Tag: Waterfalls of Tasmania

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Mathinna Falls 2018 Tiers 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Mathinna Falls 2018. Tiers 1, 2, 3 and 4.


Mathinna Falls Tier 1.
Carrie and I were having such a fun day, having bagged two falls that were just marks on a map with no documentation (see URL below) – plus Evercreech Falls – in the morning, and now here we were to photograph Tiers 1-3 of Mathinna Falls, and then try our luck at Tier 4. I had tried for Tier 4 on my first visit, with very little light left in the day, and wearing only my gumboots. Both aspects were calculated for failure, and being alone that day – apart from having Tessa who could possibly be a liability rather than an asset – I retreated before catastrophe became the headlines.

Mathinna Falls Tier 3
Happy with the normal Tiers 1-3, up we started on 4. There were a few erosion aids, where water tumbling off the cliff left ground a little smoother than the thick scrub around, so I tried to follow these patterns as much as possible. The almost vertical land was very cliffy when not just plain steep with loose rock that did not hold. We grabbed like daemons, clutching any saplings or small bushes that would give us purchase as we hauled ourselves up the slope, both delighting in a full-body workout for the day. The cliffs drove us away from our destination somewhat, but I figured that we were going up the only possible way, and that we could traverse later if ever we got past the really steeply contoured bit. To our disappointment, although we did get up beyond the contour-crowded section, the very second the contours relented a little, thick scrub took over the battle to drive us away. We did what we could in the time we felt like devoting to the exercise, and pushed our way through the junk in the direction of the falls, which we could hear quite clearly, even if our vision was rather veiled.

Mathinna Falls Tier 4. This waterfall is absolutely massive. We were blown away by its height, which seemed never-ending, reaching below into regions we couldn’t see, and above, beyond our visual plane.
Once we did get a goodish sighting (photo above), we called it quits. There was no promise of a utopian view, so we contented ourselves with the one we’d achieved, and took some record shots before beginning the descent, the idea of which was causing a little trepidation for both of us. Coming up had been challenging. How would getting back down be? Were we about to plummet out of control, speedily downhill to a bash with a rock? Would I actually find  a safe way down? (Not sure if Carrie asked this question, but I sure did). And how would Tessa the Brave cope, heading down such a slope nose first with nothing to hang onto to break a possible tumble?


Mathinna Falls Tier 2

Mathinna Falls from the top. Carrie shooting, hiding behind bushes to the left..
On the way up, we’d shot Tiers 1 and 3. On the descent, we celebrated safety and a return to “normal forest” with a dallying in the area of Tier 2, climbing this and that interesting rock to get some angles that pleased us on this shapely fall. It was a great day.


Mathinna Falls …. the joy goes on and on and up and up … (steeply).
For the morning’s waterfalls, see  http://www.natureloverswalks.com/trickle-and-dry-falls/

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Sensation Gorge Falls 2018 Sept

Sensation Gorge Falls 2018 Sept 10th.

Sensation Gorge has an appropriate name, for it is, indeed, sensational. Yet at the same time, it is also serene. This seems almost a contradiction, but I did feel in the presence of something excitingly spectacular, whilst also having the impression I was encompassed by serenity. The grandeur of the gorge, emanating from a placid little stream minding its own business until it met with a mighty drop was somehow set within a context of great peacefulness. Birds sang; the Overflow Creek (now, there’s an unexciting name if ever I heard one) gurgled; the rich mosses did their shiny green beautiful thing. It was a wonderful day …. except that beautiful days are not generally good for photography of waterfalls.

I am having a little problem at the minute, as days that are considered good for photography (dull ones, perhaps with a little gloomy drizzle) are days that just make we want to stay at home and mope. Days like today, where the sun shines and the world is good and I feel like going places, happen to be the worst sort of days for my hobby of photography. If you arrive at your waterfall at around lunchtime on a sunny day, the dynamic range between the glare of the water and the darkness of the deep shade poses a problem, even if one comes armed with polarisers and other filters. I knew this would be a problem, but it was such a lovely day, I wanted to do something pleasant on it.

I parked the car and set out along the stream on the eastern side. A little pad was discernible, and soon enough, tapes appeared. They led all the way to the base of the second falls (pictured here). This is not a tourist route, however, even though someone has put tapes out. The going was so steep and slippery in the final descent that I had to stop and fix my tripod to my pack to free up my second hand, and on the way back up, I actually started sliding backwards, despite wearing proper bushwalking boots. Don’t consider this route in anything other than boots, and only do it if you are comfortable with steep, slippery slopes. It took me approximately fifteen minutes in each direction. I needed two hands for the steep part, both up and down. I eyed the upper falls longingly, but could not see a way to their base, and the sun was shining on them quite vigorously, so didn’t even bother with a shot from above. This was a nice little excursion from Launceston. Tessa and I had lunch, cake and coffee on the way home, and had the afternoon free to cart barrow loads of mulch onto the garden, and even to have a run in the gorge. I’m afraid thirty minutes’ exercise doesn’t keep me happy for a day’s tally.


(No. I did not climb up the cliffs on the other side. That is some glitch in the gps tracking. )
Coda to this symphony: On Sept 30th, I returned to this spot ready to climb to the base of the upper falls with my friend Carrie. We got there, and were very happy (as some had said it could only be shot with a drone, or from above). However, in the couple of weeks since I was last there, and despite rain in the interim, the falls were a dastardly trickle. We’ll have to go back after much more rain and get our tootsies a lot wetter – but at least we’ve bagged the base. Here’s what we saw:

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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.