The end of the Blue Mountains

[olbod]

G'day.
I was watching a documentory the other night about some Zoo folk that were doing stuff in the Blue Mountains.
Got me thinking.
Up here we call any high country The Rangers
So, where do you think the Blue Mountains end and the Rangers begin ?
When knocking about both areas it is vastly different types of terrain.
I have never spent much time in the border area except to come over Cunninghams Gap.

Cheers.

[olbod]

PS: Perhaps I should have said Ranges !!!

[bee utey]

The name "Blue Mountains" refers only to the deeply incised sandstone plateau country west of Sydney.

Greater Blue Mountains Area - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The Greater Blue Mountains Area consists of 10,300 square kilometres of mostly forested landscape on a sandstone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandstone) plateau 60 to 180 kilometres inland from central Sydney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney)

[THE BOOGER]

Your thinking perhaps of the great dividing range

Great Dividing Range - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

starts in Victoria and ends in north qland:)

[flagg]

On the northen side, it ends at the wollami, on the west, hartley. To the south... I'm not so sure..I guess if you drew a line from Mittagong to Janolan?

[olbod]

Hmm, I didn't word that very well did I !!!
You could say that there are two or three common referals depending on where you live. From Sydney and the central coast you could refer to them being the Blue Mountains, further south and thru Victoria we refer to the high country, here in Qld we look to the west and refer to the Ranges.
I used the term Blue Mountains when I should have just said mountains !!!

Coming up thru NSW toward the north the mountains are very deep and dense and you could say difficult terrain to traverse.
Here in Qld the Ranges are less dense in comparison and access is much easier. The terrain is much different not only the vegetation but density so to speak.
So I got to wondering where does one really start to notice the difference and be able to say, I am leaving the southern mountainous country and entering the Ranges ? Is it around Armidale or Warwick or even further north toward Toowoomba ?
I have only travelled thru those near border areas between NSW and Qld without taking much notice. I love mulga and the desert areas.
I have aroused my curiosity about this question so I think come summer I might take a trip south in me Disco for a few weeks and have a closer look and take a few pics. There must be a white line or blaze saying that you are leaving the Ranges and entering the Mountains, eh. Might even throw the golf bags on board and get a few rounds of golf in along the way. Wouldn't be before February tho as I would wait untill the end of school ( shudder ) holidays and the holiday makers gone home.

[UncleHo]

The Blue Moutains are part of the Great Dividing Range which starts in Easten Victoria and goes North up to the Cape York Peninsular.in Northern NSW there is the McPherson Range which goes East,and which denotes the Eastern part of the Queensland/NSW border ending just short of Tweed Heads.

cheers

[303gunner]

On the northen side, it ends at the wollami, on the west, hartley. To the south... I'm not so sure..I guess if you drew a line from Mittagong to Janolan?
If you want to define the region called the "Blue Mountains", it's pretty much the area enclosed by the Cox's River to the west, Warragamba River/Dam to the south, Hawkesbury/Nepean to the east and the Capertee/Colo Rivers to the north.

But, if you want to define the Great Dividing Range, it's somewhat further west of that. While the Blue Mountains do form a geographic barrier to the west of Sydney, they are not part of the Great Dividing Range as all the watercourses within the area flow east to the Pacific. As the Cox's River flows > Warragamba Dam >Nepean River > Hawkesbury River >Pacific, then Hartley is east of the Range. Mt Lambie/Rydal is the watershed where the rivers drain west into the Fish River > Macquarie and eventually the Murray/Darling. A bit further north, both Wolgan and Capertee Rivers flow > Colo River > Hawkesbury. You have to go west of Capertee to find the westward flowing Turon River. Oddly, this part of the GDR is rolling countryside and doesn't appear quite as "Divisive" as the Blue Mountains. The GDR runs through the Wollemi Wilderness, with some watercourses flowing east into the Macdonald or Hunter Rivers, while the western side drains into the Cudgegong or Macquarie Rivers.

As you head further North in NSW, even significant hills like the Barrington Tops aren't actually part of the GDR, as all the rivers and streams around the Tops flow into the Hunter. It is the Liverpool Ranges that separate the eastern flowing streams from those that go into the Murray Darling system.

[bob10]

I have only travelled thru those near border areas between NSW and Qld without taking much notice. I love mulga and the desert areas.
I have aroused my curiosity about this question so I think come summer I might take a trip south in me Disco for a few weeks and have a closer look and take a few pics.

