Easter Saturday Antoine and Louis joined forces to attempt one of the jewels of the Blueys: Grand Canyon. It has been a long time project of mine to take the twins Roman and Chris on to their first real canyon experience. After attempting Dargan’s Creek at the Dam Cliffs we are still not sure if we were in the right place but this time our purpose was twofold: to get three boys in and out in one piece and catch as many yabbies as possible. 

But since it was a long weekend we started with a day at the Dam Cliffs for some climbing and cliff jumping. Jason joined us with some friends and his Children Loz and Joshua and we spent most of the morning climbing the secluded cliffs behind the Dam. Louise was also getting into the fray and climbed several of the classic lines including the three star arête Fucary Rug (14**). Roman Junior was still with cast and managed to work his way up the impressive Death of the Mossmonster(18**). After some initial car trouble Louis, Mia, Steph and Antoine joined us for some cliff jumps at the Dam with the water being bearable on one of the sunniest Easter weekends on record. We had a little time left late in the afternoon and decided to head back down and join Jason for another climb since Louis had missed out on the morning session. He worked his way up the deep scoops of the classic Sisters of Fatima (16**) in style and we finished the day with the beautiful orange light spreading across the sky on our way to Mt.Victoria pub for dinner.

Saturday morning dawned late with the kids sleeping in but at about 9:30 we found ourselves on Evans Lookout Road and the beginning of the Grand Canyon Loop track. About twenty minutes downhill past rainforests and grand sandstone cliffs, through a little cave and the camping ground near the river and we located the drop into the canyon. It appeared a little high for the boys so I decided to skirt around it and try to find an easier rap into the canyon mouth. Before long we discovered the reason for the original abseil: a massive choke stone with a waterfall down an overhanging smooth wall. It was time to get the kids into their wetsuits and rap into the darkness. Antoine was first to check out the overhanging rappel into the freezing water. The walls were incredibly smooth with no footholds and dropped into a deep pool. After a short swim with a tricky exit and I saw Antoine doing push-ups at the bottom to keep warm. I decided to lower three kids down through the waterfall into the frigid water below and after following down through the waterfall, the smiles that greeted me all-around said more than a thousand words and the secluded canyon opening up before us with beams of light from the world above. It was relatively easy going from here with the occasional water section but our main focus was catching yabbies with the nets Antoine had specially prepared.

Before long we had a dozen specimens (including a couple that got away) and worked our way through to the exit of the canyon guarded by a few unexpected must-do swims through deep water pools. Before long the canyon joined the ascent to Evan’s Lookout where we came across hordes of tourists from the top of the valley. We were back in civilisation and completely soaked with the kids in wetsuits we turned a few heads: back in civilisation. The boys did well on the steep ascent but everybody was tired when we reached the stunning vistas at Evan’s lookout. Antoine raced back to the car to complete the loop and we were on our way back for a little relaxation at Antoine’s hideaway in Blackheath.

There was however no rest for the wicked (children) and in early afternoon we headed to the Cox river just before the Jenolan Cave turn off for some quality yabbie fishing. Our resident expert prepared some meat lines and we went all out to catch some dinner. Luckily Steph had prepared a full roast because ‘our’ (actually I think Antoine and Steph were the only ones who caught a yabbie) catch was just enough for a nice entrée. The day ended relaxed in front of the open fireplace with a glass of nice wine and a movie for the children.

Sunday morning was time for the Easter Bunny to visit with bucket loads of chocolates. It had also been busy with warming the car engine so it would not stall again and putting out the chocolate at 3AM, thanks Easter Bunny. Once again, there was smiles all around and a lot of serious trading took place and at the end there was still time to head over to Centennial Glen Upper Shipley and do some climbing on the superbly rebolted:  Pompadour (13***) Cruxy steep moves lead to a high slap with  excellent views of the Kanimbla valley below.

Thanks Antoine and Steph for a great Easter Weekend in the Blueys.

Roman 7 April 2013.