The deepest gorge

THE second part of our series Wild Australia showcases the wonders of Bungonia Gorge.

AUSTRALIA'S deepest gorge is a mecca for adrenalin junkies and seasoned climbers, but its Tolkienesque beauty remains little known even to those who live nearby.

From the ragged limestone clifftops, climber Mike Law-Smith (pictured) marvels at the mist rolling up the Shoalhaven River from the east as the sun breaks through the clouds to illuminate a truly epic panorama. Bungonia Gorge – of which Slot Canyon is the centrepiece – presents like an early European landscape drawing in which the natural features are revealed in exaggeration. From a lookout above, the “slot” disappears into black. To the west, the Devils Staircase rock formation staggers its way up to – or down from – the heavens. And the riverbed that winds its way through the deep ravine leads the eye, and imagination, on a journey to another world.

Hundreds of steep caves carved into the Bungonia Gorge limestone add promise and more than a little danger. The gorge, on the Southern Tablelands of NSW, 190km southwest of Sydney and 35km east of Goulburn, descends 400m at its deepest point. Slot Canyon, in the base of the gorge, has ¬vertical walls 275m high.

Bungonia ranger Audrey Kutzner says despite its history (it was first reserved for public recreation in 1872) it remains little known. “A lot of people who have lived in Goulburn all their lives haven’t heard of it,” she says. “They assume the Bungonia Nature Reserve will be a flat landscape like the surrounds. They don’t realise the significance and the beauty of the place.”

Law-Smith has been climbing in Bungonia for 27 years and maintains a healthy respect for the dangers it presents. Aside from the natural dangers there is an ¬element of human-induced risk, too.

He recalls how his friend Tara Sutherland was pulled from her climb of the Slot’s north wall when her head was snagged by the parachute of a BASE jumper. “A BASE jumper jumped from the south wall and hit the north wall. “He slid down and his parachute caught over Tara’s head and pulled her off. She was pulled up by her safety rope but ¬suffered quite bad neck strain.” The BASE jumper tumbled down to the bottom of the canyon and survived.

For rock climbers, the gorge presents a challenge for even the most experienced. Peter Cocker of K7 Adventures led one of Australia’s first successful ¬Himalayan mountaineering expeditions, the 1978 Dunagiri ascent by Tim McCartney-Snape. He rates Bungonia as “the scariest place I have ever been or climbed. It is a mass of huge faces and chasms with some of the best climbing in Australia, but I am always cautious because if I fall, I have about four-and-a-half seconds until I hit the ground so there is a lot of time to think about it.”

For non-climbers, the reserve has a number of walks to explore the many native trees and flowers as well as the landscape. Kutzner says it may also be possible to sight one of the rare koalas. The walks range from easy strolls to a much more difficult five-hour return hike which includes a very steep descent to the floor of the gorge and forded river crossings. Boulders have to be crossed and there is always a danger of falling rocks – if not BASE jumpers.

To get there

Bungonia is a 2.5hr drive from Sydney; there is a fee of $7 per car per day, payable at the park entrance. For more information see www.visitnsw.com and www.argylecounty.com.au/nature/bungonia