OCTOBER
2000
Issue No. 791
s
14. 14.
The September General Meeting
reported by Barry Wallace Death of Tam Moppett New Confederation President chosen
J Changes to RNP cperation and charges Walking the Brecon Beacons by
Tan Wolfe & Louise Verdon October Social Program Helicopters
by Keith Maxwell (BWR) Topographic 1:25 000 Map Re-survey
reported by Glen Horrocks Gardens of Stone
by Charlie Montross
The Great River Walk
by Roger Treagus
Sydney Bushwalker on our Website Questionnaire Final Results
Coolana Hootnanny Advt. from Bill Holland
Whistle while you waik by Patrick James
. K2K/2K
by Phil Newman Next Month Future Articles List
ADVERTISERS
Alpsport Eastwood Camping Centre Willis's Walkabouts
Paddy Pallin
Front
Back
The Sydney Bushwalker magazine :
printed on recycled paper [Page 2 eam The Syduey Bushwalker October 2000
THE SEPTEMBER 2000
GENERAL MEETING Reported by Barry Wallace
The numbers were still looking a bit thin at 2005 when, with only 11 members present, the president called all to order and began the meeting. Your scribe had been recruited to take rudimentary minutes in the absence of a secretary so if the meeting notes look like the minutes and vice versa, do not be alarmed.
There were apologies for Bill and Fran Hoiland,
The minutes of the previous general meeting were not available so we proceeded without them.
Correspondence-in saw a letter from the NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation notifying us of an Aboriginal Land Rights claim affecting the permissive occupancy adjacent to Coolana. The letter has been passed to the Hon Solicitor for action in view of the limited time available for response,
There was no Conservation report or treasurers report for presentation to the meeting although the president assured those present the details are out there somewhere. Possibly on the basis that one report is as good as another we had a Coolana report presented by Patrick James. Patrick told of the recent successful Coolana training weekend and spoke of a need to enhance the group dynamics of such events. We were also assured that the tool shed at Coolana is now iti a desirable position, standing up. Rumour has it we are already running out of floor space.
The Confederation report indicated that the debate over just what is covered by Confederations insurance, and the related costs, continues unabated. Discussion of the idea of an office assistant also got a guernsey in there somewhere. NPWS are now saying there will be no blanket consent agreement on risk taking activities in areas under their control. .
The president presented the walks reports from notes provided by Carol who was laid
aside with a bout of influenza. The notes had been sorted to a logic we never did fully apprehend; but the first walk reported was Wilfs weekend trip over the expanded weekend of 11, 12, 13, 14 August. The party of 4 encountered some rain late on Sunday but otherwise all seems to have gone well. There was no report for Kay Chans easy overnight trip in the Megalong over the real weekend of 12, 13 August, but we were assured it did go. Roger Treagus led a party of 21 on his Saturday walk from North Turramurra to Seaforth, There was no report for Lucy Moores Sunday trip in Kuring-Gai Chase NP. Barbara Bruce cancelled her Sunday bicycle trip around Mount Annan Botanic Gardens due to rain and although we believe it went, there were no details for Tony Crichtons trip out from Carlon's that day.
Wilf had a party of 6 out on the Thursday for his midweek walk along stage five of the counter-clockwise navigation of Port Jackson.
There was no report for Kenn Clachers extended weekend of ski touring scheduied for 18 to 21 August. Whatever we knew about Bill Capons waik in the Budawangs that weekend was either absent or mixed up in the notes somewhere. We may deduce from the walks program that he was anxious to have people along who knew all the words to the campfire songs. Peter Miller, another lover of fine music, led his trip out from Mill Creek on the Sunday but we have no other details. Maureen Carters Sunday walk out from Winmalee attracted 9 starters but was led by a substitute leader in Maureens absence. Jim Callaway reported a party of 5 and groves of Boronia on his Sunday trip from Heathcote to Bundeena. Saturday 26“ August saw Tony Crichton leading the Six Foot Track In a Day walk. A party of 16 completed the walk, ably assisted by a support party of 2. (See report on p.14. Ed) Conditions throughout the day were cold and windy and at one time they experienced a little sleet. Nigel Weaver had 9 starters out on a fine mild day for his walk
The Sydney Bushwalker: First Edition July 1931 Official publication of The Sydney Bush Walkers Inc. Bushwalker October 2000 Page3 |
Moppett, an early member of the club. Announcements came: and went, and the meeting closed at 2104.
DEATH OF TOM MOPPETT Older members will be saddened to hear of the death in September of former SBW member Tom Moppeit. Tom who joined in 1935 served in the positions of Secretary, Treasurer and President and was a foundation member of the NPA in 1957, for which organization he served as President for many of its early years.
