Mount Werong campground, Yerranderie and Wombeyan Caves

We decided to camp in a remote area of the Blue Mountains National Park, to visit two very interesting spots,  Yerranderie and Wombeyan Caves. The final push came from Frances, she invited us to a gathering in her home in Bowral with Rafael, a Spaniard that was visiting Sydney and that we didn't have any opportunity to meet. This was finally a big party with lots of Frances' friends. We planned everything to reach Mount Werong Campground by 6 pm, with time to set up the tent before sunset. Eva, Eladio and Eira were going to be waiting for us in the campground.
From Bowral, we drove west to Wombeyan Caves through Bullio, the shortest drive.



The route was lovely, but, unexpectedly, the last 40 km were unsealed. In fact, some areas were not very easy, with lots of washouts, corrugations, rubble, and blind curves, and driving, in many places, very close to the cliff. Fantastic views, enjoyable trip, and lots of adrenaline.

Crossing Wollondilly River

Our 4WD behaved very well, but we reached Wombeyan Caves later than expected... and the difficult part was ahead!
When we planned our trip, we decided to reach Mt Werong campground through a fire trail and other mountain trails: almost 36 km of 4WD driving. I couldn't find much info about this route, and we weren't sure how easy or difficult it was going to be (Google Maps couldn't map this route).
After a few km in a nice sealed road, we got into a flat wide dirt road, and, we commenced the unknown part of the trip. We turned right into Langs road, and left into the Range Fire Trail Road in our way up to Colong Stock Route (from 600 m at Wombeyan to 1200 m at the camp).

It was a good ride, with a fair amount broad-base rolling dips. I didn't realised how big these dips can be and we had a few hard jumps (lesson learned). This road was better and easier than expected and we arrived to the campground on time, greeted by our friends.

Range Fire Trail Road

The campground has a few buildings (only for emergencies), 2 covered picnic tables, rainwater tank, fire pits, a pit toilet, a few other buildings and some information panels. After the usual complains setting up the tent, we got organised for dinner and bed.

Breakfast

On the 2nd day, after a smoky breakfast, we traveled to Yerranderie, using the Colong Stock Route. A sensational route that crossed different types of forest. In some areas the road is very narrow (luckily we didn't meet anybody in these areas) with ruts and floodways.

Wallaby on the Colong Stock Route

Colong Stock Route

After almost 50 km, Yerranderie: an old mining town, once the home of 2000 people, and now a ghost town. There are ruins and photos of the good old days, and a few walking tracks to visit what is left from the old mines, and the Yerranderie peak.

Yerranderie

Yerranderie Silver Mines Hotel, 1st building (top), reconstruction after the fire (bottom)

We didn't have time to climb to the peak, but we visited the Silver Peak Mine and the Bartlett’s Shaft No 6, and the buildings in the Ghost Town (after paying a fee to NSW NPWS).

Yerranderie Ghost Town

Goana

Yerranderie Ghost Town

Silver Peak Mine

We could have stayed longer, but after visiting the cemetery it was time to drive back.

Kangaroos on the road

Camping at Mt Werong Campground

Although we had plans for a good dinner, the rain changed our agenda. With no BBQ, we cooked in our Trangia hamburgers for all. With the rain still falling, we walked to the tent to find out that we had important leaks on our section. This is an almost 6 year-old tent, and probably it was the right time to fail (two of the poles are already damaged, and there are a few other issues). It took a while to get the rain out of the way (moving the inner tent to separate it from the flysheet, tighten the guy ropes,...) before getting into the sleeping bag. And at 2 am, a bite on my forehead woke me up... I removed a fleshy thing... a leech!! After a few minutes, with our headlights and mobiles, we found it and removed it from the tent. Stopping the bleeding took longer (such a good anticoagulant)... We couldn't find any other and there were no holes in the tent, and we conclude that  it got attached to my clothes when I was fixing the tent. Fortunately, I could get back to sleep soon.

On the 3rd day, I had to drive to Oberon to refuel. We forgot to do it in Bowral (there is an Spanish proverb that translates as "Who falls short in the head must be long in the heels"... or wheels in this case). At 7 am, the drive was superb. Easy road, full with wildlife until we got close to Oberon. On our way back, Victoria used a timelapse app to film part of the way. Almost no animals this time, but one of the two kangaroos we saw in our way, jumped in front of the car. No damages and a good movie sequence.

