Archive for the ‘Nature’ Category

This is Bogoda falls in Bogoda, Ketawala in Uva province Sri Lanka. When you drive for about 3 kilometres in the Bogoda bridge road from Ketawala town, you will see this waterfall on the road itself, with its water flowing across the road. Since it is a road used by vehicles be mindful when you are enjoying the waterfall. Even though this is not a famous waterfall, you will see plenty of water in the wet season, also since this is on the way to the famous Bogoda Wooden bridge, you will see both of these in the same trip.

Score out of 5
1 Parking Availability By the side of road

2

2 Wheelchair Access Main Viewpoint – No

Secondary Viewpoint – No

Picnic Areas – No

0

3 Accessibility Can see from the road

5

4 Facilities Covered Sitting Areas – No

Toilets – No

Barbecue – No

Garbage Bins – No

0

5 Scenery Waterfall

Stream

2

Map

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Another interesting waterfall in Queensland is the Little Crystal Creek falls in Crystal Creek. This is made out of 2 to 3 small cascades of water and a pool of water.
This waterfall is located about 75 kilometres North West of Townsville and is reachable in a hour of driving. The road is bit winding after turning from Bruce highway. But it is sealed all the way so a two wheel drive small car would take you there without any problems. When driving from Townsville there is a big car park about 200 metres before the bridge to the left. It can easily accommodate 15 cars so you do not have to worry about finding parking.
At the park there will be 2 boards with maps and details about the area. To reach the waterfall, you need to walk about 150 metres towards the arch bridge from the car park. The bridge is a 18.3 metre long bridge constructed in 1932. There is no separate path but can walk on the left side of the road so be careful if you are travelling with children. You can reach the bridge with a pram or a wheelchair and have a look at the waterfall. But to go anywhere near the water you need to walk down the stairs and some walking on the rocks depending on the side you start walking down. I would say it is an easy 15 minutes walk from the car park. Also you can reach the waterfall starting from any side of the bridge giving you different views of the nature, so you can start from one side and come up from another.
Once you walk down you will be able to see the creek. In the dry season there will be not much water so it will be safe to walk besides the water. Near the bridge there is a table and a bench to sit and relax and have a picnic near the water. Near the car park there are barbecue, toilet and waste disposal facilities as well as a park for children to run around so I would recommend enjoying some food over there.
Score out of 5
1 Parking Availability Adequate
5
2 Wheelchair Access Main Viewpoint – No
Secondary Viewpoint – No
Picnic Areas – Yes
1
3 Accessibility Easy walk till the bridge and then stairs, total walk for about 15 minutes from car park.
3
4 Facilities Covered Sitting Areas – No
Toilets – Yes
Barbecue – Yes
Garbage Bins – Yes
4
5 Scenery Waterfall
Stream
Bridge
3

Hope you will enjoy the video.

 

Map

 

If you are interested in waterfalls and not too fussed about the height, I think you will like Genoa falls in Genoa in the state of Victoria, Australia. Belonging to the Croajingolong National Park, Genoa falls is a set of small cascades of water each with a height of no more than 3 meters, located near the Victorian and New South Wales border.
Genoa falls is located in about 488 kilometers East from the city of Melbourne and can be reached in about 5 and half hours’ drive. Access to the falls is via an unsigned dirt road which can be easily missed. I am sure there are many who are passing in Princess highway daily without knowing there is a small waterfall in this location. After turning to the dirt road, you just need to drive about 200 meters to reach the place to park the car. There is space to park 3 or 4 cars comfortably. This will not be a problem since this is not much of a famous attraction, so you will find space to park your car at any time of the year.
At the car park, there will be a small sign mentioning that you are in the Genoa falls in Croajinolong national park. Camping, open fires and pets are not allowed to make you and others safe at the location. You have to walk about 500 meters to reach Genoa waterfall from the car park, I would say the walk is moderately difficult because the last part descending to the Genoa creek is having one or two steep steps and path is narrow. Better look for reptiles such as snakes and lizards on your way. Keep a good eye at your children if you got them on your trip since the area is hazardous specially with uncovered waterholes.
Once you go down the final set of steps, turn left to reach the main attraction. It is a Basalt floor all the way to the waterfall with random water holes. In dry weather, you will be able to reach the waterfall without getting your feet wet.
After the waterfall the stream will divide into two parts, one will be going behind the boulders and hidden, the other smaller stream will be visible, follow it downstream. In about 30 meters, to your left you will see the other stream joining back with two small waterfalls.
Another good thing is that you can walk the breadth and length of the stream in dry weather without getting wet. When wet, be mindful, the area will be slippery with the algae build-up. I feel the water is bit Ionic from the slight Brown colour seen.
Apart from space to park the car, there are no facilities available on site. So, if you plan to have a barbecue or a picnic, this is not the place. Also, be prepared to carry your garbage out, since there are no garbage bins available.

