Corkscrew canyon

AWESOME!!! Went canyoning on Saturday in Mount Wilson. We dropped off the Bells Line of Road into Corkscrew Canyon, which led into South Bowens Creek canyon. We had two abseils down waterfalls in Corkscrew, and one abseil down a waterfall in South Bowens. The most exciting part of the canyon probably wouldn't have happened if we hadn't been caught behind another group on an abseil. The group ahead were abseiling down a dry cliff next to a spot where the creek dropped down through a channel in the rock.


Red yabby - one of many!
All photos by Mark

It turned out that it was fairly easy to climb down into the channel and come out at the bottom of the abseil. A big person might not have done it, nor a tiny person because of the volume of water rushing against your back as you climbed down. It was pretty exciting and the other girl in the group and I traded a few jokes about being hardcore. It was a great way to get past the other group and solved the problem of getting held up, which I've heard can lead to problems in canyons. The other group ended up catching up with us near the exit, having skipped one of our abseils. We had the option of either sliding down a long tree trunk, or abseiling down a waterfall, and we took the abseil option. 


Once again I was thankful that I was with an experienced canyoner, because I never would have seen the exit, which took off straight up a steep creek wall that required a lot of clambering and trust in a few small trees. The canyons were gorgeous. There's a fair bit of water around, but we only had two sections where we actually had to swim. Given the cold water, I was glad to have a wetsuit on, because after six hours I felt cool even with it on. I think the canyon took us about seven hours and I was so exhausted afterwards I missed the opening night of the Sydney Festival and was still tired the next day. But I'd do it all over again and probably will! This canyon had a bit of everything and I can't wait for the next one.