Well that plan went out the window!
20th August 2023
Barron Gorge , 20th August 2023.
I have done 300,000klms in my car as I have roamed the area. Much of that has been down dodgy dirt and rock roads and from time to time my car breaks. It is in need of some repair at the moment so my plans to travel to some new areas has been put on hold.
Last weekend in need of some quiet time I headed into nearby Barron Gorge up to the above waterfall I have visited many times, breaking my plan to explore new areas.
Someone else was in the Gorge that day.
We are heading into the hotter months now and some of the locals are searching for the sun. As I walked along the side of Barron River to the waterfall I noticed something moving in between the rocks.
Hello there!
I have some long glass on my camera when I am roaming so it might appear I am close to this snake but I stay well clear. I know very little about snakes so I treat all of them as venomous.
The waterfall is high up the hillside, photo from March 2021.
It takes me about an hour to get to the above waterfall high up on the hillside. I have been visiting this spot for many years now and today was all about the walk, not so much photos.
My crossing point of the river on the day.
After walking along the river there is a point where I need to get to the other side to start the climb up the hillside. At the moment the water is low so no need to get wet, I rock hop across at this spot.
The water at the crossing.
The water on the river above the bridge was crystal clear on this day. If the water was only a bit warmer I would have gone in for a swim.
The usual muddy river water, March 2022.
For much of the year the river water is quite muddy like above so I tend to swim at the waterfalls on the hillside during the hotter months.
Hoping to see me fall in the water perhaps?
A pair of Pacific Black Ducks hung around to watch me rock hop across the river. I think they were hoping to see me fall in.
Fallen leaves covering the water on the day.
The leaves have started to change colour and fall. This can be a very pretty time of the year in Barron Gorge.
Colour in the Gorge, September 2020.
Back in September 2020 was the prettiest I have seen it but the colour does not last for long. Who knows what will happen this year.
If my intention is to take photos then I usually would visit this waterfall early or late in the day to avoid the harsh light. On this day the visit was all about the walk so I enjoyed the ability to see and avoid the spiders webs on the way up the will side.
The wattle brush were also in flower and the harsh light hitting the water as I climbed up the hillside was beautiful.
I had arrived.
Once I arrived at my destination I sat and enjoyed a couple of hours there. As you can see the light was quite harsh so it was not the right time of the day to be taking photos.
Bubbles in the infinity pool.
At the base of this waterfall is an infinity pool which I often sit in during summer to cool off. The water was way too cold for that on this day so I sat at the edge, enjoyed the view and took some photos of bubbles…..as you do.
The Gorge below.
I had no intention of staying for golden hour so it was still bright light when I decided to make my way back down to the bottom of the gorge. I mentioned before that I had some long glass when I shared the snake photo. The photo above was also taken with a long zoom lens and those rocks are a long way down.
Photo from the same spot, different lens.
This photo was taken from the same spot at the edge of the infinity pool looking down to the gorge below but with a shorter lens. I have placed a red circle around the rocks in the gorge from the previous image. It is a long way back down the hillside.
Colour in the water 2020.
My car should be fixed on Tuesday so next weekend I intend to hit the road and get out of Cairns. That said I think I will still keep an eye on Barron Gorge to see if we get some nice colour this year.