Coming soon: Wet and wild Sydney (apparently)

Looks like Sydney is finally getting a wet and wild, complete with wave pool.

ragingwaterssydney.com.au/

Due to open Dec 2013, and have the world's tallest water slide and 3m waves in the wave pool.

So the question is, 3m measured on the front or on the back? And can I take my SUP in there?

edit - 2013 not 2012

2013

Back in the day we had the Aquajet at Coffs Harbour and the Groove Tube at Repton. Both have gone. Pretty sad. Can't blame the carbon tax though.

Thats no fun.. If i were a tourist id Skip Sydney and head straight to Perth and visit the bell tower. Guaranteed disappointment for the whole family !!!

Unless the water is going to be heated they are wasting their time....... Even then queuing in 15degrees whilst wet is no fun no matter how warm the water actually is.
Financially viable for 6 months a year

Apparently at least the wave pool will be heated.

If only they would add a cable wake / ski park then we would be set.

On the other hand, summer weekends at the park will surely be either a) an expensive day out or b) full of more surf rage than Bondi at xmas.

So it'll be Blacktown by the Sea

I get wet - and wild, if you must - for I normally find quiet solace and intense focus from getting wet. This happens in Sydney's west already.

I currently practise (white-water) kayak-rolling with others at the indoor, heated Nepean Aquatic Centre. This has been good to do on cold, rainy nights. Anyone can go - it is informal, but it is preferred that you are a member of PaddleNSW - and you will need your own sit-in kayak with a spray deck. $10 for 90 minutes or so.
I may have some gear to loan if you would like to come and try kayak rolling.

http://www.evaboryswimschool.com.au/swim/about-nepean-aquatic-centre

www.paddlensw.org.au/




Huh?! Surely you are aware of this place it's already here, 26km further west along the M4 though - www.cableswakepark.com/

Appears to have waterskiing still - I went there 20+ years ago several times before it closed for some time. Be aware that, out on the water, heavier people in front or behind when arcing out to either side will affect your chosen line.

Still in western Sydney, there is Penrith Whitewater Stadium (actually it is in the suburb of Cranebrook) - I don't really like the rafts, and I find the place glarey and hot; I guess they have no trees so as to not clog up the pumps over time. For the want of a longer term goal of taking myself down the Franklin, I use my own white-water kayak there.

www.penrithwhitewater.com.au/pages/recreational-paddling.asp

Ironically, I reckon the cable water-skiing place (which somewhat revolts me now) is quieter than the noise of the white-water (+ 5 pumps if you are near the cafe). I think the staff are a bit aloof to others though, unless you go to New Zealand and Nepal twice a year (bit like staff in the outdoor shops in Sydney's Kent St, really). Or your name is Jessica Fox.

www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-03/jessica-fox-wins-kayak-silver/4173832 - she is from Sydney's west.

I have also done some swift-water rescue training there (feet-up, feet first - as with any white-water river), to volunteer with LandCare group Friends of the Colo + National Parks & Wildlife Service prior to being helicoptered in and out of the Colo gorge to eradicate weed trees in the GBMWHA.

tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/FriendsOfTheColo/

Um, sorry, the funding for the helicopter-based trips has dried up, haha.
You can walk down the Colo River yourself anyway. A fantastic thing to do is an overnight lilo trip, but some of the access tracks are 65km along the Putty Rd, N of Windsor.

ozultimate.com/bushwalking/region.php?nid=210
If you only click on one resource I have linked here, click on this, and go to 'Canyons' as well - and then learn to abseil and grab your wetty...


The Barrington River, NW of Newcastle is easier, prettier, funner and adjacent to probably NSW's prettiest town, Gloucester - but Penrith is close to home. I have on occasion been the only person out on the water at PWS, but other times it is very crowded. $38 per visit with your own kayak. Very corporate thing is to do laps in a huge raft with a guide. Here's another place I don't have any association with, other than buying bits and pieces of outdoor kit; www.boac.com.au/index.php


At the end of October, I am getting wet by paddling a double sea-kayak 100km+ overnight from Sydney's west in the annual Hawkesbury Canoe Classic
www.canoeclassic.asn.au/about/
The last time I entered - in 1999, I was in one of three plastic sea-kayaks. Last year, I went to watch the start at Windsor - and there were over 30 plastic sea kayaks + 3 SUP's. All three, including one woman, IIRC - finished !



Yeah? Last summer, paddled Vaucluse - Clontarf - The Gap etc. Returned to a parking ticket - as I had parked boot to kerb, for it was safer to get gear out of rear of car. Signs stated I should have been bonnet to kerb. In a short dead-end street where pedestrains walked in the middle of the road...


Yeah? On NYD, we walked up the Grose River from its confluence with the Nepean. 300+ people in the water, with so many blokes looking after kids with an obligatory tinnie in hand...





Wonders how long before a kinda comment about the yummy mummy in the Canadian. Wouldn't have a clue who they are (they overtook us as we walked in the Grose River); will get it taken down if anyone does know the family.

I assume it will be on the old Drive-In site.
They had previously had plans for an Indoor Snow Park.
There's a nice gentle slope on the site... worked well for the old Drive-In.

There was a bit about it on the news recently. Said the board riding pool will offer up 10' waves and a 175 metre ride, annual pass $79.

Maybe we'll see a westy world champ one day

Assuming you can actually get a decent amount of rides in a session (place is not too packed) that's not a bad price...