Bushwalk Australia

It had been a long time since I had been down in this neck of the woods. Back in the day it had been one of my favourite haunts particularly for caving trips. On one of those trips I took on a walk down the Deua Valley. As often happened in those days I got caught out with no gear or provisions. Next morning I wandered into Woolla the remote farm of Netta and Vern Davis pioneers of the valley. It was quite an eye opener to me to see this brother and sister still living in the horse and buggy age. They promptly prepared me a big breakfast which was cooked, as was all their meals, on an open fire in the kitchen. I never forgot their hospitality and struck up a correspondence with them for a while. Sadly both have since passed away. They are recognised as true legends of the Australian bush. (If you search on google you will pick up a couple of interesting articles) I decided that after more than 35 years it was time for me to return to this beautiful area.

I drove down from Sydney in the morning and parked at Wyanbene Caves. From here I set off up the hill past the caves. I had only taken a few steps when the largest red belly black snake I have ever seen slithered across the track right in front of me. (It was to be the only snake I was to see.)



Once on top of the ridge I walked over Wyanbene Trig and down to Mongamulla FT on the other side. Here there were views away off into the valley.



This trail led steeply down into the valley where one of the pioneers is buried.



From here it is a short walk across long abandoned paddocks to the river.



Once across the track leads to the home paddocks of Alpine, the Blanchard's property.



All those years ago I had turned left here and headed down stream. This time I would turn right and head up stream to Bendethera former pioneering home of the George family who raised 14 children in this remote valley in the 19th century.

TBC

K

That looks like a very nice area. Looking forward to the rest of your report.

Quick question. Was there a trail up to the trig from the caves or did you off-track up to the trig?

There is no track above the caves. However on the return I came a different way and picked up a rough track from a saddle to the east of the trig. This "track" led back down to the parking area. It is not at all obvious at the car park but once you are on it the going starts to get more obvious. It starts from the top left hand corner of the car park.

K.

Here is a photo of the start of the "track" up to the saddle taken from the top left hand corner of the car park. NB This is not the track to the cave which starts nearby.



K.

Thanks for clearing that up for me and the tip on the track you found.

The way up valley was very easy to begin with as there was an old farm road to follow. This crossed the river several times.



Along the way several flats formerly used for grazing were crossed.



Then I came to the old grazing property "Canoolie" formerly run by the Rankins, a husband and wife team who made their lives in this remote valley for over 50 years in the late 19th C. and early 20th.



There is a green shed made available to bushwalkers here and a newish cottage complete with nearby composting toilet.



From here though the farm road was left behind. My way of route would be the old Deua Valley bridle track if I could find it.

TBC

K.

To my surprise the old bridle track wasn't difficult to locate or follow. It seemed to have been blazed and recut recently?



At times the trail went high above the river.



It crossed and recrossed the river several times. I counted 16 in all.







For lovers of wild river scenery this has to be one of the best in NSW.

TBC

K.

I was able to make much better time than I expected because the bridle trail proved quite easy to follow.



The going up valley really was very pleasant.



Then I came upon to rock cairns one on either side of the track. I read somewhere that they marked Aboriginal graves but I am not sure about that?



Not far past there I crossed the river one more time, climbed a steep bank and found myself at Bendethera, the old grazing property on the Deua.



A little further on the yards near the old homestead site have been rebuilt.



As it was a bit after 4 I decided this large flat would be the perfect place to camp.

TBC

K.

That's *&%$#! unreal mate! Wild is right. fair hike home for you in the car, I bet you were glad to see home.

Yes it is a fair drive from Sydney. About 3.45 hours, a bit further than I would normally go for an overnight walk, but this area had been calling me back for many years and I could resist no longer. The biggest unknown of the trip was whether I would be able to locate and follow the bridle trail. This turned out to be not a problem at all. But then there was still the minor matter of the 600m haul out of the valley the next morning, but that will be in the next instalment.

K.

Great piece of history. Glad you felt the call back. Looks like a good walk.

Yes it is an area with a very interesting history. It seemed so real to me I almost expected a bushranger to emerge from his hideout as I approached the caves the next morning.



I went through BD1 which has a new ladder near the entrance and much older chains further in to aid progress. Then after breakfast I headed straight up behind the caves for about 1,800 feet to the Minuma Range. The scrub was thick on the limestone belt. But once through that it cleared. But gee it was steep. Unrelenting. Then once on top there was the road just down the other side.



From there it was a routine walk back along the ridge. Up and down like a yo yo. Past Deua Trig.



This brought me out at the junction with the Mongamulla trail. From here it was up and over the shoulder of Mt Wyanbene and back to the car where I arrived at about 1:30.



A great trip.

K.

Excellent report K. What a stunning area and so much history. Another area to be added onto my very long to-do list.

Cheers,
Michael.

Thanks Michael. Yes the area does have an awful lot to offer. For me the river is the highlight though. It runs clear and pure. No weeds, no silt, no crap. Beautiful.

K.

Great report and the photos are certainly mouthwatering
What sort of distance do you think you covered ?

Swampy

According to my GPS it was 60km but for some reason, that I have never been able to work out, it reads long? I would say the actual distance was closer to 50km. Probably about 51-52kms.

Just a dawdle really.

K.

That is amazing. To think that good old Myles Dunphy and Roy Davies visited the Rankins way back in 1919. They made quite a good friend of their daughter Vera, who visited them in Sydney and I do believe went on some outings with them. To see the pictures of that old place now: well there you go.

Yes you are quite right. Roy actually drew a pencil sketch of the Rankin farm house which was kept in the family and still exists. I have seen a copy of it. It is inscribed "To Mrs Rankin in recognition of her hospitality from Roy Davies 2.2.20." When I was down that way again recently I bumped into Terry Hart who is descended from the Rankins and he told me the same story about Vera that you mention.

Peter Meredith's book Miles and Milo has some interesting quotations from Miles' journal of the trip. What he wrote about the Rankins is magnificent. The old couple only left the valley in 1939 at 88 and 79 respectively. They left the way they arrived, on horseback with all their belongings!

If you are interested there is a very interesting little book called the Deua River Track which has a lot of information about the history of this part of the valley.

K.

Images of the work of Roy Davies worth a geek. Shows what a quality artist he was. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=l+ro ... OWMY_W8gXZ

I did go to a Roy Davies exhibition once, at a gallery in Wooloomooloo in about 1984 or so. I could only afford the catalogue.