 – Sydney

The first real rain on this trip that we have weathered. Packed up in the rain this morning trying to keep a few remaining things dry.

Visited Venie’s brother, Norman Rich today. Had a lovely afternoon with Norman and his daughter, Mairwen and her family in North Manley. We talked travel, pouring over maps and recounting travel stories. Thank you all for the fantastic stories and info about the wonderful places ahead on my travels north.

Met Rowan in Marrickville for dinner at a shared house where several of his friends live. With plenty of food, much of which was fresh urban forage, and lots of hands put together a yummy dinner quickly. Rowan and I headed out for a quick urban forage of a know spot of his and came back with some of Sydney’s finest sour dough bread. The best bread I have eaten on the trip so far!

Thanks to the Marrickville house mates for having us 🙂

May 28th: Day 22

Everything is wet this morning. Packing as much up while still in the tent.

Left Batsh Camp and headed toward the Boyd Plateau.

On one hand a National Park and the other a land laid to waste.

Morong Creek Falls, Boyd Plateau, Kanangra-Boyd NP

Crossing the Kowmung, Kanangra-Boyd NP.

I feel we are getting more confident at creek crossings but they seem to get a little more challenging each time. This one had big round slippery rocks in it. Raman makes it look easy. The concept of dumping a bike in the drink is not particularly appealing at the best of times. Add in a laptop and camera gear and its getting even less so. We have managed to keep our feet dry so far. I am sure we will get a little flack for not having our feet firmly planted on the pegs. Its a tough call. It certainly improves the change of staying upright, but wet feet in these low temperatures is not great either. Keeping the feet from going nasty is a real challenge. I have a split between one of my toes that I am trying to heal and moisture doesn’t help at all. Amputation isn’t required…yet 😛

Its all part of the adventure though.

Kowmung River bed and the track up to the Boyd Plateau. Steep but just right for us to have a great time without much risk of “rolling into Dargo”.

The edge of the world, Kanangra Walls.

In theory the Kanangra Walls are opposite us with a huge valley in between. The clouds broke just enough to see the valley way below, only to close again an instant later.

Banksia

Back on the bikes, we rode to Jenolan Caves. So damn touristy. Too much for us. We couldn’t bring our selves to take a tour despite the obvious grandeur of the geology.

After Colong and Billy’s Creek there was little adventure in an “Adventure tour” of Jenolan and with the price tag of $92 each we headed for Oberon.

May 27th: Day 21

The nights are cold and the olive oil has turned to a solid.

Left: Wild Woodgas camp stove, Right: Raman upending a solidified bottle of olive oil.

The stove uses small twigs and fine fuel that are readily available. I am very happy with it as an alternative to the liquid and gas fuel stove alternatives.

Unloaded the bikes and rode around to Mt Armour. Hiked uphill and down dale and through thick scrub and vines toward Billy’s Creek caves.

This time there was no track on a map to follow. If there was a path to follow on the ground we never found it.

After and hour and a half of bush bashing and struggling our way through vines, we arrived at the spot on the 1:250k map where the caves symbol was(thanks to the GPS for locating us). We then had to find the caves. There were out crops of metamorphosed limestone on both sides of the stream.

Hard work in the scrub and vines

The first limestone outcrop and a view down to Billy’s creek. Again, very steep! Thats my foot in the shot.

Chemical weathering of the limestone

Kurrajong thriving on the limestone outcrop. Their roots drink from the moist air in the caves underneath.  The limestone it self dates from about 410 million years ago (the Silurian period I believe).

We began to search. After only ten minutes I found the entrance to a tiny “cave” which had a small plaque on it stating BC2.

BC2 (Billy’s Creek 2 presumably)

Assuming the main entrance was near by, we continued hunting. I eventually found BC4 which was equally tiny. I don’t think it would be possible to fit a human inside the openings. I am not sure how they know these little openings are part if the bigger Billy’s Creek cave system.

After hunting for nearly 2 hours, Raman and I sat at the entrance of bc2 taking stock. There is an inevitable sense of disappointment when you don’t find what you are looking for but we had both had a great time scouting and the views have been fantastic.

The climb back to the bikes, perched high on a trail above us, was hard work.

We found a better way back that brought us out on top of the first limestone outcrop, yielding an amazing view of the valley.

The escarpments visible around Mt Armour are brilliant.

