Govett's Leap Lookout
Jan. 6th, 2024 10:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerAustralia Travelog #32
Blackheath, NSW - Fri, 29 Dec 2023, 4pm
For someone who started the day off with basically a sprained ankle (from hiking down & up a lot of canyons yesterday, especially at Wentworth Falls) I've done a lot already today. The falls in Valley of the Waters were absolutely worth the climb of several hundred feet on the way out. Minnehaha Falls was also worth it and another few hundred feet on the way out. Oh, the pains I accept to have fun! So when Hawk proposed a third waterfalls hike for today I made sure that it really was a drive-to viewpoint, not an "It's a short hike" thing that turns into two miles and hundreds of feet of ascent. Thus it was that we drove further west to the town of Blackheath, NSW and then a few miles north through town to Govett's Leap.
Yes, this really is a drive-to viewpoint. Though like several drive-to spots we've visited the past few days, you can see from the top that you could see a lot more if you did a bit of hiking. I mean, the view across the canyon is great, as you can see in the panoramic photo above. And you can see Govett's Leap (a sign helpfully explains that leap is a Scottish word for waterfall) over to the right. It's very tall!
How tall is Govett's Leap (Waterfall)? As I've noted before, Australian parks are terrible about measuring things in the third dimension. It's not on any signs, kiosks, or trail indicators. It's not even on their website. Wikipedia says it's 180 meters (591 feet) tall.
The view of the falls from here is partially occluded. Like I said above, there are trails to different lookout points that would give better views. But they involve way more descent & ascent than my legs are good for at this point. I'm willing to suffer to have fun 🥲 but there's a limit.
Blackheath, NSW - Fri, 29 Dec 2023, 4pm
For someone who started the day off with basically a sprained ankle (from hiking down & up a lot of canyons yesterday, especially at Wentworth Falls) I've done a lot already today. The falls in Valley of the Waters were absolutely worth the climb of several hundred feet on the way out. Minnehaha Falls was also worth it and another few hundred feet on the way out. Oh, the pains I accept to have fun! So when Hawk proposed a third waterfalls hike for today I made sure that it really was a drive-to viewpoint, not an "It's a short hike" thing that turns into two miles and hundreds of feet of ascent. Thus it was that we drove further west to the town of Blackheath, NSW and then a few miles north through town to Govett's Leap.
Yes, this really is a drive-to viewpoint. Though like several drive-to spots we've visited the past few days, you can see from the top that you could see a lot more if you did a bit of hiking. I mean, the view across the canyon is great, as you can see in the panoramic photo above. And you can see Govett's Leap (a sign helpfully explains that leap is a Scottish word for waterfall) over to the right. It's very tall!
How tall is Govett's Leap (Waterfall)? As I've noted before, Australian parks are terrible about measuring things in the third dimension. It's not on any signs, kiosks, or trail indicators. It's not even on their website. Wikipedia says it's 180 meters (591 feet) tall.
The view of the falls from here is partially occluded. Like I said above, there are trails to different lookout points that would give better views. But they involve way more descent & ascent than my legs are good for at this point. I'm willing to suffer to have fun 🥲 but there's a limit.
