Waterfalls of NSW

In this post, we turn our sights to the Waterfalls of NSW. If you have read my previous waterfall posts, Waterfalls of Victoria and Waterfalls of Queensland, you have probably figured out I’m rather partial to waterfalls 🙂 On a recent trip to the Blue Mountains, I rambled around with a friend, uphill and down some very deep dales, to add a few more to my list. 

Katoomba Cascades

Katoomba Cascades is a lovely, super pretty waterfall about 5 mins walk from the car park. It’s not to be confused with Katoomba Falls, a hard, grade 4 track. The cascades are in a pleasant little glade, surrounded two sides by trees, with a pond at the front and big stepping-stones across the pond so you can shoot from the front or either side. You can continue to the Kedumba River lookout if you like, but I was just interested in the cascades and went no further 😉

Katoomba Cascades 16 sec, F/11, ISO 100, ND64. 

The sun rises over the top of the falls, so if shooting on a sunny day, it’s best to shoot either early morning or late in the day when it’s behind you. As I wanted long exposure for the silky water, but it was pretty shady below the cliff edges, I decided to bracket my shots. This also helped bring the colours out in the rocks. The above are three images shot two stops apart and merged in Photomatix.

Empress Falls
Queen Victoria Lookout

Unlike Katoomba Cascades, Empress Falls is NOT an easy walk. It’s a Gr 4 track under the Australian Walking Track Grading System, which is “Bushwalking experience recommended. Tracks may be long, rough, and very steep. Directional signage may be limited” I can vouch for it being very steep. And rough. Getting down was a series of wooden steps, metal stairs, dirt tracks, and stone steps, including stepping-stones across flowing water, all while carrying a tripod and 9kg of camera gear on my back! It’s only 1.1km, but it’s downhill all the way. We went from the cliff tops to below the tree line in this photo. If I ever talk about doing a grade 4 again, commit me. Stat.

Empress Falls: 16 sec, F/11, ISO 100, ND64, three shots Bracketed

The falls tumble through the canyon walls to a pool at your feet on arriving at the bottom. You are on a large stone plateau with a pool between you and the falls. Large moss-covered rocks and the obligatory log (ever noticed how there is one at EVERY waterfall? it’s like parks decor 101. Put a log in front of the waterfall)

Empress Falls: 32 sec, F/, ISO 100, ND64, three shots bracketed

The large, reasonably flattish rock surface makes it possible to shoot from several angles. Even with the difficulty of the walk, it’s a busy place, with lots of people stopping by for a photo before continuing (there are two more falls on the track). So we didn’t go any further. I wasn’t sure how long or even how I would get back up, so when we were done, we retraced our steps. Getting down took me about 20 mins. Getting back up was just over an hour.

Upper Leaura Cascades
Upper Leaura Falls: 6 Sec F/11, ISO 1000, ND64, three shots bracketed

After our suicidal walk the day before to Empress Falls, and with muscles still complaining the next day, we opted for a more accessible waterfall.  The upper Leaura Cascades.  Like Katoomba Cascades, they are only a few minute’s walk and half a dozen steps from the car park and adjacent pretty picnic area with man-made caves and arches.   While not a large waterfall, it is quite lovely in a little tree-fern ringed pocket. There is a small viewing area to the side, but it’s reasonably easy to get down and in front of it.

Upper Leaura Falls: 6 Sec F/11, ISO 1000, ND64, three shots bracketed
Lower Leaura Falls

Once you are done with the upper falls, head back to the car park and to your right, under the arch, past the information sign and then down the steps. You’ll come to a small stone bridge with a view of the falls about 120m down. Keep coming for another couple of minutes, cross the footbridge and the falls and viewing platform are to your right.

Lower Leaura Falls: 29mm, F/7, ISO 100, single frame

The viewing platform is in front of a large rock overhang, and there are plenty of rocks to put your camera bag on rather than in the dirt. It’s wet there, though; either put your rain cover on the pack or bring a plastic bag to sit your camera bag on.

Lower Leaura Falls: 80mm, 4 sec, F/11, Iso 100, ND64, three bracketed shots

We were there mid-morning, and the sun was hitting the falls as it came through the trees. Not really ideal with the falls strongly backlit. I want to reshoot them, but next time, much earlier or later in the day.

Fletchers Lookout over Jamieson Valley
Wentworth falls, Wentworth

The walk to Weeping Rock starts at the Wentworth Falls Picnic area. There are plenty of car parking spots, but it’s VERY popular, and the car park usually fills quickly, and people resort to parking in the surrounding streets. The walk itself goes past Fletchers Lookout with amazing views of the valley, then past Wentworth Falls Lookout before heading downhill to Weeping Rock and Wentworth Falls.  

Wentworth Falls from Lookout
Weeping Rock, Wentworth

The path to the lookout is listed as a Grade 3 and 1.4km return. Grade 3 is considered a moderate track suitable for all ages with short, steep sections. For real people who don’t go to the gym several times a week, it’s my version of hard. Besides me, quite a few people were stopping to catch their breath on the way back. Kids did it standing on their heads. Mature age people, not so much.

When we got down to Wentworth Falls, a zillion people were doing selfies, sitting in the pool, and climbing over rocks. It was crowded! So many people I didn’t even bother trying to get a shot. We left Wentworth, turned back a little, and took the track off to the right on the way back to Weeping Rock. It’s only a very short track off to the side, and it was gloriously empty of hordes of people.

Weeping Rock: 33mm, 16 sec, F/16, ISO 100, ND64, three shots, bracketed.

The steps bring you down to the front as you approach the waterfall. There is no designated viewing area, and you can walk around in front of it. The water comes over the top, flowing down into the pools in front and off to the right. Then over the cliff to link up with Wentworth Falls. The cliff edge is NOT fenced, so stay well away from it. If you only go from the start of the track to Weeping Rock and forget about Wentworth Falls (the view at the top is pretty forgettable), then it’s on a 950m return trip.

Lovely Weeping Rock 31mm, 16 sec, F/16, ISO 100, ND64, three shots, bracketed.
Note: 

My ND filter of choice is Zomei. I know there is a lot of debate around the brands. Some people swear by Lee, others by Nisi, some by Cokin. Both the Lee and Nisi are well out of my price range, but cheap ND filters are worthless. They give off unwanted magenta or brown colour casts that you CANNOT remove in post-processing. While the Zomei optical glass filters aren’t ‘cheap’, they are about 75% cheaper than Lee or Nisi. My ND10 and ND64 were both around $80 each and worth every cent. As you can see from the images above, there is no loss of clarity or colour cast.

if you enjoyed Waterfalls of NSW, check out Waterfalls of Qld.

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