Donkey Mountain

If there's a God(dess) of bushwalking, then that would explain Donkey Mountain. (S)he built it to reward deserving NSW bushwalkers with their ultimate adventure playground.

It's a magnificent place. Well worth the three hour drive from Sydney. It's part of the Gardens of Stone National Park, and you access it from the Wolgan Valley Road, a few kilometres before Newnes. It's surrounded by land owned by the luxury $2000 per night Emirates resort, and among the entertainments on offer there are occasional bushwalks up Donkey Mountain. But you can do it for free.

It's a bit of a slog going up, with a climb of a few hundred metres. Once you're there on top, what a wonderland! An amazing collection of canyons, slots, ledges, 'rooms', 'windows' over the valleys either side, pagodas, caves. It's all there.


It's all been mapped and named by bushwalker extraordinaire Geoff Fox, of the Bush Club. I haven't yet met Geoff,  but I'll be eternally grateful to him for the work he's done mapping, promoting, and urging protection for this and other parts of Gardens of Stone. There's a visitor book up there that he maintains, and one rather ungrateful contributor had been very critical of him for encouraging visitors to this magical place, in case they spoil it. Everyone else left very appreciative comments. I understand that his mission is to encourage interest in the area, so that political pressure can build up to maintain its protection, and counter the pressure from nearby coalmines and other destructive forces. So if there is indeed a God(dess) of bushwalking, then maybe Geoff is her/his earthly representative? I read that he's already known as the 'King of Donkey Mountain', after all.



One of the slots we all squeezed through is named 'Jenny Craig'. We all made it, though I was slightly challenged.





The 'Grand Hall' is indeed a very grand space. This was our lunch place.










And the Titanic! Here's the prow of the doomed liner, with bits of iceberg either side of it!

Looking down on the Emirates resort.






   Tarzan, climbing up out of the 'Green Room'?

























* Photo credit: F. Moxom

Glow-worms and pagodas

You can drive to the Glow Worm Tunnel along a gravel road from Lithgow. But it's much more fun to drive on further, then up the beautiful Wolgan Valley, and then do the scenic little bushwalk in from the western side.

This is what my Thursday bushwalking group did yesterday. It was my suggestion, as I'd somehow failed to get to this particular Wollemi National Park destination in my whole 15 years of living in Sydney.

 

 







And it's quite an experience. The tunnel was built for the railway which served the shale oil plant at Newnes. It's 400m long, and it curves around, so the central portion is very very dark. You can see absolutely nothing without a torch, except that when your eyes adjust, you can see a starry night sky apparition - the glow worms on the ceiling and walls. Wikipedia tells me they are the bioluminescent larvae of Arachnocampa richardsae, a type of fungus gnat.

Along the way to the tunnel you get to see highlights such as the odd industrial relic, mine shafts, and bits of railway line, but also you get great views of Donkey Mountain, the Emirates luxury resort ($1950 per night), and the Gardens of Stone National Park. 

On the other side of the tunnel you go on up the Pagoda Track to the Old Coach Road. And pagodas are what you get. Fabulous weathered old sandstone formations, they're great for clambering over and just marvelling at. When you do clamber, you need to be careful you don't tread on the thinnest of the ledges, as they could break off.

We had an excellent day, and plan to return to the area many more times.