Horseshoe Falls

Location: Start at the picnic area at the end of Alexander Ave in Hazelbrook. This walk goes through Horseshoe Falls Reserve.

Duration: I hour

Grade: Moderate

Features: Waterfalls, creek, overhang

Trip Notes:

Where are the Horseshoe Falls? Although signs announced the way to them throughout this walking track, when we got there it wasn’t clear exactly what the sign was pointing to. Even each of the walking books we referred to had different maps of the same area and different names for the same falls. Nevertheless we had decided to explore this beautiful area with its ambiguous maze of walking tracks. Some helpful new signs had been put in place and the one saying “Waterfalls” is the one to follow at the start. 

The track hugs a wide rocky creek bed with water cascading down the slopes, sometimes forming pools and mini waterfalls and other times dropping off ledges making veils of water. The sides of the embankment are covered with ferns, and splashes of fresh faced wattle dot the landscape. Soon some formed steps and a boardwalk is reached, but just before the boardwalk an unmarked side track on the left leads to a lovely spot between 2 waterfalls. It’s a bit slippery and there’s a small rock scramble to negotiate but the scene is captivating – an expanse of flowing water surrounded by ferns where we can see the first waterfall upstream and watch the water as it races over the top of the second. 

At the end of the boardwalk a sign points to Horseshoe Falls which leads us past some unusual round rocks along the muddy path. Footing has to be watched down this small descent. Here we come to the first of the main waterfalls - Lyrebird Falls which pours over a ledge, cascading down a rocky shelf past lush ferns and mossy logs forming a huge pool on the beach below – truly spectacular after rain. For the move adventurous, a muddy upper path provides a way to the falls where you can sit behind them and listen to the thundering water. 

From these falls the track continues following the creek, and soon another unmarked side track on the left is another opportunity for a short detour. Here you come to a curious section of the creek where the water flows over some sinkholes – a series of perfectly rounded holes in the creek bed. It’s definitely worth a look although the path is slippery and extreme care must be taken near the exposed ledges. 

Continuing along the main track where angophora trees wave their tall trunks amidst the lush green ferns, another junction is reached and turning left leads us down past some large rock steps which are eroded and slippery. Although not signposted, this is the way to get to Horseshoe Falls and the wonderfully large overhang from which the falls are possibly named. A sign here told us we had reached Horseshoe Falls however it’s unclear as to what it’s referring to. There was however, the spectacular Glow worm Nook Falls which runs over the roof of the overhang and forms a curtain which we can walk behind. Sandstone rocks and lush ferns surround this oasis and hours can be spent exploring this little paradise. 

From here the track continues on to Oakland and Burgess Falls, but as rain clouds approached we decided to head back the way we came and save the rest for another day.

DH

This article has been published in the July/August 2011 edition of The Mountains Blueberry.

On the eve of the BIG storm this week, I said to Dilshara that I had been so busy working on portraits, a 365 project and other aspects of photography that I had abandoned my work with textures - which is what I love nearly most of all. Then we lost our power and all I had of an 'electrical nature' was about 30 minutes laptop battery time and a hundred or so image and texture files on my internal hard drive. I found this old photo and messed about with a couple of textures and got (what I think is) a great result. Sometimes you can mess with photos and textures for hours and get nothing worth keeping. So I consider this happy result as a sign to get back to it!
The storm provided a fortuitous turn of events for me in that sense, forcing me back to practising what I love and do best.

The textures applied to the photo in Photoshop are by a guy called Jerry Jones who goes by the name of "Skeletal Mess" on Flickr. His textures are marvellous and he has hundreds of them - all freely available to use by other photographers. A talented and generous guy!
More of my textured photos are found by following the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildephotos/sets/72157621831685669/

Freaky weather!
Well, we are up a mountain and it's not unusual to have really strong winds from time to time. But this week has been something else! On Tuesday the winds got stronger and stronger through the day. Just as our monthly camera club meeting got started the power was lost. And that was the end of that. The journey home took me almost two hours instead of 15 minutes due to this:.....

I'm happy to tell you that I wasn't on the train (and as far as I know only one person had a relatively non-serious injury), but between this accident and another tree across the road further back along the highway it was one heck of an evening. When we eventually got moving again there were trees down all along the highway.

We had no power at home for 24 hours - so no phone, no hot water, no heating and NO INTERNET!!!

By the next day the journey back to Katoomba took a measley 45 minutes and I picked up two backpackers along the way who were thumbing a lift back to their hostel. The road is still on a go slow today (Thursday), and whilst I am grateful beyond measure to have my central heating and my internet back, others are still without power  throughout the Upper Mountains. And now we are forecast snow. What a week! 

LB

These beautiful animals give their whole lives over to serve our needs/wants. They have a right to a life, and death, that is dignified.
Take action against live export of cattle. Visit http://www.animalsaustralia.org/ for more information
LB

Wilson Glen

Location:  Start at Buena Vista Rd in Woodford at the sandstone memorial opposite Woodford Station

Grade: Easy, although a bit overgrown at times and some uneven rock steps to negotiate

Duration: 1hour

Features: Creek, Cave

Trip Notes:

A pool in the middle of beautiful bushland, lined with sandstone blocks and surrounded by ferns - a place for families and friends to gather on a sunny afternoon and enjoy the therapeutic atmosphere and clear cool water. This is how we imagined Gypsy Pool to be, as a friendly fellow walker described this man made pool and the days he spent at the swimming hole years ago. Now the pool has sadly been allowed to fall into disrepair - the sandstone walls broken, with silt and overgrown vegetation hiding the glory of days gone by.

