Ethereal Canyon

Ethereal: extremely delicate and light in a way that seems not to be of this world.

And that sums up Ethereal Canyon quite nicely. My Thursday Survey bushwalking group explored it the other day. We were, as so often before, indebted to the Bush Club adventurers who have bravely pioneered the route in recent years. Thank you so much, Bush Club.





It takes a good half day to cover the 7 km or so round trip, and you get wet, and you have the usual adventures finding safe spots to descend into and climb out of the canyon, but it's so worth it!















It's in what's now the Newnes State Forest, which in a better future world will be the enlarged Gardens of  Stone National Park.





















At one point the creek disappears into a tiny hole, and reappears about 100m away, coming out unexpectedly as a rather beautiful waterfall.



After emerging out onto the plateau again we drove around to a spot where we could survey the canyon from above. Here's part of it.

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