Whale Figure Eight Out Eventually

Day: 383

Towns / Cities Visited: 293

Countries Visited: 31

Steps Taken Today: 18,975

Steps Taken Around the World: 5,942,542

Allowing ourselves the luxury of a slight lie-in thanks to not having to rise at some obscene time to pack up the tent, we leisurely readied ourselves and set off on the day’s adventure. Starting with something easy, we made the drive to the the ominously named area of Darkes Forest and the trailhead for Madden Falls. That being said, the GPS did manage to overshoot it by a good few kilometres, but we got there in the end.

The walk was muddy and water-logged, but luckily it wasn’t overly long, and we made it to the lookout without too much hassle. Although shorter than the previous day’s lofty waterfalls, Madden Falls offered the far more aesthetically pleasing mix of width and split stream. Not only that, but it fell down multiple levels on its journey to the river below, tumbling off several overhangs under which sprouted vibrant green ferns and native shrubs. Every part of the scene made me want to creep behind the veil of water and enjoy the unique view granted to the plant-life hiding there. Alas, we were on a lookout entirely inaccessible for such an attempt.

Returning to the car, we decided to make a quick, unplanned stop. You see, there was a small ciderhouse just across the road, and who would we be if we didn’t patronise the local businesses. As such, we walked over and were soon perusing their offerings, coming away with a selection of ciders and a local sparkling mead also stocked there. It only took a glance to agree that half of the haul would be coming with us on our afternoon hike.

Before we set off on that adventure, however, we had one more low-key sight to tick off our list, and so we headed to the seaside town of Coalcliff. As the name would suggest, the town sits beside some fairly impressive sea cliffs that once held massive deposits of coal ruthlessly mined by the booming coal industry that dominated the region for a long period. What the name doesn’t suggest, however, is that there is an enviably scenic bridge that arcs around the sheer cliff face, allowing access over the crashing water below.