Farewell to NSW

We loved out visit to NSW and the northern section was just as pretty as the southern coast. We stayed at lovely beachside bays called Lauriton, Hat Head, and Evans Head where large rivers flowed into the sea leaving lagoons, estuaries, sand banks and idyllic beaches. The “Heads” were large hills jutting out to sea at the river mouth, forming protection the beaches and scenic backdrops. We had lovely camps sites virtually on the river or beaches, and the weather was perfect. This was our opportunity to test the fishing of the region, so each evening we would set out with our rods and bait and spend some pleasant hours in the sunset watching the pelicans and waterbirds and feeding the fish! We did catch a lot of Bream, and Whiting but most were under the legal limit (35 cms) so were throw backs. We did eat a couple of our catch, but really we did it for the enjoyment......
We also went to the Dorrigo Tops World Heritage park (another part of the volcano system) and related to the Barrington Tops area. Lovely mountains with forests, rainforest walks and impressive waterfalls. One of them, the Crystal waterfall, has the path going behind the actual waterfall.
So goodbye NSW, we loved every minute of the time spent here (from mid Dec until Mid March) and will definitely be back! Our adventure continues as we head into the Sunshine State (Queensland).
Photos;
View if the New England Nat Park from lookout near Dorrigo Tops.
Crystal Waterfall in the forest at Dorrigo Tops..you can walk behind the falls
One of our camps on the river bank..we could almost fish from our annex
View from Pt Macquarie looking over the bay with Hat Head in the far background

Mt Warning and the Border Ranges

One of the things we had wanted to do on this trip was visit and climb Mt Warning. I guess we had seen it once on National Geographic and it looked like an awesome place. Mt Warning is the central Magma chamber of a HUGE volcano that erupted 2o million years ago. It was almost twice the height of the present Mt Warning but after years of eroding it now sits at 1157 meters from sea level (which is the surrounding country). Its lava flows covered 5000 sq kms and as far as 100 kms out to sea. Its caldera is the second largest and best preserved basin in the world, and it forms a huge sheer escarpment of mountains surrounding the central plug of World Heritage Rainforests which have hundreds of species of animals, birds and plants. Mt Warning was named by Captain Cook because he could see it way out from the coast and it warned him of a treacherous coastline. The Aboriginals named it Wollumbin..meaning “Cloud Catcher” because its height means it is often covered in cloud and rain, and it is of spiritual significance for them.
Well, why would we want to go there and climb this awesome feature....I don’t know, must be some sort of masochist part of our character. The topmost central cone of this mountain rises 200 sheer meters and the top can only be reached by climbing with a chain ....1157 meters up in the air! The bottom slopes to the vertical top are a steep climb of 4.4 kms, going through different kinds of Rainforest until the top is fairly rocky and scrubby. The grading is “Strenuous for experienced climbers only”...I am NOT one of those. Anyway, we decided to give it a go, even tho I had stubbed my toe a day earlier and it had swollen up and gone black....
The Camp Park was lovely, set in lovely big rainforest trees, with a little creek running thru it..we were almost the only campers because it is out of season. There were lovely birds, Brush Turkeys and different butterflies.
Well, the day dawned clear (the first fine day without clouds for ages) and we left after a breakfast of egg and bacon for energy...All I can say is it not for the feint hearted! The 4.5 kms going up is a constant climb, getting steeper and rockier as it neared the top. Most of the hike is in forest which is very pleasant, but even so it was sweaty work. After 2 and half hours hiking, we got to the vertical part and then had to scramble up steep rocks with the help of a chain rope which waves around as you cling to it. Fortunately the chain was on the right hand side and I could hold on to it with that hand because my left shoulder was not strong enough to haul me up..I used a walking stick to balance myself! That seemed to go on forever, but at last we got to the top where a lookout platform had views 360 deg and right into Queensland and the coast ..Byron Bay 42 kms as the crow flies. The weather was clear and although there were cloud s on some of the other peaks we could see for miles. The hike down the chains was not pleasant, going down backwards and for me a lot of it on my bottom, and after the 9.8 kms there was not a part of me that did not hurt. I am glad that we did it but won’t repeat that again in a hurry!
The next day we drove the surrounding mountain range called the Border Range which is the edge of the caldera..a huge escarpment surrounding Mt Warning in a Shield shape. The slopes were covered with thick forests of temperate and sub tropical Rainforest, huge trees with vines, palms, ferns, moss and very very beautiful. The views from the lookouts over the valleys and Mt Warning were breathtaking. One of our highlights was seeing a 3 meter Carpet Python lying sunning itself by the side of the road..
Photos:
View from the top of Mt Warning
Warning about Mt Warning!
The climb
Paul looking at the Carpet Python in the forest
View of Mt Warning from the edge of the caldera rim..Border Ranges. That view of the mountain is 15 kms away and it juts out into the sky in a pointed peak..nearly always covered in cloud.