View of Mt Armour (centre) and a Kurrajong (left) contrasted against the eucalyptus bush that surrounds.

Looking directly back to BC2

It was getting dark when we reached the bikes. Riding out to this point was a tough choice.

Another tough and enjoyable day.

What an adventure this all is.

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May 26th: Day 20 – Batsh Camp to Colong Caves

[long post warning]

Stayed up to 11:30 last night trying to get the 1:25k topo of the area into my phone for today’s walk. Got up at 9:40 as a result. Got the pack ready, packed the camera gear and food for lunch. And, perhaps most importantly, head torches and rope for the main aim of the day, splunking in Colong.

The 1:25k topo that I did get onto my phone and almost correctly calibrated showed the walking track to the caves.

Yesterday we spotted a hill that looked to be just north of camp. It stuck up like a castle and we had trouble finding a way up. Climbed up a small crack; finally the view rewarded us.

Scaling the walls of the castle. Raman at the top of a crevice that we decided to try climbing after wandering around under cliffs looking up wondering how we might get up there.

View to Mt Colong (left)

Lunch atop the world before diving down to traverse the underworlds.

The path, “The Uni Rover Trail”, was far from well beaten, in places we had trouble following it.

The foliage and flowers of the tree I found last night that intrigued me.

I must take a picture of the bark if I get another chance, it is quite amazing. Soft and fluffy, rich red-brown and flaky.

Finding the caves was quite an achievement in it self.

The Colong arch is amazing!

The Colong Arch from below

I took quite a few photos.

The amphitheatre inside Colong arch

Bones little the floor

The second exit to the Colong arch and the back stage exit of the amphitheatre

Some of you will note the noise in the shadows of this image. I am having difficulty keeping my laptop charged with no 240 power source (only the 12v bike charger which flattens my bike quite quickly) so I have not blended the double exposure that I took here to get the clean foreground that I normally would. I have instead “pushed” the single raw file harder to achieve the same result with more shadow noise. These high dynamic range scenarios present themselves quite often and the photographer is challenged to find ways to use the gear to achieve something close to what the human eye and brain achieve. In this type of situation I take two exposures to extend the dynamic range of my camera and blend them later. This takes time and processing power.

[Edit] I have now solved my problem powering my laptop and have an example of the blend I was discussing above

Double exposure processed separately,  one for shadows and one for highlights, and then blended for lower noise.

Looking back up into the high part of the arch from the base of the amphitheatre

A formation in the amphitheatre

Water laden with the dissolved solids, that precipitate to create the crystal formations, exhibit higher surface tension than rain water and form more spherical droplets

Old grandfather Kurrajong tree at the mouth of the arch

After looking around and being amazed several times at the size of the cavern and the formations in it, we headed back down. An hour and a half exploring the cavern and we were ready to head off. We climbed back down and Raman passed me his camera while he climbed up to see a little old copper plaque with a few words about the caves that I had seen earlier. It was a sheet of copper with individual letters stamped into it that looked to be very old.

The arch from the river below

I had a little look up the river but soon returned, expecting to find Raman waiting. He wasn’t there. I waited 10 minutes. Casually called his name to no avail. Waited another 5 minutes.

An interesting tree…that seems to sting

I began to wonder where he might be. There was a little bit of a hole under the plaque and I suspected he might have crawled into it. I figured he’d pop out with an excited grin on his face…soon. A few more thoughts passed through my mind before I heard my name called somewhat urgently and quickly from around the corner and up the cliff in the opposite direction from where he had disappeared. He had accidentally emerged from a different exit, part way up the cliff above the creek. I scrambled up the foot slopes of the jungle over grown cliff. His breathe was short and he was relieved to see that he was not stuck high on the cliff. Concern shifted to excitement, “you have to see this!”

My memory of what followed still makes my heart race. We went inside the mountain….in and in and in.

Through crawl spaces I barely fitted through, into grand chambers and passage ways, down cracks to creeks and up slippery cascades to new rooms, all the while passing formations of tiny glittering crystals. The words of our tour guide from Wombyan echoed in our ears reminding us of the potential for carbon dioxide to have filled the bottom of a cave and when you enter you can stir it up with potentially dangerous results. Keeping an eye on heart rate, sweat on the brow and shorteness of breathe, we pushed on into the mountain. What an incredible experience!

