Firefly Canyon - track notes

Entry

See here for information on how to get to Newnes.

Cross the ford and follow the main track through the refinery ruins to an abandoned mine shaft just across a creek. Head up the gully keeping toward the cliff line on your left. Scramble up a waterfall at the top of the first cliff line (up a slippery log at the moment). Head up to the next cliffline and traverse around to the right of the main gully at the top until the cliffline heads east-west again. Look for a steep climb up a short rocky slope, and from the top, chimney up to the next level. A step across a narrow chasm allows you to reach the top of the cliffline, and from there you can head up to the top of the ridge. Drop down into the tributary on the other side. Scrambling around to the left can help you avoid a number of waterfalls before you reach the main creek.

Notes

It is some distance of creek walking before the canyon starts. There is a climb down logs (or abseil) followed by a 5m abseil down a waterfall. This is tricky in high water. Watch the rope doesn't get caught in the left hand crack. A couple more slides and a log slide follow before the second 5m abseil. Climb down a log before a 10m abseil with the anchor around a chockstone a long way back. The canyon starts to open out and there is a 4m abseil into a pool, and finally an 8m abseil from a tree on the right.

Exit

A track goes down the left of the gully and meets up with the road at the bottom. Follow the road back to the ford where you started.

Comments

Getting to the canyon is quite tricky, as the passes through the clifflines are either difficult to negotiate or find.

Rating: 3/5

Tom Brennan : website@ozultimate.com: updated 20020918