Ben Nevis- BMC- Wallamarra BP    Back

Entry and Exit via Private Property

Contact details available from the Public Officer/President of Armidale Bushwalking Club.

Walk Type: a medium difficulty 2 day 1 night backpack ( BP 2d1n L 4 D)

Location and Access Permission needed from owners of ‘Ben Nevis’ and ‘Wallamarra’ - contact details available from the Public Officer/President for Armidale Bushwalking Club.

Maps: W= Winterbourne 9236-2-N ( + A= Armidale, G= Gostwyck, E= Enmore for the car shuttle)

2 cars -party of 6-8. Travel:

Method 1 ( Both cars drop off at ‘Ben Nevis’ Saturday morning, return to Armidale, then travel back to pick up at Wallamarra gate on Sunday at 4.30 pm )-

Total for the two trips= 2 X(41.0 + 46.9) – about 180 km

Shuttle 1- Drop off to ‘Ben Nevis’

Shuttle 2 – Pickup at Wallamarra gate-as above( shaded section overlapping).. ..

Method 2 Section A as above to ‘Ben Nevis’. Leave most walkers there, drive both cars to ‘Wallamarra’ gate (Section C below). Leave one car there, shuttle the walker-drivers back to ‘Ben Nevis’, then go back to Armidale in the shuttle car before returning to pick up walkers at ‘Wallamarra’ gate .

Total distance for shuttle car and driver = (180 km as above, + 2 X 12.4)= about 205 km.

(the car left at ‘Wallamarra’ gate will travel (41.0 + 12.4 + 47.0 = about 100 km)

Section C

Walk (Maps: W= Winterbourne 9236-2-N; Enmore 9236-1-S)
 

Sections AA, AB, AC)

Filled Route Card from 2009 walk

Day 1.Ben Nevis- Bullpoint Spur- Hole CreekThe view from the woolshed at ‘Ben Nevis’ is a real bonus for people who may be waiting while others do the car shuttle. There’s often a bit of fog hanging over the gorges, but as it gradually clears, Tabletop Mountain appears , looming over the opposite side of Blue Mountain Creek to the Southeast, and then the distinctive nose of Point Lookout appears far away to the ENE.

You bear a bit to the right from the woolshed, over pleasant open grazing country to the gate in the Dingo Fence. The track is then pretty obvious, zigzagging down Bullpoint Spur with views upstream across Razorback Spur. About 2/3 of the way down, keep an eye for where a track turns off abruptly left to angle down across the face of the slope and fetch up at Blue Mountain Creek.

The wander down Blue Mountain Creek is delightful, with open flats mixed with occasional tight pinches. Take your time, have a good lunch somewhere, and brew up a coffee somewhere else- at this ambling rate, it’ll take a few hours to make it into camp at a broad grassy flat beside Hole Creek. There’s always water here, with the junction pool usually OK for a good swim.

sections W, V, AD

Filled Route Card from 2009 Walk

Day 2. Hole Creek to Postmans Creek

If you’re lucky, on a brief morning wander up Hole Creek you will see a Rock Wallaby perched on the mini-cliffs a hundred metres above camp. There’s a bit of dry rainforest tumbling down through a cleft, and signs of an old hut clearing a bit further up.

Heading downstream, you’ll see Blue Mountain Creek widening out slowly. A good spot for morning break is at the base of Granville Spur, where there’s a deep pool, open shady banks, and a cliff with occasional Rock Wallabies. A bit of a swim, a good cup of coffee, and on again.

The next big pool ends at Postmans Creek, another hour or so on. Here Max Brennan had a fenced area for his horses, there’s plenty of space for tents, and it’s probably time for another swim and lunch.

Postmans Creek to Wallamarra Gate

At first you cross a broad area with another fenced Brennan paddock, with trees and shrubs gradually growing over the grassy horsefeed. Then the spur begins in earnest. There’s still a clear horsetrack – or in some places, multiple tracks- up the narrowing ridge. It’s one of the easiest ridges out of the gorges, with some good views down Blue Mountain Creek and up Hole Creek across to ‘Cheyenne’. At the ‘Take It Easy’ pace, it’s still 610 metres and about 3 hours to Wallamarra gate.