We extend our sympathies to his wife Jean and to his family. A tribute to Tom will be printed in the November issue.
NEW CONFEDERATION PRESIDENT CHOSEN It appears that at least one SBW member took notice of the suggestion in the September Sydney Bushwalker that our members should become more involved in Confederation affairs. Our President Wilf Hilder has been elected as Confederation president to replace the outgoing president, SBW member Jim Callaway who will continue as an SBW delegate to Confederation. Thanks Jim for a job well done and best wishes to Wilf for taking on the job at this time when major changes and controls over our traditional walking areas are being introduced.
CHANGE TO EMERGENCY BWR
PHONE NUMBERS. MEMBERS SHOULD NOTE THAT BOTH NUMBERS FOR THE BUSHWALKER WILDERNESS RESCUE (BWR) EMERGENCY PHONE AND PAGER HAVE BEEN CHANGED SINCE THE CURRENT SBW WALKS PROGRAM WAS PRINTED. 5 THE NEW PHONE NUMBER TO LEAVE A MESSAGE IS 13 22 22 AND THE PAGER NUMBER TO QUOTE IS NOW 627 7321 PLEASE CHANGE THE INFORMATION ON PAGE 2 OF THE CURRENT SBW WALKS PROGRAM
[Page 4
The Sydney Bushwalker October 2000
b<| Changes to camping in Royal
National Park Mr Jim Callaway Sydney Bushwalkers Dear Mr Callaway I'm writing to inform you of forthcoming changes to bush camping facilities in the Royal National Park. As I'm sure you are aware Royal National Park is an extremely popular destination for walking and camping. Whilst the National Parks and Wildlife Service is committed to providing appropriate recreational Opportunities, bush camping sites are suffering increasing pressure from high levels of visitor use. Illegal campfires and littering are adding to this pressure and resulting in severe localised impacts in a number of areas in the Park. The Plan of Management for Royal National Park, Heathcote National Park and Garawarra State Recreation Area identifies the need to restrict the number of areas available for bush camping in order to minimise and manage the impacts of this activity on the environment. In accordance with the Plan, bush camping in Royal National Park will be restricted to North Era and Uloola Falls from October 3rd 2000. Camping sites at Werrong, Winifred Falls, Deer Pool, Curracurrang and Karloo Pool will no longer be available. The reduction in the number of sites will enabie the Service to monitor and manage the sites more effectively, and to undertake rehabilitation works to protect damaged habitats. Camping arrangements in Heathcote National Park will remain the same, with sites available at Kingfisher Pool, Mirang Pool and Lake Eckersley. Composting toilets have recently been installed at North Era, Uloola Falls and Kingfisher Pool camping areas. These facilities will reduce human pollution at these sites and make camping more comfortable for visitors. As usual a camping permit and a booking are required for Royal and Heathcote National Parks and this system will continue to be administered by the Royal National Park Visitors' Centre (tel: 9542 0648). I would also like to take this opportunity to inform you that fees for bush camping will be introduced from 1* November 2000. This is part of a state-wide review of camping fees being undertaken by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The exact fee for Royal and Heathcote National Parks is yet to be set, however it is expected to be in the region of $3.00 for adults with a reduced amount for children. I would be grateful if you could inform your organisation of these changes to bush camping in Royal National Park. If you have any queries please contact this office on 9542 0632 or the Visitors Centre on 9542 0648. Yours sincerely Peter Hay Area Manager Royal Sydney South Region no00 This is only one of many changes to the fee structure and operation of NSW parks.
Recent press releases by Environment Minister Bob Debus advised that vehicle entry fees of $6-00 will be levied at 23 more NSW National Parks from November when all park vehicle entry fees will rise except those for the KNP. Included amongst the 23 will be Bouddi and Kanangra Boyd .Ed.
CHANGES TO SBW PROSPECTIVE
MEMBER ACCREDITATION
The proposed changes to the test walk requirements for SBW prospective accreditation, which were announced on page 15 of the September Sydney Bushwalker, have been put on hold until after the March 2001 Annual General meeting.
Changes to fees for prospective announced in that article will still apply.
The Sydney Bushwaiker: First Edition July 1931 Official publication of The Sydney Bush Walkers Inc.
The Sydney Bushwalker October 2000
Page 5 |
WALKING THE BRECON BEACONS July 97
A Day trip Traverse of the Range by lan Wolfe & Louise Verdon
We had hoped to climb Snowdon and I had in fact bought the map and poured over it trying to make sense of the wonderful sounding Welsh names (without success). However, the day dawned with light rain and low cloud cover which turned to sleet as we drove to the start point. Further, the forecast was for snow so we reluctantly decided to go castle touring instead, this being no problem in Wales with there being a profusion of keeps, baileys and moats flowing from the attempted pacification of the Welsh by everyone since the Romans.