When we emerged, another 35 minutes had passed. It had been late when we went in but now it was just on 5 pm. We thanked the mountain spirit for looking after us and headed off at a chipping pace before the light faded.

After the steepest section of climb we came across a cairne and atop it was an ice cream container offering a little plastic bag under a stone, inside which, to our amazement, we found a visitors book for the caves.

We made an entry for sunkenmiles and quickly got moving with the sweat beginning to cool on me after the hard 300m very steep climb from the creek bed to the cairne.

Visitors book

Returning in the dark we had to use the GPS more than once to check our bearing.

How homely camp felt when we did finally arrive.

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May 25th: Day 19

Awoke to sunshine on the autumn leaves. Headed back to Taralga to stock up on supplies and fuel. We plan to spend quite a few days in the Blue Mountains.

Filled a fuel bladder each as well to give us a little extra range over and above the 450km or so we get out of a tank.

Fuelling up for a long haul

This is the first time we have put to use the fuel bladders that I ordered from Liquid Containment and had the ADVrider logo printed on. Thanks Paul!

Rode along part of  The Bicentennial Trail on the way to our camp this evening at Batsh Camp in the Southern Blue Mountians.

Went splunking, unsuccessfully, this evening. Couldn’t find Colong cave. It is a 3 km walk on an unmarked track. We plan to have another go tomorrow. Found a very interesting tree that I would like to photograph tomorrow too.

Walking  back through the bush this evening we had a moon rise that I won’t forget in a while. Evidently full, it lit the white trunks of the eucalypts. The trees still, not a breath on branches. We stood there for a long while, pensive.

We found our way back in the dark without the assistance of the GPS.

May 22nd: Day 16

R&R in Canberra and social times with my old friend James Anderson. Thanks for a great time James.

May 23rd :Day17

Rode to Wombeyan Caves from Canberra. It was overcast in Canberra when we left but we did hit a little rain as we got up onto the high plains toward Taralga and finally Wombeyan Caves.

Deja vu, this places reminds me of Buchan caves. All the european trees in autumn colour and the caves… and what is Raman up too?

May 24th :Day 18 – Wombeyan caves

Took a guided tour of the caves this avo. A great guide and quite amazing caves. Not as grand as those in Slovenia but equally adorned with unique and beautiful formations.

Day 15: May 21st

The number of landscape changes we have travelled through today leaves me feeling that today was perhaps the most exciting, thrilling and spectacular day yet.

Heading inland

A small trail into the mountains through private property. Thanks for letting us through…but not again 😛

View back to the coast from Hanging Mountain

The trails were challenging to just the right degree. I could not have asked for better.

Preparing to cross, laptop into waterproof bag, camera out in case the bike goes under

Set up the camera

trails just right

Looking North, high up indeed and yet so close to the coast. The trees were less than 3m in places at the top on the north end

One of the many forest type changes in very few miles

After getting through the mountains we travelled North through rolling pasture country toward Braidwood.

Out of the woods

It was getting late, already past our usual camp setup time of 4pm. The light was fantastic but soon faded leaving us to do the last miles in the dark.

Sundown

Although it was only 6:30pm when we arrived at my old friend James Anderson’s place, it felt much later.

The season has definitely turned. It is very cold and the days short.

Boy, was the hot soup welcome when we arrived! Thanks James.

After a great game of Cyclades (that James won) we turned in, thoroughly tuckered out.

Day 14: May 20th

A lovely slow morning soaking up the sun, swimming in the ocean, running on the beach, stretching and generally enjoying the lovely little camp.

Stretching on the beach before a swim

Camp viewed though the wonderful tangle of trunks

Rode the short way up to Bermagui and had lunch. I got stuck here once hitching back to Pambula from Baitmans Bay and as a result ended up sitting on the beach watching whales in the bay which was a novel experience.

Rolling hinterland hills

The vegetation down by the coast here is very different to the mountains. I am enjoying watching the changes in climate and its impacts on vegetation and animals.

We found a great little spot in behind Narooma on the Wagonga Inlet.

Wagonga Inlet

I collected oysters and threw a line in the water. The fish were jumping but oyster and crab didn’t prove good bait. The oysters pasta was yum.

A few local kids turned up after dark and did a little fishing with a little more success and a lot more complaining about how bad the fishing was.