I missed the nature so much! I missed hiking. I missed walking with the trees surrounding me. I’m using the past tense but my feeling is present tense. So should I just say ‘I miss hiking so much!’? I miss hiking in Indonesia to be honest. There are a lot of mountains to hike that are safe. Australia doesn’t have that kind of place. The highest mountain here is Mount Kosciuszko in New South Wales which is only 2,228 meters.
But truthfully, even if I had the chance to hike Mount Kosciuszko, I wouldn’t dare to. It must be quiet with just a few people on the mountain. In Indonesia, there are hundreds of people who hike at the same time. So it always feels safe.
Alright. Because I missed it so bad, I tried to look for a place that can heal me. The place I found was Sherbrook Falls. The good thing was that it’s not too far away from my place. It’s nearly 50 km with an hour and 5 minutes mileage. Not bad, right? Usually I have to go beyond 50 km to find a good place.
Again. The maps got me confused. I pointed it to go to Sherbrook Falls but there’s no clear signs of Sherbrook Falls. I was like, okay, if I don’t find that falls, I’ll go wherever the maps directs me to. I reached a dead end for vehicles and entered a parking lot. It’s not to wide but enough for perhaps 50 cars. There are toilets and picnic ground. The board there showed that I was in Dandenong Ranges National Park. No sign of Sherbrook Falls at all.
But that’s okay. We’re here and there’s no going back. After Aldi went to the toilet, we ate the meals we brought from home for lunch – always fill up the energy before a trekking. It was freaking cold, though. The wind was so strong and we’re in an open space without anything breaking the blow. So I asked Aldi, my husband, to rush.
We then walked towards a gate. We’re not sure if it’s the right way, but at least we saw people coming in and out of it.
After walking for several metres, I saw a sign board that showed that we’re on the right path. It’s truly the way to Sherbrook Falls.
The sign boards could be found easily but somehow it made me confused. It’s like there were a lot of paths and I wasn’t sure of which to take. But I tried to focus on the way to the falls. It was a good day for a walk! The sun shone bright, giving the forest a fairytale-like illumination.
In the middle of the way, I found a small memorial. It’s actually a small bench but there were a silvery plate and a bouquet on it. I took a photo of it because I thought it’s kind of cute. The bouquet was still fresh. I didn’t pay attention to the details. But when I was about to finish walking to the end of the path, I realised there’s something odd about it. I was there on 29th May 2024 and the person passed away on the exact same date in 1999. No wonder the bouquet was still fresh! There must had been someone who came and put it there that day. The fact that there’s someone who passed away exactly on the same date as my visit gave me chills!
I walked to the end of the path and found no waterfall at all. The only thing I found was only another road. There were some cars parking there. At the time I felt like, oh this is it? I walked for more than 2 km only to end up at another parking lot? I got no choice than to turn back. That’s when I realise that I actually missed the falls sign. It’s exactly in front of the memorial. I was too drawn by the memorial so I didn’t notice the stairs that lead to Sherbrook Falls.
Before I show you the falls, I want to tell you that I was so scared walking there. It was very windy and I could hear the trees creaking. I had to stop for several times to make sure that no tree was going to fall. It made me even more scared to know that there’s a falling tree accident took someone’s life. Despite the spookiness, I still like the vibes though. If only it wasn’t that windy.
Finally I arrived at the falls. But it was not something I expected. It didn’t look like a waterfall. It’s just like a creek. I don’t know why. Probably because it hadn’t rained for several days or it’s just how it is?
After seeing it, I headed back to the car. On the way back, I noticed that the trees size was massive! Such a wonder to have big trees near the city. In my country, Indonesia, finding a medium tree close to the city is the wonder.
The trip was fun! Even though there’s no big falls, at least it boosted my mood.
