Have you ever come across anything dangerous in Australia besides animal? Snake is common. It’s not dangerous as long as you don’t mess with it. What about a plant? Well, yes! Australia, particularly Queensland, has a dangerous plant. I know there are many plants that we should be aware of. But I thought I’d only find them in the deep forest, not in a touristic place. Okay, so how’s the story? Here you go.
In March last year, I went to see a waterfall in Wooroonooran – Nandroya Falls. As always, before visiting a place for the very first time, I spent some time to read the reviews about it. I do this when I’m about to hike or have a walk in a natural trail. I need to know how the trail is and what kind of outfit will fit best. Besides, reading about people’s experiences are exciting! There are always different opinions about something. Some feel happy, some aren’t satisfied.
When I was reading the reviews about Nandroya Falls, most of the people wrote about this plant named stinging tree. It’s known as Gympie-Gympie – one of the world’s most venomous plants. It can easily be found around the trail I was about to walk through. I almost backed up. But I was also curious. Thank God I happened to read the reviews first! So I could prevent any physical touch with that plant.
I want to describe the effects of stinging tree but I reckon this website can describe it better:
Another thing I should be aware of was leech. People said there are heaps in that area. Maybe leeches are nothing for you. But for me, it’s a very big deal. I never want to have anything to do with it! Yes, I love hiking, going into forests, and sort of, but you can say I’m a bit of a coward when it comes to something like that. Snakes are okay. I just can’t bear anything like worms! Leech is worm’s friend. So, a big no it is! That’s why I prepared myself by bringing insect repellent spray. Trust me. I held it along the way to the falls and back to the parking lot.
Here came the day! I drove to Wooroonooran with my husband. It’s always a nice drive in the outbacks. The traffic is good, the scenery is captivating, the road is as straight as an ironed cloth. No wonder a lot of people love to have a road trip in Australia.
After more than an hour drive, I arrived. There were some cars at the parking lot. There are toilets as well there. I heard some noises. It turned out, there were some people who were swimming in the river near the parking lot. About 100 meters, there’s a natural pool. I then figured out that it is Henrietta Creek. For family with kids, it’s perfect. Because Nandroya Falls is a bit far to bring the kids along.
From the parking lot, I started walking. I crossed a small bridge that connected the parking lot to the trail. Then I was welcomed by 4 small signages.
After reading all of the signages briefly, I began walking. It was very quiet. Yet, the sound of the Mother Earth was so loud, I could hear it so clearly.
The distance from the starting point is not far to the falls but it felt a bit far because the track was quite challenging. The ground surface was a bit wet as well. Lucky it wasn’t muddy, so my shoes were still okay. The stream that needed to be crossed made the walking became more exciting!
In the middle of the track, there was an intersection. I was given 2 choices. To Nandroya Falls with a longer distance or shorter distance. I wanted to take the longer one, but my husband chose the shorter one. I wanted to protest at first but since it’s quiet and nobody was there but us, so I agreed. But then, when we were about to walk a step, there’s a couple coming and they chose the longer distance. I still took the shorter one, though. I remembered the leeches. The longer I walk, the more chances they’d find me!
The track became muddier. There were some falling trees that hindered our way. But it was still passable.
Some time later, I saw a small waterfall – Silver Falls. It was cute!
After stopping for a while, I continued walking. Not far from there, I found a signage of Nandroya Falls. It didn’t stand like the other signages. It was asleep peacefully on the ground. I reckon wind made it like that.
To get to the falls, I needed to go down. And there they were – the stinging trees on the right and left! To be honest, I wasn’t really sure if they’re the stinging trees, but at least they looked like it and I didn’t want to take the risk. So I walked down very slowly. It was quite challenging because the ground was slippery.
At the time I was confused because the falls looked different from the photos I saw on Google. And yeah, it turned out I got the wrong falls. I don’t know what falls it was. It was pretty but there’s no space to hang around.
Nandroya Falls was right above the anonymous falls I thought was Nandroya Falls. The water flowed so heavily I could feel it from a hundred meter. The sound was so noisy I needed to speak loudly. But that was okay! The falls was so beautiful! I stopped there and opened my lunch box and ate it. Nothing is more delicious than eating noodles in a place like this!
FYI, it’s safe to swim here (at least Google says so). But when I was there, nobody swam. There were a couple who were already in the swimming outfit. The guy was half naked and brought a towel on his shoulders. But They just stood in front of the falls for a while and headed back. Well, no wonder they didn’t swim in the end because the water fell so fast, it made the current underneath not ideal for swimming.
After staying for almost 30 minutes, I decided to get back. It got colder due to the falling water that kind of brought watery breeze. I didn’t bring any sweater or jacket, so to prevent getting a cold, I chose to leave the place. It was a nice visit!
