Mount Wollumbin

Mount Warning is the central remnant of an ancient shield volcano, the Tweed Volcano, which erupted around 23 million years ago. This is how it got that particular name: "We now saw the breakers again within us which we past at the distance of 1 League, they lay in the Lat de of 38°..8' & stretch off East two Leagues from a point under which is a small Island. There situation may always be found by the peaked mountain before mentioned which bears SWBW from them this and on this account I have named Mount Warning it lies 7 or 8 Leagues inland in the latitude of 28°..22" S° the land is high and hilly about it but it is conspicuous enough to be distinguished from everything else." [James Cook's Manuscript Daily Journal for 16 May 1770]

However, to the Bundjalung people, the original keepers of the land, it has always been Wollumbin, variously translated as "cloud catcher" or "Fighting Chief of the North" (and also the name for the local brush turkey). The Bundjalung used the site for ceremonies including initiation rites, and their cultural traditions forbid the uninitiated from climbing the mountain. Tourist guides and leaflets pass on this request, but then advise visitors on how best to climb the peak. This seems hypocritical (in common with much of the lip-service paid to indigenous rights and culture in modern Australia), and I personally decided not to climb it although it was very tempting. The world is full of hills for white folk to climb - why not leave this one alone?

I did explore the forest around the base - a few photos here.