Gorgeous Gorges of the Illawarra

14 April 2014 / Report: Brendan Barr. Photos: Barry Pope, Brendan Barr & Joe Cabello

The first call at 6.50am asked the question in everyone’s mind, ‘are we going?’  Why should 48 hours of near continuous rain put us off?

So we all met at Hungry Jacks with blue skies threatening to burst through the clouds and force the obligatory donning of sunglasses. We welcomed two brand new members, Andy and Vicki who were on their first run and Joe and Azi, who were testing the waters.

After the route was explained and safety procedures checked,  20 people in 10 MX5s and a Mitsubishi, (Peter’s MX5 refused to start, so he came in the backup) headed off for Burragorang lookout at Nattai.  Mark, ‘the enforcer’ was Tail End Charlie, ensuring that we all kept a correct distance from the leader. 

The perfect weather allowed ‘tops down’ as we swept up Mt Kembla and on towards Picton, where we turned into Barkers Lodge Road for a beautiful drive past lush, green horse studs up to the lookout.  Morning tea was consumed in the chilly air as we took in the fantastic vista of Gorgeous Gorge 1 – Lake Burragorang, Sydney’s water supply, at 94% capacity. Jan’s slice was a hit with all as we sipped our BYO morning tea.

Then we were off through The Oaks, to Cawdor and cutting across upmarket farms to Douglas Park and under huge overhanging sandstone rocks into Gorgeous Gorge 2 – formed by the Nepean River. As we drove over the causeway, it was hard to decide whether to enjoy the water view or gaze up in awe at the towering mass of the M1 motorway bridge that spanned this gorge. A quick twist and turn and we were heading down into Gorgeous Gorge 3 – Broughton Pass and over the Cataract River towards Appin.

We headed over to Bald Hill lookout via our last Gorgeous Gorge - Lawrence Hargrave Drive, to Bald Hill lookout to watch some people risk life and limb at hang gliding.

Down our last gorge we emerged to cross the beautiful Seacliff Bridge and gain easy parking opposite Austi Beach Café, where we finished off a great run with a tasty lunch and a good chat.

Thanks to Joe and Barry for the extra photos, to Mark and Hella for the radios and also to the weather for holding out for so long!

For the rest of the photos and video - click here!