Although this was not a particularly long walk it was presented a bit of variety in terms of vegetation, topography and ground conditions, which we were warned about by a fellow walker descending with his boots covered in mud. We had intended to complete this walk last year, but time was somewhat challenging. So, this year we made sure that we had plenty of time.
The start of the walk is at the end of a short 700m gravel road that is accessed from the Gordon River Road at Tyenna in the Mount Field National Park. After leaving the car in a small car park that will hold about four cars, the start of the walk is a very pleasant flat track alongside the Tyenna River that features many mini natural weirs. The sound of the water running over them left us in no doubt that we were next to the river.
About half way along this leg, the trees opened up to a clearing that was covered in colourful foxgloves, for us quite surprising to see these growing in the wild. (We later learned that they are considered to be an out-of-control invasive weed in Tasmania, but they did look great and attracted the largest bumble bees we have seen in a long time). Behind us the view included the tree covered mountains and ominous looking rain clouds.
The track then took a left-hand turn and started to climb through another clearing covered in foxgloves. The track here is defined by a series of yellow capped star pickets that led to the start of the wet forest (and the muddy parts of the track).
The track comprised, short board walks, planks, short steep rocky inclines, fallen trees and tree root trip hazards, so we were thankful that we had brought our walking poles. We eventually heard the thundering noise of the waterfall and the start of a steep 30m descent to its base. There was a warning at the start of the walk about the dangerous nature of the fallen trees at the base. It was certainly quite challenging to find a good, safe spot to take photos from. In the end I had to straddle my tripod across a very hefty tree trunk to get the shot of the Falls.
This walk is a short six kilometres that took us around two hours (including about 20 minutes at the falls. Fortunately, we didn’t have to don our rain jackets until we reached the foxglove clearing on our return. However, we were more than compensated by a local Echidna rummaging around, totally oblivious to our presence.
It is an easy walk, but good footwear is a must and poles recommended – not like the couple we met on our return with trainers on their feet and baby in a backpack.
Watch out for the next post about our Fluted Cape Walk …..