Everybody was quite slow this morning, and we changed plans. We decided to walk the Ruby Creek Mine Track, that starts at the campground and follows Ruby Creek to the old mine, close to a big 50 m waterfall (that we couldn't reach). Mt Werong was another mining area, home of 70 miners in 1935, and the place were the largest recorded diamond in NSW was found.

Ruby Creek Mine Track

The walk was very nice and the views from the lookout at the Mine site were breathtaking.

Views from Ruby Creek Mine

We wanted to go into the creek, but access was difficult (and all these signs about open mine shafts weren't very reassuring).

For our way back, the kids decided to use the road tracks and the Colong Stock Route. We found a couple of dead wombats by the road (the only wombats we saw in our trip), and we tried to find the noisy crickets (or we thought they were crickets) that were filling the evening.

Again another storm, that almost canceled our BBQ dinner, but we were happy waiting (no access to weather forecast) with a few beers and drinks until the rain stopped. We got back the blue skies and the heat. This is NSW weather.

The area got dry soon while we were cooking our steaks. Great fun for the evening that finished with burned marshmallows.

"Burning" marshmallows (not very Spanish)

We had a sunset walk, the opportunity to see more animals was worth the try, but we weren't lucky, only the random wallaby.

After an good night sleep, we woke everybody early to pack and leave for Wombeyan Caves. We were concerned as our friends had a 2WD SUV. Slowly we drove down the 36 km to the Caves (and we filmed the whole drive with our GoPro). The trip was uneventful and we reached the caves in time for the guided tour of the Wollondilly Cave. Before this, we walked the self-guided Fig Tree Cave. The Wollondilly cave is as impressive (or more impressive) that the Jenolan caves we visited last year. We had a great time with a very friendly guide.

Fig Tree Cave

Victoria's Arch at Fig Tree Cave

Wollondilly cave

Wollondilly cave - very steep steps, and narrow corridors. Great fun for everybody

Wollondilly cave

Wollondilly cave

Wollondilly cave

In the evening, we played with the idea of using the sealed roads (280 km) instead of the unsealed route (180 km) that we already knew to go back to Sydney. The decision was to drive back the unsealed road. It was better this time, but still not an easy drive. We were amazed with the number of 2WD we crossed and overtook. We can perfectly imagine how hard the drive would have been for them.

This was an excellent adventure that we are happy to repeat in the future.

Wentworth Falls

On Saturday 15^th of December, 23 Spaniards ventured into the Blue Mountains National Park. We walked the National Pass track, (which starts at Wentworth Falls and ends in Conservation Hut) in 2 hours, plus other countless hours at the waterfalls for swimming and eating.

 The day was pleasant, light grey mist drizzled on the foggy blue mountains of Sydney. The weather was perfect, that feeling of not too hot, and not too cold, that 0 degree weather.

We began our descent, through a narrow, nicely crafted trail. Every so often we’d stop by a lookout, absorbing the breathtaking views. After a while of walking, we came across many, many steep, rock steps. Our group trudged the stone staircase, our knees aching with the pressure placed on them, though the cliff-side views were worth the pain.

Finally, the first step of the majestic Wentworth Falls came into view, once there, we settled to eat and to enjoy a freezing swim.

The water was ice-cold, but still many of us took an extremely gratifying swim in the cool, fresh water of the falls. The waterfall itself pelted down with incredible force, and those who had the courage to stand under it, suffered a violent pelting of water, that somehow was rather nice and relaxing, like a massage on your back.

Once lunch was over, we started our trek slowly uphill, leading back to humanity. Past cliffs thriving in lush vegetation, watching white cockatoos soaring high above the ground, their coos echoing across the blue valley, we ventured. Halfway, we came across another waterfall that finished in a deep waterhole, and stopped to observe a group of adventurers abseiling down the running water.

The excursion ended at a café, where all of us, tired and with crimson faces, got to rest and catch our breath.

