Mitchell Falls - the walk in

Today was brilliant and tragic at the same time. After I wrote the blog yesterday we went to book a chopper flight out from the falls back to the campsite because if it was going to take the 4 odd hours to walk in there, the kids would have been too much. When we arrived they turned us away because there had been a tragedy on the falls. A lady in her mid thirties from Victoria on a tour bus got too close to the cliff face and fell over, she was killed. The helicopter business had to assist retrieving the body so we had to come back this morning to see if they could do us a flight. Luckily they could and we were able to walk in/fly out, albeit a little shaken up by the bad news from yesterday.

Once again, the tough walk in is a myth, in reality we could have walked back but they ham it up before you go so they can snavel the revenue for the chopper rides. We think it’s the easiest walk we have had so far. In saying that the boys loved the flight back to camp so its good that we did it, and it really gave a great perspective of it from the air after seeing and feeling it close up – the falls are bloody amazing. We were able to spend 2-3 hrs up there - swim, have lunch, walk across all of the rocks with the kids, and just admire what is a very remote, beautiful place. There was even an old bloke who decided this is too nice not to get my 70 year old bits out and go for a skinny dip in the cold water….that was a sight for sore eyes I can tell you. We did spare some thoughts for the lady that lost her life, and we had a pretty good idea where she might have gone over, but we tried not to let it worry us too much, it is only the second death in 15 years so its not like it happens all the time. Unfortunately she just got too close because she wanted that perfect photo.

The guys from Newcastle are great, as are the kids, a fire last night and again tonight, lots of stars and all that sort of fun stuff. Mitchell falls was magical, worth the drive, and the patience to get here. Stick it on your list. It is 400klms return from Drysdale Station, so no picnic, but not to be missed.

Jase…………..