C ONTENTS WARENG AND YEN e - Pat 11rison JULY G7),,, A L MEETIF6 - Jim rown TRIP - Ross 7yborn THE LIBRARY AUC -19N - Book worm/ MOUNTAIN EQUIPMENT CO. AD. NOTICES FROM THE SECRETARY - Noville Pa LETTER TO THE EDITOR - Brian liPz17- —-7.-PraLSANT WALK - Frank Rigby THE DDING OF ROSS & MARGARET Soo', TEST WALKS - Jim CL1lowBy_ 4. 6 9 N. 10. 12. 13. 16. 18.
20.
tf 11. A montYly bulletin of matter of in to the Sydney Bushwalkors, orthcot Roiby Place, Circular uay1 Sydney Address s Box 4476, G3P.0 Sydney. EDITOR s Ross wYborn, 25 B -ke CjEs, 23. BUSINESS MANAGER g Bill Wto1 T riv C'for( TYPIST s Shirley Dean, 30-'.Hannah Street, Beecroft. 2119. SJ. LES TTP 'Ramon U'Brion, 61 Nickson St., Surr7 Hills, 20103 rest Postal 2. The Sydney Bushwniker August, 1968
TARENG AND .ILITGO. * Pat Harrison. The country around the upper McDonald River is dominated. by two striking volcanic peaks Tare4g (19948 ft) and Yengo (29190 ft). These heights in themselves are nothing much, but when considered in relation to the complete denudation of the surrounding country it is readily seen what commanding Positions they occupy 3 for the McDonald near Yengo is about . 400 ft. while tho altitude of the plateau between the river and the two mountains iS quite even and generall ot more than 19500 ft.
Both mountains arc volcanic necks and both in the past have been extensively cleared for grazing, the oldtime stodimen having been endowed with a notable ability for ferreting out the patches of good soil. At present there are no large eucalypts such as once there must have been and, as grazing eeems to be lapsing, the rich chocolate soil is gradually being taken over by Black Wattle which will no doubt provide a glorious sight for a brief period of the year but which at other.times will be a poor replacement for the ancient primeval forest. The giews from either mountain are panoramic, and as the eye wanders around the skyline old acquaintances pass by one after the other Kindarun, Monundilla, Kekeelbons, Tayan, Coricudgy, Coriaday, the Bulga Mts, and around to warrawolong. The view downstairs to the plateau around the McDonald shows masses of tangled labyrinthine ridges which offer plenty of scope for navigational excursions.
Mount Yong was surveyed by Surveyor P.G. Ogilvie in 1831 and Tareng was mapped by him in 1833. This was the remarkable bushman w1?o2i832 forced his way on foot from Putty along the divide between the Colo and the Hunter, as far west as Coricudgy, on the Main Dividing Range, carrying his blankets and rations for two months. In the same year he struck southwesterly between the wollemi and. Cooroongooba streams to Wirraba, Uraterer and Mount Molong. Some bushmanl. For even today, intersected by fire roads as it is, this is not exactly the most hospitable place on earth.
Our ,party of 9 assembled at Mr. Arthur Gosper's “Burrowell” homestead on Friday, July 19, 1968. It was a bit tricky finding the way in from the Putty Road, the entrance being on the Sydney side of Owen's Creek and not on the Singleton side as shown on the Army maps. The party was Julie Rayner, Laurie Quakon, Phil Butt; Barry Wallace, Elizabeth Greer, Ralph Malcolm, Ross Hughes, Dave Ricketts and myself.
It was a clear night of frost and I noticed on Saturday morning that those who slept under the stars had their sleeping bags well plastered with frost. The cars were completely iced over and there was even a film of ice on the inside of one tent, but what a glorious morning vre sovolle.to gre set out down the broad open valley of Burrowell Creek and soon as we came around a bend we got our first good look at Mount Yong, lifting his tawny head high above all else. The valley of Burrowell Creek is fertile and is notable for the fine specimens of Rough Barked Apple trees which are dotted hero and there. Some of these trees are very beautiful, huge trunks, great gnarled roots showing above the ground., and the characteristic rokod
upper limbs which support a green and spreading,$:;-).41. Theo were also some
fine eucalypts near the homestead which somebody said were Flooded Gams (Eucalyptus Grandis) but which somebody else said were more probably Swamp Red Gums (Eucalyptus Amplifolia) since Flooded Gums are not supposed to occur so far south as this. Burrowoll Creek gradually narrowed. until we were walking in its sandy bed with occasional bouts of minor rock hopping. At one stage our leader took us out of the creek up a spur on the northern side but we soon dropped back into the creek again. This variation was apparently brought in to ensure that the walk was up to Test Walk standard. .Tife reachod.the clear, shallow, sandy McDonald_ and had: lunch there before setting out for Yengo, Elizabeth stayed behind at the river and the rest of us reached Yengo about 3.30 p.m. However, on the way back some of the party dawdled a bit and the result was that we did not reach the river until 6,45 pm. The rocks which had been an easy scrabble out of the river in daylight werea different proposition descending in the darkness with only a couple of effective 76orehes9..but it was good fun and we appreciated Elizabeth's fire when we got back.
