We woke up to an overcast sky on the last Thursday of 2016, which was a pleasant surprise as the mercury was reaching 35 Degree Celsius the past few days in Sydney, Australia. It was a lovely day to indulge in some hiking and sight seeing. We zeroed in on Fitzroy Falls, packed few water bottles and drove away. The Fitzroy falls Information Center is a good two hours drive from Sydney – about 150 km.
We drove through the quiet streets of Mittagong, Moss Vale and beautiful landscapes near Bowral. The never ending winding roads flanked by tall trees on both the sides, slightly reminded me few scenes from The Great Ocean Drive (Melbourne to Twelve Apostles)
Fitzroy Falls is located in the Southern Highlands, a small village in Wingecarribee Shire where the population is said to be only 208 people (wiki). It is a tourist hot-spot, as the place provides stunning view of Fitzroy Waterfalls, the sprawling Morton National Park below and an excellent opportunity for bird watching. In fact, I myself came across few Lyrebirds happily looking for worms camouflaged by foliage and dried leaves, brilliantly colored parrots (I think) and a black Cockatoo (which I didn’t even know existed) perched on a tree.
The Visitor Information Center has Car Parking ($4), Toilets, a Souvenir Shop and a Restaurant. We started our walk with a tall jar of Iced Coffee with Cream. Food always comes first 😉
West Rim Track consists of Grade 3 walking tracks (3.5 km Return) and lookout points, in addition you can also stroll along the Fire Trail (which is comparatively easier as the path is wider and flat) The lookout points provided views of the waterfall from various angles. I could see bush-walkers of all ages, happily climbing steps, clicking selfies and trudging along the narrow rocky path.
Fitzroy Falls
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| The Top of the waterfall |
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| And the dreamy valley! |
Jersey Lookout
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| This is how the 81m waterfall looks like from afar |
Paines Lookout
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| The valley goes on and on |
Richardson Lookout
Starkeys Lookout
Reown Lookout – The last viewpoint
From here we traced our steps back to the Visitor Center
After completing the West Rim Walk, we started towards East Rim track, uptill Warrawong Lookout.
It is a short walk of about 2.3 km (return), though tougher than the West Rim Walk. The route takes you down the hills, into the denser part of the mountain where the soil is moist and the air gradually becomes cooler. It was written that some of the areas barely receive sunlight.
Warrawong Lookout
The sideward view of the falls looks absolutely stunning.
We are planning a visit to Asutralia soon and I want you to take leave and be our guide. Your posts on Australia are always short and crisp and entertaining
Beautiful pictures.The clouds ,trees ,valley .Stunning .I wish I could see this.
Mesmerising pictures, Raj!
What a wonderful weekend that sounds like, and those photographs are absolutely stunning!
Your posts are nothing but picture postcards from Australia.😀
Your posts are nothing but picture postcards from Australia.😀
Simply beautiful.
Beautiful. Australia is so beautiful. By the way these pictures remind me of some of the falls and mountains in Cherrapunji. 🙂
What lovely narration and photos Rajlakshmi.
And you look totally at home in that country 🙂