One place to start is Main Range National Park, on the Scenic Rim. You can start at Boonah, & head south, or Warwick, & head Sth/ east. Great country , with the Sugerloaf, Ben Lomond, Knapps peak, Mt Maroon, & Mt. Superbus, 1381 metres, highest in S.E.Qld. Then theres Dagg's Falls, Browns Falls, & Queen Mary's Falls , a drop of 40 metres from Spring Creek, before it joins the Condamine River. Drive thru Cambanoora Gorge, cross the Condamine 14 times [ but not after heavy rain]. Easy driving, Drop into Warwick's tourist info shop, & find a lot more about the area, there are plenty of out of the way tracks to drive. The drive thru the Gorge was part of the old Cobb & Co. route from Boonah to Warwick. Easy in a 4x4 , how they took that coach thru the Gorge is beyond me, Bob

[olbod]

Interesting stuff Bob.
We poked about the Blue Mountains ( the family ) on day trips and weekends thirty or forty year ago and came back thru the high country and the Alpine way, heading north after a Flinders Ranges trip in 1985.
Up untill now I hadn't considered looking about the mountain areas down near the border. My interest has been the deserts. I want to own a Camel.
My initial idea was pretty simple hence the question here.
If you stand on top of the Divide near Sydney it looks the way it does.
Now, if you stand on top of the Divide near Mackay it looks totaly different to the view down south.
My thoughts were, where do the two differences start to merge ?
Somewhere along the line the twain must meet and an observant seeker could say Huh Huh well look at that.
I am interested enough now to go and have a looksee for a few weeks in summer while it is to hot out west. Betteran poking about here at home.

Cheers.

[THE BOOGER]

If you want to define the region called the "Blue Mountains", it's pretty much the area enclosed by the Cox's River to the west, Warragamba River/Dam to the south, Hawkesbury/Nepean to the east and the Capertee/Colo Rivers to the north.

But, if you want to define the Great Dividing Range, it's somewhat further west of that. While the Blue Mountains do form a geographic barrier to the west of Sydney, they are not part of the Great Dividing Range as all the watercourses within the area flow east to the Pacific. As the Cox's River flows > Warragamba Dam >Nepean River > Hawkesbury River >Pacific, then Hartley is east of the Range. Mt Lambie/Rydal is the watershed where the rivers drain west into the Fish River > Macquarie and eventually the Murray/Darling. A bit further north, both Wolgan and Capertee Rivers flow > Colo River > Hawkesbury. You have to go west of Capertee to find the westward flowing Turon River. Oddly, this part of the GDR is rolling countryside and doesn't appear quite as "Divisive" as the Blue Mountains. The GDR runs through the Wollemi Wilderness, with some watercourses flowing east into the Macdonald or Hunter Rivers, while the western side drains into the Cudgegong or Macquarie Rivers.

As you head further North in NSW, even significant hills like the Barrington Tops aren't actually part of the GDR, as all the rivers and streams around the Tops flow into the Hunter. It is the Liverpool Ranges that separate the eastern flowing streams from those that go into the Murray Darling system.

Must have different text books to when I went to school



The Dandenong Ranges, Barrington Tops, Bunya Mountains, Blue Mountains, Liverpool Range, McPherson Ranges and the Moonbi Range are some of the smaller spurs and ranges that make up the greater dividing range. Other notable ranges and tablelands which form part of the Great Dividing Range include the Liverpool Range, Mount Royal Range and the Monaro District


The Great Dividing Range creates the drainage basins of the Australian south-east coast drainage division and the Australian north-east coast drainage division, whose water flows to the east coast and into the Pacific Ocean, Tasman Sea, and Bass Strait with the westerly Murray-Darling Basin which flow inland, away from the coast into the interior plains.

Some of the rivers which flow west of the ranges includes the Condamine River, Flinders River, Herbert River, Lachlan River, Macdonald River, Macintyre River and Namoi River.[1] Rivers that flow north into the Murray-Darling Basin from Victoria include the Goulburn, Mitta Mitta, Kiewa, Ovens. King, Loddon and Campaspe rivers. Rivers that flow east into the Pacific Ocean include the Brisbane River, Burdekin River, Clarence River, Hastings River, Hawkesbury River, Hunter River, Macleay River, Mary River, Richmond River, Shoalhaven River and the Snowy River. Those that flow south to the ocean in Victoria include the Snowy, Cann, Tambo, Mitchell, Latrobe, Thomson, Yarra, Werribee, Hopkins and Glenelg rivers

[numpty]

Must have different text books to when I went to school



The Dandenong Ranges, Barrington Tops, Bunya Mountains, Blue Mountains, Liverpool Range, McPherson Ranges and the Moonbi Range are some of the smaller spurs and ranges that make up the greater dividing range. Other notable ranges and tablelands which form part of the Great Dividing Range include the Liverpool Range, Mount Royal Range and the Monaro District


The Great Dividing Range creates the drainage basins of the Australian south-east coast drainage division and the Australian north-east coast drainage division, whose water flows to the east coast and into the Pacific Ocean, Tasman Sea, and Bass Strait with the westerly Murray-Darling Basin which flow inland, away from the coast into the interior plains.

