Yengo National Park

Azure skies, a gentle breeze and the scent of wattle permeating the air greeted us as we gathered around the convict built amphitheatre at Bucketty. A number of people were already enjoying morning tea and inspecting the workmanship of the convicts. As we were the last to arrive at Bucketty, we were naturally nominated to write the trip report.

The convoy of 13 vehicles fell inline behind our guides Ian and Suellen for an eagerly anticipated ‘discovery’ tour. The bitumen road scattered with mailboxes indicated the ingenuity of the country Aussie with microwaves, fridges and car parts used to gather the mail. The dirt tracks of the Upper Yengo Creek and Boree Track provided just enough challenging sections to keep us entertained. Beautiful blue ridges folding into the distance, the crystal sounds of bell birds and the bush melting into rainforest made this a very special place.

A slight deviation in the tour enabled us to meet some friendly locals who happily guided us to the right track and we heard the unmistakable sounds of banjos playing as we moved rapidly away.  The Lunch stop at Devils Rock under soaring gums was well received by the group. A number of us decided to take the short walk up the hill to an extraordinary solid rock formation. The views were spectacular in all directions. Not a single building in site. There were some impressive rock carvings, and also evidence of where tools were sharpened on the rocks with deep visible groves in the rock. There was also an abundance of native flowers in bloom. We then headed back along the Boree Track and joined the Finchley Track.

We stopped near the Finchley Camping ground which revealed even more carvings with very creative interpretations as to what many of them may have been (definitely Martians). A little further along Finchley Track we stopped at the Finchley Trig point. The view from the Trig Station was breathtaking, 360 degrees of pristine bush and mountain ranges with not a man made edifice in sight. Mt Yengo, according to Aboriginal folklore, was where the God Biambi resided and is a sacred site and standing on the top of the world you can understand why.
The trip ended in beautiful Wollombi with a well deserved glass of Dr Jurds Jungle Juice.
Thanks to Ian and Suellen for a great day and we look forward to the next trip