On Sunday we scrambled out of the river on to the ri o on the. northern side of Burrowell.Creek and dropped back into Burrowell Creek at the junction with Back Swamp Creek with the leader's permission five of us (Phil, Ross, Dave, Laurie Quaken and self) hurried back to the cars and drove the few miles up. the Putty Road to the Wareng turn-off. The cars were parked beneath the mountain and .55 minutes later we had been up and down to put the finishing touch on a very good weekend,
The whole party reassembled at Burrowell before setting out for home.
ON PEAKS. Each purple peak, each flinty spire, was bathed in floods of living fire. But not a setting beam could glow Within the dark ravines below, There tWined the path in shadow hid, Rolnd.many a rocky pyramid Shooting abruptly from the dell Its thundersplintered pinnacle Sir Walter Scott.
THE JULY GENERAL :MEETING. . Jim Brown. This was destined to be another marathon session- Yet it began quietly enough with welcomes to two well-known Club names. Lynne “Yborn (5th of her clan to be admitted) and Marion Hall (Mark III. of hers) were present, but the other new member Brian Griffiths was not around. Next, an, interesingr_itam,pf,newst_ archivist as one of her first triumphs, had uncovered the vteran *iMandelbere' Cup, sO presentations were made to the winners of Last February's Swimming Carnival. Rolf Janssen accepted the Cup wi-11 its fortune in engraving costs on behalf of Bronwyn Secombe and himself: he also carried off the Henley Cup. Neville Page (in company with BronwYn.) scored the new Betty Farquhar Cup. Minutes next, agreed to without dissent, and correspondence which brought several echoes. There was a resignation from Kath McKay, going to live in Western Australia: a letter from Ross 7yborn detailing his scheme for mathematical calculation of the standard of walks: from Audrey and Bob Godfrey heading to Queensland and seeking Non-active status; from the Conservation Council of NS” giving its draft Constitution and a policy on mining in public reserves: and finally a request for support from the Andean Expedition, 1969.
Matters arising, and Don Finch moving that the Club donate 50 to the South American expedition, the cost of which was estimated at 20,000, half to be contributed by the members and the rest by subscription. He commended the scheme as being in the line of our Constitution and a matter for some pride that two ST7 were included. Dot Butler gave supports already there were promises of financial aid from walkers in Hobart and Newcastle who would not be directly represented. Treasurer Gordon Redmond considered it was a.matter for the individual or for a fund-raising social events he foreshadowed another motion seeking club funds for the fight to preserve Colong. Don Finch in reply said both explorers and Colong were deserving cases, and the motion carried.
Quite a deal of discussion followed on membership of the NS“ Conservation Council. Under the new Constitution, Clubs or groups would pay a capitation fee Which, in the case of SB”, may be about A7 per annum. However ti-e, question was whether Federation, if also remaining a member body, would have to pay again for all the members of component Clubs. It was agreed to see which way the Federation cat jumped. The Conservation Council had reached a united policy on mining in parklands.
Ross Wyborn asked about his formulae on walks and was told it had been passed to the Walks Secretary for study and report. A suggestion was made that Kath McKay be asked to reconsider her resignation, and this was converted into a recomendation that Committee consider Honorary Membership. The Treasurer reported the Club's workingfundS'as 482 at end June, and 120 subscriptions still unpaid. The August Committee (month of August, that is) would probably do what had to be done.
Walks Report told of a very successful ski tour in good weather on the June holiday weekend. Jim Calloway's day walk in National Park the following weekend had 18 starters, while Ros. Painter and Dorothy Nobleled a .group of 16 on the Grose and up Coal Mine Creek, Sam Hinde's day walk on 16th June took 36 people into the Jibbon area, and the Jack Perry day walk from Brooklyn to The Peak had six. On the Upper End-rich River, Ramon U'Brien found some fairly rough going on the Sunday of his trip, and obvious map errors' John Holly's day walk on the woronora brnught out 32, while Doone 7yborn in a climbing trip off Thurat plateau had a party of six. Phil Butt, referring to-the Nerriga 1:50,000 map, said roads were shown at points where intersecting cliff lines actually existed.
Social Secretary Barry Pacey said tickets for both the Club dinner dance and the Federation Ball should be available soon, Brian Harvey mentioned that a number of old members who had been eager to have another rendezvous at the Old Crusty were disappointed at the Club's change of place and date. It was pointed out by several speakers that the Club could scarcely be expected to plan social events for people who did not attend the meetings to make their wishes known.
