NORTH ROAD TRIP - LAWRENCE - 12 TO 14 NOVEMBER 2021

 12 to 14 NOVEMBER

We left Gibraltar Range NP and headed towards Lawrence.

Jacinta wasn’t feeling too well, so we did a covid test which was negative. Still, she wasn’t feeling well. Jacinta rested up for the next couple of days.

The following day, I had a kayak on Reedy Creek in the Everlasting Swamp NP.

The paddle was actually very short as the creek ended abruptly with a sluice and road - the map was wrong J. I landed and walked around the area. I considered portering over the road but decided I would paddle a different way next time.

Jacinta was feeling a little better so we left Lawrence for a coast trip home.

NORTH ROAD TRIP - GIBRALTAR RANGE NATIONAL PARK - 10 TO 12 NOVEMBER 2021

 10 NOVEMBER

We left Mann River Nature Reserve and continued along the Old Glen Innes Road.

The road was now bitumen as we made our way to the top of the Great Dividing Range. We joined up to the main highway and drove to Glen Innes for supplies and petrol.

Our next stop was Boundary Falls in the Gibraltar Range National Park.

We followed a track to steps which lead down to the base of the falls. The area was rainforest and dark. The waterfalls were very pretty with a deep and wide pool into which the water plummeted. The pool would be good for a swim. 

We back tracked and followed the trail to Lyrebird Falls. It was about 2 kilometres. The ending was at a fenced off viewing area with the falls on the other side of the ravine. It looked very rugged with the water cascading into unseeable bushland.

Next, we drove to at camp site at Mulligans. There was only one other person there. The site was good with firewood and table and chairs. There were a number of birds who visited throughout the afternoon and for the rest of our stay.

After lunch and resting, I had a mountain bike ride to Murrumbooee Cascades. A great ride with a lot of up and down through rainforest on a damp trail. Along the way, I saw lyrebirds. I didn’t quite make it to the end as it was getting a bit late. I backtracked and took the turn off along the Forest Walk. This was more track like with a fun downhill. Towards the bottom, I came to an abrupt halt as a huge carpet python (4m)  was slithering right across the whole of the track. I watched it for awhile and decided that going around it was not a smart option even though they a relatively harmless. I backtracked and took another turn off for Barra Nula Cascades. These were pretty and very rugged. I backtracked again and continued back to camp. The final leg of the ride was a firm and fast downhill.

Back at camp, we lit a campfire, ate dinner and watched darkness descend.

11 NOVEMBER

After a late breakfast, we did the Fern Tree Hike. 

It was a long hike of about three hours with a long steep uphill section. We crossed a bridge not far from the camp and followed the track. The track was wide and lined with a head high bush covered in purple flowers intersperse with bright red waratahs. A memorial sight especially with so many waratahs. The track then descended to the creek and we crossed two bridges. This next part was the long steep uphill. It was rainforest all the way to the top and dark. We didn’t see many birds but we heard plenty in the dense foliage. At the top the track turned to the left and the vegetation was much more open. We skirted around a high heath area and wound our way along the track. The land opened up more with bare areas of granite with small pockets of plants growing in the cracks. Across the ridge was the bridge was a cascade of water wounding its way over the open granite in a number of directions. We stopped for a short while and ate lunch while we enjoyed the view. We descended down the relatively bare rocky hill and down to Dandahra Creek. We crossed a bridge and returned to our camp. At this point, it started to rain lightly.  A great hike! The sign said 8 km but the site said 9.2 km. I think it was the latter.

Back at camp, we lit a campfire and had fun keeping it alight in the increasing rain.

12 NOVEMBER

We woke to light rain.

Eventually, the rain lighten and I went for a mountain bike ride along the track that runs beside Dandahra Creek. It was a fun easy ride of about 6km.

On return, we left Mulligans Campground for the Platypus Picnic Area. We didn’t see any platypuses but it was a pretty.

Onwards and back to Lawrence.

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NORTH ROAD TRIP - MANN RIVER NATURE RESERVE - 9 TO 10 NOVEMBER 2021

 9 NOVEMBER

After breakfast and a morning swim down the Nymboida River, we left Buccarumbi and continued along the Old Glen Innes Road.  

The road was very narrow and potholed in parts as it followed beside the Boyd River. Luckily, we didn’t meet any cars/trucks from the opposite direction. It was very pretty with views up the valley with the river as the centre piece of the vista.

Along the way, we stopped at Dalmorton to check out the abandoned town and camp area. The camp area was a bit soggy and there were a couple of old buildings in the old township mainly from the 1900’s. The older buildings were gone and there was little trace of them. 

The road eventually went through a human hewn rock tunnel. It was about it wasn’t very long but it was exciting to drive through.

Our final stop was Mann River Nature Reserve. There was a new camp area (the previous was destroyed by fires) about a hundred metres from the Mann River. We set up camp and wandered down to the river, found a shade spot on a river beach and spent our time enjoying the sounds of the water bubbling over the rocks and dipping ourselves in the cool water. It was a very hot day!

Later in the afternoon, I had a walk up the river but I couldn’t go too far as the vegetation was too thick. Returning back to camp, we set up a campfire, ate dinner, watched the approach of the kangaroos and enjoyed the closing of a very warm day.

10 NOVEMBER     

In the morning there were kangaroos around us but they were still shy and kept their distance. At the river, I had a swim which was very invigoratingly cold. Haha.

Later in the morning, we left camp to continue our journey.

NORTH ROAD TRIP - BUCCARUMBI - 7 TO 9 NOVEMBER 2021

We left Lawrence and stopped at Grafton for food and petrol.

Our journey took us along the Old Glen Innes Road. It started as a bitumen road but changed to dirt. It remained dirt/gravel most of the way with bitumen in small sections. We drove at a leisurely pace enjoying the farm and bush scenery.

We crossed the new bridge over the Nymboida River at Buccarumbi and set up a free camp.  We were on a hillside overlooking the river between stands of casuarinas. The river flowed under the bridge and cascaded through the remains of the old bridge and into the wilds.

The swimming was good – walking down a track to the river bank, slipping into the cool water and lazily drifting with the current towards the bridge.

The area was surrounded by farms or difficult to walk through vegetation. There were a number of tracks leading around to the Boyd River but not quite. Overall, it seemed a bit snaky.

I had two kayaks.

The first was up the Nymboida River. There were a few rapids which I portered around. The return journey was fun – down the rapids (grade2), manoeuvring around rocky areas, passing clumps of tall spindly reeds and drifting with the current.

The second kayak was up the Boyd River. The junction with the Nymboida River was piled high and wide with river pebbles. There were some small birds that blended in with the greyish rock. I did a lot of portering as the water was shallow. The scenery was wild and stark. The trees were still recovering from the bushfires of two years ago. The return was great – drifting, shallow rapids and lots of rock obstacles.

The weather was generally sunny but we did have a lot of off and on showers especially, in the late afternoon and night.

In the afternoon, we lit a campfire and sat around it eating dinner, having a couple of drinks and watching the day come to a close.