Yerranderie to Wattle Ridge
We got a lift by car to Yerranderie. The town was a little more civilized than I thought. It is now owned by the National Parks and Wildlife and has shower facilities and water. There is plenty of room to camp and even huts. We headed off after having a look around Yerranderie. We saw a few goannas walking around and one in a tree in the camping ground. We set out with the aim of camping just below Belloon pass as we had done on the previous trip. I was confident we could find the pass this time as I had fortuitously come across the coordinates of a GPS track that somebody kindly posted on the web. However, less than an hour into the walk we came to the Water Catchment gate. A sign explicitly prohibited camping in the Catchment Authority area at the risk of an $11,000 fine. So we decided to camp just outside the Catchment Authority space. It was way too early but it gave us time to find a camp site which took a while and to appreciate the sunset on the cliffs in the distance. Next morning we set off early and walked along the fire trail until we came to the sign for Belloon pass. It was so well marked compared to the western side. We followed the track and after a steep climb we reached Belloon Pass. What a magnificent view! After a short rest we headed down hill to the campsite we had explored about six weeks previously. We followed a ravine down the mountain and after about an hour recognized the general area we had explored six earlier. On dusk we emerged from the mountain bush into the clearing that had been our campsite. We set up our tents and dug up our food supplies (including four cans of beer). We set a campfire and settled back to enjoy the night. We bathed in the creek and turned in for the night. Next morning got started about 08:30, relatively late, as we knew it was less than a full day back to Wattle Ridge. A unchallenging walk along the fire trail for three quarters of a day and we were back at Wattle Ridge where we waited for our lift.
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| Goanna at Yerranderie | Old machinery at Yerranderie | View from the first night's camp | First night campsite |
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| Second day on the way to Belloon Pass | Climbing up to Belloon Pass | The view from Belloon Pass overlooking the Warragamba Catchment |