Only two families were left once we bid farewell to the rest, and we decided to explore the little town of Leura.
Leura is a cute mountain village with a main street swarming with enchanting stores. We inspected the shops and marvelled at objects before picking up the traditional “With the Lot” Aussie burger and headed to Leura Waterfalls picnic area, where we enjoyed our delicious meals.

Lastly, we departed towards the Three Sisters, took panoramic photos and explored the great valley with binoculars.

As we drove back home, the sunset burned in oranges, while a rainbow streaked in the opposite direction. And that’s how we ended our trip, as we travelled back into Sydney, to the city life.

 A group of fantastic people.

Un grupo de gente fantástica

 The blue mountains.

Las montañas azules.

 Endless views.
Vistas infinitas. 

Impressive look out.

Mirador impresionante.

The long stairs.

Las largas escaleras.

 The waterfalls. Victoria and mum at the bottom.

Las cascadas. Victoria y mamá en la base.

 Victoria's massage.

El masaje de Victoria.

 All having fun under the natural shower!!

Todos pasándolo genial bajo la ducha natural!!

Lush forest.

Bosque exuberante.

 More walking...

Seguimos andando...

 A beautiful excursion.

Una excursión preciosa.

Abseiling people.

Gente bajando la catarata.

 Bored men while women shopping. Very considered people in Leura with special designs seats for them...

Hombres aburridos mientras las mujeres compran. Gente muy considerada la de Leura que tienen bancos especialmente diseñados para ellos...

No Photoshop here, they really are blue...

Foto no retocada, realmente son azules...

 The 3 sisters.

Las 3 hermanas.

 Sunset from the car on our way back home.

Puesta de sol desde el coche en marcha, de vuelta a casa.

El sábado 15 de diciembre, 23 españoles se aventuraron en el Parque Nacional de las Montañas Azules. Caminamos por el sendero del “National Pass” (que comienza en las cataratas de Wentworth y finaliza en el “Conservation Hut”) durante dos horas, más otras incontables horas en las cataratas bañándonos y comiendo.

El día fue placentero, una ligera neblina gris cubría las nubladas montañas azules de Sidney. El clima era perfecto, ni frío ni calor, cero grados.

Comenzamos nuestro descenso, a través de un sendero estrecho preciosamente trazado. Cada tanto nos parábamos en un mirador, absorbiendo las vistas que quitaban el aliento. Después de caminar un rato, nos encontramos con muchos, muchos peldaños esculpidos en la roca. Nuestro grupo caminó trabajosamente las escaleras de piedra, nuestras rodillas dolían por la presión sobre ellas, pero las vistas del acantilado hacían que el dolor mereciera la pena.

Finalmente, la primera parte de las majestuosas Cataratas de Wentworth se hizo visible. Una vez allí, nos instalamos para comer y disfrutar de un baño helado.

El agua estaba congelada, pero aun así muchos de nosotros nos dimos un gratificante baño en las frescas aguas de las cataratas. La catarata caía con una increíble fuerza y aquellos que tuvimos el coraje de ponernos debajo sufrimos ese violento chorro de agua, que de alguna forma era bastante agradable y relajante, como un masaje en la espalda.

Cuando acabamos el almuerzo, comenzamos nuestro lento camino montaña arriba, que nos conducía a la humanidad. Para allá íbamos, pasando acantilados cuajados de vegetación exuberante, observando cacatúas blancas volando altas sobre el suelo, con sus chillidos haciendo eco a lo largo del valle.

A mitad de camino, encontramos otra catarata que terminaba en una poza de agua profunda y nos paramos a observar un grupo de aventureros descendiendo por la catarata.

La excursión terminó en un café, donde todos nosotros, cansados y con las caras rojas, descansamos y tomamos aliento.

Sólo dos familias quedaron tras las despedidas y decidimos explorar el pequeño pueblo de Leura.

Leura es una pueblo de montaña muy cuco con una calle principal cuajada de tiendas encantadoras. Miramos las tiendas y nos maravillamos de los objetos antes de coger una hamburguesa tradicional australiana “con todo” y nos fuimos al merendero de las  Cataratas de Leura, donde disfrutamos de nuestras deliciosas comidas.

Finalmente, nos fuimos hacia las Tres Hermanas, tomamos fotos panorámicas y exploramos el gran valle con prismáticos.

