Philosopher Falls 2016 i Mar
The beautiful path to the falls
It was raining. We were in no particular hurry to dash up to the Tyndalls, our ultimate objective for the day (and only a one and a half hour jaunt), so we decided it was perfect weather for visiting the Philosopher Falls, which were kind of en route.
The Tarkine here was beautiful and, to my delight, the first of the autumn fungi were starting to appear, set in a context of lush green ferns, moss and lichens. We were excited, but this was marred somewhat by our arrival at the end of the track, which dumped us at the TOP of the falls. Who wants to see a gaping hole with a bit of white splash, hinting at the real thing below? Not me, and not any of the other tourists we met. All reported disappointment.
Being a little more obstinate than your average, I decided to rectify this matter by climbing down the very steep cliff below me (so steep you couldn’t actually see where it went), despite the fact that my camera gear was around my neck, swaying and banging and not in a rucksack, and that I was only wearing runners. Bruce at least had on boots, but is not exactly equipped for such Tarzan acts these days. Down we plummeted, hoping for a controlled landing, and not a death-inducing lurch should one of the branches decay in our hands. (Sorry reader. They’ll no doubt now put up one of those huge ugly notices warning you that this is dangerous, as if you didn’t have the brains to work that out for yourself.)
Landing down by the Arthur River (and still alive at this stage), we still couldn’t reach the falls – or not dressed in the clothes we had on, and not with Bruce, whose capabilities had already been more than tested by this stage; I don’t think too many able-bodied people have lowered themselves down that cliff. I made a tactical withdrawal, and returned to the top, so tense with the responsibility of choosing a route suitable for my husband that I didn’t even photograph the magic fairyland through which we moiled. If you have information on how to get to a spot where you can actually see these falls, I would be most appreciative.
To add insult to defeat, the sun came out, so it was totally useless taking a photo of the tiny bit of splash you were allowed to see. I departed empty handed, but with some fungi shots that I rather love. Hope you do too.
