LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY > HOBART REGION AND THE WELLINGTON RANGE – TASMANIA > Secret Falls (Hobart)
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Wellington Park contains a large network of walking tracks and fire trails that not only provide access to Kunanyi / Mt. Wellington but also to other mountains, such as Collins Bonnet and Collins Cap. My personal favourite mountain in the Wellington Range is Collins Bonnet because it provides spectacular views of the Huon Valley, the Derwent Valley, Cathedral Rock and the surrounding mountains.
According to local tradition in Hobart, anyone who knows where Secret Falls is is supposed to keep it a secret. So in keeping with the tradition, I won’t tell you. However, if you really want to know where it is, ask Google and it will give you the GPS coordinates.
Photographer’s Reflection:
“If you make the Most High your dwelling–even the LORD, who is my refuge–then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” (Psalm 91:9-12)
It was our “Mommy and Baby Day”, as we affectionately call it (even though my baby is four years old now, the name has stuck). On our special day together, Mommy usually plans a “Mystery Surprise” for Baby. Today the Mystery Surprise was to find “Secret Falls”.
Armed with a few clues, Amariah and I made our way up the track and quite anti-climactically found it straightaway. It hadn’t rained much during the month prior, so this enabled us to walk right up to Secret Falls. I brought my camera and shot some photos while my baby mountain goat played happily in the gully.
Just as I was packing my camera away Amariah decided to climb back up the track which traversed the steep, muddy embankment, which was about a 2.5 m (8′) drop. She’s quite an agile little bushwalker, so I wasn’t really concerned until she decided she wanted a better view of the gully and began to move off the track towards the very edge of the muddy embankment. Just as I began to shout, “Amariah, no!” She had already slipped in the mud and was falling, or rather–flying–head first into the gully.
In that split second, my frantic mother’s heart cried out, “Amariah!!!” She landed head first in the bottom of the gully about 5m (16′) away from me and somersaulted into a large pile of leaves that had been washed down by the rivulet. It was the worst fall I had ever seen her take. As it was happening I feared she may have broken her neck or some bones or maybe even sustained internal injuries.
I tore off my camera from around my neck and bolted for her even though, out of adrenalin she had already sprung to her feet and was running toward me. ‘Oh, praise God!!’ I thought, ‘She isn’t paralyzed and hasn’t broken her legs!’
I scooped her up in my arms and did an immediate medical assessment. I was absolutely dumbfounded! It was a complete miracle! She had no pain in her neck, no concussion, no breaks or dislocations, no scratches, no bruises, no blood, and she stopped crying in about 30 seconds, which is less than when I told her what pair of socks she had to wear that morning.
She told me that the top of her head hurt, but that quickly went away, amazingly without even a bump to ice. The mud and the pile of leaves had cushioned her landing, but truly and honestly, I think God’s angels must have protected her in their arms. It was honestly, honestly a miracle that she didn’t even have a scratch on her. Thank you, God!!!
That morning we had prayed for God’s health and safety over our day. He had truly heard our prayer and answered it! It strongly reminded me of the Scripture in Psalm 91:9-12:
“If you make the Most High your dwelling–even the LORD, who is my refuge–then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” (Psalm 91:9-12)
Though by this time I had given myself the “Bad Mother of The Year Award” and was still quite shaken, my baby very quickly forgot what had just happened. She hopped and skipped and sang praise songs all the way back to the car. She loved “Secret Falls” and wants to go back…
…and I am so exceedingly thankful to God that she will be able to walk with me there again.