Category: tasmania

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Machinery Creek Falls 1 (Petrifying Falls)+ Machinery Cascades

Machinery Creek Falls 1 (Petrifying Falls) and Machinery Cascades.

This is your path. This pic is here just to give you an idea of the terrain.
The first Machinery Creek Falls labelled specifically as “falls” on the map (see map at end) are actually above both the cascades pictured below this paragraph, and also above the falls pictured in the second section of this blog: they lie above the huge cliffs that lour over both these falls. I will post a screen shot of the List map below to try to clarify.  Because the cascades below are not on the map, I have just called them “Machinery Cascades” so we can talk about them together. I hope you agree they are very beautiful.

People on the Waterfalls of Tasmania Facebook page have called these Machinery Creek Falls 1, but this is wrong. They are “just” the Machinery Cascades. They are at least as big as Lower Chasm Falls.
I had been told to attack Falls 1 from below, from the intersection of Machinery  Creek and the Forth River, where there is a bridge. I had sussed out that spot, and the water looked quite deep in places after all our rain of late, so came armed with my long gum boots for the journey. I hoped water wasn’t going to come cascading over the brim. I also made two poles (which I don’t normally use) for balance, hoping to thereby protect my several thousand dollars of camera gear from a dunking should I slip.


These are the first giant falls you come to. They are called by some Machinery Creek Falls 1, and by cognoscenti as Petrifying Falls. Some think this name came from Hellyer, which is an interesting titbit of history. The next falls, “Falls 2” are up behind that huge cliff, and excessively hard to get to.
On the way up, I was tentative, worried about falling and damaging my gear and becoming unreasonably cold. I was not sure when to be in the water, and when to climb onto the banks, and, if the latter, which side. Sometimes I lost a little time clumsily climbing obstacles that really I could have got around had I been braver. I was much more secure and confident on the way back. I took 52 minutes on the way out, but only 41 mins on the rebound.

After I’d photographed the falls and cascade, I explored the side stream as a possible route to Falls 2. Despite all our rain of late, this was a dry gully. It made climbing up nice and easy, but I obviously wasn’t going to reach a waterfall way up above the cliffs, so retreated. The gorge to my right as I climbed (which contained Machinery Creek) was absolutely monstrous, but I could see no sign of another fall above it – but that is hardly surprising: the scale of these cliffs is whopping. Just look at the massive brown smudge of contours on the map in the area, and the black lines where cliffs are indicated. This is a valley of the giants, and exciting stuff. I could have taken hundreds of photos here, but didn’t, as, uncertain about my own safety, I had told both my daughters what I was doing and what time I’d be out, so they could raise an alarm if I didn’t emerge. When I do that, then I feel a need to be punctual, or I will bother people unnecessarily, and they won’t take my requests seriously. I will be back, for sure!

Just for your information, I read on the WoT Facebook page that these falls are “about a kilometre” from the intersection. Maybe I am pedantic, but I see a big difference between “about 1” and 1.6. Looking at the map, I had estimated 1.5, so was not surprised when my data read at 1.6.  In country that slow, and extra 600 ms is significant, so don’t count on doing whatever time it is you take to dash off a kilometre on the track. (The big blue strip on the map top left is the Forth River. The black strip across it is the Cethana Bridge).

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Machinery Creek Falls 4 2018 Aug

Machinery Creek Falls 4. Aug 2018


Machinery Creek has at least five waterfalls (one of which is Phillips Falls). Staring at the other four on the map, and being lured by their very existence into visiting each one, I called them, like a parent bereft of brain, Machinery Ck Falls 1, 2, 3 and 4. At least everyone kind of knows what you’re talking about – provided they start counting at the same end as you did. I thought the lowest ones, and the only ones people seem to post photos of, should be number 1. The water was maybe going to come over my gumboots if I went to falls 1, so I decided to work backwards for now, and begin at number four. Tessie and I ate lunch, and off we set. She does love this bagging business.


My noble waterfall bagging companion; adventuring together. 
The forest is really very pleasant in this area, especially now, in the cool and lack of glare of winter, and we enjoyed the roughly contoured section of most of the walk, only dropping to the falls after the last minute. I did actually go to where the track we were walking on crossed the creek, to see if we could see the falls from there, and, when we couldn’t, backtracked a bit. It was all a fun exploration. There’s still plenty left, that’s for sure.