Nevertheless, Gypsy Pool is a fascinating place to visit and the trip there makes a great afternoon bushwalk. The memorial at the start tells us that in 1932 Thomas M. Wilson dedicated this area to the Blue Mountains in memory of his wife, and as we descend the well-formed steps we are grateful for this generous gift. Lush green ferns surround the path and a few old seats provide some places to sit and observe. A wooden bridge takes us over the small creek which winds its way down the escarpment and we soon come to a curious little sandstone structure with water dripping into its moss covered cup shaped surface. A silver sign above it tells us it’s Tealby Spa – we later find out that this is a natural spring and there was once a metal lions head here with the water running from it.

A few meters away a large shelter with picnic tables provides a nice spot for a break before descending down into Wilson Glen. Angophora trees dot the landscape with their orange trunks standing out amid the glistening green of the ferns. The track takes us over a number of bridges through the rich rainforest type vegetation of Wilson Glen and brings us out into more open forest. As we walk past the hand painted sign pointing to Gypsy Cave, we soon come to an old fire trail. Turning right at this T-intersection and following the track for a few minutes to another path on the right takes us to Gypsy Pool. Crossing the old pool, we enter Gypsy Cave – it’s more like an overhang than a cave but there is room in there for a picnic table, and I imagine it would have been a wonderful shady spot for swimmers to rest and picnic, long ago when the pool was in its prime.

A set of steps heads off to the right and this is our return route. Ascending the steps we soon come to a small track on the left which leads to a lookout and is a peaceful spot giving clear views of the surrounding bushland while looking down onto the ferns of Gypsy Pool. Continuing on, a fork in the path is eventually reached - making a sharp left here takes us up a few more steps, past young Banksia trees and eroded rocks bringing us finally out onto Railway Parade. To complete the round trip a short road walk has to be done but care must be taken as the road is narrow and there is no footpath.

DH

This article has been published in the May/June 2011 edition of The Mountains Blueberry. 

Mt Victoria

Let's start right at the top. Mt Vic is a town seemingly not going places. People go through it on their way to elsewhere. The two empty shops on the highway just stay that way, with businesses intermittently trying and failing to stay open there. The Old Post Office is...I don't know what - quiet, shut up. Is there even a resident. Ooh, spooky!

But Mt Vic has a lot going for it. Bikers (of the nice variety) stop at The Imperial Hotel (beautifully newly refurbished); locals post their letters and buy their lunchtime sushi at the General Store (greetings Ronnie and Nolene); cinema enthusiasts drive for miles to enjoy the experience of the old time Mt Vic Flicks; abseilers abseil; snow falls; it is the first and last and highest town of the beautiful Blue Mountains

This spot is dedicated to celebrating in vibrant images the village of Mount Victoria. There's life in the old dog yet!

Mount Vic Flicks is the local cinema open Thursdays to Sundays. The building was originally the town's public hall and was built in 1934. It is now one of eight 'significant cinemas' listed on the Australian cinema map and is twinned with another 'old time' cinema in Thirsk, North Yorkshire. It offers a cinema experience of times gone by complete with pre-movie enterainment, namely an organ player who works her way through an entire repertoire of movie music, accompanied by her partner on maracas, ending with a rousing rendition of "That's Entertainment". There's a snack bar with choc tops, soft drinks and mugs of tea. The seats aren't the most comfortable in the world but that all adds to the experience. What's more they put on art house, foreign language and alternative movies with less of the action blockbusters. And at a cheaper price and a more intimate experience than the big chain movie cinemas could ever provide.

You can book ahead and it's highly recommended for the more popular movies - I queued for half an hour to get the last seat in  the house for "The King's Speech".

 

Ronnie and Nolene run the Post Office and General Store. Ronnie also makes sushi and you can get a warming tea, coffee or hot chocolate. Despite their long hours they are always cheery, knowing all the locals and having a joke with (or on!) them.

One shop success story is the interesting gallery and toy shop, Trains, Planes and Automobiles still surviving in this little town since 1997. Occupying the old bakery on the Great Western Highway, it houses a countless array of toys, games and memorabilia and the brick oven can still be seen hiding behind the shelves. It is certainly worth a visit for both the young and not so young, with authentic antique toys lining the cabinets as well as shelves of currently popular toys. The shop is full of colour with it's walls packed with toys from ceiling to floor and is a great place to find an unusual or interesting gift.

Faces of the Blue Mountains

We hope to capture some of the friendly and unique faces of the people who live in this special part of the world.

Musician Steve

Musician Steve Bevis who uses his music to speak out - he addresses  important social justice issues and brings awareness of how we in the West can be so apathetic to our brothers and sisters in the developing world. At the same time he brings a message of hope and life.

George, Murphy & The Chickens

Our new and very cute little pup Murphy whom we got from a rescue organisation called Aussie Desert Dogs. Murphy is a Chihuahua cross although he's growing fast, and is now 3 months old.

George, our 6 yr old rabbit is a bit apprehensive of Murphy and Murphy wants to eat George. George is a sweet bunny whom we got from the Blue Mountains RSPCA about 5 yrs ago. He is quite content to hop around the yard and relax on the rocks.

Our pretty chickens add a peaceful atmosphere to our garden and have a therapeutic effect as we watch them wander about. After an initial protest by George, they are now content to forage about together in the garden.

DH

animal passion

Animals are our passion. We love to photograph them and show their beauty whether at rest, play or something in between!
Oscar is 13 years old and has spent almost all of his long life sniffing out the Blue Mountains. He is a gentle soul with a crazy spirit and is the source of all my animal portrait inspiration. Quite simply he is my non-human soul mate. LB