Registered by Australia Post: Publication number NBH 1859 VOWME 26 DECEMBER 1990 NUMBER 12 qfie fpresitent and Committee of the Caizberra fBiLchukZOj?Zg C/lit utisfigouaz'enj DWeny C/IrLctmas "-'PP!/ and active New Year W4UAHY MONTHLY MEETING WHERE? Uriarra Crossing WHEN? Wednesday 16 January 1991, 5.30 pm WHAT? Join members and friends for the traditional and informal barbeque in the coolness and shade of Uriarra. Swimming facilities are available as well as wood barbeques and abundant, vibrant conversation! BYO the lot! Especially matches for the wood barbeques! See you there any time after 5.30 pm Drive along Uriarra Road until you come to the yellow ribbon or corroboree frog marking the surprise turn to the left. If you happen to come to the bridge then you have gone about 1 km too far. Any enquiries, call Debi on 250 6200 (w) or 258 1645 (h). PREDENVS PRATtLE This issue brings us to the end of the calendar year, and to the season of getting together with friends and enjoying their company, sharing well-wishes and eating and drinking just a little too much. In addition to wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, if you are doing any travelling to Join family and frier*i , please take care and drive safely. This past month has brought us to the end Of our commitment in Monolith Valley for this year. As many of your are aware, the work this year entailed substantially more than what was involved in 1988-89, and involved a great deal of effort from Club members and from our friends in the NSW NP& WS, Ulladulla. The thanks and acknowledgment of the Club for a job well done goes to all of you who were involved in either the one planning trip, or any of the three work weekends. 2 On the last work trip, and on behalf of the Club, I presented Bruce Rodgie and Richard Green of NP & WS with their own corroboree frog lapel badges. Their guidance and assistance to the Club in planning and carrying out work in Monolith has been indispensable. Best of all, their company on these trips has been a pleasure. Incidentally, have you bought you corroboree frog lapel badge yet? David Campbell MEMBERSHIP MAilERS Proepectke Members Bruce Beaumont 12 O'Hagan St, Latham ACT 2615 2549320(h) 2511655(w) Cate Byers, 7 St Clair P1, Lyons ACT 2606 2812211(h) 818100-988(w) Marc Cattini 17 Mayo St, Weetangera ACT 2614 2541301(h) 2651410(w) Lynn Dalgarno 46 Cockle St, O'Connor ACT 2601 2470341(h) 2493465(w) Renny Horsburgh 3 Stokes St, Griffith ACT 2603 2396374(h) 2463093(w) Fiona Lynn 23 Canning St, Ainslie ACT 2602 2497728(h) 2574390(w) Grahame Muller 74, Alroy Crct, Hawker ACT 2614 2545430(h) 2684143(W) David Poulter 23 Canning St, Ainslie ACT 2602 2497728(h) 2574390(w) James Stoney 19 Henry St, Goulburn NSW 2580 048217022(h) 048231565(w) John Reid cI- Macquarie Private Hotel, National Ca, Barton ACT 2600 2824377(w) Denis Wright 19 Chermside St, Deakin ACT 2600 NN Members The Club welcomes the following new members: Erica Anderson, Bruce Graham and Julia Graham, Beverly Gregg, Susan Moore, Ick Hempton, Geoff Hooper, Elizabeth Kelly, Deborah Scott, Sylvia Sheffield, Elan Taylor, John Webster. ARE YOU UNFINANCIAL? If your IT label has $$$$ in the bottom right hand corner then according to our records you are unfinancial. FAUMM To those of you who have elected not to renew your membership, this Is YOSt 1110 m We assume that everyone who wants to renew has done so, but just in case some people haven't, this IT contains another renewal form. January ITs will not be printed for people whose payments are not received by January 3 1991. All print runs for IT are based on the financial membership of the Club. i'll.! IltI *J a PB In October PB, or to give it its full name, Precipitous Bluff, is an impressive mountain, towering some 11 OOm above the south coast of Tasmania. The second week of October saw three of us heading off to traverse the Southern Ranges and PB. Our packs were weighed down with 12 days of food and a dozen steel rods (just to make sure the packs were really heavy!) Our first days' walk took us over Moonlight Flats, with occasional views towards the east to Ida Bay and Bruny Island. We camped amongst the scrub on Moonlight Creek with the moon well and truly hidden behind dense cloud. The next morning we were greeted with overcast skies and soon after leaving our overnight camp we had a brief period of snow and sleet. Well, it was October after all. 3 Our route