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The waterfall at Morialta
We are still dry in SA but there was some water flowing over the falls at Morialta. To view as a slide show select to view the Full image, and then use Next>> to scroll through images. Introduction
On this walk, we had the pleasure of our friend Max's company. For his first bush walk, we chose Morialta Conservation Park as it is stunning, fun and not too difficult.
How to get there …
Morialta is located east of the city of Adelaide. I usually go down North Terrace, then Magill Road, and turn left on to St Bernard's road. About a kilometre or two along there is the right hand turn off to Moulles Road, that runs along the edge of Norwood Morialta High. You travel up this road until you get to a T-junction (in front of Rostrevor school) and then turn left and continue until you get to another T-junction and then turn right. A short way along this road, it turns sharp left and at this point there is a turnoff to the right to go into the park.
You can park in a car park near the entrance for free, but we often drive up to the area where the main walks commence, for a fee of five dollars. There are toilets, shelter, and an emergency phone at this point, as well as a great tree for kids to climb.
Reading the signs
The first falls valley walk is a flat walk along a solid path to the base of the falls. It has several signs along the way to help visitors learn more about the flora, fauna and geology of Morialta. You may also want to look at this
web site about the park which has lots of information about the park's flora, fauna and geology. Morialta even gets an entry in
Wikipedia.
What happened …
We had a lovely mild winter's day for this walk. We started along the valley walk, reading the information signs along the way before heading up the stairs to the Giant's cave. The boys had fun exploring the nooks and crannies of this large cavern (once assured that the giant was definitely not in) and were very excited with their find of the exoskeleton of a spider tucked up high in a deep, dark corner. We continued climbing up the staircase, and then up a dirt track, to get fabulous views to the sea in the west and the rocky outcrops of the park itself. Once the path turns east, you can heave a sigh of relief as the hard climbing is essentially over for the day. The path now continues around the gully, about half-way up the hill side, and then descending back into the valley.
fruit break here. We then headed for the falls. As you approach the noise from the falls intensifies. You will come
Giant gum
Along the valley walk was this beautiful specimen - the boys found lots of critters hidden in and around the bark. Nearby trees also contained sleepy koalas. to a fork in the road. You can take either path to get to the falls, with the lower being the more direct. We took the upper path with a bridge crossing and worked our way down to the top of the first falls where we stopped for lunch. Numerous experiments in fluid dynamics were conducted over lunch with leaf boats, currents, rocks and waterfalls (plenty to keep the boys very happy). There was a lookout at the top of the first falls that reminds you how high you really are. Then it was around to the Eagle lookout, before the steep descent back into the valley and return to the car.
We saw some flowering plants along the track such as flame heath and a strange 5 petal white star, but the sheoaks were the most prominent, turning a burnt orange in colour with their flowers. There were plenty of birds with kookaburra, rosella, rainbow lorikeets, finches, and superb blue wrens. We were also able to find sleepy koalas in the gums along the valley.
All in all - a lovely and very scenic walk that can be enjoyed by many.
Dan says ...
Hi readers,
Just when you thought that we only did hard and tough walks - this week we chose the simple, easy Morialta. It really is one of my favourites as there is so many cool play things there.
Now, if you now want to try bush walking and get your face on travelblog, here is some news - you can find me, or give me a ring to join us. The very first one was a friend called Max. He decided to try walking after seeing the Mannum blog. After the walk we went over to his house and played a trick on my Dad.
This week's joke ..
Q: What first walks on four legs, then two legs and finally three legs?
A: A man (crawl, walk and using a walking stick)
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Jane
non-member comment
terrific time!
Thankyou Peter, Diana and Dan for including Max in your bush walk. He was full of stories later that night, particularly regarding the cave. He also had great delight in telling me I wouldn't have been able to go on the bush walk as i wouldn't have coped with the heights! He was very proud of his achievement.