Trentham Falls.

A few months ago whilst looking for things to do these summer holidays, I came across a town called Trentham that is reknowned for the large single-drop waterfall just outside of the town centre. Since then I'd been wanting to take a day trip to visit it, but it was just a matter of organising a date where my friends were available to go and where the weather was nice. I managed to get ten of my friends together last week to make the 90 minute trip to Trentham, and with a forecast of 22 degrees and sunshine, we set out for the day.

I was a little disappointed that we wouldn't be passing through the nearby State Forest in a bid to avoid the roadtoll, and the heavy blanket of grey clouds we witnessed during the journey meant my mum's words of advice continuously ran through my head - "perhaps you should take a pair of jeans with you?". Nevertheless, the excitement of reaching our destination (as well as the reassuring warmth of the heater in Neal's car) allowed me to push those doubts from my mind.

When we finally reached the falls, the weather began to pick up and the sound of the water rushing nearby was thrilling. Our anticipation was short-lived when we came to the realisation that the falls could only be accessed from the viewing platform that looked over it from above. This meant after a 100m walk from the car park, we were already as close as we could get to the falls.

I was heavily disappoined and a little embarrased that after all my meticulous planning, I hadn't researched how close you could actually get to the falls. Seeing photos of people under the falls on the internet had led me to believe the path led all the way to the water. After a minute or two of decision making, we realised that a man-made path that led off the walking track looked like it might lead to the water. Everyone but Sylvana, Neal and I were unsure about the track, so us three went ahead. Sure enough, after a five minute hike along the rocky and uneven path, we were making our way towards the bottom of the falls.

When we made it to the bottom the others could hear our shouts of triumph and rapidly made the descent to the water.

After our trip to Trentham Falls I showed a few friends the photos from the day, and they've all asked me what I thought of the landmark. It's been very difficult to put into words just how beautiful the falls and surrounding bushland are, and I fear that trying to describe it will not do it justice. The only way to understand just how wonderful Trentham Falls is to pick a nice, quiet week day and plenty of time to check it out for yourself. Our decision to go mid-week was just as important as going on a warm, sunny day, for it meant we had the entire falls to ourselves.

We spent the next three hours jumping rocks down the river, bathing in the sun and contemplating a swim in the pool beneath the falls. It was very easy to forget everything that was going on in the outside world, and I'm sure my memories of Trentham Falls will be forever embedded in my mind as a day we celebrated our youth, freedom and friends.