Looking back upstream from the head of the falls.
Standing at the top of these falls is like standing at Herods Gates. There is a hint of a whole world of wonder, just out of reach, yet adumbrated by the shadows and sounds. You sense rather than see the mighty gorges just out of reach ahead of you. I need to go back, preferably with company, to see more of this stunning area. For now, we explored Falls 4, and then followed along above th stream for a while, just to see what we could see, before taking a good spur back up to the road we’d originally walked along. As wth Tin Spur Falls, there were lots of shades of orange in the rocks, and tannin in the water, so that the colours were wonderful, especially when contrasted with the green ferns.

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Tin Spur Falls 2018 Aug

Tin Spur Falls Aug 2018


Being one of those odd individuals who spends some of her time map-staring, I had noticed a waterfall on a creek named Tin Spur Creek, and, being highly imaginative, had named the falls “Tin Spur Falls” and added them to my ever-expanding bucket list to do some day, one day.
Very recently, a photo got published of these falls that looked very beautiful, so I was spurred to push it up the queue. The trouble was, however, that the people who had been to it made it sound like the descent was a VERY BIG DEAL. Yes, it was steep, and yes, some of the footing was a bit loose, but I have experienced a lot worse than this one. Anyway, as I was expecting dire dangers, the reality was rather pleasant by comparison.


However, if you are not very experienced, please don’t use that judgement as an indication that it is easy. ‘Hard’ and ‘easy’ are words that are VERY relative to the user. I have now climbed nearly all of Tasmania’s Abels (high mountains at a rough summary), and have visited about 140 waterfalls. I am thus making comment on this waterfall from a base of a great deal of experience. I would not, for example, ever bring a bushwalking club down that slope. I was nervous about taking Tessa, but she coped admirably.


She and I loved these falls so much that we lingered around their fine spray for over an hour, photographing and also appreciating the delicate tracery of water as it made patterns cascading over the jutting tangerine rocks. I was sad when it was time to go back to the car, but I was hungry by then.


On the logical approach to the falls, you will come to a locked boom gate across your path, so you need to park and walk further than you might have expected ( a whole 12 minutes in each direction). Both Tessa and I enjoyed that walk on contour before we began the tough stuff. It was a time to look at the scenery and dream, and to marvel at the lake spread out below us, shining in the sun. I would not have enjoyed the waterfall quarter as much if I had been able to park right next to it. I wish all waterfalls had at least a 30 minutes’ walk to reach them. That would help protect them against many of the vandals who terrorise their vicinity. I would postulate that there is a strong inverse relationship between ‘car-to-falls distance’ and destruction to a fall – or to any item of nature. Generally, the further you penetrate into wilderness, the lighter is the human tread.


If you don’t feel up to the challenge of the descent, I think it is still very enjoyable to walk on the closed road to the top of the falls and enjoy what that area has to offer. There is a little track to the left, going upstream from the road; Tess and I explored a bit of that as well. Hunger cut the exploration short.

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Tasmanian Waterfalls Information Sheet

Waterfalls information sheet. This list has been prepared with visitors from interstate or overseas in mind – hence the assumption of a base either in Hobart or Launceston. Obviously, other bases are possible, but I am catering for the majority of visitors. (Note, I have abbreviated Launceston to L’ton).

Arm Falls
Really far-flung and difficult falls are omitted. This list is intended for “normal” visitors, although I have included some “connoisseur” falls for the more experienced who like a bit of a challenge. Please read the relevant blog of a waterfall you are thinking of doing to help you decide its difficulty level. (Short does not equate to easy! And neither does long equate to hard.)

If I/ we had lunch at the falls (often following quite a long drive), then I have called it “day”. If we were back at the car for lunch, or back at the nearest town, I have called it “short”.

Very short is usually about ten minutes to the falls, or less.

By listing the nearest town, I am trying to give you a place you can google to get an idea of how far the drive will be and thus how long it will take to begin your walk. If you have children in tow, that is important. Happy waterfall bagging and picnicking. Just because a walk is labelled “short” does not mean you shouldn’t have lunch there!
Please excuse the formatting changes introduced by wordpress. Everything WAS in neat columns in the original.

If you are like us, and enjoy a good coffee and cake after a waterfall, Sheffield (Fudge ‘n good Coffee), The Raspberry Farm 5kms nth of Deloraine, Derby (Crank it Cafe), Geeveston (The Old Bank), Huonville (The Hairy Giraffe), and Westbury (The Possum Shed) all have excellent places. Use your nose :-). No one is paying me to name those places.


