Blencoe Falls

Today was to be our highlight....Blencoe Falls.  We once again ate a hearty breakfast because once again our day was going to be a long one with a lot of walking.  We had to head out of the Goshen camping ground and back on to the Cashmere-Kirrama Road.  Around about a kilometre down the road we can upon the Goshen owner and his men walking their heifers down the road.  We drove behind them for awhile as the men pushed them to one side for us to pass.  We chatted briefly to the owner but he wasn't all that friendly.  It was surprising really because from our little camp he had made almost $400 for three nights.  I would have thought he might have been a little friendlier!!

Goshen Heifers

We passed one of Goshen Stations old out stations.  As I was photographing the building I was wishing the walls could talk.  What stories they might tell.

As we made our way through the eucalypt forest country I marvelled at these giant trees.  They stand so straight so it is little wonder that the cattle yards we saw were made from these same trees. We stopped to take a photo of this well camouflaged lorikeet before continuing on our way to the falls.

We decided to go straight to the falls lookout before our hike along Blencoe Creek.  Our friends from the camp were also there.  Words cannot describe Blencoe Falls and no photo can do them justice.  They are just magnificent.

The first twin falls tumble 90 metres and then the falls plummet another 230 metres before reaching the bottom of the gorge.  In the wet season the water tumbles over at a depth of 20 metres.  Can you imagine the roar!

Zooming in to the very bottom of the gorge

Looking down the gorge from the lookout

Standing very near the edge of the Herbert River Gorge.

We spent a lot of time at the lookout.....just didn't want to leave, but it was pretty scary standing on the lookout platform suspended 500 metres above the gorge. The gorge is surrounded by giant Hoop Pines.  The way they hang so precariously on to the edge of the gorge walls is really amazing. 

We drove around to another spot that gave a different view of the gorge but nothing compared with the falls themselves.

Same Gorge, different spot

After the lookout we made out way to the Blencoe Falls Camping Ground to see what it had to offer.  It was lovely but all the camps are very close together.  We found a pretty little spot to pull up and have our picnic lunch and dangle our feet in the lovely cool water.

Philip is in his element around the creek and was hopping from rock to rock so fast it was hard to keep up!

After we had finished lunch we decided to walk as far as we could along Blencoe Creek and maybe reach the head of the falls.  The water level was quite low so it was fairly easy going.  We estimated that it was probably 2 - 3 kms to the top of the falls.  But as we made out way along the creek it became a little harder to navigate.  We waded through the creek in spots and tried to avoid the slippery rocks under our feet.  I stopped at about the 1.5 km mark but Joan and Philip continued on a little further.  They didn't make it to the top of the falls.  It just became more and more difficult and it was getting a bit late in the day to be attempting the walk.  Maybe next time.

I pulled up at this point.  It started to get a bit harder to navigate the rocks

It almost looked like this giant rock had been propped up by a human hand!

As we made our way back to the car we all agreed that it was well worth the trek but we were all feeling a little weary and were looking forward to getting back to camp for a shower and sundowners.  When we got back to camp I took a few photos of the rest of our friends arriving back from their fishing trip and once again breathed in the beauty surrounding me.

Looking at the camp from the waters edge

A lovely sunset