went over Hill One, around the north side of Hill Two and over the tops of Hill Three and, yes, Hill Four (such imaginative names). We camped at Pigsty Ponds, a very appropriate name. Pigsty Ponds and the nearby Reservoir Lakes are lovely places and are set in a deep glaciated valley. It rained heavily overnight but wasn't too bad in the morning as we headed over Maxwell Ridge and had our first view of PB to the west. Descending the ridge we witnessed a wonderful display of rainbows as they moved across the sky at one time there was a perfect semicircle of colour over Pindars Peak. We arrived at Ooze Lake, another beautiful alpine lake, in time for morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and breakfast! We were stuck in the tents as it blew and rained and then snowed overnight. As we poked our heads out in the morning we had a wonderful view, with a fresh cover of snow and large patches of blue sky. This is it we thought, as we hurriedly packed up, dug out our sunhats and put the blockout on. Twenty minutes later we were battling through chest-high scrub with parkas and overtrousers on. It had begun to snow again! By this time we had traversed around the northern slopes of Pindars Peak. It had stopped snowing and we were rewarded with a magnificent view down to Prion Beach and New River Lagoon and more tantalising views of PB. The rest of the day was spent following a scrubby route out to Wyllie Plateau, From there we could hear the waves on Prior Beach and watch the sun set behind the Ironbounds. The next day's walk was the longest of the trip. We bashed our way through more scrub before scrambling up the eastern side of PB to a plateau a mere 500m away from the summit. However another snow storm saw us descending rapidly, the summit unclimbed. The descent invotves steep (well, really verticaO gullies with occasional rock scrambles around the base of the cliffs, till a steep ridge is reached which is followed to New River Lagoon, some BOOm below. We were all very glad to reach the lagoon and rest our weary bodies and drop our packs. (We still had a week's supply of food with us at this stage). The weather had improved somewhat the next day so with daypacks, we retraced our steps and struggled back up the ridge and on to the summit of PB. It is 114 5 m above the lagoon and as the crow flies, less than 3km away. Once again we were glad to reach the camp that night after the day's exertion. Sunday saw us wading along the shores of New River Lagoon, enjoying perfectly reflected images of the Ironbound Range and glimpses of Federation Peak to the north. Once at Prion Beach we followed the easy South Coast track east for the next couple of days and out to Cockle Creek, enjoying wonderful weather. It was even warm enough for a quick (and I mean, quick) dip in Surprise Rivulet, It began to drizzle on our last day and we drove back to Hobart in heaw rain. Given the time of year we had been very lucky with the weather and as an added bonus, we didn't see any other walkers for the nine days. Oh yes, those steel rods we were carrying? I nearly forgot. The trip was in fact part of a track inventory program and we were to set up some track erosion monitoring sites. Well, I guess someone has to do this work. ft's great getting paid to go bushwalking! Mike Comfort it:'. •'j7fl:.:iCii CI(5U1 Participants: Norman Becker and Eric Pickering Travel: Pioneer bus to Sydney with open return from Mittagong, $42.80 with '(HA discount. Train to Katoomba, $8.10. Overnight Katoomba Mountain Lodge, $30 B&B (Backpackers $10). Taxi to walk start on Narrowneck Peninsula $8. Maps: Katoomba & Burragorang 1:100000; Notes by Robert Sloss: The Ensign Barralier Katoomba - Mittagong Walk 1990. Sttday Nwrowmck to Urn KownsQ The walk commenced at 8.45 am November ii at the locked gate beyond the Golden Staircase on Narrowneck Peninsula which extends the Katoomba plateau some 16km south before descending to the Coxs River and Burragorang Valleys. Initial descent from the plateau is via ramps, a conventional ladder and the exciting Taro's ladder - spikes and handles in a vertical 20 metre drop. There is a plaque to the memory of Wafter Tarr (Taro). "Duke of Clear Hilt who died 14/8/69, aged 90. Another more recent plaque with a single red rose to a 22 year old is more poignant. Highlights of Narrowneck were waratahs in full bloom, magnificent mountain and cliff views and excellent walking.