Cam Falls (not to be confused with Upper Cam). These are the most difficult falls in this list, in that the slide to the bottom is only for the very experienced.

Name               Base           Nearest town          Track / off    Day or overnight

Adamsons      Hobart             Dover                          track                day

Alberton          L’ton                Ringarooma                off                   short

Arve                  Hobart            Geeveston                   track                short

Arm                   L’ton                Mole Creek                 track                short

Barrow Base   L’ton             Launceston                 pad                  short

Bastion Cascades L’ton    Meander                      track           day

Blairgowrie     L’ton               Hillwood                     off                   short


Cascades on Smoko Creek, a delightful area, however far along the track you go.
Bridal Veil     L’ton               Lemonthyme Lodge   track                day

Cam Falls      L’ton              Burnie, Ridgley              off                       short

Camp              Hobart          Eaglehawk Neck        track                short

Campbell Rivulet L’ton     Burnie;West Takone      off             short

Cashs Gorge L’ton              Ringarooma            track to lookout     view only

Castra           L’ton                Devonport, Nietta     track                   day

Cephissus     either           Derwent Bridge           track                overnight

Cethana           L’ton             Sheffield                      car                   No walk


Middle Chasm Falls
Champagne    L’ton              Lemonthyme Lodge      track                day

Chasm               L’ton             Deloraine, Meander        track                short

Chasm Middle L’ton            Deloraine, Meander       track                short

Chasm Upper  L’ton              Deloraine Meander      track                short

Coal                      L’ton            Avoca                                  track                day

Constable          L’ton            St Helens                           off                   short

Crater                L’ton              Cradle Mt                         track                short

Creekton            Hobart           Dover                             track                day


Cascades on the Creekton Rivulet
Cuckoo              L’ton            Scottsdale                    pad                  day

Dasher               L’ton            Beulah                            pad                  v. short

Delaneys           L’ton            Gunns Plains               track                short

Detention           L’ton            Sisters Creek              pad                  day

Echo                     L’ton               St Helens                        off                short

Evercreech         L’ton            Mathinna                     track                short

Fairy                      Hobart            Geeveston                    pad            short

Featherstone      Hobart          Mt Wellington         off                 short


Creekton Falls
Ferntree                L’ton             St Helens                     pad                  short

Forth                     L’ton             Barrington                   pad                 day

Forth Upper      L’ton             Barrington                   pad                  day

Geryon Base    either       Derwent Bridge     track then pad       overnight

Grail                    L’ton              Mole Ck                         track             day

Grey Mares       L’ton             St Marys                        track             v. short

Growling Swallet Hobart         Maydena                  track        half day

Guide                L’ton             Burnie, Ridgley              track             v. short


Cuckoo Falls
Halls                       L’ton             Pyengana                        track             half day

Hardings Falls   L’ton             Royal George                 track             short

Harridge Falls   L’ton             Derby                              pad               short

Havelock           L’ton             Meander                          off                day

Hebe                  L’ton             Sisters Ck                       off                half day

Hogarth             –                     Strahan                           track             v. short

Hogg Ck           L’ton             Sheffield, Lower Barrington off          v. short

Holwell              L’ton             Exeter, Winkleigh           track             short


Hogarth Rivulet (see Cuckoo Falls). Lovely, even if you don’t get to the end.

Holwell Gorge   L’ton             Exeter, Winkleigh           track             short

Honor Cascades L’ton         Liffey                                 car                v. short

Honor Falls       L’ton               Liffey                               pad               short

Horseshoe         Hobart          Mt Field                         track             short

Horsetail            –                      Queenstown                   track             short

Hullabaloo         L’ton              Lemonthyme                  off                short

Hullabaloo Upper L’ton         Lemonthyme                  off                v. short

Ironbark            L’ton                 St Helens                        off                short


Harridge Falls
Ironstone Track L’ton             Deloraine, Meander       track             day

Knyvet               L’ton                Cradle                             track             short

Lady Barron      Hobart          Mt Field                         track             short

Liffey                L’ton                Liffey                             track             short

Lilydale Lower L’ton             Lilydale                          track             v. short

Lilydale Upper L’ton             Lilydale                          track             v. short

Lobster              L’ton             Mole Ck                         track             short

