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Ringtail Falls 2020

I was munching on my delicious burger with the lot in Waratah with time on my hands, and out of the dim recesses of my brain came the awareness that there is a waterfall somewhere here called Ringtail Falls that I haven’t yet visited.
I did some asking, and got rather evasive replies and the information that the track was now officially closed, but if I headed for the old power station, I would find what I needed.
My map was no help at all, as I wanted it to have a “Power Station” indication, but it was silent. I already knew the waterfall was not on the map.

Ringtail Falls

I scouted around, exploring several ridges and streams and eventually, quite by fluke, happened upon a pad, just as I had given up and turned for home. (I was climbing back up yet another spur at the time.) I didn’t have a clue if this pad was something made by neighbourhood kids leading to a secret place for smoking, or whether it was going to where I wanted, but I followed it and hoped. I followed it for nearly thirty minutes, telling myself the whole way that this was magic forest and a nice workout, and it didn’t really matter if the pad lead to nowhere.
It didn’t. It lead to somewhere, viz. the falls that I wanted, and an interesting old ex-power station as well. The workout back up the hill afterwards was even better: thirty minutes up to the car. It took fifty minutes down, as I was climbing up and down everything in sight hoping to hear a waterfall, but failing. It seems that it pays to be persistent.

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Netherby Creek Falls 2019 Mar

Netherby Creek Falls 2019 Mar

Both Carrie and I are in agreement about our trip to Netherby Falls on several counts:
(i) We are happy that we have seen them but we don’t feel driven (ha ha: the driving was part of the problem) to see them again.
(ii) As the drive took more than twice as long as the walk (20 mins in each direction – and even that was by deliberately extending the route), and the wait for a steak sandwich in Waratah afterwards was equally as long, we don’t feel that the outcome justified the effort.

(iii) I “only” own a Subaru Forester AWD (don’t you dare rubbish my baby: I love her, and she’s got me into many tricky locations, but she is not a 4WD monster, and acts her size). The drive in was downright scary. Worst was the puddle with no apparent bottom, and no edges to speak of. We held our combined breaths while I nose-dived in and hoped for the best. We’re both fit, so I figured we could easily run out for help if that were needed, but the extra heartbeats way outweighed any beats caused by exertion of a physical nature later. I think we may have kind of given a little scream during this process.

(iv) The falls are way down on any list of beauty stakes. I was spoiled by seeing many falls this long weekend that were truly wonderful, so this one with its clogged base of fallen timber and its lack of green forest in the immediate vicinity did not really do it for me. Lower down was a different matter: Netherby Creek was lovely, and the forest I deliberately steered us through was also a joy to be in, but the falls themselves were too open on one hand yet clogged on another to warrant a return trip. Life is short and finite. I will use my finitude to see things of greater beauty.

We were following instructions from the Tarkine book to get there. These were OK, but nothing beats real contours, and as the drive was more challenging than the walk, I am including both maps. (Also, that book has no index, which makes finding anything a bit of a lottery).

I intentionally headed for the beautiful forest rather than taking a faster straight line through open (unappealing) heathland. The forest was quite interesting, having a lot less understory than usual (until you got lower to the rather crowded creek). You could run through that forest. It was not Tassie’s lushest mossy forest, but we both enjoyed being part of it for the short while we were there.