Twister & Rocky Creek Canyon - Blue Mountains

Wow! Twister and Rocky Creek must be two of the best canyons you can do without the need for abseiling skills or equipment. With only a 10 minute walk in, Twister offers, straight from the start, numerous jumps and slides into clean, crystal clear, refreshing water. After exiting the canyon, the journey opens up into a beautiful green jungle, before descending into the depth of another great canyon, Rocky Creek. The start of this canyon is a great place to set up for lunch as there is a large open space that welcomes the warmth of the sun, if the weather's behaving! Slide down into the awaiting pool and journey into the majestic canyon characterised by high narrow walls. At the end, you step out into what's seemingly a new world, easily mistaken for the set of the next Jurassic Park.

21 January 2018

I woke up refreshed on the morning on the second day of this epic weekend of canyoning in the unspoiled Blue Mountains. I had woken up on several occasions throughout the night, only to open my eyes to a clear night illuminated by millions of twinkling of stars. I had to force myself to close my eyes and roll back into my swag, 'you must rest for the two epic canyons tomorrow!', I scolded myself.

After a mishmash of breakfast ranging from muesli bars to pancakes with fresh berries, the team of 14 friends, old and new, packed up and headed to Rocky Creek Canyon Carpark located on the Newnes Plateau. With a quick strip in the dusty car park to slide on damp wetsuits, the crew headed down towards to the start of the canyon. What a great canyon for beginners! Twister Canyon eased into it with short slides into shallow water, to large jumps into seemingly endless deep pools. Although quite safe, it is strongly advisable to have someone down climb to check whether logs or other debris have decided to call that pool home. Oh and since we're in the mood to give advice, Dunlop Volleys are the best value for money canyoning shoes. They're tight fitting, cheap ($30 at Big W), and the soft rubber tread make them incredibly sticky on the wet rocks.

More information on Twister Canyon can be found here.

Now if you're going to do Twister Canyon, you may as well skip the trail back to the car park and head down to Rocky Creek Canyon, a 10 out of 10 canyon that, like Twister, does not require abseiling.

The crew decided to do just that. Leaving our packs at the top of the wide slide into the pool below, we waded through the majestic canyon, surrounded by huge walls that narrowed to points where one could slide their fingers of both hands on either side. The vibrance of the pallet of greens was out of this world, like the set of a movie where dinosaurs roamed above, apex predators of their time. We swam, waded, and floated, often on our backs to gaze at the trees and other plants that lined the cliff edge, a building's height above. Rays of sunlight casting down beams illuminating narrow sections of the canyon, accentuating its raw beauty . This dreamlike journey lasted for about 30 minutes before the canyon walls abruptly fell outward opening into a sandy creek bed surrounded by a low lying jungle.

Alas, the fun came to an end, but not before a picnic atop one of nature's best rock slides.

More information on Rock Creek Canyon can be found here.