Conforme conducíamos a casa, el atardecer ardía en naranjas, mientras que un arco iris brillaba en la dirección opuesta. Y así terminamos la excursión, regresando a Sidney, a nuestra vida urbana.

Pablo's Birthday. El cumpleaños de Pablo.

My dad (Pablo) wanted to organise a picnic with his work colleagues and it was a coincidence that they organised it to be on the 15th of January, his birthday. He thought it would be quite a good way to spend his birthday, so on the chosen date, we headed out for Lane Cove National Park, where the picnic/birthday party was going to be held. They had reserved a spot with a shelter, it had tables and it was quite nice. There was heaps of wildlife and there was a river close by, there was lots of grass for all the kids to play around and I even organised a scavenger hunt for the little kiddies, they had to look for the boxes of smarties that I had spread around the area. Pablo decided that he was going to cook a paella for everyone, so we brought along the paella (that's the name of the plate that you cook the food in), the gas bottle, and the stands to cook the paella on.
Slowly the guests arrived, and when most of them were there the paella finished cooking and it was photo time.

After that everyone started eating, for as hungry as they were because the paella smelled marvelously. It was a lovely evening and everyone (we hope) enjoyed themselves.
Days here are long enough to do a few things, so when we arrived home we enjoyed our front yard, the temperature was beautiful and daddy practices with his new toy, his birthday present, a diabolo and also taught Patricia how to juggle until sunset.

Mi padre quería organizar un picnic con sus compañeros de trabajo y coincidió que el día que les venía bien era el 15 de Enero, el día de su cumpleaños.
Él pensó que sería una manera estupenda de celebrarlo así que ese día nos fuimos al parque nacional de Lane Cove, donde se decidió sería la celebración. Reservaron un sitio cubierto que tenía mesas y era muy agradable. Había muchos animales, un río cerca y grandes praderas para que jugaran los niños. Yo incluso organicé una búsqueda del tesoro para los pequeñajos, así que esparcí cajas de "Smarties" (chocolatitos chiquitos rodeados de una capa de color) por toda la zona.

Papá decidió que cocinaría una paella para todos así que llevamos la paella (lo que incorrectamente llamamos en España paellera), la bombona de gas y la base donde se cocina. Lentamente fue llegando la gente y cuando ya prácticamente estaba todo el mundo la paella estaba preparada, así que...el momento de la foto. Después todo el mundo a comer, tan hambrientos estábamos con ese olor tan maravilloso...

Fue un día estupendo y todo el mundo (esperamos) se lo pasó muy bien.

Aquí los días cunden mucho, así que cuando llegamos a casa, como la temperatura era deliciosa, decidimos disfrutar del césped de delante de la casa. Papá estuvo jugando con su nuevo juguete, regalo de cumpleaños, un diábolo y también comenzó a enseñar a Patricia a hacer malabarismos con pelotas, hasta que anocheció.

We're back! ¡Estamos de vuelta!

G'day amigo! It's been a long time since we have updated this blog, and we thought 2011 was a pretty good year to start all over. Our last post was on the 5th of September 2009, and a long time has passed since then, but we have decided that from now onwards we will keep you up to date with our latest excursions and adventures into the wilderness.

Now not only Pablo will be posting on this blog, Victoria (me) will also help to keep up this blog because I'm not a little girl anymore.

Anyway, we're glad to be back on the road with you following behind, let this blogging journey begin!

¡G'day amigo! Ha pasado mucho tiempo desde que actualizamos este blog, y pensamos que 2011 era un año bastante bueno para empezar otra vez. Nuestro última entrada fue el 5 de Septiembre de 2009, y ha pasado mucho tiempo desde entonces, pero hemos decidido que desde ahora vamos a intentar estar al día con nuestras últimas excursiones y aventuras a la naturaleza.

Pero ahora no solo va a ser Pablo el que haga entradas en este blog, Victoria (yo) también voy a estar ayudando para mantener este blog porque ya no soy una niña pequeña.

De todas formas, estamos muy contentos de volver a la ruta con vosotros siguiéndonos, ¡que empiece este camino del blog!

In the news

Sun cancer cases on the rise in Western Sydney
Posted 06/01/2009 at 09:59 AM by StreetCorner

People are continuing to risk their health and lives by not being sun smart, a Sydney West Area Health Service expert warns.