Lost Falls          L’ton             Lake Leake                     track             v. short


Rinadeena Falls. This is another track that is lovely even if children didn’t make it to the end.
Marriotts           Hobart           Tyenna, Mt Field            track             short

Mathinna           L’ton            Mathinna                        track             short

McGowans        L’ton            Burnie, West Takone      pad               short

Meadstone         L’ton            Fingal                             track             short

Meander            L’ton            Meander                         track             day

Meetus              L’ton            Lake Leake                     track             day

Minnow             L’ton            Lower Beulah                 track/pad       day

Montana Cascades     L’ton  41 degrees south            track             short


Ferntree Falls
Montana Upper L’ton             Montana                         off/pad          short

Montana Lower L’ton             Montana                         off/pad          short

Montezuma       either            Rosebery                 track             short (long drive)

Myrtle Forest   Hobart          Collinsvale,Collins Cap track        short

Myrtle Gully     Hobart          Mt Wellington                track             short

Nelson Falls      Hobart          West Coast,Lyell Hwy track         v. short

Nevada Ck         L’ton             St Helens                          off                short

New Town         Hobart           Mt Wellington                track             short


The Arthur River, above Philosophers Falls in the Tarkine.
No Name           L’ton             Lemonthyme                  pad             short

O’Gradys          Hobart          Mt Wellington               track             short

Oldacker            L’ton            Burnie, in town             in park          short

Old House         L’ton             Lake Rowallan            track            v. short (long drive)

Owen Brook      L’ton             Tewkesbery                    off                v. short

Parsons             L’ton            Lake Mackenzie             pad               short

Pencil Pine Cas L’ton             Cradle Mt                       track             v. short

Pencil Pine        L’ton                   Cradle Mt                track             v. short


Wandle Falls. If you were going to Waratah, you would combine these falls with  the Philosophers Falls to get enough exercise.
Philosopher       L’ton            Waratah                          track to top   short

Philips               L’ton             Mt Claude saddle           pad               short

Pillinger             L’ton            Maggs Spur 17              pad               short

Preston              L’ton          Raymond &Preston Rd track         short. Blackberries

Punchbowl        L’ton            Punchbowl                     track             v. short

Quaille               L’ton            nr Cradle Mt                   pad               short

Quaille Upper    L’ton            nr Cradle Mt                   pad               short

Ralphs               L’ton            Ringarooma                    track             v.short


Weld Angel Falls
Rawlinsons        L’ton            Rosebery                        track to top   day

Redwater Ck Low    L’ton    Railton                            track             short

Redwater Ck Up     L’ton       Railton                            track             short

Regnans             Hobart           Maydena                        off                short

Reuben              Hobart           Geeveston                     track             short

Rinadena           L’ton              Mole Creek                     track             day

Russell              Hobart           Mt Field                            track             v. short

Secret                Hobart           Mt Wellington               track             short


Weld Angel Falls
Sensation Gorge L’ton          Mole Creek                   pad                short

Sharpes             Hobart           Tyenna                              off                short

Shower              Hobart            Eaglehawk Neck        track            short

Shower Cave     L’ton            Meander                          track             day

Silver                 Hobart           Mt Wellington                track            v. short

Silver (Castra)   L’ton           Devonport, Nietta        track             day

Smoko               L’ton             Meander                           track             day

Snug                  Hobart          Snug                                  track             short


Crater Falls
Split Rock         L’ton             Meander                         track             day

St Columba       L’ton             Pyengana                        track             short

Step                   L’ton            Devonport, Nietta           track             day

Stitt                    either               Rossebery                      track             v. short to top

Strickland          Hobart          Mt Wellington                track             v. short

Tolkein              Hobart           Maydena                        track              short

Upper Cam        L’ton             Burnie, Ridgley              pad               v. short

Upper Liffey     L’ton            A5, Highland Lakes Rd off     short


Upper Liffey Falls
Wandle              L’ton             Waratah                              off                short

Waratah             L’ton             Waratah                             track             v. short

Warners            L’ton            A5 Pine Lake                      off                short

Weld Angel       Hobart           Geeveston                       off                day

Wellington        Hobart           Mt Wellington                track             day

Wes Beckett      –                     Corinna                                off                day

Westmorland     L’ton             Chudleigh, Caveside       track             short

Winterbrook      L’ton             Ullverston, Sth Nietta     track             day