Some of the rivers which flow west of the ranges includes the Condamine River, Flinders River, Herbert River, Lachlan River, Macdonald River, Macintyre River and Namoi River.[1] Rivers that flow north into the Murray-Darling Basin from Victoria include the Goulburn, Mitta Mitta, Kiewa, Ovens. King, Loddon and Campaspe rivers. Rivers that flow east into the Pacific Ocean include the Brisbane River, Burdekin River, Clarence River, Hastings River, Hawkesbury River, Hunter River, Macleay River, Mary River, Richmond River, Shoalhaven River and the Snowy River. Those that flow south to the ocean in Victoria include the Snowy, Cann, Tambo, Mitchell, Latrobe, Thomson, Yarra, Werribee, Hopkins and Glenelg rivers

Not forgetting of course the New England district (which I'm sure is a part of the GDR) which drains into such eastern flowing rivers as the Manning, Hastings, Macleay and Clarence.

[bob10]

Up untill now I hadn't considered looking about the mountain areas down near the border. My interest has been the deserts. I want to own a Camel.


Cheers.

Spent some time in deserts, the Tanami, [ not really a desert, Tanami means short bush, or similar, ] out past Ayres Rock to Giles, down the Gunbarrel highway, whilst serving in Darwin, the only good thing about deserts , lack of people, be careful with the camel, they can kick from just about anywhere, and they bite. Bob

[303gunner]

Must have different text books to when I went to school



The Dandenong Ranges, Barrington Tops, Bunya Mountains, Blue Mountains, Liverpool Range, McPherson Ranges and the Moonbi Range are some of the smaller spurs and ranges that make up the greater dividing range. Other notable ranges and tablelands which form part of the Great Dividing Range include the Liverpool Range, Mount Royal Range and the Monaro District

The Great Dividing Range creates the drainage basins of the Australian East coast drainage division and....... the westerly Murray-Darling Basin which flow inland, away from the coast into the interior plains.


So which rivers in the Blue Mountains and the Barrington Tops flow to the west of the divide? None! They are completely on the eastern side of the "range". Even if you were to include Kanangra Boyd and Jenolan areas in the "Blue Mountains", the rivers still flow to the east.

[THE BOOGER]

Not sure what you mean about only flowing to the west the GDR has water flowing both east and west:)

[Xtreme]

Not sure what you mean about only flowing to the west the GDR has water flowing both east and west:)

Exactly, and that's why it's called the DIVIDING range


So which rivers in the Blue Mountains and the Barrington Tops flow to the west of the divide? None! They are completely on the eastern side of the "range". Even if you were to include Kanangra Boyd and Jenolan areas in the "Blue Mountains", the rivers still flow to the east.

So the Lachlan, Fish, Macquarie and Cudgegong Rivers drain to the east do they? :confused:
I must check the operation of my compass. :angel:

[rick130]

Yep, technically the continental divide reaches west of me here as our little river flows into the Hunter, but if I go north over the Liverpool Range 10km from me all water flows west.
The Liverpool Range goes west then south through Coolah Tops, etc, so technically that's the division, all water courses on the west of Barrington still flow into the Hunter and east !

Barrington, the Mt Royals, etc could be considered part of the Great Divide but they sure as hell are a long way east of the continental divide, and IIRC the sign on Nowlands Gap as you traverse the Liverpool Range here at Murrurundi says "part of the Great Divide" or somesuch.

[bob10]

This is an interesting site, click on a subject in the left hand box, lots of info for a rainy day, Bob

Great Dividing Range - Australia: The Land Where Time Began (http://www.google.com.au/url'sa=t&rct=j&q=great%20dividing%20range&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CDUQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fausthrutime.com%2Fgreat_dividing_ range.htm&ei=3xXnUb_2N876iQeE_oDwBg&usg=AFQjCNHYcH4uuY7POhJKo6pFw82HwNB6yw)


austhrutime.com/great_dividing_range.htm‎

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Sep 30, 2011 - Great Dividing Range About80 Ma. This range extends along the entire east coast of Australia. It arose in the Late Cretaceous, making possible ...

[303gunner]

So the Lachlan, Fish, Macquarie and Cudgegong Rivers drain to the east do they? :confused:
I must check the operation of my compass. :angel:
No, they all flow West. Your compass is fine, it's your map that is wrong as none of those rivers are in the Blue Mountains. They're all in the Central Tablelands, which is where the GDR really is.

[THE BOOGER]

I was always told at school and according the interweb the Blue mountains are part of the Great Dividing Range :confused:

[SBD4]

I was always told at school and according the interweb the Blue mountains are part of the Great Dividing Range :confused:

They are. Even official Australian Government websites say they are.

The GDR obviously has many spurs which are a natural part of any range. Every spur has a water course that run parallel to it (that's how the spur was made) and as you said earlier, the the BM's constitute a spur that runs off the GDR.

Even Tasmania is considered to be part of the GDR as the so called southern spur. On that basis I think we can safely say that the BM's are indeed a part of the GDR. Never heard or read anything to the contrary - until this thread.