The end result was that we ended up in the lovely town of Brecon in south Wales close to the English border. To the south of the town is the Brecon Beacons that have a savage reputation for changeable weather with many deaths due to hypothermia. As such I had expected a range of Mountains with crags, peaks and chasms. Instead there was a line of undulating hills that gently swept up to a ridgeline from the south and then fell away to the north with some cliff lines. However, having walked these hills I can see that in poor visibility they could be very confusing and could easily orient the less experienced or ill equipped.
We found an old country manor converted to a YHA a few kms out of town complete with functioning stable. This was filled latter in the day when a troop of teenage girls arrived at the end of their days pony trek. This being one of the stages of a multiday trip which certainly appears to be a nice way of seeing the countryside.
Next day we caught a bus from town which dropped us off at a saddle at the west of the range called Storey Arms along with some other trampers who we teamed up with. The day was reasonable one with some cloud/mist on the hilltops so we did
concentrate on the navigation for most of the morning.
Basically the route is along the spine of the range yo yoing over hilltop and saddle. These rejoiced in such wonderfully Welsh names as Com Du, Pen Y Fan, Cribyn, Tatybont and Waun Rydd. The vegetation is grass or bracken and thus each rise presents a nw panorama to delight the eye. To the south the sweeping country provides extended views with a number of small lakes and rolling farm country. Whilst to the north there are a number of valleys which start at the base of the cliffs and their side ridges link up to the main ridge (like a whole series of Us joined together ie uuuuuuy). These valleys provide views across Brecon and the surrounding farming country as well as the uplands to the north. The hill tops provide great spots for breaks and munchie stops as well as a chance to talk to other trampers who come from all directions. We even saw some mountain bikers who were doing more pushing than riding.
Again this area is leased out to farmers and thus there are sheep all over the place which is a trifle different. The cliff lines do provide secure nesting sites for a range of birds including kestrels and falcons. During the rest stops their aerobatics can be appreciated as they ride the air currents. The mist having burnt off we walked in sunshine for the remainder of the day under a partially sunny day with a mild breeze.
The descent from the range is down a long ridge to a gap in the range through which passes a road, railway line and a canal. The route is through farmland and light forests utilising the established walking right of way. This is a very walker friendly English custom which has seen the traditional peasant tracks joining villages from the medieval era maintained in a new form. Thus there will be a discrete sign, a stile over a fence and then a faint but discernible path through the field and so on. Perchance this could be an approach for our country, based upon the travelling stock routes. |Page 6 The Sydney Bushwalker October 2000
Any way we ended up on the canal which is no longer in use for the commercial carriage of stores. It is still used for pleasure purposes and we saw a number of very nice canal house boats slowly puttering along. For our purpose it was the old tow path that the horses used to tread that was of most import as it provided a very pleasant walking track. The canal winds its way around the contour under large evergreen trees, through patches of forest, grassy banks and provides regular views across the valley floor.
It also traverses small hamlets every now and then which provide a suitable venue for afternoon tea. There were two minor adventures to disturb this ideal. Firstly when we had to cross a field complete with a herd of very fine Angus cows that were also very friendly. Well, we survived being looked at, at close range by big brown eyes and wet noses. Secondly we rapidly stepped off the towpath when 10 heavily built, sweating men, all carrying packs, appeared at the run around the bend in front (the British SAS use the Brecons as a main training ground).
After wandering along the canal in the late afternoon we took another bus connection from Lian Fyruck to Brecon, well contented with the day's efforts.
St
nooo
NAVIGATION TRAINING Further information
Ian Rannard requests that people attending his navigation training night on Wednesday November 1* take a Silva compass and a copy of the CMA 1-25 000 Parramatta River' map. A practical navigation instruction exercise will also be held in Centennial Park on Saturday November 4”.
SBW SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER
SOCIAL PROGRAM Refer to the walks program for full details
OCTOBER
Spm Salamon Hiking Boots Presentation by Dave Curtis of Salamon
8pm Southern Forests and Wilderness legislation. How NPWLS legislation will affect bushwalking Talk by Noel Plumb. Asst Director Colong Foundation
Wed 18“
Wed 25”
NOVEMBER 7pm Committee meeting. Observers welcome Spm Navigation Training with Ian Rannard. Great for prospectives Wed 8* 8pm _ General meeting and Walks Report Wed 15“ 8pm Health Foods Talk by Terry Tamber from Kaire Wed 22 8pm Trekking Tours in China and SE Asia Talks/slides. by Andrew Russell of Peregrine Adventures Wed 29” 8pm Norfolk & other islands Talk/slides by Melanie Gorfinkel & Trish Clark from Pacific Unlimited @O See the notice on this page for
further important information Oooo
Pre-meeting dinner at 6.30 pm_ every Wednesday at the Thai Connection next door to the Kirribilli Centre.