Senior Medical Practitioner at Westmead Hospital Pablo Fernandez-Penas said Melanoma was the fourth most frequent cancer across Sydney Western Area Health Service’s catchment...

Read more

New Year card

We have sent our New Year card to our friends, but we know that some of you have not received it (old email addresses, anti-spam filters that classify our mail as spam, corporate systems that delete attached files from mails,...), so we have decided to publish it in our blog.

Courses, kitchens and families, laboratories and groups

I have been attending several courses: the "Principles & Practice of University Teaching & Learning" and the "Early Career Research Program for Biomedical Researchers". I am waiting for a session on "Making the Most of your PM&D Review" and another course with a very attractive title: "Clinical Leadership Program". These will cover the three main aspects of my new role at Westmead Hospital: teaching, research and clinical leadership, and it will introduce me to the University's Performance Management and Development program. The PM&D program "is the overarching process for the planning and assessment of both performance and development needs throughout the life cycle of a staff member".

The Early Career Research Program for Biomedical Researchers reviewed several aspects of the research environment: grants, networking, personalities, conflict resolution, media and research, and mentorship. It was a very good introduction to the Australian way of dealing with research and grants. I have learned useful things, but it has been exhausting ("Too much information" The Police). Some of the sessions reminded me of a course I took in Spain about "Improvement Groups". One lesson I learned in that course, that I have always in my mind is:
"It may be good to run your family as a group, but never run a group as you would run your family"

This brings to my mind one of the first things I learned about laboratories:
"Your kitchen may look as your lab, but never allow your lab to look like your kitchen".

El mapa del mundoMap of the world

Gracias a Microsiervos, que siempre tiene algo interesante, hemos encontrado el que puede ser nuestro nuevo mapa del mundo, que queremos compartir con vosotros.

Thanks to Microsiervos (spanish) we have found our new map of the world. Australia is not "down under" or in the "bottom of the world".Por supuesto, Australia está en la parte de arriba y en el centro del mapa.

Update from Spain

Our stuff is travelling (sailing) to Sydney. ETA: 12th August. The moving company left our house on the 12th of June and the next day we drove to Granada to attend the Congress of the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. We met lots of people, and we had to explain everybody our life adventure. We started the conferences everyday at 9 am and finished dinner at 2 am. It has been exhausting. Pablo had 4 lectures (photobiology, research, cryoglobulins and melanocytes). We've been very very busy, but we are at home again organizing the moving sale (Tuesday and Friday next week, you are invited if you want to come) and the great jump to Sydney on the 28th.

Desde el Puente del Puerto de Sydney.From the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Microsiervos es un weblog muy interesante en el que siempre hay algo atractivo. Hoy han publicado la imagen panorámica desde el Puente del Puerto de Sydney. Hace falta tener instalado QuickTime (gratuito). Si no lo tienes, sólo por ver esta panorámica merece la pena instalarlo.

The view from the Sydney Harbour Bridge is breathtaking. You need QuickTime (free) to enjoy the stunning panorama, but it is worth installing it.

Tenemos billetes. We've got tickets!

¡Conseguimos los billetes que deseábamos!

Para volar a Sydney habitualmente se vuela a través de Europa (Londres, Frankfurt,...) y se hace una escala en un país asiático, lo que supone un tiempo de vuelo de más de 25 horas (dependiendo de la conexión en Europa y el país de Asia donde se pare). Pero se puede volar en 22 horas con Thai Airways, 3 días en semana (M,J,S) haciendo Madrid-Bangkok-Sydney. Con las 3 niñas queríamos el vuelo más corto, pero hicimos la reserva un poco tarde. Finalmente llegó la confirmación y tenemos los billetes: 28 de junio a las 13:50 salimos y llegamos el 29 de junio a las 20:00 (algo tarde para cualquier cultura excepto la española).

Our plane leaves Madrid on 28th June at 13:20 and arrives in Sydney on 29th June at 20:00. This is the shortest trip, but it takes, in any case, 22 hours, flying with Thai Airways. Any other option would have taken at least 25 hours. We are really really lucky, the flight was sold out, but 5 tickets appeared out of the blue.