A Trip To Cedar Creek Falls

Cedar Creek Falls is a series of interconnected waterfalls and both shallow and deep clear water pools near Samford north-west of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. The water running through Cedar Creek comes from Mount Glorious and eventually flows into the South Pine River and out into Bramble Bay. The area is secluded although there is retreat for tourists and group bookings. The waterfalls themselves are quite stunning although small compared with more famous waterfalls around the world.

When I went to take these photos the water wasn't running too fast but I still got some great shots from around the waterfalls. When I normally go out into a natural area I tend to take the most photos of plants, however here it was totally different. That's not to say there weren't interesting plants here, a couple of lovely old creek sandpaper figs full of fruit and a few native orchids caught my eye while I was walking. But what I was most drawn to was the rock formations and movement of the water around them and I directed my camera almost exclusively in their direction. It was amazing to think that the force of water flowing over the rocks for thousands of years had carved the unique geometric shapes that I was seeing around me.

Unfortunately the popular deep water pools and seclusion of the area has also meant that the falls also attract their fair share of vandalism from miscreants. There were many empty cans and smashed bottles littering the rocks and surrounding bushland, probably from groups of young people who thought it'd be a good place to have a shindig.

Of an even sadder note however was the spray-paint graffiti left on the walls of some of the hollowed-out rock grottos, theses sites would have been important sheltering spots for the indigenous people of the area and it's rather infuriating to see natural areas being so carelessly damaged in this way. It was sometimes hard to take a particular photograph of a feature without accidentally capturing graffiti in the process.

I'm not a prude, I couldn't care less about someone spray-painting the back wall of a concrete factory along a railway line, but I think this site should instantly be able to be recognised as something special and treated with a little more respect by everyone who visits it.