Thursday 18 June 2015

Marriott's Falls and Growling Swallett

Marriott's Falls
Thursday 18th June 2015

The weather had been grim all week, so rather than waste time doing an alpine walk where we would just get cold, miserable and probably no views, I thought a few short trips around Mt Field would be more appropriate.

First stop was an attempt to do Brown Mountain (Ellendale) which is one of the more obscure peaks on the peak baggers list.  But I had some information from another blog which made it sounds relatively easy and short.  We followed the instructions I had, turning left onto Holmes Rd just outside Ellendale.  We drove for about 5 km before coming across 2 forestry workers and a digger machine of some description.  We stopped for a chat and asked them about Brown Mountain and whether they knew where the track started.  They seemed bemused with us and informed us that we were on the wrong road, and it was unlikely we would be able to access the correct road as there was a lot of forestry operations going on at the moment.  We decided to skip Brown Mountain and instead turned back and towards Marriott's Falls.

The Falls close up.
Marriott's Falls is located just past the turn off from Mt Field near the small town of Tyenna.  There is a sign indicating the turn off.  Follow the dirt road for a while until the parking area by the river,  A relatively short walk of approximately 40 minutes brings you to the base of the falls.  It's quite a spectacular site!  Similar to Russell Falls as the water falls like a veil.  However, it's much less developed and free from the crowds that tend to congregate around Russell Falls. It's a nice spot for a lunch break and you can explore the base of the waterfall.

The river that flows into Growling Swallet.
Next stop was Growling Swallet.  We had to drive back to Mt Field to pick up the key to access the road to Growling Swallet.  It would make more sense to pick up the key on your way to Marriott's Falls to save back tracking.  The national park office at Mt Field take a $300 key deposit.  However, the money doesn't actually come out of the card, they just take an imprint of the card and only take the money if you don't return the key.  They also give you vague instructions on how to access the track. Basically drive through Maydena and turn off onto the Florentine Rd.  Follow the Florentine Rd for approximately 16 km until you come to a small side road on the right called 'F8 East Rd.'  The road is locked with a gate (hence the key).  Follow F8 East Road til it ends, approximately 2km.  Florentine Rd is in relatively good condition and easily used by 2WD, however F8 East Rd is not in very good condition but still passable in a 2WD.  If you are precious about your car, you may chose not to take it on this road, instead leaving it parked on the side of Florentine Rd (then you needn't bother with the key). As it's only 2km to walk it wouldn't take that long.  We however got the car all the way to the end with just a few bumps.  There is a small parking area at the end, but you wouldn't want to have too many cars.  The track starts at the end of the road and is marked with coloured tape.

Cave Entrance
Cave Entrance
Top of Cave

Follow the taped track for approximately 30 mins until you can hear the 'growling' of the water.  A steep climb down takes you to the river bank and to the entrance of the cave.  The water drops straight down into the cave and its quite a dramatic and remarkable spectacle!  The entrance of the cave looks like the entrance to some sort of temple.  Photo's don't do it justice. The water drops into the cave and then reappears at Junee Caves, at Maydena.


Both Marriott's Falls and Growling Swallet are perfect walks for mid winter and rainy days as after heavy rains both become more spectacular and dramatic.


Tuesday 16 June 2015

Grey Mountain Mishap/Top of Pelverata Falls Surprise

16/06/2015
Top of the Falls

Nine of us met on a dreary Tuesday morning to either celebrate finishing exams or procrastinate from actually studying.  The plan was to summit the mighty Grey Mountain, located in the Snug Tiers.  However, some navigational errors resulted in a last minute change of plan and saw us reach the top of Pelverata Falls instead!

Some of the road art encountered
Access to the walk starts at Van Morley's Road, Margate.  Just past the primary school in Margate turn right onto Van Morley's Rd and basically drive along until you no longer feel comfortable driving.  The road is initially in very good condition, but deteriorates rapidly.  We made it 7.5 km along the road until a convenient  parking spot was found.  We jumped out of the cars and continued to follow the road.  We were glad we left the cars where we did as the road got particularly bad, full of pot holes and boggy.


We followed the road ignoring minor side roads.  We thought that it was best to just follow the main road all the way to the top....turns out this wasn't quite right.  We should have made a left turn at one of the intersection.  However, not really paying attention and just blindly following the leader we ended up at swampy area that seemed to be a dead end.  Confused, we eventually found another road with 4WD marks, so decided to follow that.  After a while we realised that we were off track.  We eventually got out a GPS and realised that we were in the completely wrong spot.  We discussed about whether we should go back and find the turn off, but that plan was dismissed as it was unlikely we would have enough day light to get to the top of Grey Mountain and back to the cars.  We then thought about going off track and cutting through to the road that would take us to Grey Mountain, but given how boggy the area was this seemed like a bit of a ridiculous plan.  Instead we saw that Pelverata Falls was marked on the map and was just at the end of the road we were on, so that became the new plan!


Bridge to the swamp

The track leads you right to the top of the Falls and its quite a dramatic drop!  Reminded me of the top of Cathedral Rock.  Given the amount of rain we have had recently the falls were full.  We took a lunch break at the top and explored the area at the top of the falls.  We also spent some time trying to get the attention of people at the viewing platform at the base of the falls...but to no avail.





More Road art.
We wandered back to the cars happy with our discovery of a way to the top of Pelverata Falls.  It started to rain on our way back, so we were glad that we skipped trying to find the top of Grey Mountain. Anyone planning on doing this walk may find using a GPS that shows the roads useful. And of course carry a map and do a bit of research online first. Also be aware that you do need to turn off the main road.  Gaiters are also a good idea as the area is very muddy!

All up it took about 5 hours including a leisurely lunch break at the top of the falls.