A short while ago, we decided to venture out into the far north east to a fantastic trail just outside Cullinan. After taking a wrong turn or two, and exploring the many dirt roads the route there had to offer, we eventually arrived at our destination: Frog's Day Trail. From the pamphlet we received, there seemed to be loads and loads to look forward to, including a waterfall, caves and some great views.
The owner of the farm, Rolf, gave us a colourful explanation of the trail - "And then you will see a sign. You IGNORE it, and you go ... LEFT" - and we head off. The start of the trail runs along a small stream, leading into a wide and open valley. With the mountains in the distance, the valley is truly magnificent.
We reached the end of the valley and head up a decent incline. The landscape is very rocky, and comes out on top of a rock formation that is over 250 million years old with a fantastic view. One thing we all noticed on the hike was the absolute silence around, you definitely feel you've travelled far outside of any urban environment.
We finished the ascent and followed the sound of a waterfall. As we were making our descent on the other side, we got better glimpses of the great waterfall in front of us flowing into a lake. The trail at this point was very technical, my favourite type. As we reached the bottom we enjoyed the fantastic sights and sounds that only waterfalls bring.
We continued up along the river, eventually (randomly) ending up inside a resort. We saw the classic "ice cream sold here" blue banner and quickly grabbed some treats. A short break later and we were heading back down over the waterfall and descending into a valley. On our way down to the valley, we walked in between 3 meter plus rocks, seemingly cut, which ended in a cave. There were rumours of bats being in this cave, but (un)luckily we didn't see any.
As we walked through the valley, surrounded on either side by mountain and a river to our left, we began to realise how beautiful this trail really was.
As we crossed the river and found the right route, we came across a "side track" leading a very steep path up to another view point. Andrew and myself decided to get the blood pumping a bit and motored our way up there. As we reached the top, our hearts nearly jumped out of our chests but with some deep breaths we were good to go. As we climbed across the flat of the peak, we had a spectacular view.
After enjoying our reward for a bit, we made our way back down the final stretch. The last section is really easy, with a gradual decline for the most part, and easy terrain. This trail really is fantastic, and well worth the drive. I highly recommend taking a look and making it happen, you can book through Jacana. Also, I think this trail would make for an amazing trail race.
