RNP Falls Walk

Details – National Falls by car, Curracurrong by foot along the Curra Moors Trail return, and Kelly’s Falls by car – 30 Jun 13

With all of the recent rain, Dad and I decided to check out some of the waterfalls in the RNP. We left late with it still raining at home, expecting it to be quite wet on the walk. We had packed raincoats and pants and I had crock and dad gumboots. Audley weir was closed so we entered via Waterfall and stopped at National Falls along the way. Surprisingly, it was not raining and it would not rain again until we were back at home.

The upper drop of National Falls

I’d never been to these falls before, and they were running quite hard, with two drops, the lower one quite an impressive height.

We crossed above the upper falls after skirting around the safety fence and made our way along the other side and down a small water run to a good vantage point so that the lower falls were on our right. From there we could see the large overhang beneath the falls. The valley in which they fell through was also nice.

The lower drop of National Falls

We retraced our steps back to the car and then headed down the formed steps to the bottom of the upper falls where there was a small fenced off vantage point. It would have been great to reach the bottom of the lower falls, but in the wet conditions and without a proper track, we decided to leave that to another time.

We got back in the car and drove to the small car park at the start of the Curra Moors Trail. We set off in shoes, but it soon became evident that the track easily becomes a small stream with rain, so Dad returned to the car his boots. I was wearing my waterproof gore-tex shoes so it wasn’t an issue. Walking was pleasant and a few small falls were explored quickly where they crossed the track.

A small water run

We also saw a wallaby which was quite tame and a small brown snake that hardly even moved, very unexpected for a cold and wet winter’s day!

A wallaby we came across

We reached the main falls within an hour and took many photos before de-shoeing to cross the creek due to the large amount of water.

Curracurrong and Eagle Rock

We made our way around to Eagle Rock for lunch where we found shelter from the wind which had picked up. Much spray was rising from the main falls and nearly all of the water from the smaller water runs was being blown back up the cliff.

Spray rising up from below

After lunch we stood on Eagle Rock for an even better view of both Curracurrong and the falls formed by Curra Brook, both of which were impressive.

The falls of Curracurrong and Curra Brook

We then returned to the cars within an hour and passed the same snake which was still trying to sun itself on the fire trail.

A small brown snake trying to sun itself in the middle of winter

We then headed to Governor Game Lookout, a spot that neither I nor Dad had visited. It was worth doing so. Much of the coast North and South of our location could be seen, as well as a good perspective of North Era campsite that appeared quite flooded.

The view from Governer Game Lookout

Next we headed off to Kelly’s Falls after watching some paragliders (but no hangliders) at Bald Hill. Kelly’s Falls were quite large and after crossing the stream above the drop, we followed the cliff line and safety fence around to the left for a better vantage point.

Looking down from Kelly’s Falls

Continuing along, we came to a second set of falls that we also flowing well. To my surprise, there were about 6 or so people who had ridden horses into the area next to the falls and had tied them off to nearby trees. The area looked as if it was regally used for this purpose, although being within Garrawarra SCA and the signs at the car park prohibiting horses indicate that this shouldn’t be the case. Maybe they were just outside the boundary or had obtained special permission? We then returned to the cars and headed home.

Once again, an enjoyable trip. It would be great to visit the bottom of National Falls when it is flowing well.

More photos from this trip can be found here