6th Jan - Ellenborough Falls and Wingham Rodeo


With a 1 ½ hour drive to the falls, we found the last 20km to be a windy road gravel road, the signage advised it was ‘not suitable for caravans’ so good job ‘Kayos’ wasn’t hooked on the back. We arrived to the defining sound of those lovely cicadas, the view in the valley was stunning, and it sure looked a long way down so armed with a towel and some water we commenced the 641 winding wooden step decent to the bottom of the falls. Once at the bottom it was very pretty, a single drop waterfall with the sun shining thru and a little bit of wind blowing the water spray made for a great photo opportunity. The wooden steps were constructed by just 5 men thru dense forest without disturbing the surrounding area, no easy feat.. Of course you can’t walk all the way down there without having a dip, so we all got in. It was a very cool fresh feeling that was rather  than freezing cold. Next was the climb back up, does the phrase “are we there yet’ come to mind? well it did for a moment, then the next we were there, Not as bad as we thought!

After a spot of lunch we headed back along the winding road 38 kms to the Wingham showgrounds for the rodeo. This was after we went and bought some iceypoles at the supermarket as it was 37 degrees and only 2pm. What were we thinking! We found our way to the arena and found a spot with our chairs under the shade of a tree and settled in. The main events started at 6pm but we were told to catch the earlier events and get set up from about 2ish. Chris knew one of his work colleges ‘Jillian’ had a son who competed in rodeo’s. We were lucky enough to meet them there and catch up with some of the inside gossip on how it all worked. Between the events we headed over to checkout their setup and enjoyed the afternoon / evening entertainment. It was a real hoot watching the Bull riding, lassoing and whatever else Cowboys doo in their spare time! The ages ranged from little kids 11 through to 50 plus, it was crazy. We even got to see one of the rodeo clowns (as they call the people who help distract the bull), being launched into the air by a bull ( no clowns were injured in the making of the rodeo). It’s just one of those events you have to go to,the boys enjoyed the independence, walking around the event checking out the food and entertainment.














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