I made a lunchtime visit to the State Library of NSW a few months ago, and was wonderfully surprised to find an exhibition about Charles Darwin, in particular, the time he spent in Australia while voyaging on the Beagle. It describes a visit he made to Wentworth Falls in 1836 while on the way to Bathurst. He wrote:
An immense gulf is suddenly & without any preparation seen through the trees… The class of view was quite novel & extremely magnificent.
High praise indeed from a man who had travelled extensively and was about to write a book that would change the world.
Having been to Wentworth Falls back in the autumn and seen the sign to the walk, I wanted to explore it for myself. It surprisingly starts off in the midst of civilisation – by the tennis court near the Great Western Highway.
I suppose there would have been no tennis courts back in 1836, nor would there have been any pine forests that the track passed through near the start, but it was quite lovely to have Jamieson Creek flowing alongside as it passes under overhangs and down little waterfalls.
It was also lovely to see the banksias and wattle out in force. Of course, there were plenty of birds taking advantage of the nectar. This one’s a lovely rosella.
Static and Silence 