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Mount Solitary – Western Side.

Having done the eastern side awhile back I figured this side is actually a bit easier, that is the case, however with the road closure at Narrow Neck it means you gotta walk down the Furber steps at Katoomba falls which actually makes for a fairly long walk, 26km return for me.

It is a really nice walk with the majority along fairly flat shady forested bits, the descent down is a bit brutal but the actual ascent at Mount Solitary is worse, having walked 8 kms or so and then having to scramble up 300m elevation certainly had my cardio quota done for the day.

I picked a campsite at the very peak, or at the very least the highest point which is 974 metres, there is not really a peak, more of a mellow plateau. Its a really nice spot to camp, plenty of shade but also some nice view between the trees, alot different to the campsite at Chinamans Gulley which is a bit further on.

I tried out a new little stove and cook pot set by Soto (Windmaster) which is pretty cool, very compact and very light, also reasonably priced for Japanese engineering 🙂 it actually did quite well in a stiff breeze too. Highly recommend it..

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Chaos Theory.

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Chaos Theory.

Reminds me a little of the Eye of Sauron.

In some bunker out on Bluefish Point nearly Manly. Rodney Campbell reckoned there was gonna be some mad Geminids asteroids to be seen this night, however the wind storm that came thru just after dark kinda killed that idea and we spent the majority of the evening holed up in a bunker trying to salvage something resembling a photo..

Be the light that overcomes the dark.

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Be the light that overcomes the dark.

Bluefish Point

16th December 2025, probably gonna be a day that goes down in history in australia for all the wrong reasons.

Whilst driving over to Manly for the sunset I did think it a bit odd that i saw a bunch of police cars and ambos, kinda makes sense now.

Here is a picture from the sunset and appropriate for the title.

Remember, think critically about the information you are fed on social media, now more than ever is this important. See through the reasons why certain groups/government/individuals say things, especially when it gets politicised.

As corny as it sounds, love and light will be the answer, hatred and division does not benefit the majority.

Here’s to chasing that great light

Asmodeus Pool

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Intriguing name for a plunge pool – seems the name means powerful demon king. A quick search on trove indicates it has been called this since back in the 1890’s and references not ‘pool’, but ‘pools’ maybe its part of a series of pools. In any case, its a pretty cool read if your into historical stuff (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71197434?searchTerm=Asmodeus%20Pool)

Its also now a popular part of the canyoning route down to the very familiar Empress falls, to which these canyoners were headed.

Here’s a picture of one contemplating the jump into the powerful demon kings pool 🙂

Its a pretty easy spot to get to (now, not so much in the 1890’s apparently 🙂 ). its less than 1km from the Conversation hut at Wentworth falls, albeit with a bunch of stairs, you can do it from the other side as well, same vertical ascent/descent but would appear to be an easier gradient.

Definitely alot less busy than the empress falls and other ones below so if your looking for some less busy on the weekend.. check it out.

Its a Moon.

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My puns are like moon landings, still debated by some if they’re real. these peeps gotta chill and dont be such lunartic’s.

So onto the technical side of things here, ya’all gotta be a bit critical in your thinking, particularly what you see on the internet, and moreso now when it comes to moon shots.. and i’m not just mooning around.

Rodney Campbell and I went and checked out this month’s super moon coming up over north end of Bondi. Pretty challenging given it was a tad windy and getting a decent sharp shot was kinda hard, not to mention being in the right spot.

All these shots are single exposures, no blending ( TBH i cannot be bothered 🙂 ) and the colour is pretty much what is was and what you would see with your naked eye, even the kids when ‘wow’ thats a cool moon. Rodneys dog probably did too but he cant talk.

I think next time I gonna have to bring a telescope and a concrete block (to weigh it down) to make sure the wind does not continually vibrate the camera causing blurry shots 🙂 and get close enough to really see the people against the moon.

These are all taken with the sigma sport 150-600 with 1.4TC at 840mm f9 or f10 with ISO ranging from 800 thru to 5000 and shutter speed of about 1/2 second. I have included a shot of the moon from a few nights ago on a really nice and clear night, same lens, same focal length, gives a good comparison of the detail when shooting straight up compared to across the horizon, which is obviously gonna be more hazy and dirty due to more atmosphere etc…