Following a week of walks, matt_22 and I decided to end the week (07/01/11) with a trip to a couple of more waterfalls.
We decided to head out to Hardings Falls via Avoca and Royal George, and then on to the M2. The sun was out and the birds were chirping, a great day for a walk. The road conditions were reasonable for a gravel forestry road. Hardings Falls had a recommended 1 hr return walk but was much quickier. The first ten mins was an easy amble through the dry forest, ending at the 'look-out'. The following ten minute walk was the descent to the falls, a fairly steep winding path with loose stone. The track was very well marked at all times.
The falls were magnificent, despite the very dry surroundings. The main fall had a drop of approx. 10-15 metres. Hardings is located at the base of a large rock ravine - a great place to wander, spend some time soaking up the solitude and induldge in some photography (of course!!). The base of the ravine consists of large, solid black rock - ideal for basking in the sun, and there are is a large swimming hole at the base of the waterfall. Matt_22 and I decided to explore further downstream, after a bit of rock-hopping we came to another swimming hole at the top of a smaller cascade. Due to time constraints, unfortunately we were unable to explore any further down-stream.
I feel that I should keep this little piece of paradise a secret, as the the solitude and beauty is over-whelming. If one was consider effort v's return, this waterfall is a winner in every sense!! I look forward to returning to these falls again.
We left Hardings Falls and continued on our path of discovery.....
Heading north we arrived at Mt Puzzler Forest Reserve approx 45 mins later. I had previously walked in the these falls some twenty years prior, and my memory was a little vague. The sign suggested the walk would take approx 90 mins return, which would be a fair estimate. The walk in was through a dry forest, on what turned into a very humid day. The track is very well marked and relative easy walking for most of it. The final descent to the falls becomes much steeper (uncomfortable on old knees
) but relatively short duration. Meadstone Falls (St Paul's River) is located within a beautiful black-rock gorge. We initially arrived at the top of the falls, where we were greeted with good views both above the falls and further down-stream. The solid rock base has been calved out by thunderous and turbulent water to create perfect bowl shaped cavities. As it was during the dryer months that we visted Meadstone, these bowls were clearly visible. Matt_22 spent a great deal of time trying to capture the ambience of the area with his camera (''Oh just a couple more".... x 100
), whilst I induldge in a little more sun-basking (and recovery of previously said old knees). After some time we decided to venture back to the path and head on for a further 5 mins to the viewing platform. From this point matt_22 proceeded to again take "only a couple more".....(x100) of the approx. 20 metre falls, before venturing back up to the car. I can only imagine just how spectacular these falls would be in winter.
On leaving Mt Puzzler, we headed home via the beautiful Fingal valley - with much discussion on where our next walk will take us.....
