Starlight
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| | Difficulty:3A (v3a1 II) Raps:1-3, max ↨82ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Rock type:Sandstone | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Best season: | Oct-Apr (avg for this region)
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-33.1559, 150.2844
-33.1774, 150.2361
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Introduction[edit]
Also known as "Newnes Canyon"
Quality
- The canyon is rated 10 out of 10 on the Brennan Quality Scale. 1 of only 6 perfect-10 canyons in the greater Bluies as rated by OzUltimate.com.
- David Noble rates the canyon 3 out of 5 for quality and Medium for difficulty.
Approach[edit]
Descent[edit]
Exit[edit]
Red tape[edit]
Beta sites[edit]
The below track notes are an excerpt from Canyons Near Sydney 5th edition guidebook by Rick Jamieson which is no longer in print.
Grade: 4 (moderate to difficult). Time: 1 long day. Two abseils up to 25 m. No swims at normal water levels - can be done in winter. But note that the tunnel can fill up after rain, and can become dangerous or impossible. Torches are needed for the great long, narrow underground section lit by glow-worms. A tremendous canyon.
From the campsite at the end of the road (at the junction of Little Capertee Creek and the Wolgan) walk 1.5 km downstream on the left bank. Turn left up the Glen Davis pipeline track. Walk up the hill to a lookout, then continue on the track another 0.5 km to the top of the watershed. Climb up the little hill to the east, then follow the ridge N then NE then E towards the top of a hill. From the side of the hill there is a choice of routes. One turns left (N), goes down through a cliffline, then NNE down a ridge, then left down a gully, to meet the main creek at GR 458286 (Mt. Morgan map). In the creek there is one wet bit just before the big bend - this can be avoided by climbing up on the right and then scrambling back down.
Alternatively, the right-hand track can be followed E, then NE. As you approach the canyon, scramble down beside a gully and abseil 15 m beside a dry waterfall at GR 464285.
The main drop is at about GR 466283. Abseil 25 m from an obvious big dead sassafras tree, or from a live tree on the right. The starlit section follows. Note that this dark section can fill with water in wet conditions - the first person should check this before others abseil. There are two tricky 2 m drops in the dark section. Also the narrow section can get blocked with sand and need digging out. Then there is a nice walk down a wider type of canyon (the side canyon on the left is worth a visit). As the creek begins to drop there is an abseil (15 m) down the slippery waterfall, or from a ledge on the left (the tributary coming in on the left here is False Teeth Canyon). Now scramble down beside the steep creek (on the left or the right) to the Wolgan. Cross the river to the old road and trudge 1.5 hours back up to Newnes.
This canyon can also be done from the bottom, avoiding the abseil. Walk down the Wolgan from Newnes on the right-hand bank, following the map carefully, to the creck Junction at GR 474269 below an obvious break in the left-hand cliffline.
Walk up the steep creek. At the waterfall near the top climb round on the right, and back left along a ledge. Walk up the canyon and visit the starlit section with a torch.
Trip reports and media[edit]
YouTube.com : Richard Pattison, Newnes (Starlight) Canyon movie
- Sleep When We Are Dead :Starlight canyon. October 2017.
- Sleep When We Are Dead : Starlight canyon and bottom of Devils Pinch Canyon. October 2018.
Background[edit]
David Noble says: also called "Starlight Canyon" by some commercial parties and "The Amazing Wallaby Tunnel" by John Atkinson (VS&M; no 11 1992). It was referred to as Newnes Canyon by Tim Hager in 1977 (The Waysider 147 May/June 1977). The canyon was probably discovered by an SUBW party of Helen Whitfield, Karl Robertson, Dave Beattie and Gerry O'Byrne in 1963 (Report, the canyon they abseiled into, but don't mention much about: https://www.subw.org.au/archives/press-on-regardless/newnes-glen-davis-return/). This report contains a sketch of the canyon formation just below the tunnel (near where they abseiled in).
A much later SUBW party (John Atkinson, Bob Sault, Airdrie Long) were possible the first party to explore (from below) the tunnel section. They returned on a later trip and abseiled into the tunnel. John Atkinson's report: https://www.subw.org.au/archives/press-on-regardless/the-story-of-airdrie-fairdrie-bobbsie-wobbsie-and-the-amazing-wallaby-tunnel/