Beasties, Creepies, and Leeches!

The Question I get asked most often by the overseas folk is “But what about the SNAKES???” Now I know that Australia is known to have 20 of the 25 most poisonous snakes in the world, and spiders that are lethal, and other dangerous fauna that can make humans crook. Books like Bill Bryson’s “Down Under” go to great pains telling about the many Dangerous Australians lying in wait for the hapless traveller, and even the humble Stingray managed to spear our famous Wildlife Warrior Steve Irwin. In the Ocean there are more lethal creatures like the Box jellyfish which kills by stinging a person to death in agony, the Stone Fish, the Blue Ringed octopus and of course the Saltwater Crocks. If you worried about all of these hazards I am sure that no one would leave home, but in fact the country is teeming with grey nomads and backpackers all having a ball.
So far our tally of sighting fauna is abysmal. Maybe it’s because we come from Africa and are used to the bush being alive with big animals, but we find the bush very quiet and seemingly empty. Many of the Australian animals are quiet, small, gentle marsupials which are nocturnal. And the nasties really don’t want to get you either. Our tally so far is:
Many, many kangaroos, including the small, furry Brush Tailed Wallaby which is dark and lives in mountainous areas.
Many Emus
2 dead snakes on the road in SA
2 Echidnas
Few Dingos
A newly dead Wombat on the road
Lots of spiders webs, but nothing looking like it was out to get us
2 large lizards/ goanna things, which were about 2 meters long.
There are many wonderful birds and we are always seeing new types of parrots and kingfishers, water bird, doves, and the Whipbird with its strident call. We see many majestic Sea Eagles, Ospreys and heard the Cat Bird which Meows like a cat.
There are also many wonderful trees and plants, especially now that we are going into the subtropics. My favourite wildflowers so far are the Flame Lilies which are growing wild in this area. Also St Joseph Lilies seem to grow wild along the sides of the road, as well as Status and what looks like yellow Cosmos.
The worst experience we have had was when we were hiking in a rainforest in the High Plateau. It was a misty, drizzly day and the rainforest was breathtaking with huge buttress trees, ferns, and birds nest ferns growing on tree limbs. We hiked 3 kms down a steep slope which was muddy, and covered with a mat of dead leaves. We finally got to the waterfall we were going to see, and stood on the wooden lookout gazing at the 200 meter spout falling into the ravine in awe. After a minute or two I looked down at my walking shoe and saw that it was covered in....LEECHES! I squealed and immediately pulled my shoes and socks off to see a few attached to me and many more wriggling towards my foot...Paul looked at his shoes and saw that he, too ,was covered in the horrible little slimy , big mouthed creepies. I realised that there were many more coming for me, literally, and I tried to shake out my socks while dancing en pointe and balancing with as little of me touching the ground as possible. Every time my hand touched one it sort of stuck, and I’d squeal to Paul to take it off (which he heroically did) even tho he had problems of his own. I could not believe my eyes, these little worm like thingies came humping towards us from every crevice on the platform, as if drawn by the smell of blood. Paul even found one more than half way up his leg, enough to make a grown man weak just thinking about the possibilities. Finally we got our shoes and socks back on and started back up the steep and slippery path...and made it back in half the time we took to get down! Each time I stopped for a breath ( on a flat rock) I would suddenly see lots of tiny heads rear up through the damp leaves and then start their wriggle towards me....Horrors. Even tho they are not harmful the mere thought of them sucking my blood was enough to keep me almost jogging up the hill. They are masters of gaining entry, as we saw them make themselves thread thin and wriggle through the stitching of our shoes, and through the weave of the socks..only to grow to bloated slug like sizes once they attach themselves. They inject an anti coagulant so you bleed profusely, but other than that there are no side effects. We now know we must spray personal repellent on our feet and legs before a hiking in wet, foresty places next time as that deters them.. That, and some quite voracious sand flies at the latest campsite are the most lethal things we have had to contend with.
But the trip is not over yet.........