Trip to Mary's view & onto Cania gorge via western NSW & QLD

[Wards Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Wards]

Planning a trip up to Marys view near Walca NSW on the 8th July any one been out there? This is the first stop on the up to Monto & Cania gorge for some fishing & see if I can find the "beautiful Betsy". Anyone has any info on either it would be appreciated. Heading off 2nd July

[craigm Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close craigm]

Wards the trip to Beautiful Betsy in the Kroombit Tops National Park is a nice day trip from the Cania Gorge Caravan Park. The folks at the park can provide you trip notes on how to get there. There are a number of worth while trips to do whilst at Cania. Theres even some fun to be had behind the Dam overflow (just look for the little tracks going off to the left before the dam. The fishing is great (Bass & Saratoga). When we were there last (xmas 09) the Dam was only at 5% so I'm sure the dam will now look very different. Enjoy!!

[K & M McF Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close K & M McF]

Marys View near Werrikimbe NP? Not really near Walcha (I presume this is what you mean). See article on my web site on a trip to Marys View, click on http://www.michaelmcfadyenscuba.info...hp?page_id=768.

[Wards Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Wards]

Looks like you had a great day, We're staying at Walcha so might be early start. The Yowie thing brings back memory's I grow up near a place called Taylors Arm (Pub with no Beer) which backs onto the NP, it was always a joke when camping as kids in the bush about Yowie's coming to get ya! hahaha

[QLD4505 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close QLD4505]

Hi Wards,

My Wife and I were out at Cania Gorge at the end of May 2011. We stayed at the Cania Gorge Big 4 Caravan Park before heading off the next day to find Betsy. We stopped at the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Office in Moonford which is between Monto and Cania to talk to the local rangers as the office girls at the caravan park had told us the roads were closed to Kroombit tops. I meant the Ranger in Charge (Peter) of Cania here and he was a great bloke he actually took us down the road and showed us which road we needed to take to enter the park. This road passes through local farming properties with plenty of cattle roaming around. You cross heaps of nice little creek crossings and open and close a few gates before entering the park. It was still a little wet when we were there so it slowed us up, a little bit of mud here and there. It took us 4 hrs from memory to get to the lookout at Kroombit tops from Moonford. I think it was 70kms from Moonford to the lookout and 35kms around the 4wd Loop. To do the 4wd loop track that takes you to Betsy was quite Muddy and we came across a Rodeo Dual Cab that was bogged to it's axles in mud we snatched them out then they continued on with us. It says on the departments website to allow 2hrs for this 4wd track but it took us 4hrs in the wet conditions. It was a great drive and we had a lot of fun along the way beautiful scenery, quite an eary feeling at the crash site of betsy. Hope you have a great trip highly recomend it.http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks/kro...ops/about.html

[Goodwinfamily Member Find all posts View Profile Close Goodwinfamily]

Can concur with QLD4505 the Cania Gorge park is fantastic (Easter 2011 holiday with Outlaws) make sure you check out the wood fired Pizzas they make. The fireplaces are good and I suggest buying firewood there as they are the same price as else where.
DO NOT MISS the overflow from the dam and if you get the chance throw a line in (Watched a bloke cath a half metre Barra!) you can find the track as it is pretty much opposite the mine walk (Waste of time!) with a water company sign near it. Lake Cania is beautiful but you cant walk the Dam wall any more apparently due to Snakes and the associated liability.
Only thing about the park is the amenities i feel for the price and location they leave a lot to be desired for.

Dont miss the daily bird feed as well...fantastic!

Also the owners are great people who take no sh&*t from grubs in the park so you wont have to worry about that. I recommend looking for one of the sites just behind the swimming pools, these are the best in terms of location and proximity. Get the firewood from them as they deliver it daily when you need it.

Go and do the walks to the dragon cave and some of the others (You will see the picnic area on the way in) these are amazing and not that tough. Also Monto is a nice town with great butchers very nice pub and amenities however its proximity to the camp makes it not the place to just drop down to for essentials...its quite a drive.

Have fun

Goodie

[BradLee Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BradLee]

Just got back from Cania last night.

Absolutely beautiful. Plenty of wildlife for the kids. Plenty if smoke from burning off too !! Got stuck for 2 hrs near apple tree creek due to an uncontrolled controlled burn!

The drive to kroombit tops was beautiful as described. It had been dry for some time so would have had a pretty swift run if the 4wd track except for the 2 pairs of older folk doing 20kph on the firm flat and smooth sections! So u can just imagine the lumpier parts......a very gentle crawl

Over took in a section which had clearly been very boggy in the wet with deep ruts. Soon after this became quite steep and rocky.

I echo the comments above about betsy. It was Amazing and eerie. You could almost sense the sorrow of the families of the 8 men who died. I EAS amazed to see the gleaming chrome on sections of the undercarriage after almost 70 years. There are literally 1000's of pieces strewn over a few hundred square metres including the 4 radial engines and the props with a large section of the tail still intact.

The return down the mountain was the most rugged in the dry. I did use low low just for fun and to try out DAC but it probably wasn't essential. Didn't keep DAC on for long cause it wasn't steep enough to warrant it but there were some fairly steep ascents and descents which were very rocky some very loose. Would be a different story in the wet.

We had a great time and I lost count of the number of times I said "love my prado!" the ability to adjust the shocky dampening made it a very comfy trip.

Brad