DORRIGO NATIONAL PARK - 23 TO 26 SEPTEMBER 2020

 

DORRIGO

23 SEPTEMBER 2020

Our first stop was Sawtell, where we caught up with long time friend Robo and his parents. We chatted and enjoyed each other’s company. Robo’s dad is 90 and still doing well.

We continued to Belligen, where we wandered the main street and had lunch. It was a very pretty town and shops decorated in an olden style.

We followed the ‘Waterfall Way’ to Dorrigo., stopping at a few roadside falls along the way. We pulled into Dorrigo Mountain Camp for the night. It was a  pretty setting surrounded by paddocks and cattle.

24 SEPTEMBER 2020

It was a cold night and morning.

We drove to the Never Never Picnic Area in Dorrigo National Park.

We followed the Rosewood track. It was quite a long and in parts steep hike through rainforest.

We started on the Tallowwood track.  Along the way, we saw a lyrebird and diverted down to a rocky creek. It was very pretty with water cascading over the rocks into a deep pool. We continued onwards and diverted on the Rosewood track. After a while we came to another track leading to the base of Red Cedar Falls. It was a steep and long walk down and back. The falls were awesome falling over a drop into a pool before continuing over and between large boulders. We sat there for awhile enjoying the solitude. It was a long steep hike back to the top. We continued onwards to the much easier accessible Coachwood Falls. The water flowed shallowly over the rocks before cascading over the edge to a rock pool below. We hiked on but now we were pretty tired and though we enjoyed it we weren’t taking much on it in.

Back at camp, we enjoyed a hot shower and a restful late afternoon.

25 SEPTEMBER 2020

A cold night.

The day was sunny and we were soon back to Dorrigo National Park. This time we did the Wonga Walk.

The hike started at the National Parks Rainforest Centre. The first stop was the Sky Lookout. This was a walkway and platform which was high above the trees we a view of the denseness of the rainforest below and beyond. We continued along the Lyrebird Link Track. No, we didn’t see any lyrebirds. The track joined onto the Wonga Walk. It was an undulating track through rainforest. There were many birds and some we managed to see up close ... nice! There were two waterfalls along the way. The Tristania Falls was a short but pretty drop which then cascaded over the rocks and continued down the gully. A suspension bridge traversed over the gully in front of the falls. The second falls was Crystal Shower Falls. This was awesome! A short side track lead behind the falls. A great experience form the inside looking out. It was like ... a crystal shower. We hiked further along the track seeing more birds and the diversity of the rainforest until we were back to the start.

Another long hike which was worth doing.

26 SEPTEMBER 2020

In the morning, we packed and drove back to Dorrigo NP. We were hoping that by getting there early we would be able to see more birds. Well, we did see a few birds and an echidna so it was worth it.