CANBERRA BUSHWALKING CLUB INC. - N E\NSLETTER P0. Box 160. Canberra City, A.C.T. 2601. Registered for pting as a periodical Category B. Price 20c Vol. 15 FEBRUARY 1979 No. 2 Wednesday 21 February GENER/iLMEETING, 7.45 p.m. at Land Use Research Building, CSIRO, Black Mountain. Entertainment - The Recreation Potential of the CSIRO South Coast Study Area (This includes prime bushwalking areas.) Speaker: Graham Yapp. He will discuss prOblems of assessment of land for recreat- a) I'onal use and consider some of the options j . in: planning for recreation, particularly in the light of the concept of multiple use and the importance of various allocations for recreation and conservation. Monday 26 February COWMITTEE MEETING, 7.45 p.m. at the (NOT Tuesday) Burgesses. Thursday 1 March IT CLOSING DATE - Contribution to Editor, Linda Groom, 8 Short].and Street, Downer. Tuesday 13 March IT COLLATION - Lyndall Langman, 37 Mctaghlan Crescent, Holder (off Pearson Street - not on map yet). -- oOOo -- t4' EDITORIAL In the absence of the real editors, the clown can only utter "... urn ... " and "Lorraine Tozain.sis the new Member on the Committee." (Selected on sexist principles.) THE MIDDLE KOVThflG (Dicksonia Bluffs to Pga Denis Canyon) The Kowrnung has now opened up and is getting better walking all the time. In several places along the southern bank, small outcrops of limestone can be found though not in sufficient quantities to form any caves. The route out from Cache Bend up to Litt:Ie Helion appears very rough. Cache Bend lived up to its name, old rubbish :was located in the soil including a beer bottle with the date 1925. Wk6erfali Creek is very pleasant and an easy going creek. Its junction *ith Moonshine Creek is marked by a flow of limestone (seepage) bearing leaf fossils. This can be 'traced to the main outcrop at the junction of Still and Moonshine Creeks. Hereabouts are the traces of cedar cutting (1947-51) by Dan Cleary. Just up- stream of the junction is the 40 metre falls that give Waterfall Creek its name. By looking at the map, one can see Lanruigans Creek, Mt. Lannigan, Lannigans Spur, Lannigans Knob, Lannigans Range - but who was this Lénnigan? Lannigan lived near Mt. Werong at a place called the Hole. He was considered a wild fellow and worse than any blackfellow Page 2 IT February 1979 - too great an interest in other peopla's- cattle. (My Recollections by Werriberri or Billy Russel- -hirnself an Aboriginal.) Lannigans Creek of course leads to Côlong Caves and to Batsh Camp. Lannigan is attributed with the discovery of the Caves sometime between 1893 and 1899, although stocknen may have visited there in the 1870s. The creek forms part of the Uni Rover Trail (marked 1961), and the Kanangra Road is a half-day walk from the river. Just--past Lannigans Creek is The Overlap, a large loop in the river. It is probably better to do an 7 up andover' to get to Billyis Creek. Billys Creek has an outcrop of cave bearing limestone, which lies within the Colong Caves Reserve (as do the Church Creek Cave. Mt. Armour also lies within the reserve and was the subject of a success- ful campaign to stop proposed limestone mining. In 1938 between Church Creek and Christies Creek were reported the dilapidated hats of prospectors, beside old prospecting holes. Originally numerous cJaims were taken up (1908), but very littJe gold was won. There were reports of a 15 metre tunnel in Church Creek. During the depression, interest was reawakened, but only a living could be scraped cut. Behind Church Creek Caves is the old Inglis Selection Track. Late in the 1880s, the Koiung was used as summer pasture and this was one of the routes in (as was the Gti'gra Trail) The first European to visit this area was Ensign Francis Barrallier, who came over from The Oaks, near Picton. Unfortunately, his estim- ates and bearings were all askew and so some problem was occurred in trying to establish his actual route in November 1802. Cambage says Barrallier descended via Waterfall Creek and camped at its mouth. Next day he continued down to camp at Christies Cre.ek junction. R.E. Mitchell in later years props ed that in fact Barrallier joined the Kowmung via Church or Cedar Creek. Barrallier named the Kowmung - the Dryander (after Banks' librarian) and Christies Creek - Shellstone Brook, after shell fossils at its mouth. Incidentally, ICownung means 'sore eyes'. Cedar Creek saw gold being worked there in the early 1940s. An old graded pack- horse track climbs the ridge from Cedar Creek. Christies Creek has three nain tributaries - West, Middle and East Christies, all of ;tich have swims and waterfalls. The ridges to the west all have access ±0 the tops. Arahanoo was named after the first Aboriginal caught by Governor Phillip;. he stayed with the Europeans. Ca*bage Spire was named after Richard Hind Cambage, in recognition of his work with Barrallier's trip. The 'Spire' is eident half way up South Spur Bulga Ridge. Two horizontal mine shafts can be seen on the side of Cambage Gully, just past the descant off Cambage Spire. Bats, and the remains of Cohn Watson tucker box lie in the lower shaft. Along the western bank, half a kilometre from Christies Creek is an excellent exposure of geological uxiconformity in a bluff 20 metres above the water. Near Bulga Denis Canyon, in a cliff line 30 metres above the river, is a (reportedly) kilometre lon3 tunnel dug out about 1900 for gold. Bulga Denis Canyon is a pleasant trip; fast parties can complete it in two hours, others in half a dar. The banks can be easily followed and the water is not too deep. Not really in the lines of the upper Kownung, it still offers good walking and Sunrise and Sunset Bluffs are really fine sights. Campsites can be found at Fireflat Creek and Orange Bluff. - The river from Bullhead Range to Devitts Spur (just before Ritsons Elbow) has been described as a sheer delight. No doubt the section after Bulga Denis Canyon (Bulga means mountain) is very pleasant. The various ridges to the west lead up to the Gingra Range, and are much used by bushwalkers. A hut below Hughes Ridge was present in 1938 but has now disappeared. About 1900 the Alpha & Omega Timber Company commenced cutting cedar in the Kowmung area. Because of haulage problems, it was decided to place the sawn logs into the river (cedar is impervious to water) and have the annual floods carry the timber downstream to where they could he withdrawn (say at Penrith). Unfortunately, the plan did not quite work out and many farms along the way ended up with cedar fence posts. In 1907 a company cut a road down off Scotts Main Range to the river and carted the timber..:out to Camden. By 1934 this Gingra Cedar road was described as 'old, deserted' In November 1960, a hut was re Ly a concrete ford and a water gauging b -ia ion. -iad ion is now starting to break up. Ritson's Elbow is named after Clifford Ritson, a president of Sythey Bushwalkers (1932). Just past here, there are pools frequented with platypus. This last section, the barks of the Kowmung become rocky and scrubby before it discharges into the Coxs River. This ends the breakdown of the Kowmung River. An ideal summer river, it neverthrless swells quite quickly after heavy rains. I would tend to class it as one of the better walking rivers, with a bit of ad- venture on its unper sections. Fishermen too find this an interest- ing river,for trout can be seen in its waters from August to Febru.r' '-'j'-'- -" +his ramble, I'll quote from my walks diary: "This was my first hard' walk (Kax:angra to Katoomba, Ap. 1 1968) and it was nearly my last. Dragged behind a bit on a very hot we&cend just as far as Ritsons Elbow, and suffering my first Macnaughton's stinging nettle camp. Next day in- volved a long hard clLi.b out (of the Cox) which left myself and another fellow 4-0 catch the train home alone. Swore never to go on aoth r hard trip. .Icowmu.ng was very pretty and refreshing". Warwick Blayden -- oOOo -- AND FOR THOSE \IHO DIDN'T QUITE WORK OUT THE X-WORD PUZZLE, THE MISWERS ARE: Across 1 FREER 23 COX I FITCH 19 BRACE 2 BRO\VN 24 SR 3 WEST 21 SCOTT 5 FISHER 25 STREETS 4 VIDLER 22 OUBRIE 8 HERIT 27 WRIGHT 6 RUMBO 24 STORY 9 LAYS 29 BIRD 7 FREEMANTLE 26 THOMAS 11 WEBSTER 30 GISZ 10 FROST 28 BADER 12 GROOM 31 ADMS 13 BIRCH 32 BAND 14 PAflI 33 BRAKE 15 MAY 35 Nfl 16 IONS 34 SPEINCER 18 PETERS 17 ARCHER 36 WILD 20 COLE 37 CLAASZ Page 4 IT February 1979 FOR SALE: Frameless Schounard Type W/E Pak (with centre partition) $30 - John Hulme 971311 (iv) 12 MAPS TO BE GIVEN AWAY AT '' COLLATION BY GARY IVtEDARIS: 1:100.000 TAS: 100,000 Araluen Huon Brindabeila (2) Old River Canberra Wedge Michelago. Omeo 1:50,000 Tantangara Canberra Wallerawang -- oOOo -- NOTICES OF MOTION (carried fvrward from December meeting) That the Search and Rescue Fund be maintained at an amount of $200 by transfer of funds from the general account whenever necessary. Moved: A. Vidler Seconded: R. Bauer Comment The purpose of this "book entry" fund is to ensure that, regardless of the state of other club funds, tthre is always sow money avail- able for this vital purpose.