Regnans Falls, Apr 2018
Main Regnans Falls
Regnans Falls could well be dubbed Mystery Falls, for although they occur near many specimens of Eucalyptus regnans, the mystery surrounding them is even greater than the giant trees. So much are they a mystery to Google, that every time you type Regnans, google corrects you to Regnant. The Waterfalls of Tasmania site doesn’t list them; the wikipedia site of all the waterfalls on Tasmania’s maps doesn’t list them. Why? Because they’re not on any maps. So how does one know they’re “there” (wherever “there” might be) and how on earth does one find them?? Good question. Nobody can even tell you the name of the creek they’re on, as that doesn’t have a name either!
One knows they are there, as a little book published quite a while ago (Thirty Five Walks to Waterfalls in Tasmania by Raelene and Rod Newell) lists them, along with instructions on how to get there, and Caedence Kueper, grand explorer (and good photographer), decided to get there and video his findings.
My problem was that he said to go to the Big Bend in the Styx Valley, and begin from there. Google and List Maps both fail to acknowledge the existence of this Big Bend. Drew a blank. OK, then; he says it’s just past the Big Tree Walk. Ah. Easy? No. Where is that? More googling, but to no avail. The first Big Tree walk listed in google is in the Blue Tier. The second is at Tarraleah. The “Big Tree Walk”, as such (and the one I was looking for) does not occur on googles’s first page of listings, and I gave up that method of attack at one page deep. List Maps says the Big Tree Walk does not exist at all. One gathers it is on the Styx Road (in his video, Caedence says he is in the Styx Valley, so I took a punt), but where? How far along? More web silence. Unless you actually know what Caedence is talking about, you remain mystified. Coming from the north, I am not really familiar with this area, so didn’t feel violently confident. I did, however, feel violently curious, so off I set. Better pack the PLB in case I come a cropper. I was expecting no helpful sign posts, and was hoping I could sort out where to stop my car. If you follow this blog, you’ll know that I actually landed at the Tolkien Falls instead, when trying to follow the instructions. However, in the end and with perseverance, I got there.
(Below the falls)
One has to go right on the main road heading west from Maydena in order to actually go left (south); one goes under the road, and is then offered the Styx Road as one of the two alternatives. Drive along this for quite a way (about half an hour). The Big Tree Forest Reserve becomes visible. Beyond that is a bend and beyond that, another. The second will get you (if you walk up the road for six minutes) to a well-taped track to the beautiful Tolkien Falls). The first one will have you do a bushbash through very fragile forest with only occasional ribbons leading through a maze of fallen timber in one spot to Regnans. If you don’t know how to bushbash AND tread incredibly lightly at the same time, leaving no trace, please do not visit Regnans. It is holy territory and needs to remain so. Everything crumbles in there it is so untrampled, so you need excellent balance or you’ll topple. Also, it has no human rubbish from selfish tourists. Long may this remain the case.
No, I did not do an odd squiggle up the spur. I guess the canopy is so dense the signals got confused.