Barry Wallace presented a Federation Report which told us that the June meeting had been poorly attended, even by its functionaries. The Gungarribee walking club had wound up its affairs and made a donation to Search and Rescue of its unused funds. Barry Pacey had been suggested as convenor of the Federation Ball Committee. TO were reminded that Federation's Annual Meeting and election of officers fell in July and this was the time if we wanted to support and stimulate Federation. 70 then voted that our delegates urge Federation to retain membership of the Conservation Council. Thus to no big business of the evening, discussion of the proposed pattern test walks as shown on a list distributed. A surprising number of irrelevancies and semirelevancies cropped up: while discussion focussed on one particular walk various speakers would be habouring the question of whether day walks should be included, or whether the comparative standard of day, day and two day walks was equitable. weaving a cautious, if at times, slightly exasperating course between the shoals of-red herrings, the Member in Charge of the Bill (Phil Butt) and the President, finally succeeded in getting each of the 2day walks, two of the three day walks, and three out of four day walks accepted by the required majority: no doubt the details will be published elsewhere in the magazine. Your reporter found .himself pondering how long the debate might have continued had any of the trips (either accepted or rejected) been really unreasonable. By the time it was over there was just room to announce the resignation of Lyn Drummond as Committee Member, and John Holly as Keeper of Maps and Timetables, Doon 'TYborn being appointed in his stead. The Prosi.ent declined to accept a motion that day trips were not weekend walks and insisted this should be determined as a Constitutional amendment. With two minutes and 30 seconds to go before our tenure of the roam expired for the evening, the meeting closed. -
EDITOR'S NOTE. This article was originally written for the .riewspaprtas 'a publicity article for the Australian Andean Expedition but it waa never published. A TRAINING TRIP. Ross wyborn… : THE PLAN. Climbers often moot technical difficulties in Now Zealand similar to those mot in the Andes. However often they climb from mountain huts and do not experience living in the mountains withoUt huts. AS there are no huts in the Andes we decided to plan a trip in Now Zoland that would give us experience in living away from huts at a high altitude. The area we chose was the La Perouse Glacier. The upper .parts of this had not been visited for 10 years. Also nine 10,000 ft peaks could be climbed from the head of the glacier including Mt. Tasman, 11,475 ft, New Zealand's second highest mountain Many of the peaks had only boon ascended once or twice from that side and there was some possibilities of new 'routes on several of the peaks. The trip was planned for the ChristmasNow Year period of last year. THE PARTY. The party consisted of four Australian climbers all of whom were interested in becoming members of the Australian Andean Expedition. As it turned out two of the group could not get the necessary.leaye from work to enable ,them to become members of the final team. INACCESSIBILITY. The reason why the area had not boon visited for so long was because access to the area is very difficult. There are only three ways of getting into the arca. The most frequently used route in the past involved carrying all your supplies for four days up a steep rough gorge. The second route involved crossing a colcalled Cl-a'ke Saddle which was nearly 10,000 ft high. This route involved some difficult climbing and it would be impossible to take two weeks supply of food over. The third route had not been used and a survey of aerial photos showed a large cliff barring the way. we chose the second route and to make it possible we planned an airdrop of rood to lighten our loads. THE AIRDROP. The idea was to drop the food from a Cessna aircraft into the snow basin whero.we wore going to camp. The aircraft would then land us on the Grand Plateau at 79500 ft on the other side of the main divide and we would climb over the divide on the following day to pick up the food The danger was that if the weather turned bad before we could cross the main divide, snow would cover the food and make it impossiblc to find. . we packed the food carefully into 5 gallon paint drums. The drums had to be packed to withstand the drop which would be made from about 1,000 ft above the glacier. The lids were wired onto the drums and each drum padkdd With paper filling into a hesion bag. 'e had to wait for several days at the lermitage, for the .weather to clear sufficiently for the airdrop to be August, 1968 The Sydney Bushwalker 70 made. Th-a-door,was taken off the plane to enable the bags to be Tilt: when Jack Higgs and Ross Tytern were loaded into the plane along with all the drums, there was only Sust enough room for the pilot. As the little plane dived in between the mountains 'the pilot cried “now” and the pushers threw as many drums as they could through the Pet doorway. After three passes, all eleven drums were on the glacier. CROSSING THE,MAIN DIVIDE.