Score out of 5
1 Parking Availability Adequate

3

2 Wheelchair Access Main Viewpoint – No

Secondary Viewpoint – No

Picnic Areas – No

0

3 Accessibility Moderately difficult walk of about 15 minutes from car park.

2

4 Facilities Covered Sitting Areas – No

Toilets – No

Barbecue – No

Garbage Bins – No

1

5 Scenery Waterfall

Stream

Mountains

3

Hope you will enjoy the video.

Map

Today I thought to post an article about the highest waterfall in Victoria, which is Agnes Falls in Hazel Park, Hazel Park is a suburb in the state of Victoria in Australia. Agnes falls is located about 200 kilometres South East of Melbourne city, which can be reached in about 2 and half hours’ drive from Melbourne city.

At the end of the Agnes falls road you can park your car and walk for about 100 metres to reach the first viewpoint. This part is mostly downhill so is easily accessible. Walking further 200 metres will get you to the main 2 viewpoints to enjoy the beautiful Agnes falls. There will be bit of uphill walk involved. If needing a break there will be a seat on the way, but nice scenery will facilitate the walking and you will be there in no time

At the end of the short walk you will have to go down few steps, so wheel chair and pram access is not possible. After walking down turning left will take you to viewpoint 2, which overlooks the mountains and the distance Toora windfarm.

All viewpoints are well guarded and safe for little children, but if it is a rainy day, look for puddles of water in the main viewing area otherwise you will end up in wet shoes / feet.

Spanning 59 meters, Agnes falls becomes the highest waterfall in the state of Victoria and has 3 cascades of water. Due to the quality of the water in Agnes river, it is found ideal for domestic use and Agnes river is used as a source of water for the nearby Toora township. The 1924 proposed water supply scheme ensured year-round gravity fed water for the township, and the first part was completed on 1926.

There is wheelchair accessible toilets, few tables with benches and 2 undercover tables with seating to have a picnic. Remember to bring some bags to carry your garbage since there are no waste bins provided.

      Score out of 5
1 Parking Availability Adequate

4

2 Wheelchair Access

Main Viewpoint – No

Secondary Viewpoint – Yes

Picnic Areas – Yes

3

3 Accessibility Easily accessible within about 10 minutes walk from carpark.

4

4 Facilities

Covered Sitting Areas – Yes

Toilets – Yes

Barbecue – No

Garbage Bins – No

3

5 Scenery

Waterfall

Mountains

4

Watch the video and get a feel of the location before you plan your trip to Agnes Falls.

Map

While we were travelling with some of my friends, we did visit Port Willunga beach which I thought would be a good place to visit by any beach lover. It is about 45 km away from Adelaide city, which will take about 50 minutes if you are travelling by car.

There re two ways to get to the beach,

a. Go past the restaurant and head down to beach. – This is the quickest and shortest way to get to the beach. No stairs are there in this path so is wheel chair friendly.

b. Turn left before the restaurant – You need to walk for about 5 to 10 minutes depending on the pace you are walking to get to the beach and at the end there are some steps you need to go down. The short walk will reward you with the view of jetty pylons and the man made caves.

Facilities – There are toilet and shower facilities but no sitting areas, so portable table and chairs will be handy.

Port Willunga Beach

Port Willunga Beach

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If you like to experience nature’s amazing things it has to offer, one place you should not miss is the magnetic mountain in Black Rock South Australia. What is interesting in this place is that natural (magnetic) forces will take your car up the hill without the engine power.

