The Details:
- Car Park: Mt Wilson Fire Station
- Walk Time: Roughly 1hr in; 1 & 1/2hrs out
- Float Time: 5-7 hours
- Gear: Lilo
- Our group size was 3 and all experienced hikers
The Wollongambe Float is a long day, but mostly relaxing and 100% worth it. Floating down the Wollongambe river to the peaceful sounds of birds and silence, engulfed by towering sandstone escarpments on either side of you for most of the float with crystal clear water below - this is truly one of the most beautiful, serene and tranquil activites you can do in the Blue Mountains. While all of that sounds great, before you start putting on your wettie, it’s important to know what you’re in for physically. There are multiple rock scrambles (like, big ones) and a long walk out (with a short rope-climb section) that will make you want to jump back in the freezing cold water not long after starting. This day is the perfect combination of a little (or more) effort with a lot of reward.
A wetsuit is recommended - towards the end of the float, which took our group roughly 6 hours to complete, we were all feeling the cold. We were all in wetsuits and it was 26 degrees in the middle of Jan. By no means did our group rush this float, in fact, for most of it we allowed the current to simply push us along without any extra paddling. So this could be done much quicker.
I have actually done this float twice (and plan on going back many more times), so the photos below are a mish mash of my two floats. Choosing your lilo is what makes this trip even more fun - you may notice my not-so-subtle lobster for trip #1. Unfortunately, Larry the Lobster had to be retired after just one float, sustaining irreversible damage from being dragged over rocks (how dramatic). Anyway, it’s probably not the best idea to purchase an expensive float for this trip - you will scrape over many rocks and sticks with high chances of a puncture. I managed to avoid this on trip #2 using a cheap blow up lounge (not sponsored but turned out to be a good option). 10 points if you can spot the photo where Larry the Lobster has seen better days.