To cross over the saddle we had to climb from .7,500-ft up to: 10,000'ft- and traversc.along the.tep of the main divide,before dropping 1,000ft0 down the other side to our' camp site. Although we had all our food air-y dropped in, we had to carry all our equipment as we were' not :sur. that .it would be recovered if it was fdrdropped. 'Honce,we still had vary'heavy.. packs for the tecJrnical climbing at was involved. The climbing' wai.vary difficult with a lot of front pointing and fixed belaying (see glosaary)… On the top of the main divide it started to snow. To mi.c worried that the new snow would cover our foodG Fortunately we managed to reach the foodbefore it was covered. We found 10 of the 11, drums snd the other one a few days later. ' . THE SNOW CAVE. We did not take tents as they arc easily:blown down unless specially designed for high altitudes. we planned to dig a,snow cave,. This *as danZi by digging a slightly upward sloping tuhnel'about 4 ft'.wide by .aboutl4.ft. high, into a steep snow slope.' when we had .dug 25 ft into the mountain -side we enlarged the cave to form a living 'chanter. This tilas 6'6“ high'in the middle with a domed roof, a sleeping platform on one side,and-a.cooking bench and shelves on the other side. The roof-hasto. be smooth and rounded to prevent drips from the melting snow, The cave took nearly twO'full days to dig. The most difficult job is to got the snow blocks out of the main chamber. 70 did thia by dragging out the snow on hesion.bags.used in the airdrop. The main chamber was about 15 feet wide by 12 foot long. The temperature inside the cave remains relatively warm as compared with outside temperatures. The temperature inside stays constant at about freezing point. MT. TASMAN (119475 ft.) ' On the' first suitable day we set out to climb Mt. Tasman, New Zealand's second highest mountain. Mt. Tasman is regarded by New Zealand climbers as one of the hardest climbs in the Southern Alps. Indeed we found the climb quite a test of our Skill. The difficulties arp caused by steep green ice which make it necessary to cut steps. Before we cold climb Mt. Tasman we had.to traverse three other peaks Mt. LiechelManh 10,363 ft, Ht. Graham 10,400 ft and the Silberhorn 109700 ft. Higher' up the ridge, just below the summit we came-up against an ice wall which was overhanging on the first section. This ice wall had turned back all the previbus parties of that season. We were forced to traVerse across the east face., crossing 'difficult snow bridges to get. around .the wall, we eventually reached the top about midday. affcr about.eight hours climbing. The weather was perfect with only a slight breeze which is.quite rare for such a high peak. Before us stretched many miles of jumbled mountain ranges with the, beaches of the West Coast stretching away into the distance. Out to. sea lire could see clouds building up so we wasted no time on the return trip to our cave. 8. The Sydney Bushwalker August, 1968, SNO7TBOI1173. The following day when we ventured outside our snow cave TO found that it was snowino lightly. This did not disturb us much as we were happy to rest after the strenous climb. However when the weather became worse the next day we began to worry. The entrance to the snow cave was covered very quickly with fresh snow and we had to continually clear it. Snow kept falling for the next seven days and we rarely ventured outside our shelter. Occasionally a short break in the weather would allow us to climb outside for fresh air and to do some cocking. Inside we stayed in cur sleeping bags most of the day and killed the time by reading, writing and playing cards. OVERDUE. Then the weather did finally clear it was the afternoon before the date when we were due to be back at the Hermitage. Rocks we had climbed on the way over wore now plastered with fresh snow and impossible to climb. 'e decided to attempt a slightly different route, abseiling over some bergschrunds to avoid the rocks. However, we had only climbed a few hundred feet above the snow cave when we were forced to turn back because of a very strong wind which would not allow us to stand up without hanging onto the snow. Back in the cave we considered our position, our food supplies and the possibility of the weather Closing in again0 liTe decided to take the longer but surer route out down the Cook River. THE GORGE. Te collected together some more food and descended the two ice falls of the La Porous Glacier without difficuty. Other parties had . became fouled up in the crevasses and ice blocks of tiaj.s ice fall. After passing the snout (lower end) of the La Perouse glacier we continued on down the Cook River. The difficulties did not come until the next day, when we rounded a corner to find that the river tumbled into a steep sided gorge. It is impossible to cross this river at any place and we had to keep to the southern bank to avoid being cut off by another uncrossable river. In the gorge we could no longer keep close to the river because of cliffs and we wore forced up into the dense scrub. Our progress was reduced to one mile in six hours. It took us 2i days to got through the gorge. On the last day we hoard a search pl-me overhead_ but the scrub was too thick to signal it and it passed over before we could light a fire. To realised that people would be getting worried as we were 3 days overdue. Te pushed on as fast as we could and reached the township of Fox Glacier just in time to prevent a search party starting to look for us. EXPERIENCE. In all, the trip had given a valuable experience in conditions similar to those we expect to find in the Peruvian Andes. In addition TO made the first cast to west crossing of the Southern .Alps by this route.