### No need to ring or book. ## oooo
Do you have any suggestions for future Social Programs? If so please contact Andrew Vilder on 9331 4530.
Wed 1st
The Sydney Bushwalker: First Edition July 1931 Official publication of The Sydney Bush Walkers Inc. The Sydney Bushwalker October 2000
Page 7 |
HELICOPTERS * Reporting positions and emergency situations to rescue authorities. by Keith Maxwell BWR You need a helicopter because of your friend's injuries and you are on the phone to get help when the question arises - “just where is the injured person?” You stumble out a six figure grid reference and a rough locality that every bushwalker would know and get a blank return. “What town is that close to?” A six figure Grid Reference may be an ideal way to give a, location to fellow bushwalkers but it is not, good enough for the pilot of a machine that can fly hundreds of kilometres on a _ tankful. Common knowledge of a locality to bushwalkers is uncommon knowledge to everyone else. Many times a helicopter rescue has not happened quickly once the alarm has been raised because the location given is wrong! What will locate you precisely for helicopter pilots is a fifteen figure grid reference. Many of the best bushwalks in the north are in places like the Isdell River region that most people have never heard of: The Isdell is one of the longest and most interesting rivers in the Kimberley, fed by its own unique character. This is gorge country. There are small, shady gorges; broad, grassy gorges; gorges filled with numerous smaller creeks each of which has cant even imagine. All the information you need for a fifteen figure grid reference is on your 1:25,000 topographic map. Now your normal grid reference is a six figure number that assumes an error of around 100 metres, e.g. 767 519. If you add two zeros to each of the Easting and Northing of your G.R. you would have a ten figure G.R., e.g. 76700 51900. This is a location to the nearest metre. Now you almost certainly can't locate yourself so accurately on a map but if a helicopter was nearby a 100 metres to search is nothing. Ten figures down only five to go! The helicopter won't get close though without the remaining five figures. This requires a complete map and not just a photocopy of a portion. At each corner of your map is the latitude and longitude but also in just the bottom left (south west) corner are digits to take your G.R. to thirteen figures. Only look at figures in black not grey. Any figures in grey refer to the previous (non metric) yard grid. You may see a number such as 270000mE and 6249000mN. tiver paperbarks and flowers; dry gorges; gorges where the water reaches from cliff to cliff. it's not easy to get to. On our major expeditions, we'll fly you into one of the local stations, walk you out into the wilderness and bring in a helicopter food drop ten days later. On eur Gibb River Road Gorges trips, we'll take you on a short walk off the road into a magnificent wilderness that the 4WD tourists Ask for our trip notes. _{ www. bushwalkingholidays.com.au | Williss Walkabouts 12 Carrington St Millner NT 0810 Email walkabout@ais.net.au [Page 8 The Sydney Bushwalker October 2000 Put the '2' of 270 etc. in front of your Easting and the '62' in front of your Northing, e.g. 276700 6251900 - phew thirteen digits and still no sweat! The last two digits are easy. Look in the map legend and find the title 'GRID:'. A Zone number will be specified, e.g. Zone 56, Your complete G.R.. for the Word Cave at the junction of Erskine Creek and the Nepean River is now - Zone 56 276700E 6251900N. (See your Penrith 1:25,000 map otherwise known as Penrith 9030-III-N). The helicopter pilot can now enter this number into the onboard GPS system and fly straight to you. So the helicopter could find you but what injuries should they come equipped to treat. Like humans not all helicopters are created the same. Different levels of treatment and evacuation procedures can apply. You need to specify, as best you can, the level of injuries and associated circumstances according to your First Aid Certificate training. ; You would take a written note of the history and circumstances of the injury along _with the patient's location to the nearest phone and dial '000' and ask for an ambulance. Weather. Strong wind and low cloud or fog can prevent helicopters from flying or hovering to winch. Only in exceptional circumstances will they attempt a rescue at night. What about mobile phones? Mobile phones are reaily short range radio transmitters that operate over a line of sight“ - if a mountain or large building is between you and a tower you may not get * through. Even if you climb to the top of a hill it is likely that there is not a tower within your line of sight. Digital phones have a shorter range than the older Analogue phones which have now been replaced by CDMA phones There is also always the risk of losing the phone or of the battery going flat. Thus it is possible for the phone to let ., you down when you need it most. Still many people have used a mobile phone to successfully call for help. This all leads to some walking philosophy. Some people throw a mobile