Four Falls

Our July field trip was to visit five waterfalls. All the falls were created by lava flows in our volcanic past, and each features basalt columns. We made it to four falls before heavy rain made walking around outside a bit less pleasant. We will have to visit the fifth another day.

The first stop was Corinella Falls, near Eganstown. The internet doesn't seem to know much about this waterfall, but I did find this mention, and this photo which is much better than mine. The falls are a bit of a walk from the road. Getting there involves walking through a cemetery, climbing through a barbed wire fence, walking through some bush,

then around a large expensive-looking house in the middle of nowhere.

The falls are in front of this house.

Creek leading to the falls:

 Actual water falling:

There wasn't a lot, and you have to look hard to see it. You probably get a better view from below (as did the photographer who I linked to above). But it was a lovely walk.

I didn't know mistletoe grew on acacias, but can you see the lighter grey patches in this tree?

There are about five mistletoes visible in this tree. Here's the mistletoe flower, nothing like the yellow balls you would expect to see on an acacia:

 Grey mistletoe, Amyema quandang.

Have you ever seen a grave and wished you had known the person whose grave it is?

Amongst all the grey slabs in the cemetery was this grave decorated with painted pebbles and possibly a little birdbath. The headstone has the name, dates of birth and death, and the song title, "What a wonderful world".


Our second waterfall was Dyer's Falls at Glenlyon. This time we had to cross an electric fence, then walk through a rock- and cowpat-strewn paddock to reach the falls.

The creek at the top of the falls:

Intrepid photographers for scale:

But not a lot of water was falling, and it is very hard to see from the top because of the trees and the general lie of the land:

There really is water falling in the centre of that picture! Very difficult to see. However you can see a much better photo here of the falls with more water, and taken from the bottom rather than the top.


Our third waterfall was Loddon Falls, also at Glenlyon. This time there were no barriers to overcome. The falls are a short walk from an actual carpark, and there is even a sign explaining them:

I can empathise with the locals about wallabies destroying their re-vegetation efforts!

Tree growing out of those basalt columns:

 The actual falls:

After lunch at the Glenlyon Recreation Reserve we headed to the fourth waterfall of the day, Trentham Falls. The forecast rain was just beginning as we arrived. The carpark was full and despite the rain there were many people at the falls.

Now that is a waterfall:

That's a 32m drop if you want some idea of scale.

The rain became quite heavy as we got back to the car. Some of our fellow adventurers were proceeding to the fifth falls, but we decided to save Sailors Falls for another day.