Honor Cascades 2016 Dec

Honor Cascades Dec 2016.
Apparently the Honor Falls are 30-40 metres in height. It’s a pity I didn’t read that before I left home. But then, I really didn’t do anything much right today, so why spoil a good run? I did get the parking spot right – that almost blemishes my record.

We headed south from Exton on a road that then entered Bogan territory (to become Bogan Road). I wanted a spot shortly after Bogan Gap, where the continuation crossed Bluff Creek, emanating from Quamby Bluff. However, near Quamby Corner, we came to a Road Closed sign along our southern trajectory, so changed to the A5 (Lakes Highway), heading south to take a left going towards Liffey Falls. Where this road forked left to Liffey (C513) and right to the falls was another Road Closed sign, but, WOW, not for us, only for the poor hapless tourists (quite a lot of them) trying to get to one of Tasmania’s premier tourist attractions, but cut out because no one can repair a hole. We smugly turned left.
There were no further mishaps. Down where the road divides again, with the C504 going off, there was the creek and bridge I wanted. I parked just over the bridge, where I had always intended to park, even if this journey had now taken twice the time that Google had said. Hey, this was still better than sitting in bed sick all day with a temperature, which has been my lot for the last four days. The instructions I had read said the falls were a very short distance from the bridge directly behind me. I could already hear water, so dropped down to see the lovely waterfall pictured above and below.

Now, when I run a temperature, I get pretty dizzy and unsteady on my feet. Today, at last, I was over the temperature, but I sure didn’t feel steady once I started negotiating obstacles in the bush. I hardly had to go any distance at all (maybe fifteen metres), but felt decidedly unconfident. Down by the water’s edge, a tree had fallen. I tried to tread on its roots, but the soil held together by them came out with the pressure of my foot, which slipped to the waters below. My camera gear slumped forward, getting dusty, obscuring vision. I poked out more soil and tried again. Good; first obstacle  mastered. Now I had to walk along said tree (with a dangerous drop of at least 20 cms into the gentle waters below). I only had to take one or two balanced steps along here until there was a branch I could hold onto, but regarded this as a challenge under these circumstances. My camera, tripod and filters were swaying uncontrollably; I felt absurdly clumsy. Amazingly, I didn’t fall, and, holding onto the upward-growing branch, managed to swivel myself into a position from which I could take some shots. I set up. My dog came to join me. She fell down the unstable embankment, landing in the waters and muddying them up for me. Thanks Tessy.

On leaving, I saw a tiny track that continued onwards, so set about exploring it (having sent husband and dog off on a walk along the road). There was an enormous amount of flood debris along what was obviously once a pad. Inept, as with my earlier efforts, I climbed with enormous difficulty – realising I also had absolutely zero strength in my legs, a most odd feeling – over and under obstacles until I got to two other cascades. They were nice, but camouflaged by too many fallen trees and dumped logs to be at their best at present. At this point I gave up, deciding I had, indeed, seen Honor Falls. I got home to read there are three cascades before the falls, and the falls are very big. Oh well. My honour is destroyed; I did see that, but I did’t see Honor Falls.

Luckily, Upside-down berry and rhubarb cake at the Raspberry Farm was everything I expected of it. AND we have explored another little corner of Tasmania, of whose existence I had been completely unaware. In addition, we were offered all sorts of interesting angles on Quamby Bluff in our travels.