in the bottom of the pack in case. This can give a false sense of security and may encourage people to take undue risks in the belief that help is always close at hand. (Many people have called for the helicopter when they have merely suffered a minor sprain.) The challenge of self reliant travel is lost. The mobile is deliberately left at home by others as excess weight and they approach their bushwalk as though help will not come quickly and so travel cautiously. The choice is yours. You are not legally obliged to carry a mobile phone or any other location device. Safe bushwalking does not have to be boring. It requires careful selection of light weight gear and good bushwalking skills of all trip members, xk Read in conjunction with the following article nooo TOPOGRAHIC MAP RESURVEY of 1:25 000 MAPS Glen Horrocks reported in the August Confederation 'Bushwalker' that the Land Information Centre (LIC), the new name for the CMA, is in the process of resurveying their 1:25 000 map series and issuing a 3 edition which is more accurate and which contain an aerial photo of the full area on the rear of each map. The new Katoomba 1:25 000 has been available in the shops for over a month and other Blue Mts. maps will be issued in 8-12 months. he Members should note that the maps use the new GDA94 datum not the old AGD66 datum and that their GPS unit may have to be reset when using the new maps. Grid references read from the old maps will not transfer correctly to the new maps. The new maps have the old AGD66 datum marked faintly in the margins so you can read the old grid references but this means that from now on, for maximum accuracy, you must specify which map datum a grid reference is taken from. The Sydney Bushwalker: First Edition July 1931 Official publication of The Sydney Bush Walkers Inc. The Sydney Bushwalker October 2000 Page 9 | THE GARDENS OF STONE by Charlie Montross Oliver Crawford's excellent Gardens of Stone Tour on the Queens Birthday long weekend was attended by seven members. Oliver Crawford, Leader. Colin Atkinson, Pamela Irving, Carol Lubbers, Charlie Montross, Jungle Jim Rivers, Marie Rose, Jan Wolfe The six men met Friday night at the Lithgow McDonalds to fortify themselves on maccas' and fries before braving the harsh winter weather at Newnes. When they awoke on Saturday morning, they found themselves in tents coated with frost inside and out, poor Col finding ice crystals in his water bottle when he went for a drink. As the three ladies showed up in their car, everyone was busy with breakfast, scraping ice off the tents and getting ready. After preparation, the group was off. The first goal wasto get up on to the plateau, an exercise that warmed the group quite well and after an enjoyable scramble up a spur they were rewarded with lovely views while having morning tea. After additional walking, lunch was eaten among the stone pagodas on the way to Mt. Dawson. _ By late afternoon, the group made it to the cave near Mt. Dawson and settled in. As it was known that both Col and Jim snore, they settled near each other at the campfire while the others found spots to-their liking nearby. Carol and I foundaledge ~ overlooking a nearby creek and proceeded to do the bush turkey dance moving dirt around to make it more comfortable for sleeping. – - After a nice dinner by the campfire, the group settled in for the night. o The sonorous snoring symphony of Col and Jim was found to be very effective at scaring away those Tasmanian terrorists, possums, and no one was bothered that night. I, inadvertently, also contributed to scaring them away with a Call of Nature - at 2 am on top of a narrow ledge. - The next morning we enjoyed a happy breakfast and several of the group went down to inspect the beautiful grotto and cave used on a previous expedition. We thn' proceeded off through some classic stone pagoda country with the way becoming difficult and involving some off-track travel and bush bashing through very steep and rough terrain. The group made camp on Sunday night at Woolpack Gap with a very fine open site above the watercourses of two creeks. The men went to the left hand creek that contained only an occasional pool of water. After an hours battle, they managed to wrestle a couple of litres of water from the terrifyingly territorial tadpoles. In the meantime, the ladies took the right hand creek and within five minutes found a flowing creek, filled their water bags, and with a flourish had a wash. To protect the campfire cooking area, Col and Jim set up camp nearby while Oliver set up his fly on the other side of a boulder from them. Oliver had perfectly oriented his fly to catch the prevailing breeze whenever it blew through the gap causing it to flap and scare away the possums. Everyone else spread out to enjoy the area and take in the views. Next day's walk took in some spectacular scenery including a passage through deep ferny grottos and camping caves and lovely views were enjoyed from a trail in the side of the cliff. Other sites included a very narrow deep schism in the plateau. As it wasnt named on the map, it was unofficially dubbed by the party Crawfords Gap