THE LIBRARY 'AUCTION. August,_1968. Book 'Form. Yes, it finally happened on the night of July. 24. The cold dead body of the S.B.r. library was dissected and disposed of, the many bits and pieces being snapped up by a wide crosssection of the Club membership. It was not without some regrets. After a lengthy illness, the Patient was revitalised in 1967, with the then Librarian Ivy Painter putting in some good solid surgery to get it back on its feet. Unfortunately, all this went for nought as members generally just did not respond with sufficient interest. either the Idiot Box nowadays has made reading unfashionable or else the competition from the free municipal libraries is too hot. At any rate, after a very fair trial, the April amval Meeting abolished the library on a Committee recommendation. In a way, I suppose it was fitting that the auctioneer should have been. . the Club's antilibrary exponent, Frank Ashdown. Mind you, not that Frank looked at tho.event in the way a victor would look at his vanquished foe; however, one can't'holp feeling that that he must have derived some small amount of satisfaction from the job. *Anyhow, Frank swung into the auction., with gusto azia books were soon being knocked down right and left under the hammer. Competition was surprisingly keen in some cases and it could be that' a few unrealistically high bids wore made in the excitement of the moment. On the other hand, a few bargains came the buyers way. The highlight of the evening was the bidding for Florence SuIman's ' two volumes of “7i1d Flowers of Now South vialas”, a rather valuable set ' now unobtainable. After the hopeful amateurs had been weeded out, two fair dinkum professionals in the shape of Heather White and Sam Hinde staged a spirited duel for possession. It was all .veryexciting, not quite knowing ,ii/here it would end Sam proved.the'more determined stayer with a final bid c of .011 The fun continuud, the Scots blood running in most bushwalkers being more than matched by the sales talent of the auctioneer, who managed to squeeze enough filthy lucre out of them to sell every bock in the library. Even the cabinet was knocked down to American members Craig. and Marcia Shappert one wonders whore its last resting place will be?, And the addition to the Club's coffers? 8la3. INSTRUCTIONAL. On*,September-20.,-21, Barrys Tallacc and Papey will be leading an instructional walk in,theA-rand,danon,:Gove-Ws'te* area. All-prospectives are'Welcama and ial'aY direct enquiries to either of the leaders. . August, 1968 Tho Sydney Bushwalker . 11. TEST 7ALKS– Jim Calloway. The argument about test -vIrcaks has boon started again. :We are trying to make a standard v,rhich would c.onstitute a test walk. IiParlY..:.thiS…”,year the Treasurer Proposed to lnit the.,.number of .prospectivc,,s 'applying for membership by placing. a ,higher entrance fee.. As was clebated:'#id,..agreed by most members, this is not the method b..: which peOpl6rwithjtrue:fiUshwalking intentions can be discovered,. The only way that can be adopted to test their walking abilities,_ is to make a higher standard of test:Walks. Day test walk t should be to test . prospectives Physical capabilities for the day… This, then allowcs a prospective to see for themselves what could be eY,peeted of them.' “ith a confidence that a day test didn't overtax them, they -would then feel free to attempt a weekend test walk. The Committee has a big responsibility to make sure that walks placed on the programme are really test Talks. If this responsibility is not taken seriously, they are than responsible for the people who are being admitted to the club and who have no real interest and ability for walking. It seems peculiar that the Committee allows walks which ere really only picnics to be allowed as test walks. The planning of a test walk is a very hard. thing to do and takes years of experience to do it efficiently. The number of people who are going to a+tend is a primary factor and is not known till the day of the walk. Let us then plan them so that (should any difficulty arise on the day of the walk) they can be altered to suit any situation which is encountered on the walk. Particularly being able to cut walks short .when necessary. The distance covered as well as the terrain should be taken into account. For surely five miles of flat road would not require the same effort as to go from Paralyse/. to Cloudmaker. Let us than try to make test walks. which are not liable to kill prospectives off, but which will .giVo an average test to all. Recorded at the August Monthly Meeting the resignation of Brian Harvey as Hon. Auditor. 7,- wANT'ED. One brand new auditor, with suitable qualifications to be elected at the Half Yearly Meeting, Salry' to be negotiated. 3 weeks annual leave. ALSO r1I1TED. One Federation Delegate. (substitute). TASMANIAN BUSH 7ALKING TRIP. It is proposed to undertake a.bush walk from Blakos Opening to Lake Pedder in Tasmania. from 14th to .23rd: January, 1969, Any experienced member or members (male) in the 35/45 age group who are interested please ring 44-7369 after 7.30 p.m. Monday to Friday.
THE SYDNEY BUSH WAILERS (Founded 1927) Notice is hereby given that the Half-Yearly General Meeting of The Sydney Bush jalkers will be held at the N.S.W Nurses' Association Auditorium, Reiby'Place, Sydney, on Wednesday 11th. September, 1968 at 7.45 p.m. AGENDA 1. Apologies. 2. Welcome to new Members, 3. Minutes of the August General Meeting held on Ivednesday 14th. August, 1968.
4. Correspondence.
5. Reports:. (a) Treasurer's Report. (b) Walks Report. © Social Report. (d) Federation Report.
6. Selection of a site for the 1968 Annual Reunion.
7. Election of Hon. Auditor and Substitute Federation DeleLate to fill the vacancies occasioned by the resignation of 'Jr. Brian Harvey. .8. Proposed Amendments to the Constitution. 9. General Business.
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION: ,
The following amendment to the Constitution .has been proposed by Mr. Frank Rigby.
