Out and about in Newnes and the Wolgan Valley

Last weekend was a long weekend for most of Australia for the Queen’s birthday. As much as I don’t like the idea of the queen, I do like this long weekend! 🙂 Predictably, I was out camping. It’s my first ever camping trip in winter and I’m really glad that we were able to set up camp and then just go on day hikes because it meant we were able to carry extra warm gear. Which was much needed in Newnes.

Three friends and I got there on Friday night around 11 pm. It was quite cold by then and we set up our tent and went to bed by about midnight. The next morning, the four of us headed for a short walk around the Industrial Ruins at Newnes. It was freezing when we woke up but the sunshine helped as we walked. We got back around lunch to be met by some of the others joining the group. At 1, we set off for yet another hike to the Glow worm tunnel. It was a great hike through canyons and finally in the tunnel with pretty glow worms. Memories of those have to be etched in my mind as it was not possible to take good pictures. By the time we got back to the campsite, the rest of the group had arrived. We spent a cold but fun night around the fire toasting marshmallows, sharing wine and cheese, having our dinners and well, enjoying a lot of laughs!

On Sunday, we hiked up Donkey Mountain. There isn’t a proper track for this and it was a very steep mountain to climb. I almost died {slight exaggeration!} when one of the guys stepped on a boulder that wasn’t strong and ended up falling and I had two boulders coming right at me. Luckily I moved right on time. But I was shaky for a little while after that. Donkey mountain is almost like a fun theme park for hikers with a lot of bush bashing and squeezing through canyons and scrambling on rocks. My fear of heights kicked in when we had to cross a canyon and it took three friends to help me get through it. When we had to eventually head down the mountain, I pretty much tried to slide on my butt given how steep it was. While it was all exciting, I think I was done with the heights!

Sunday night was even colder than the previous days. I was extremely grateful for the fire. We had yet another night of cheese, crackers, wine, chocolate and food and the laughs were incredible. On Monday, we woke up to see all our tents covered with frost. It probably went down to under 0 degrees at night — something most of us aren’t used to. We packed up most of our stuff and headed for one final steep but quick hike {about 10 kilometres in 3 hours} before finally heading back to Sydney.

As always, it was an amazing weekend. Being away from everyone and everything, having laughs, resting and relaxing — such a great feeling. I got home at 7 p.m. on Monday and well, had to then get my act together to prepare for the week ahead. But here are some photos to share from the weekend:

Are you afraid of heights? How do you go climbing mountains?

Do share!

Until next time,

Cheers!!!