in honour of the leader. Other scenic delights rewarded us for the bush bashing. By mid afternoon, rain was starting to threaten but it held off Cape Horm was reached and a trail down the cliff was found. After negotiating the way down the cliff and spur, the Newnes road was found exactly as predicted by the leader and after some car _ shuffling and the changing of clothes, the group made its way, as the rain commenced, to the Commercial Pub in Lithgow where they opened the kitchen early to cook us a fine dinner. Thank you, Oliver, for a most enjoyable . walk. HOGG [Page 10 THE GREAT RIVER WALK by Roger Treagus Multi staged long distance walks have been a feature of SBWs walks program for many years. They have followed major walking routes out of Sydney such as the Great North Walk, Great Illawarra Escarpment Walk, classic Blue Mountain crossings (see Jim Percys current series), great South walks and Sydney Harbour circumnavigation walks. There is a special feel about all of these walks. There is a sense of trailblazing, of perhaps being the first to do this, the camaraderie that builds up between the walkers who do 2 or more stages, and there is a real sense of achievement, of tackling something big. It reminds me of the old question How do you eat an elephant? The answer: “One bit at a time.” There is pleasure in observing the incredulous expressions on passers by when it is explained to them what we are doing. A sanity certificate may be a useful item to keep handy on these walks. Apart from following routes out of and around Sydney another concept is to follow rivers and what better river near Sydney than the Hawkesbury. This river has a lot to offer. It rises as the Wollondilly near Crookwell, flows through a delightfully remote gorge, spills out into the bushwalking paradise of Kanangra Boyd and the Southen Blue Mountains. Then there is the forbidden lake, the Nepean Gorge and the history, the The Sydney Bushwalker October 2000 scenery and convict built structures along the magnificent 100 kilometre tidal estuary. The walk is about 550 km and is planned to cover approximately 18 stages over 18 weekends spacing the weekends out to avoid summer heat and other walk clashes. As you read this Stage 2 and 3 will be imminent. Stage 1 (from the source to Goulburn) has just been completed. There was a lot of interest shown from landowners including a big send off breakfast at the source near Crockwell organised by the Hawkesbury Nepean Catchment Management Authority where over 15 local farmers, dignitaries and their families attended. There will also be a send off breakfast at Goulburn at the beginning of Stage 2 to be organised by Goulburn City Council. To accommodate this interest the lengths for the next 2 stages have been shortened. It is always interesting to talk to the locals about the walk route as it adds an extra dimension. Stages 2 and 3 can be walked with day packs only as been arrangements have been made for camping, gear to be left safely at the Saturday night camp site. Stage 2 will be from Goulburn to Brayto via Towrang and stage 3 will see us near the top of the gorge section at Paddys River and the Canyonleigh district with a spectacular and comfortable Saturday night camp at a farmhouse right on the river. Why dont you join us on one or more stages of our inexorable progress towards the sea? For further information please contact: Hawkesbury Nepean Catchment Management Trust Phone: 02 4577 4243 or email: greatriverwalk@hncmt.nsw.gov.au The Sydney Bushwalker: First Edition July 1931 Official publication of The Sydney Bush Walkers Inc. This is the new backpack from WE. The NEW RIVER. As you would expect, it is unmistakably Wilderness Equipment. - Every detail: has had to earn its keep in a development process spanning 20 years. lf the picture could be turned around you'd be looking aft the most comfortable and durabie harness system there is. Which, of course, is a good reason not to make more than one or two subtle changes. So what is really new? Look down the list of special features. We've brought into play unique ideas we've been carrying around for some time. They solve outstanding problems, ones you will quickly recognise from your own mountain and wilderness travels. Come = and see the NEW RIVER and get an expert fitting at: Eastwood Camping wiceres Centre 3 Trelawney Street Eastwood Telephone: 9858 3833 Doren nr arrion Equipment NEW RIVER An expedition-capacity pack available in the fullrange of WE sizes and harness configurations. | camping centre eastwood Feaiures: Detachable top cover teams with the hip-harness waist-strap to cary it as a comfortable twin -compariment bum-bag. Main canvas bag extends to a dry-bag type roll top with two compression straps over. You can swim and raft with this pack, or use It in bivies. Leave the top cover and base behind for absolute lightweight. Separate zip access into the expanding interior space of the | top cover. Readily accessible flat pocket for laminated maps {comes with a thin PE cutting-board insert} Canvas back-pocket modules available. Nothing but canvas fabric in the seams of the bag. No webbing, no touch-fape. no