Fitzroy Falls - in late afternoon light

This afternoon, after a series of harsh squalls had passed through, I suggested to Brendan that, as we had stopped work, but the weather had suddenly cleared off, we might as well go for a bit of a drive.


It turned out that he had never been to Fitzroy Falls. As it our most famous local waterfall, it was an easy decision to make, to show Brendan Fitzroy Falls.


The late afternoon light was fantastic. Rain storms can have the effect of clearing the dust and haze.

Fitzroy Falls
From "Jersey Lookout" 
(added in response to Hazel's question)

(click to see larger image)

As we have had plenty of rain recently, the creek was flowing well. And from this distant vantage point one gets a perfect view of the main drop of the falls.

The wall of rock is stained black in parts, but there is one section, to our left of the falls, and half-way down, where the wall of rock is coloured bright orange. This is a patch of a local algae, which is often found on rocks or even old trees, But seldom have I seen such a large and prominent patch. It probably indicates an area on the rock wall where there is a permanent "soak" coming through to sustain the algal growth. That theory is confirmed by the masses of ferns growing on the rock face in that area, and below it.

Fitzroy Falls is far and away the most visited place in the Southern Highlands. It is on the main road from Moss Vale to Kangaroo Valley (and hence on to Nowra). It is maintained by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NSW) and is the show-case point of the Morton National Park.