Section 14. Amendments to Constitution. That, in Clause 777,the word “simple”,bo substituted for the words “three-quarters” so that Clause 14(a) shall read: “This Constitution shall not be amended except by a simple majority at an extraordinary, half-yearly or annual general meeting. Fourteen days' notice in writing of such meeting, setting forth the proposed amendment in full, shall be given to each member.” The following amendment to the Constitution has been proposed by Hr. Don Finch, Section 5. Membership That, in Clause 5(e), the words two day walks and one weekend walk” be deleted; ana the words “one day walk and two weekend walks” be substituted,
and That, in Olause 5(ee) the words “each or either of the aforementioned day walks” be deleted, and the words “the aforementioned ,day'walk”. be substituteds The following ,amendments to the Constitution have been proposed by Ix. Brian Harvey, Section b. 6ubscription. That the words nat the .discretion of-TET-C7thmittee“ in Clause 6(b) be daloted, Section 12. Finance. That the. words “at least half- yearly be deleted from Clause 12(b)2 and the words at the close of the Club's financial yearn be substituted. That the words “and c1riy other Club Officer handling monies” be added after the word “Trea3uership” in Clause 12(C), Section 13. By-Laws, That all the words of Section 13 be deleted and the following substituted therefor: (a) All Resolutions of Continuing Effect recorded in the ,linate Books at the date of the 1968 Half-Yearly General Meeting shall be regarded as By-Laws. New By-Laws after that date may be adopted by any General Meeting. (b) In addition, the Committee shall be em1Dowered to adopt By-Laws which shall be announced at the next following General Looting by the Chairman, . © By-Laws may only be rescinded or amended by a thr,-)e-fourths majority of members voting at any General or Extraordinary General Lec;ting and of which rescision or amendment Members have at least 14 days notice in writing. (d) A 17,-…ecper of the By-Laws shall be appointed by a General Meeting and shall retain office until such office is declared to be vacant when the position shall be filled at the next following General lacciting, (e) It shall be the duty of the Keeper of the By-Laws to cause to be published the then extant By-Laws in the March issue of the Club Journal .each year and-any rescision thereof, amendment thereto or addition thereto in the next Club Journal UNFINANCIAL M=ERS. It should be noted that all -r unfinancial members will be given until the data of the Half-Yearly General Meeting to pay their 1968-69 subscriptions, after which tilae those having not paid will be-automatically crossed off the Membership List, ' Me:filers who are in doubt should contact tlie Treasurer, who will advise whether their name appears on the List of Unfinalizial Humberss Neville Page. HON. - SECIETARY..
ZE)g/ Tables are now being arranged for the forthcomeing Social Reunion and Dinner _Dance, so get your: ticket and join in. As you may have hoard, tables will be given the titles of Bush walking place names; e.g. Kanangra, Cloudmaker, Byarigee, Morelia L:arong etc. This will be the Social event of the year,,so get together and form a table with your friends, or put your name down for nu of the CIub tables. here is it to be . held? At the ,s1c-,,T LoUnga,' 157 Liverpool Street, Sydney, opposite Hyde Park. When? On the evening of Friday 18th. October. For tickets, get in touch with: ROS. PAINTER 0 DOT NOBLE BARRY PACE OJEN MARKS OR NEVILLE PAGE. Buy a ticket, come along, and be in it 16. The Sydney Bushwalker August, 1968 Letter to tho Editor from Brian Harvey. Sir, THE DUNGALLA CLUB. Following any announcement at the July Monthly General Meeting to the effect that the majority of the more senior Club Members were not interested to be present at the projected Dinner Dance in October, duo to it nature, I feel I am bound to amplify my statement to allay any misconceptions or misunderstandings which since may VG arisen in the mind of general Club Members. For some years the senior age group has been very disappointed and dismayed at the Club's lack of thoughtfulness for this group's mutual Social_ contact within the ambit of the Club, notwithstanding that amongst their. numbers are Foundation Members, Fast Frosidmts and many other Pet Office Bearers, most of whom have enjoyed 259 30 or 40 years' continuity of contemp- orary friendship in the Club environment
In spite of appeals, Reunion Camps have continued to be held at impracticable places having recl to physical imapabilities, to cite, for example, the camp at McArthur 's Flat on the'Nattai River. ;It would have been desirable that all of those Reunion CamiDs could have been reached by car so that all members were given the same oprortunity to participate . These annual functions, which formed a very important and enjoyable part of the senior members' earlier Club life, have been denied them, whilst at the same time denying the social contact they provided.
