No large waterfalls
Tuesday 21 November 2017
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Floras Falls
As shown in Weekly Courier, August 12, 1905. Note person standing at lower right of falls. Photo: Beattie
Copied from
“A Brief History of the Waterfalls Of Kunanyi/Mount Wellington“ by Maria Grist 2016
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The mystery of Floras Falls was not solved today, but a couple of
potential locations were eliminated.
It was accurately predicted to be a warm day, so we started out a little
earlier and it proved beneficial. Our first spot to check to see if a waterfall
existed was at a large sandstone cliff to the east of Glen Dhu Rivulet, but
although at first sight it looked promising there was no creek and no real sign
of a waterfall.
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| Cliffs on eastern side of Glen Dhu Rivulet |
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| Yellow cliffs |
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| Glen Dhu Rivulet |
After leaving there we descended to Glen Dhu Rivulet and found it had
ample fresh running water and the temperature decidedly pleasant. All too soon
we were on the climb through the woodland, heavily shaded by Musk and other
small trees until reaching a cliff line.
From here conditions became rugged, with fallen trees, still blackened
from the fire a few years ago. There were boulders to clamber over and bands of
regrowth scrub. Nevertheless, we reached
the gap in the cliffs where a creek was marked some 1¼ hours after leaving Glen
Dhu Rivulet, a distance of 1.2k
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| Yellow Cliffs from our route |
Absolutely no waterfall here and as there was a further cliff line higher
up, we climbed up and continued to the very top of the cliffs, passing a large overhang
on the way. Beyond the first few metres at the top the land sloped west so any
water would head away from the cliffs. Fortunately,
the old logging track was located and could be followed along the plateau
without too much difficulty. It wasn’t long before a more prominent track was reached,
and this had large numbers of logs and debris placed on it since the fires. I
recalled Peter from PWS mentioning this, and presume it was to aid recovery.
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Olearia phlogopappa on cliff edge
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We had travelled along the track too far before I realised with the
result that we met the Glen Dhu Rivulet about 150 metres above where we needed
to be, but the water level not high it was easy enough to get back. The day was
now hot and our clothes sweaty and there was plenty of debris down the back of
my shirt. However, it was really delightful and a pleasant temperature sitting
there having lunch and with clear cool water to drink. Traveling along the top
and descending was a shade over 2k and took 1½ hours.
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| Above the overhang |
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| Oxylobium ellipticum Golden Rosemary - only one noticed |
The climb back to the old Glen Dhu fire trail was warm and felt steeper than
it ought but we were back at the car in little over an hour.
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| Route to and from GlenDhu Rivulet |
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| Profile from Glen Dhu Rivulet to cliff top. |
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