Atherton Tableland's Stunning Nandroya Falls.

Tuesday 12 July

Several days prior to this hike, Jim and I had eaten our lunch beside Henrietta Creek, on the road to the Atherton Tablelands. Jim spotted a trail designated 'Nandroya Falls', that he hadn't seen before. Our aim on this day, was to platypus spot, so we put this hike on our 'to do list', for before my departure. Nearby we also spotted a signpost to Misty Mountain. 

Tuesday, my last day in the warm north, had us back at the tablelands. The name, Misty Mountain, sounded captivating, but our exploration of nearly 10kms of forest road, just brought more dirt road and thick rainforest. We turned around and drove back to the Nandroya Trail carpark.

A lovely flat trail for about a kilometre.

A tiny fall.

A stunning buttressed tree [perhaps a dipterocarp].

As we descended, the forest layers thickened - ferns, vines, palms, staghorns, crows nests, lichens and as always, towering trees.

The view as we passed the above tree's root mass.

Below - testing a perfect hollow to keep dry.

The dark clouds were hovering. We had only gone another 100 metres passed this tree, when we heard the teeming sound of a heavy shower approaching. We hadn't come prepared for rain, so we halted, wondering if we should go back for cover. We waited and waited. The noise didn't come any closer. Suddenly we realised we were listening to the roar of a waterfall. Relieved we weren't going to get drenched, we continued on.

Such a small fall, for such an intimidating sound.

Silver Falls

The trail passed in front of Silver Falls and then continued, descending down, down, down, until we turned a corner and gasped at the beauty revealed before us.

Our sudden view of lower Nandroya.

The lower Nandroya, with the upper drop, beckoning us on.

We really can't understand why these falls are so little known. They are spectacular. We did however, enjoy having the less trodden trail to ourselves.

The photo below, saw us farewelling Nandroya and taking an unexpected loop along Douglas Creek, back to the trail head.

This permitted us to hike beside Douglas Creek for a good kilometre, before the trail climbed again.

Such a delight to watch its numerous cascades as we continued on.

Such a memorable final hike, especially as the splendour of these falls came as such a big surprise.

Sadly, it was time to get back on the train south, for the 21 hour journey back to Brisbane.

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