leakage pathways and simpiy zero stress points. Quick-release or standard side compression sfraps, all re- movable. Position the buckles where you wish. We've gone back to a simple touch-tape strap closure on the hip-harness. Unbreakable, durable and absolutely zero creep. Subtle shoulder harness suspen- sion. Soaks up the phase difference between hip and shoulder dynamics, tunable to the pack weight. Close fitting, removable base reinforcing aifaching front and back. Leakage pcihways in the main-bag , seams eliminated; easy repair. [Page 12 The Sydney Bushwalker October 2000 THE SYDNEY BUHWALKER ON OUR WEBSITE QUESTIONNAIRE. FINAL RESULT The response to the above questionnaire, which appeared in the June 2000 magazine, was disappointing but possibly typical of such a survey. A total of 94 replies were received representing 18% of the SBW membership. Many thanks to those members who took the time to respond. Only 79 members (16%) said that they would like to have the magazine on the Web but 35 of these also wanted to receive a copy by mail. The result indicates that placing the magazine on the web now would be a waste of time and effort. A breakdown of the responses is shown below. HE HH 1. In favour of the magazine being placed on our Website. Yes=79 No=10 Undecided =5 2. In favour of magazine delivery by mail. Yes=50 No=38 Undecided = 6 3. In favour of other documents being placed on our Website. Yes=71 No=15 Undecided =8 4. in favour of all SBW documents being posted by normal mail Yes=51 No=38 Undecided = 5 ooa0 COGLANA BUSH MUSIC ay f 4 WEEKEND Br . November 4th/5 * So from Bill Holland Following on the successful November 1999 'Coolana Hootnanny' we are arranging another musical treat for the first week-end in November. All members, prospective members, visitors and families are invited to attend. The theme is Bush Music around the camp- fire but there will be other attractions for the weekend. The Poleson family (including members John and Chris) will add to the fine entertainment provided last year. But we also want you to participate. Bring along your instrument, guitar, mouth organ, fiddle etc or just your voice. Ample shelter provided if the weather turns damp. Transport assistance, including river crossing by canoe for older or incapacitated members, can be provided. 1000 ADVANCE NOTICE EXTENDED NEW YEAR WALK. ALPINE NATIONAL PARK VICTORIA Dec. 31. 2000 Jan. 6. 2001 Mansfield The Bluff Hellfire ck Mt Howitt Cross Cut Saw Mt. Cobbler Kings River. Medium. 70km. Contact. Jan Rannard. 9958 1514(H) CORRECTION TO THE SEPTEMBER “EASTER 1970' ARTICLE My apologies to Dick Whittington. Those members who may have been on the Easter Brindabella walk that Dick described, and were confused by the date, can stop worrying. The year was 1975 not 1970. I was on that walk and still remember the snow that fell on Sunday and filled my Oiled Japara' parka pockets.Ed. Sorry Richard. NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES TO ADDRESS AND/OR PHONE NUMBERS The club membership list is maintained by the membership secretary Barry Wallace. To ensure that the list is as accurate as possible and that you do not miss out on the magazine, the 4 walks program and other club documents, Barry requests that you send advice of any alterations or corrections of your address and/or phone number directly to him. Letters can be sent to Barry at our mail box: PO Box 431 Milsons Point 1565 The Sydney Bushwalker: First Edition July 1931 Official publication of The Sydney Bush Walkers Inc. The Sydney Bushwalker October 2000 Page 13 | WHISTLE WHILE YOU WALK by Patrick James The note on whistles in the June magazine got the little grey cells in action and I thought to myself, how does a whistle work? Why have a pea in a whistle? How far does the sound of a whistle carry? That's a lot of thinking for a young lad, but nevertheless all worthwhile thoughts, so I got into action. The index at the Stanton, my local library, .only had information on whistle-blowers and nothing on whistle blowing or whistles to blow. On the State Librarys computer catalogue I got 48 hits' (computer speak for references) on whistles, 47 hits' on whistle blowers and 1 hit! on a penny whistle. The State Librarys older card catalogue had nothing on whistles. While at the library I also checked an acoustics handbook and an acoustics encyclopaedia for entries on whistles. Zero in both cases. This complete lack of success suggests that whistles are either so simple that theres no need to write about them, or theyre more complex than rocket science and are still to be investigated. A search of the Internet found oodles of hits for beils and whistles and only a couple of sites for real whistles. One was American which gave details of their whistles but no general details on whistles. The other site was an English one that I had from Scotland Yard. This requires a sight detour to explain. I was talking to Frank Grennan one day and he mentioned that years ago he had a London police whistle. I thought that would be a neat thing to have, a conversation piece as well as something useful. The Scotland Yard website has an inquiry facility, so