16 July 2012 - Dangar Falls Lodge & Camping, Dorrigo, NSW

As had been predicted, there was a frost this morning and we emerged from the covers to a cool zero degrees in the caravan, all very reminiscent of the weather we endured and enjoyed in Canberra. As the temperature rose, the mist rose in the wooded gullies below us. While we are only a couple of kilometres from the edge of town, if that, it feels as if we are right out in the countryside.

We drove into town and found the laundry full of hungry washing machines all asking $5 a load instead of the more modest $2 or $3 we are accustomed to feeding them. While the washing was doing its thing, we walked about the main streets, all very quiet, and made purchases at the local SPAR superette and the town’s only bakery. I had high expectations of this well promoted wood fired bakery however the bread purchased was very ordinary; not outstanding at all. Once the laundry was extracted from the machine, we popped into the Information Centre, now open, and spent some time chatting with the inevitable volunteer about Dorrigo, the Waterfall Way and learned all about her family situation and her origins on the Atherton Tablelands. We also learned that the showgrounds here are available to campers as is the one in Bellingen and charges a mere $14 as opposed to the fee we are paying here. Oh well, too late now.

Our rural camp outside Dorrigo

After returning to camp and hanging the washing on a line strung between the caravan and the barb wire fence, we set off next door to explore the waterfall we were able to hear while lying in our bed.

The Dorrigo Falls

There is a lovely picnic spot at the top of the falls close to the viewing platform from which one can see the falls in their entirety and back across to Dorrigo. The falls on the Bielsdown River plunge thirty metres over the basalt rock wall and very attractive even seen from the bottom which we reached via a sealed path. There and back up to the camp and we were ready for lunch, after which we set off to Dorrigo National Park via Griffiths Lookout. The lookout is back on the road to Bellingen, but right on the edge of the escarpment. From here the views are magnificent out to the Pacific Ocean, back south to Kempsey, 100 kilometres away and with such a clear day the views could not have been better.

Back toward Dorrigo, we pulled into the National Park starting with the Rainforest Centre. The park is one of Australia’s most accessible World Heritage rainforests and covers an area of 11,732 hectares spread across the Great Escarpment of the Dorrigo Plateau. The Skywalk is the big draw card here and while it is an engineering success, I was a little disappointed. The skywalk extends just seventy metres out over the forest canopy ending with a platform thirteen metres above the forest floor. Again the views down over the forest, down the Bellinger Valley toward the sea, were wonderful and the variety of trees below and across on the heights beyond were beautiful, however we did not see any of the promised birdlife. We decided to take advantage of the walks on offer there at the Centre and set off for just short of an hour along a series of boardwalks and bitumen paths, often partly blocked by curling and coiling lianas as thick as your arm or more.

At one point we encountered a clutch of noisy running children, who had somehow managed to avoid the obligation of returning to school for the third term. Needless to say, any wildlife that might have been about had flown in fear of the ruckus. (I did wonder if perhaps they might become entangled in the lush vegetation; however that might have been wishful thinking.) So we did not see any small red-neck pademelon wallabies, lyrebirds, noisy pitta, diamond pythons or skinks. However when we emerged from the dense forest on to the deserted picnic area a kilometre south of the Centre, we were joined by several brush turkeys, a rare satin bird and a chorus of Eastern Whipbirds . Back in the Centre we took in a DVD about rainforests and came away both better educated and reminded of the wonders of this special feature of this so called dry barren country.

Back at camp I sat outside in the late afternoon while Chris prepared the dinner, watching a kookaburra on a branch nearby, who was alternatively watching me and for any creepy crawlies passing by. The kookaburras here near Dorrigo are hilarious, and by that I mean, they do not just chuckle at dawn and dusk, but at any time of the day and they laugh and laugh uproariously. I so love them!