STRICTLY STRICKLAND

“There may not be water at the falls”.  So rang the warning in my ears, even though I’d only read it.

En route to the Blue Mountains I wanted to tick a Central Coast box; somewhere I’d not ventured to before.  This fit the box perfectly, so it seemed.

I headed out from Lake Macquarie after lunch, intent on reaching somewhere close to the Grand Cliff Top Walk for the night.  Miss Direction was put into play and I turned off on Dog Trap Road, as indicated.  What it didn’t warn you was that this road has more twists and turns than any you’ve ever been on.  It does grand U-turns in both directions, crosses the F3 not once but twice and has a longest straight section of about 100 metres.  That, in a large motorhome, is somewhat disconcerting!

Eventually I reached the turnoff and the entry into the state forest, for that is the body that controls it.  Problem was, when researching, it said it closed at 7 p.m., which it does – during daylight saving!  Today’s close time was 5 p.m. and it was 3.30 p.m. when I pulled up after heading a couple of hundred metres on Mangrove Road and then forestry gravel for just over a km.

The walk has been put in by local volunteers from the Central Coast Bushwalking groups, full credit to them I say.

There’s signage and notice boards for a few walks but I only had eyes for one and headed out with enthusiasm.  Only a 1.8 kms loop, no trouble with over an hour to spare.

Right from the start it was a lovely walk and then it got better.  Lots of ferns, attractive natural growth such as fan palms; man-made and natural steps; I revelled in it.  There’s also occasional Gymea Lilies and boulders mottled with lichen.  At one point a couple of towering stringybarks encroach on the trail, adding majesty to the scene.

Then, the highlight; no, not the falls but, a truly massive sandstone overhang with honeycomb interior in one area that is dazzling.  I couldn’t take my eyes off it for the next five minutes as I kept rubbernecking it from all angles just before reaching the “falls”, so-called.

They’re basically a trickle that can sometimes dry up.  A mysterious ferny root system hangs from one section, seemingly never giving up on its search for an anchor point.  The overall area could be special after a storm but you’d want to wear your waders because the track is also susceptible to carrying amounts of water at times.  Leeches can also be a problem in such conditions.

It’s a real scramble at the base of the falls as trees have fallen in inconvenient places and you have to climb over them to get to some of the best vantage points.  I also thought I was doing the loop track anti-clockwise, but it took me five minutes to work out that, in fact, I should be heading clockwise.

The second part was really an anti-climax, not much to see or photograph of any note, just a stroll back up to the carpark, which was probably just as well because I only had 15 minutes left to exit the carpark and head to the Blue Mountains.  It had been a lovely warmup for the big event though.