My best friend on the entire planet recently came to visit which means I had time for heaps of adventures! I wanted to try to give her the best picture of what Melbourne had to offer (but also not repeat the same touristy crap I've shown other friends). Luckily she has a great sense of adventure and wanted to check out some of the waterfalls in Melbourne. The state of Victoria has heaps of breathtaking waterfalls which made narrowing it down a little complicated. We decided to go to Olinda Falls, allowing us the opportunity to stop elsewhere in the Dandenong Ranges.
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| Getting ready to start the hike! |
If you don't hike very often, Olinda Falls is a relatively easy hike to go on. There are two main view platforms: the upper falls and the lower falls. The upper falls is about a 350 m walk from the carpark. There really isn't an incline on this path so its a nice relaxing walk to see the top part of the falls. The upper view is definitely more of cascade than a falls but this does not take away from any of the beauty.
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| The upper falls |
The lower falls is an additional 140 m down stream. This path is quite steep. I was actually a bit surprised. I have unusually long legs and even I struggle to walk up and down the "steps" leading to the lower falls. My partner had no issues what so ever, so maybe I'm just not that coordinated. Once you're at the lower viewing platform, you're given a pretty spectacular view of the falls.
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| Lower Falls. Next time I'll bring a tripod |
The walk to and from the falls is breath taking. You're surrounded by massive ferns and gumtrees. Looking up, you feel quite small in comparison to the trees.
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| The trees are so tall! |
As this hike is relatively short, you can walk to and from the falls in about 30 minutes. There are other hikes to take if you're up to exploring. If you get to the Ranges early enough, you would easily allow ample time to explore other areas. We took advantage of our time and went to explore the William Ricketts Sanctuary after completing our hike to the falls.
Until next time...
Stay Curious!
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