Called Fantasia by lostmtns, this waterfall has been on my radar for some time. It was a bit of a scramble, but well worth it – an amazing place to bask in the sun.
Transition periods are wonderful. A life chapter ends and the next one is locked in. I think back to the summer of 1992-93 when I finished university in Adelaide, Australia, and was waiting to start the next exciting chapter – a PhD in the Netherlands. It was a summer of carefree fun with my uni friends, and excitement for what was to come. This time, I have finished my last job, and have a week to kill before the new one starts. What better way to spend the week than to enjoy the last rays of summer in the Blue Mountains before the winter chill sets in?
I thought I had been everywhere in the Blue Mountains – been to every waterfall, swimming hole and lookout. Cycled every fire trail. Well, there are still some places I haven’t been as I discovered in the ‘Swim’ book by lostmtns. My week cycling in the backblocks of the Blue Mountains, to Kanangra Walls, towards Yerrendarie ticked off some of these spots. Today, visiting Hat Hill Falls (also known as Fantasia), was on the menu.
A short cycle from Blackheath to the start of a walk, crossing bare plains before a steep descent to the Hat Hill canyon.
I love canyons. Walls of green rising up to the heavens, big mossy boulders, little unexpected beaches and showers of waterfalls sprinkling down from above. And sometimes the sun shines in, twinkling in the water and spotlighting the moss and ferns on the rocky walls. This canyon involved a cold swim. And it took my breath away.
Before the falls, the canyon opened out. The layers of platforms were bathed in the late summer light. The water rushed along, plunging into holes, just to emerge at the next platform. I lay on the slab of rock and breathed in the view.
I couldn’t stay for long, though. I needed to get out of the canyon, and pass the icy swim, before it got dark and cold. But once out, and back on the plateau, I visited a little lookout and watched the sun set below the horizon, washed with smoke haze.
arctic-cycler.com 