QI Tour - Warrumbungle NP (Day 16)

The splendid amenities block

After a good night's sleep, with showers occasionally playing music on the roof of the Avan and a breakfast of real bacon and eggs, we had a late morning walk along the Wambelong Nature Trail which starts where Mopra Creek joins the more dominant Wambelong Creek at the edge of Blackmans Campground #1. The wildlife made an immediate impact, with a Little Heron dropping in on us for a browse along the shallow Wambelong. It was good news for the heron, as it snared a yabby within the the first minute of its search. A flock of Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos, which had been grazing slightly below the track, took off en-mass as we climbed away from the creek, complaining as they did so.

Across the main access road, we gradually made our way along the creek as the passage narrows between the two starkly rising sides of the canyon, eventually with enough room for the creek to burble through and still allow us to make out way along the well defined path which hugged the southern bank. Now among the feet of Belougery Split Rock, its twin peak towering above us, this narrow passage between the cliffs is a haven for the smaller birds such as the Superb Fairy Wren and Willie Wagtail, both of which we watched flitting about over the rocks and quickly darting across the surface of the water for a drink.

Wambelong Creek

Where the track makes a rough crossing over the creek, a seat has been strategically placed to allow time and space to listen and watch the birds and soak in the geology. In the foreground, the creek bends past a long bent wall of rock extending straight upwards for up to about 15 metres. Further back, a steady slope increases until the vertical faces of Split Rock culminate in their peaks at 750 metres. Sitting there midst the peaceful setting, I reflected on days gone by when I traveled on younger legs and took my new bride on the first bushwalk of her life, climbing to the summit of Split Rock on a 35 degree summer's day. The last part of it using a chain bolted to the rock surface to help assist you scramble over an open face where any slip might have nasty consequences. She didn't thank me for the experience then but the realisation that it changed her life doesn't escape her now.

Belougery Split Rock

We emerged from the narrow canyon which opens out onto the open area of Canyon Camp, originally the camping and accommodation centre for the park. In 1968, when the park was first opened, Dad packed us all into his work car, a big Ford Falcon station wagon, waking us from our beds at 3:00am for the drive from the southern suburbs of Sydney. We stayed in the old converted Sydney Trams that had been installed as accommodation, with a sink in the tiny drivers section, two double bunks and space designated as the kitchen where the tram had been divided in two by a thin masonite partition. A table, one of those small hotplate and miniature oven sat on top of a bar fridge and constituted the kitchen. We didn't bring a cat which was just as well as we wouldn't have swung it in there. Like Sue, years later, Warrumbungles would change my life.

Climbing up the steep slope of the hill around which we had just walked, views unfolded back across the east of the park: not as expansive as those from Grand High Tops or Split Rock but worthy of the walk, no less. There were lots of Motherumba up here too and into the steep gullies which ran back down to the creek.

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today's photos.

We made our way down the other side and returned to camp via the access round. Our 4kms had been well spent but it drew us to the conclusion that a wished for ascent to the Grand High Tops would still be an unfair impost on Sue's back. Despite our greatly enhanced fitness levels, it would remain beyond us but their was no need for regret. We have walked those 12kms and climbed to that lofty place many times previously, both with and without the urging needed to gets our kids up there. The last, with the youngest who was 16 at the time, as I tested out a reconstructed knee.

The memory of it is enough.