Conquering power of nature (Part 1)

Wentworth Falls is about an hour and a half drive from Sydney (Parramatta). It is also home to one of the biggest, most awe-inspiring, photogenic waterfalls you will ever see. It is a 3 stage waterfall where 3 smaller (still huge) waterfalls combine one after the other.

To get to the very bottom, you have to descend approximately 600m, with the trek beginning at the Charles Dawin Nature Track which is about 2km. Near the end of the trail is a track called the "weeping rocks circuit" (will post these photos tomorrow). If you keep walking for another 5 minutes, you'll find yourself standing at the top of said waterfall (stage 1). On either side of this are plenty of lookouts called "Fletcher's lookout" and "Rocket point lookout" to name a few.

This is a 12 photo panorama from Fletcher's Point lookout, taken with the EOS 50D and EF 24-105 F4L lens. From here we began our descent in our quest to get to the bottom. Along the way there were a few photo opportunities that I had with my Lumix LX-3, it was very handy to have around for quick snapshots, portraits and group shots.

These are a few of the photos done with the LX-3, and you can see the colour and contrast came out quite well despite the harsh lighting conditions in these valleys. When the trek first started we thought the conditions were pretty rough, it was slippery, muddy, wet, tiring ... had a couple of falls along the way and shoes were soaked from walking through shallow creeks. But the trail from here on made the beginning look like child's play ... seriously. To give you an idea, it looked like something straight out of "Man vs Wild" (great show by the way, learn a lot of survival tips).

Since most hikers and photographers end their journey at this point, I'll end part 1 of this post here as well. Keep an eye out for part 2 :)

p.s. If you do decide to embark on this journey, you need to be determined to atleast make it to the lookout, which is the end of the Charles Darwin Nature Trail ... the view is exhilirating and definitely well worth it.