Dorothy Canyon, Lake Kaniere

Sub zero preparations

The frost on the tent in the morning had me considering the sensibility of going canyoning, however, there's nothing the application of a little more insulation can fix ;0)

Grant had descended Dorothy Canyon a few weeks previously and on seeing his photo's, I was really keen to check it out. Toine and Pip rounded out our canyon grew of four this chilly morning.

Easy coast bush bashing

We soon warmed up climbing through the bush to access the canyon. The forest was pretty mellow for the coast and after about an hour we were at the put in.

The top section of the canyon had a pretty mellow gradient, but there were enough little jumps to keep us well entertained. In places the gorge narrowed to a few meters wide, with the walls reaching about 20m above us.

Yellow banana bug invasion

Pip showing her 'tree hugger' inclinations

The lower part of Dorothy was quick fire rappels, with some really beautiful pitches. The highlight though was the descent of Dorothy Falls itself, straight through the slot and all the water. With a little care, we could detach about 6m up from the bottom and leap into the huge deep basin.

The most beautiful pitch in the canyon

The final pitch down Dorothy Falls

Toine, Grant, Pip (the tall one) and Chucky

Grant was pretty keen to do the pitch again, so easily convinced us back up the access to the pitch head for a second crack at the drop.

Good fun, though just a little cold ;0)