This week has been wet in Sydney and Roy was disappointed that it had rained so much during the holidays. After all, Spring is perfect for getting out and about outside, but rain rather puts a dampener on most activities, especially when you have a bit of a water phobia! So, I decided to cheer him up by taking him somewhere which is really spectacular after (and during) rain - Somersby Falls near Gosford.
Somersby Falls has a long history of use by both Aboriginal and European people. There is ample evidence of Aboriginal occupation around the falls themselves with grinding grooves being scattered over the rock plateaus. These grinding grooves would have been used to make and sharpen tools, and often water would have been involved in the process, so the falls was a perfect location. Other grooves may have been used to grind wattleseed to make a type of bread. After European occupation it seems that the falls were maintained as a beautiful place to visit and in the early 20th century, postcards of the falls suggest they were a popular picnic spot.
Although waterfalls can be found all over the world, and are really quite common features of rivers, they can vary greatly and there are actually a number of different types. Roy loves them, despite his fear of water, and has already visited another waterfall, the Minnamurra Falls. You can read about his visit here. The two main types are cascades and cataract falls. Cascades are the most common, and some waterfalls are actually named 'cascades', like the Leura Cascades in the Blue Mountains. Somersby Falls is a cascade, which has lots of irregular surfaces and different levels. It is spectacular, but often there isn't a lot of water, another common feature of cascade type waterfalls - that's why it is best to visit after rain. The more rain we have had, the more spectacular the falls will be.
Other waterfalls are called cataract falls and they usually have a lot more power and water, and often there are rapids in the river as well. Waterfalls are then further broken up into categories, from the plunge waterfall which simply 'plunges' over a cliff and doesn't hit any rock on its way down, to the punch waterfall, which is part of a big river with lots of water, but only has a narrow opening for the water to fall through. Here, the water is so powerful that it looks like it has punched through. One of the most spectacular types of waterfall is the sheet or block waterfall, which is often not very high, but is very wide. One of the most famous of these waterfalls is Niagara Falls which separates America and Canada. If you would like to learn more about waterfalls, click here.