Great Walks discovers you don’t have to rough it during a few days discovering the Blue Mountains’ glorious walking trails.
Sometime in the last 25 years, a memory was laid down of staying in a weary, weather-beaten, dreary NPWS cabin, high on a hill in the NSW Megalong Valley, part of the mighty Blue Mountains.
It was so long ago that I’d forgotten which side-track led to it and even that there were two of them. I make a sharp turn, about 500m from the popular Dunphy Campground and enter another locked gate – this time I have a code to open it.
Hidden away, on a hillside mown by eastern grey kangaroos and red-necked wallabies, is the welcoming sight of Galong cabins - Dhurrumbyang and beyond, Wirruumba.
And after their complete refurbishment, completed in mid-2022, these two cabins are now fresh, yet cosy enough to contest any holiday accommodation, anywhere. But nowhere else is quite like these two state government owned offerings; because nowhere else can you stay in hard-roofed accommodation within the Blue Mountains National Park.
Standing on the deck of the upper cabin, I feel suspended in the trees and realise that my jaw is hanging open. “Oh my”, I hear myself say, pushing open the front door to reveal the full extent of the renovations.
For the next few days, I get to live out my dream, here, under the peppermint gums, surrounded in bright yellow paper daisies and with the golden honeycomb glow of Black Billy Head watching over me, I will call Wirruumba, home.
Originally built in the 1970s, the two (almost identical) homesteads envelop me in a sense of home comfort as I move through them. By retaining the warm, natural timber panelling of the original walls and floors, the project team have reflected the living trees outside.
I’m drawn to the bookcase, where a small, but insightful, collection of books include local bushwalking guides such as Michael Keats’ Day Walks in Therabulat Country and Matt McClelland’s Six Foot Track – both excellent pathways to harder (Keats) and easier (McClelland) day walk options close by. They are enriched by works on the natural history of the region and conservation.
As my body relaxes into the dangerously comfortable queen bed (the 2nd bedroom has two king singles), I’m struck by the sound of absolute silence.
As my friends arrive late the next day, their urban energy a tangible contrast to the slowness that has overcome me, we step away from the cabins and press into the bush behind. We could walk in any direction and find ourselves on the trodden or – for the experienced off-track navigator – untrodden path.
With only a few hours until sunset, we decide to explore the immediate area and head to the Dunphy Campground, seeking views towards Kanangra above Carlon Creek, where we are greeted by mobs of belly-scratching eastern greys, many in family groups of three. It is spring after all.
The next day, we wake late and after coffee (the kitchen has an espresso machine) we take a lazy walk to where the ghosts of the Carlon farm brood amongst the shaky skeleton of the slab hut that remains by Galong Creek.
By walking upstream and off-track, we find it possible to return to the cabin, rock-hopping upon spectacular pink granite slabs, past perfect summer swimming holes, to choose the correct spur to lead us home. Keen eyes and long gaiters are a must, red-bellies love these parts!
The re-introduction of these two National Parks cabins offers something unique to walkers, birdwatchers, explorers or anyone seeking quiet solitude in nature. I’m already planning a retreat for fellow writers in the near future, where I’ll once again be able to live out my dream life … a cabin in the bush.
Click here for more info.
Words and photos_Caro Ryan of LotsaFreshAir.com