Camping: from Blackheath to Kanangra walls

Starting any road trip from Sydney involves copious amounts of driving through traffic-laden streets. Fortunately there was a stop for some Indian street food at Chatkazz before we got on the freeway.

A pretty good paper masala dosa with a fiery chilli chutney and smooth coconut chutney. After gobbling down some dahi vada and khaman dhakla, we even had the foresight to pick up a sev puri takeaway to snack on while setting up camp. 

Katoomba was slightly nightmarish - there was a terrible traffic jam on account of a country music festival in town... echo point had been turned into a giant feepaying carpark with loads of tourists and cameras everywhere you looked... the disinterested lady at the visitor centre had not even heard of Kanangra NP which made us want to shake & shout "it's the bloody next national park to the one you work in!!"

Anyway we got out of there and headed to the campsite at Perrys lookdown, a lovely secluded spot at the end of a gravel road 8km out of Blackheath. 

It started to sprinkle as we put up our tents. Then it started to rain and it was pretty cold standing in the rain trying to cook. 

We managed to make a vege stirfry with udon, which J&C ate with steak and I ate with vegetarian sausages. It was wonderful to momentarily have warm food in our tummies.

The next morning, I woke to the sun streaming into my tent.

At Perry's lookdown, the sun was just coming up over the valley, casting golden rays everywhere. A dense fog hung low amongst the trees, several hundred metres below where I stood.

We packed up and headed for Kanangra. Our route took us through Mt Victoria, several small towns and Jenolan caves, where the road goes through one of the large caves. The road wasn't bad, though the steep hairpins around Jenolan and the plentiful potholes on the last bit of the unsealed road made us highly thankful for C's new all-wheel drive.

The plateau walk takes one across the top of the Kanangra wall, where one can clamber right to the edge of the wall and gaze at the dizzifying drop into the abyss below.

 

The wind was most unusual here. Even one metre from the edge, there would be hardly any wind, but as you approach the edge it became so strong that one would fear falling over the edge. The views over the mountains were expansive, and we could see several mountains in the distance, one of which was amusingly named Mt Colong. 

The landscape changed as we got further along the plateau, and we walked through a heavily burnt area which looked almost alien. At the top of that hill we stopped to have lunch, then headed back. 

Along the walk there was an amazingly large cave, where the Indigenous people of the land had sought shelter over many thousands of years. In the late 19th century, a dance floor was put up in the cave and it served as the centre of socialisation for families in the area. It was mind-boggling considering how remote it is from everything!

It soon started to rain so we headed back to the Boyd campground, where we pitched our tents next to the Boyd river.. rather, the Boyd stream. The sun came out for a bit and we enjoyed a little stroll around the area, easily spotting wallabies foraging for food in the bushes.

This was the grand eucalyptus tree overhanging our campsite. Whilst it was awesome to look at, we did wonder if branches falling off the tree would kill us. It was pretty windy that night, and being inside a tent magnified the sound of the wind. 

 

Another yummy dinner! After dinner we decided to see if we could make a fire, even though it looked dubious as it had just rained a few hours before and everything was soggy. 

We made a pretty good fire given our lack of fire-starting-stuff! It was nice to have some warmth as we cleaned up and got ready for bed.

Mornings in the mountains are cold, and we were glad for the trusty little red stovetop espresso maker C brought. In this picture it looks like it's suspended above nothing. 

 

The next day we headed back to the wall to do the waterfall walk, a short steep walk to the bottom of the gully.

Coming back up the hill, we stopped for a cup of tea at the lookout, which was just spectacular. 

The sun came out and for a moment we were able to bask in the sunshine. 

I had read about Kanangra walls so many years ago while doing a high school geography assignment. After what must be at least 15 years, I finally got to go to this remote spectacular place!