Normally if you switch your car off, put it to neutral while at the middle of a hill and release the brake, your car will start moving downhill, but in this mountain your car will start moving up the hill. When I read about the place prior to my visit I thought it is a illusion in the eye. But after visiting the place I got amazed by seeing the way it moved my vehicle up the hill. To experience this I would encourage you to visit this mountain.

Magnetic Hill is located about 260 km from Adelaide and will take about 3 hour 30 minutes. The road to the magnetic hill is a unsealed road, but you can use a 2WD car to reach there.

Until you visit Magnetic Hill your self, enjoy me travelling up the hill while my engine is off.

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Recently after a friend of mine told me about these cruses, we went for the cruise with few families we are friends with. In Port Adelaide 2 companies are offering Dolphin cruses. Namely they are Dolphin Explorer and Port Princess Dolphin Cruises. (For contact details please read on.)

In our cruise Dolphin Explorer took 2 and half hours to take us along the Port river. The ride is comfortable since it is not going to rough sea. On the way you will see big ships which comes into port. Unfortunately on the day we went it started raining so it was bit cold. Since the big boats are having fully covered restaurants no need to worry about the weather.

When talking about Dolphins it is bit frustrating since in our cruise we only saw few Dolphins at the start. But noting on our way, sometimes this might be because of the bad weather we had on the day. Since it costs $18 for an adult with meal I think it is value for money, so we thought to have another go later some day to check out more Dolphins. Until then I will post few photos I captured to make you interested.

There are plenty of free and paid parking in the area, so not to worry on parking. You will be able to find more information including the meal menus and other costs on their web sites.

 

Dolphin Explorer

Port Princess
Dolphin Cruises

Address :

Dolphin Explorer
PO Box 177, Port Adelaide,
SA 5015.

Port Princess
Dolphin Cruises, Commercial Road,
Port Adelaide SA 5015.

Phone :

(08) 8447 2366

(08) 8243 2757 (04) 1881 7837

Fax :

(08) 8447 1344

EMail :

info@dolphinexplorer.com.au

Web :

http://www.dolphinexplorer.com.au

http://www.portprincess.com.au

 

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If you are a beach person then Aldinga beach is a place not to miss. One speciality in this South Australian beach is that you can take your vehicle into the beach and have a drive. Since the sand is hard on this beach you do not need a 4WD, a normal 2WD car will do the job, but do not get over excited since then there is a chance you can get into trouble.

Without trying to explain using words I will upload some photos I have taken since a picture is worth thousand words.

While we were there, we experienced an extraordinary scene provided by mother nature. Suddenly on top of wet sand we started seeing sand flying with wind for few minutes. Just enjoy it by watching the following video.

Aldinga Beach – Sandy Wind

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If you are a cave lover, there are many places Australia has to offer. Out of them one of the best is Naracoorte caves in South Australia. Inside the caves you will be able to see lime stones which took about 200 million years to form.

Stalactites – Are the ones hanging from above. Because they form from water dripping from above they tend to get points on them.

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Stalagmites – Are formed on floor and start growing up with time.

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Columns – Are formed by one stalactite and stalagmite connecting after so many years.

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It is good idea to plan and visit the caves bit early since you need time to have a look into the caves. They normally close at 5PM and the last tour starts around 4PM.

There is a visitor information centre in the Wonambi Fossil Centre so you can find out the interesting places in Naracoorte Caves National Park. Wet cave is a free attraction. When you purchase a ticket for a tour to visit Alexandra cave you will get free admittance to the Fossil enter and the miniature man made zoo.

Pram accessibility is not there when visiting caves, also you need to take care of your young children because they might need lot of assistance from you when inside the caves. Also supervise your children frequently since some of the Stalactites and Stalagmites are fragile and if they break one then thy may be destroying millions of years of natures’ work.

Car parking is free and plenty of sitting areas are there. Toilet facilities are there also is a restaurant so you can buy food if you need.

Address : Naracoorte Caves National Park, PO Box 134, Naracoorte SA 5271.

Phone : (+61 8) 8762 2340

EMail : naracoortecaves@sa.gov.au

Web : http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/naracoorte/Home

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