When Ed rang during the week, I told him of our plans and suggested he and Deb, would meet us at the camp ground on the previouse evening, and we coud be away early the next morning... Ed was a little alarmed at the amount of time we would probably spend doing the 7 abseils!...

Sean and I decided that, on the whole, the cold 10m swim would quickly be forgotten after scrambling 100m up along the ridge and abseiling back along the canyon. The 200m swim we would just put up with 'sans-wetties, and use the hike back out to warm up again. (Not a very good plan, but a plan none the less).

Geoff and I drove up in the evening and met Sean, Ed and Debbie in the camp ground for a relaxed dinner with a cool beer and a warm cheery fire. The weather had been perfect all week and tommorrow seemed to promise more of the same.

The next day dawned and after breakfast and gearup, the walk down to the Wollongambi was very nice. Geoff and Sean took great delight in showing me where they turned of for Serendipity a few weeks ago and I astounded them when I showed them where I had turned. (Needless to say, quite some distance further on).

Gradually the track steepened, and in no time we scrambled down the last of the rocks to stand at the river itself. The way ahead (on the other side), looked shady, wet and cold. (dank and skanky I think were more apt).
Our final waterproofing preparations aside, I walked out onto the rock and jumped as far out as I could, hoping to actually fly magically to the other side and spend as little time in the water as possible. With a loud splash, I entered the water with all the grace of a sack of spuds, and bobbed my way to the other side, trying to convince myself that the heat draining from my body was actually good for me. Sean came ocross next swimming strongly (and yelling even louder), followed by Geoff then Deb and Ed ... in their wet suits ... (is there a lesson on this ?).

The guide book mentions a fixed rope to aid up the slimy 1st part of the climb up the ridge. It was there, but in reality, this seemed more of a mental crutch than a real help. The rocks actually have holds chipped in them and there less than a body length to reach from the rocks to the tree roots above. A word of warning though... All is slimy and slipery. Also, the rock itself (sandstone) is so wet that it crumbles fairly easily if loaded badly.

That done we turned our attention to the rest of uphill part. A short easy scramble leads to the top of the bluff and then the base of a second bluff. There is a track here that seems to indicate the way to go is to the right, so that's the way we went. It worked! It wound it's way back over the top, and we very quickly found ourselves on top of a rocky knoll with superb views in all directions.

From here following along the ridge, keeping the canyon on the left, quickly leads into a gully and the creek itself.

We found the 1st abseil was from a sturdy tree but goes down a muddy slide and over a lip into a large leafy glen. It was surprising at this point, as to how much water there was at our feet. It was starting to look like a wet canyon. (I'd managed to avoid the all the 'wades' so far, but it was getting harder now, and we'd only just started)!

The 2nd and 3rd abseils were spectacularly scenic. Neither was awe-inspiring in terms of drop or exposure, but together they form one of the most attractive drops I have been down through. The steep slot drops and twists and drops again, like a roller coaster. All the way there are huge dripping, overhanging ferns, and pools to step around. At one point, the slot becomes a water worn arch, and now the water is working on making a second one below that. (Like to see that one in a century or two !!).

The 2nd abseil is long, we used pretty much all of our 60m rope, Sean and Ed went ahead down Sean's 40m to continue and wait at the bottom. When Geoff and I arrived at the base of the 3rd pitch, we found the others sitting at a good vantage point, waiting to watch us go into the pool at the bottom. No such luck for them! We both managed to swing wide and miss the water entirley! (Big groan from the gallery).

This top section of the canyon is joined here by another gully comming in from the NW, and the resulting junction creates a kind of cool green ampitheater. Everything is covered in moss or ferns.

A very short walk brought us to the top of the 4th pitch. Soft and green again, this one also twists sharply at the top, and then drops off an overhang to a small pool below.

After the 4th pitch, the canyon closes up again and becomes an impressivley sized slot. Blank dark walls stretching up above us, and glistening with moisture. Each of the abseil pitches before us now ended in decent sized pools. Sean and I tried everything to avoid the first one, but it seemed hopeless. With nothing left to do, I ruefully packed my jumper away again and prepared to get really cold! Although there was a place to stand at the bottom, I was still being inundated (and frozen) by the waterfall. As quickly as I could I disengaged myself from the rope and bridged up out of the cleft and over the water to dry ground and the rest of the group.

All eyes were on me, as all eyes had had to swim here. Could I do it ... Could I stay high and dry ?!!?
Reaching, straining, slipping, arrhg!! bridge harder! Still... Slipping ... Nooooooo.!

SPLASH!

Oh well ! At least I avoided the deepest part.

I had better success on the 6th pitch and strenuosly bridged my way along the length of the cleft avoinding the water by about a meter. All that effort only to reach the final pitch ... and pool.
Being last to hit the pool I stumbled about trying to find the shallowest part and drag the ropes with me. By the time I got the ropes over to Sean, I thought my legs (and nads) were going to drop off....

The wetsuited bodies of our group happily splashed away towards the exit point while Sean and I stowed the rope and tried to convince each other we weren't about to DIE!

With quiet dignified resignation, Sean and I slipped silently into the icy cold water of the Wollangambi and started paddling. Sean led off at a good constant pace and I found myself kicking hard to keep up with him. As we rounded the first bend a sand bank came into view.
"Sandbank!" I croaked, and we both swung towards it and clambered up out of the water.
Without pausing, we walked along it, mechanicaly, as far as we could, before plunging back into the freezing river again. Geoff had swam back to see how we were going, and we met him just before the last turn. I could feel my swimming (and breathing) get weaker by the stroke as I paddled towards the bank.

Finally, standing at the start again, watching the group of lo-lo-ers put their warm clothes on, and listening to their excited chatter. It took quite a while to warm up, despite the sunny afternoon and the exertion of the walk back. (It was still quite chilly in the shade).

A warm brew at the car and some food took care of the most pressing needs, as well as a warm change of clothes.

The Waterfall of Moss canyon is, I think, one of the prettiest and most 'fernly' scenic canyons I've been through. It's incredible to think just how much varied and interesting scenery is contained in such a small canyon.