Valley of the Fireflies - Part 1

Rock hopping at the top of Carrington Falls.

Excitement was building as the weekend approached, an entire weekend spent camping, hiking, and bush bashing with Chris, Jess, Pete and Jennine! Anticipation of the unknown set in as we packed our backpacking backpacks but, finally, Friday morning rolled around and it was time to hit the road. On the way, Chris, Jess and Pete gave us a heads up of how difficult this hike is, so we had fair warning of what to expect. We headed down past Wollongong to Carrington Falls. The view from the top of the waterfall was gorgeous, but we, unlike many others, were going to head down to the bottom the canyon. There wasn't really a trail, so we made our own. It was super steep, with the decaying forest floor often slipping from beneath our feet. On occasion we discovered leeches sucking our blood, so we burnt them off and watched them shrivel (that's the best way to get them off, fun fact!). After a couple hours of bush whacking, we came to the stream flowing through the canyon - Phase 1: Complete. The weather was perfect, though not terribly hot, sweat was still gushing from every pore.

Phase 2 consisted of rock hopping along the bottom of the ravine. With the turbulent water below, and canyon walls on either side, maneuvering over, under and around these boulders would prove to be fairly challenging, but chuck a 30lb backpack on to throw your balance off to increase the difficulty even more! Sometimes the rocks were covered in wet moss, causing quite the slipping hazard. I definitely biffed it a couple times, somehow only one foot every ended up in the water. There were a few sketchy parts, and often I wondered how everyone jumped across such a wide gap, but due to necessity, before I knew it I was also on the other side. It makes you realize you are capable of much more than you think you are!

And a few scars...

Just a few scratches.

We started heading up the other side of the canyon, though it was still steep with loose ground under foot. Just a little ways up, playing follow the leader, I went to grab a rock to help myself up (though checking to make sure it was sturdy) I took hold of it and before I knew it I was tumbling down the incline. Thankfully, I stopped myself before I fell into the chasm of raging water just a few meters below. Poor Chris was behind me and helplessly watched it all happen. I definitely shook everyone up a little. We sat for a bit while they gawked at the wounds on my legs, and a couple scrapes on my arms. I was pretty spent at that point, but we pushed through till finally I heard the most glorious thing I ever did hear. Chris yelled "COOOOOEY!", meaning 'WE'RE THERE!!!'. This particular spot was called 'Valley of the Fireflies', it was named by their group of friends when they first discovered the campsite there. Fully equipped with a cave, fire pit, and perfectly flat ground for tents, they just happened to stumble upon it and decided it was the perfect spot to stop and camp. The whole expedition took us about 5 hours, but we stopped for lots of breaks to play 'what ingredients are in the muesli bars?!', so we made pretty good time.

Pete modelling his cutlery. 

We dropped our bags and took our shoes off, it was then that I noticed how wrinkled and pruney my right foot was. Chris declared "I feel as old as Silken's foot looks!" After the days festivities, taking a dip in the creek just outside the site was just what we needed, along with a stretching session lead by Jess and Jennine. Then we got right to work setting up our tents, and making dinner. When it comes to food, Jess is the one you want planning the menu. Forget dehydrated mashed potatoes and baked beans, it was more like a 3 course gourmet meal! I was quite impressed.

Chris graciously reading LORT to us :)

The evening consisted of reading Lord of the Rings aloud, roasting marshmallows and play Truth (no dare). Since it was a 'safe place', all the super out there questions were asked, like "if you could choose 3 South Sydney boys to go on a date with, who would it be?',  and 'what is your most proud accomplishment?'. It was a real bonding experience, now they know privileged information.

That concludes Day 1, filled with lotsa laughs, near death experiences and heaps (and I mean HEAPS) of Lord of the Rings chitchat. More to come in part two!