I asked a policeman, (actually a policewoman). She told me of J. Hudson & Co, manufacturers of the Metropolitan Police Whistle. Besides buying a police-persons whistle, I visited Hudsons website and got some whistle history. Way back in the 1860s, Joseph Hudson, a Birmingham trained toolmaker, converted his humble washroom into a workshop. Here he did anything he could to supplement the family income from watch repairing to cobbling shoes. For reason unknown whistles were Joseph Hudsons passion. Throughout the 1870s he made numerous types and designs. In 1883 after much trial and error Joseph developed the perfect sound for his police whistle. Its slightly jarring, discordant trill was unique and would, he knew, be far-carrying. When tested by the Metropolitan Police in London in 1883, the whistle was heard over a mile away and immediately adopted as the official whistle of the London Bobby. The whistle is still in use in London, and occasionally even heard. Josephs company is still very active in the whistle business making some, 67 different types of whistle in 300 different models, with and without peas, high frequency whistles, silent dog whistles, duck and other fowl whistles and whistles for use on life-jackets. So much for the commercial. All this is good stuff. I know how a whistle works but not why it works. Maybe its just a very well kept secret. As far as bushwalking is concerned a whistle is a handy thing to have with you, more effective and less tiring than shouting. Generally the attenuation of sound by vegetation is not great compared to the attenuation due to distance, however high frequency sound is less attenuated than low frequency sound. Therefore select a whistle that emits as higher a frequency as possible, but not so high that only dogs can hear it. O00 During WW2 The Hudson whistle company was asked to make a' whistle to simulate the sound of a tiger's roar, to unsettle Japanese soldiers fighting in the Asian jungle. The company was successful but the resulting whistle proved impractical and was not used. Ed. 000 “TILLEY' LAMPS NEEDED FOR COOGLANA Patrick James is still seeking to beg-borrow or even buy 'Tilley' or other brand, pressure lamps in any condition for use at functions held at Coolana. If you can help give Patrick a ring on 9904 1515 [Page 14 5 K2K/2K by Phil Newman Walkers: Phil Newman, Gail & Tony Crichton, Andrew Vilder. Support: Tony Manes & Kaye Chan This annual K2K walk was held three weeks late this year due to a string of circumstances that prevented it happening on the planned date. With the number of walkers down to four on the day, all of whom had recently recovered from various ailments, there was a feeling that this years walk wasnt meant to happen. In fact the walk would not have gone without the support supplied by Tony Manes. Tony ferried the walkers to Kanangra on the Friday night, walked with them to the end of Crafts Wall and then drove around to Narrow Neck where he met Kaye and together they walked out to Taro's Ladders to meet the walkers with water, juice and Tim Tams. The walk started well and the group passed Mount Moorilla Maloo at 1045. However the sun had risen well by this time and the temperature climbed steadily. By the time the group descended Strongleg the heat was excessive and they made a Detour to Kanangra Creek to collect clean cool water. The hot descent and deviation ended up costing them time and it was over one and a half hours fate that they made the climb up to Yellow Pup. Mindful of time the group made a huge effort in the heat and completed the rest of the walk to Taro's arriving shortly before dark. Tony and Kaye were a welcome sight and the refreshments they carried were very well received. Then it was torches out for the moonless walk back along Narrow Neck in high wind conditions. The conditions had been extreme and the group, all of whom had completed the K2K in previous years, were unanimous in their opinion that it had taken them to a new level of endurance. The Sydney Bushwalker October 2000 The extremely dry conditions coupled with the later walk date were viewed as the contributing factors and should be given serious consideration in future years. Once again the group would like to extend its thanks to Tony and Kaye without whom the walk would not have gone. nooo * MAGAZINE DEADLINES*** Copy for publishing in the SBW magazine should be received by the editor by the second Monday of each month.
The deadline for last-minute urgent items is the second Wednesday of each month as the magazine is usually printed on the following Thursday.
Copy can be lodged by email to me at rraymond@ozemail.com.au or typed or on a 3%2” PC floppy using any common word processing program. Ed.
NEXT MONTH
Heavy Metal 'Garbage'
by Keith Maxwell (BWR)
Bushfire Precautions
by Sue Davies WA Bush Fire Service Sydney Trailwalkers 2000
by Richard Darke
A Strange Encounter.
by Andrew Vilder
Cats by Alex Colley
FUTURE ARTICLES
Corsica by Brian Hart Dining out in Provence by Tom Wenman
Kossie to Corryong 1945 by Jim Somerville
The Sydney Bushwalker: First Edition July 1931 Official publication of The Sydney Bush Walkers Inc.