How did I not know about this track, after living for a year in Thames?
In the search for a mystery waterfall, I discovered Rocky’s Walk.
Rocky’s walk is found on Victoria Road in Tararu, just five minutes drive from central Thames, with two possible entry points, making it an ideal circuit walk.
The stated track time is three hours, but I think this is generous considering I completed this in half the time.
I started the walk from an entry point 1km up Victoria Road, where there was ample parking space for cars.
The walk from this point, initially follows a stunning narrow fern-lined gully (Tinker’s Gully), dotted with mine shaft entrances and small waterfalls. It is an attractive start to the track and continues along with a moderate uphill trend until the track takes an abrupt steep uphill deviation away from the stream.
Beautiful waterfalls dot the track upstream.
The up-hill slog takes the track to a ridge with expansive view-points over the Firth of Thames.
Views across the Firth of Thames
It is a welcome rest on the legs after hand-over-feet climbing up to this ridge, with a change of flora to open pine forest and soft red needles underfoot. Glimpses of roof-tops in Tararu start to appear once the descent through this forest commences.
The descent through pine forest to Dickinson’s Camping Ground carpark.
Dickinson’s campground is at the start of Victoria Road.
There is a purpose-built carpark for the Rocky’s Walk track and people usually do the track in an anti-clockwise direction. Having gone up the leg-aching steep climb to get to the ridge, I was thinking to myself I would rather have gone clock-wise than anti. Once I started the descent to the exit point, I changed my mind - it was equally as steep this way as well. Either direction is going to be a suffer-fest for a while; a good suffer-fest. My exit through the campground meant I had to walk for approx 20 minutes up the gravelled Victoria Road to where I had started the loop.
Track in red; add on the gravel road to make a complete loop.