The Club's obsession to run series of lectures at the Clubroom as a substitute for social activity, fellowship general intermingling, discussion, exchange of news and views and reminiscences, left the senior members with the only alternative of refraining from attending the Auditorium's regimented assemblies of ordered rows of screenwatchers. It is to be appreciated that these senior members have viewed thousands of slides in their time, many before current walkers were born, so that slides are no novelty. In any case, slides are mainly of interest to those walkers who took part in the particular excursion depicted. As for lectures without slides, there is a wide choice on television and radio without -leaving the comfort of the home. The require- ment is therefore social contact, not entertainment. Current active walkers apparently are not able to discern the distinction between entertainment and social activity, so that the socalled Social .Programme has devolved into a series of lectures, with and/or without slides, interspersed with general meetings and committee meetings. 7ith the exception of last year's Dinner and Social Reunion, functions outside the Club have been entertainments at picturetheatres, playnights and the like. According to the last Annual Report, nothing ever happns at the Christmas Party, to which 4 there is no organised transport. Those in the Club who are fortunate enough to still take part in the walks, do not realise that a walk is a continuous social event during August, 1968 The Sydney Bushwalker 17. the whole period of the excursion during which time they are free to chatter, exchange news and view and generally join in the adventures and experiences ” of the trip. This contact is denied those who are unable to go walking, and, as it is not provided in the Auditorium; most of the non-walking members have had to make their own private arrangenents to maintain social contact in spite of the Club,'not because of the Club. Furthermore, they had hoped, by remaining on the books for old-times sake, that they would give the Club financial suPport'so that the Chap may be enabled to continue .the good work of interesting young people in walking as a means of recreation and that their wisdom and experience in Club affairs, may, if proferred of called upon, might be of benefit to the younger rand less-experienced members, should they wish to accept it. Another factor, always -overlooked in preparing the “Social” Programme, is t'e fact that there is an age-range of 73 years within the Club and that this calls for varying social requir-ements, 'which, unfortunately, are not considered. The Dinner and Social Reunion, hold, last October to mark the Club's Fortieth Anniversary, was the first event in recent years which really appealed to the senior members because they were free to mingle freely to their heart's content. Those younger members who attended the function can testify that the older members literally talked their heads off for three-and=a-half hours without any form of entertainment. So groat was their enjoyment that inmodiately afterwards I was approached from many quarters to organise a repeat performance this year along the same lines. Last November, at the Monthly General Meeting, I started the ball rolling, but the Club procrastinated and five months later, my motion at the Annual General noting to hold another similar Dinner and Social Reunion was amended to hold. a Dinner Dance instead, to suit the desires of the younger generation. In my right-of-reply I pointed out that this was not the kind of function the senior members had asked for, as one could not imagine people in their 50's, 60's and 70's endeavuring to compete in conversation against a five-piece band, possibly equipped with a caterwauling vocalist. However, the selfish outlook won the night, notwithstanding that the Federation of Bushwalking Clubs' Annual Ball was being held in September, thus providing the desired dancing facilities for the active walkers. The immediate reaction of tha senior members was to organise their own Dinner and Social Reunion at “Ye Old.? Crusty', as the earlier booking Was still available. It was decided to invite those Past Members Who were present at the celebration's last year, amongst whom were many Club Foundation Members and other Past Office Bearers, and all of whom had so greatly enjoyed the earlier function. From this stemmed the idea of a permanent organisation to hold an annual dinner and social reunion, and, in '1.ddition, other functions such as a Christmas Party, barbecues, will. flower inspections, touring -,nd c-r-camping, to consolidate all those who wore at a loose end to maintfiA 0 oirbact Thus, there is a car-camp in November, with a Christmas Party at a bowling club later on. 18: The Sydney B1Shaiker August, 1968. It is not the intention of “The Dungalla Club” to filch awdy 'current members of the Sydney Bush Walkers but rather to function as an ancilliary body to promotO'the social activity and contact of SY!' members whose activ6 walking days are over. Thus, current older members of the Saw have,been asked not to terminate their membership by reason of their joining The Dungalla Club. For the notsowellinformed, the name “Dungalla” was, choson to perpetuate the “Dungalla Swag” in which walkers oififty.years .'go carried their gear pricer to the advent of the rucksack. The ”;Dungalla was .designed by Mr. Myles Dunphy and the to Mr, Herbert Gallop9.11 fellowmembers of “The Mountain Trails Club” and late/4 foundation m-e0:ers of The Sydney Bush l'alkers. I Thei.Constitution of “The Dungalla Club” prOvides.that the SBT President;inOffice'andhis Lady shall.bo Honorary Members. I therefore congratulate Mr. &Mrs. Frank Rigby on the honour so, bestoWed. Brian Harvez. .1MMI.M…..MmO
A PLEASANT TALK. by Frank Rigby. There's no doubt that i was teEpting fate when I put a walk on the Programme for the first weekend in August, Bank Holiday weekend. ' Last year on the same weekend I led a walk in the CoxBlackheath Creek area well, a lot of us will remember the time it was the weekend of the great deluge and the idy.winds when three people, including a bushwalker, and a Boy Scout, lost their lives in the Blue Mountains. Fortunately, lightning does notalways strike in the same place twice and
this Bank Holiday weekend proved to be a bbauty. At times I felt that Spring had already arriued. Yes, at times-------
But it wasn't very Springlike when the eight of us set off from .katoomba along the road to the Devil's Hole a gusty wind which must have had its origins at the Pole blew down our backs and it was a real pleasure to get down into the cleft. I looked back to a wondrous sight a winding procession of torches making their way down through that eerie canyon, like something out of an artist's fantasy., Now let's see, who were there? Ah, yes, newlyweds. Terry and Chris Norris, Frank Tacker, Meli Devitt, Marion Lloyd, Dave Russell, Joan Rigby and of coUrse, Yours Truly. The
track down from the Hole. isn't what it used to be and tends to disappear in spots but we managed he valley and thankfully camped a bit along from the old Pubsite, which incidentally these days has degenerated into a disgusting garbage heap. Next morning it was off down Megalong Creek in lovely sunshine. That last half-mi]eor so of the crook before it empties into the Cox must surely be one of the gems of the mountains - plunging waterfalls and tearing cascades, enormous boulders and great rock slabs all in together. No one would volunteer for a swim at the Cox, except Marion who didn't exactly volunteer either, but had an involuntary immersion when making a tricky crossing. “Now let's walk for an hour before lunch”, I said, and off, we went, rock-hopping, boulder dodging and wading down this magnificent granite stretch of the river. Of course we didn't walk for an hour at all .beoaus6 in twenty minutes we discovered one of those enticing grassy areas that just seem to be specially designed for lunch spots and for white anting leaders. I could not resist the pleading eyes of the party and so lunch it was in this sunny dell, with the river racing away just below us.
