Blackwater Creek

View north from the Hunter Range

We are rather surprised to come across an aboriginal engraving site, Emu Rock, complete with visitors' book.

Yes, that's an emu...

... but what is this?

Rich heading off down into our first creek

It has a short section of poor quality canyon in it. Rich here on the first abseil.

The creek looks like it is going to drop quite a lot, so we scramble out and do an abseil from the side. This brings us to a sling, and back to the creek for the third abseil

Our 40m rope doesn't look like it will cut it for a 30m+ drop. Luckily we have some 6mm cord as well.

It takes a couple of rebelays but eventually we are at the bottom.

Looking back up the long drop

After exploring downstream, we climb out a pass and set up camp on the ridge top

The next day we drop into a more promising creek. There is a short abseil higher up...

...down a nice waterfall...

...before the creek does drop into a canyon.

Rich on the first abseil

Looking down the canyon

The next drop, which we can't quite climb down

Unfortunately the canyon opens out shortly afterwards, though there are some nice sections of creek. There is another section of canyon close to the junction with a larger creek, but again it is pretty low quality.

Exploring upstream, we are surprised to find a flag and a large cairn (behind), at a creek junction. We remove the flag and dismantle the cairn.

The creek has pleasant sections...

... but no canyon.

A short canyon section in one of the side creeks. We climb up around it but it seems to end less than 100m upstream, so we don't bother descending it.

The next side creek has some slightly better canyon.

We climb up through to a blockage where the canyon seems to end.

The creek is strange in that it is filled with a loose conglomerate, inside the sandstone.

We make camp at a small clearing in the creek.

The next day we explore the next side creek, before climbing out a steep, scrubby pass on to the ridge.

Back at the road...

...we walk up on to Mt Coricudgy...

...and have lunch at the trig.

Grassy clearing on Mt Coricudgy

Tall trees on Mt Coricudgy