Ellenborough Falls

Ellenborough Falls is an impressively tall plunging waterfall decorated by the cliffs of the Ellenborough Gorge. The falls are said to be 200m though I find it funny that the sign had 200 handwritten in black marker over 160 (hmm, kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it?). Anyways, there are also claims that this is the 2nd highest single-drop waterfall in the Southern Hemisphere, but I'm not so sure about that because they're essentially discounting waterfalls with taller drops in Africa.

Regardless of encyclopedic trivial facts and their correctness, the falls is very scenic and seems to flow year round. Moreover, the way it plunges into the gorge reminds me of the way Fitzroy Falls leaps off its escarpment.

There are overlooks of the falls near its top as well as directly across the gorge. If you're up for it, there is a long trail of stairs leading to the falls' misty base, where you're probably not going to be able to photograph the whole falls without a wide angle lens. The peaceful, well-developed trails connecting all viewpoints are well signposted with information about the flora, history, and geology.

I remembered just driving to this waterfall was nontrivial because we were staying in Port Macquarie and it was probably about a 75-minute drive from there with a large chunk of the drive on tire-popping unsealed road. On the way back to Port Macquarie, we took a "shortcut" that ended up being a roughly 2.5-hour drive with a large part of it in the dark (you know, when kangaroos and other animals are out and about conspire to damage your car)! Doh!

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View from the base of the falls

The viewing platform across the gorge

Frontal view of the falls from across the gorge

Stairs leading to the base of the falls