In the afternoon it was on down the Cox, busy feet tramping, on through the golden hours, the she-oaks brilliantly back-lit :the sun. But what's this? Smoke ahead? A fire already going with a billy on it! Goodness no, what will they be up to next? I had let the party get a little ahead and here they were confronting me with afternoon teas Oh well,. I guess a auppa would not be hard to take after all. Refreshed, we walked on to the Galong Creek-Cox junction and made camp in what the tourist brochure writers would describe as a sylvan setting.
After dinner, we lazed around the fire in the way that bushwalkers ao, Somebody noticed that the few little clouds in the sky were doing odd things. A bit above the western skyline they would form out of nothing, grow larger and larger as they passed over the moon and then dissolve back into nothing as they went overhead. The theories that this phenomenon generated were fantastic - I must admit that the one about the heat from out campfire unsaturrating the atmosphere directly above us was a bit hard to swallow. Anyway, it was a perfect night which seemed to grow warmer as we slept and in the morning Spring had arrived well ahead of schedule and the balmy atmosphere was enought to turn any young man's fancy Up the beautiful Galong Creek with its grassy banks and then its pools and waterfal2s. It was all very pretty but there was again no inclination to wet the body. EverYbody managed the lst waterfall in fine style and then it was lunch near Carlon's, where we were entertained by a couple of Carlon's horses stubbornly refusing to go up the ridge until the riders dismounted smart animals, these horses. Carlon's Head loomed awfully big above us and it is a fairly tough slog up to the cliffs of Narrow Nock in anybody's language. By the time we reached the first climbing pitch a nasty westorly was blowing hard and there was not much lingering or desire to contemplate tho'cliff line above. The Sydney Bushwalkor
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August, 1968, 'However, I did have time to wonder how on earth the. first pft''ty to make the ascent of 'Carlon's Head (I think it was SD and Dot Butler probably knemrs a lot about it) sudceeded without the chains-mqd.rungs that seem to be so essential to we less intrepid folk, Even allowing for built,-in aids, everybody felt they had really achieved something when the trop was reached, How Frank . Tacker :went up 'without a shirt on his back when the rest of us Were rugged up . in warm clothes it quite beyond me, Tell the trek along Narrow Neck into Katoomba is pretty routine these days, with the fire trail rather spoiling what used to be a 71ensant if sometimes overlong experience; . funny how-that last hill up KatooMba Street alayt seems to be-the back-breaker. -
Never mind, the AB Cafe was just around the corner, where..,wo.hUrigry bush- walkers stocked up with lots of fuel before setting off up to Rt.-Victoria to run our mile in the Colong Caves to Sydney Protest Marathon. All in all, who could ask for a more pleasant bushwalk?
THE WEDDING OF ROSS AND MARGARET. By”SOCialiten
On Thursday, August 15, your Editor Ross Wybern-and.wellknOwn:Club member Margaret Dogterom entered into the bonds of matrimony, aS'they-sayl. -H7e11; the Club has done it again, someone was heard to remark Just how many times, for goodness sako has the SB7-played the part of- Cupid..andlEatchmaker?
Ross. had somehow been persuaded to trim his burly -red heard, down and looked as ..pleased. as Punch, as well as being very debonair in his dark suit. Heavens, is this the same Rosso we have seen so many times out in the bush? The bride, of course, 166ked,absolutely lovely in her full-length wedding. gown and veil - don't ask me what. it was made of, this piece being written by a Mere male!
Don Finch was best man and made a fine speech but got a bit tangled up with some of the telegrams in Dutch (Holland is Margaret's homeland) Bob Duncan proposed a most humorous toast to the Bride and Groom and of course the old bushwalking reminiscences were well to the fore. Quite a few SB7's were there to take Part in this .happy event ad., incidentally, with Margaret ;s change of name, wenow have- six Wyborns in the Club (somebody wondered if the family would make a take-Over bid) 'Alan- wanted to kno:v if subscriptions came cheaper by the half dozen. .After the cere6bony,. the couple walked under a collonado of ice axes hold aloft by their walkingand climbing mates - no, there was not the slightest temptation to drop an axe, it appeared? The wedding cake was Unique- It was made by Ross's mother Alice, and was in the shape of a mountain With very appropriate waking and climbing motifs all around. Naturally, the couple didn't-use a knife to make the ceromenial:cdt 7 instead, they plunged into it with an ice-axe. Then they -ilretended they couldn't get it out (some wit said it must be a rock cake) but this.wasn't really fair because it was scrumptious inside. . . And finally more good hew60 Ii his speech Ross said that they would not make the mistakes SOte'other'MarAed.00uples had .made (???) but were going to do more bushwalking'thanThver.' 7611,, time