Today we did the usual morning breakfast/pool combo at the resort before finally setting off before midday (about 11am).  This seems to be the norm at the moment, no reason to suspect it will change anytime soon.

On our agenda today (loosely speaking): Dorrigo National Park (tree walk) and a place in Urunga called “The Honey Place”.  The journey today took us about half an hour south of Coffs Harbour, just north of Raleigh and Urunga on the coast.  We departed the freeway and looped back over it to travel due west through the small town of Bellingen.  The road (the aptly named Waterfall Way) wound through farming land and up into the hinterland, before hitting snaking vertical road taking us up the side of a small mountain.  We hit minor road works and traffic which slowed our ascent, and then once at the top we were greeted with green pasture as far as the eye could see.  We turned onto Dome Rd and the short trip to the National Park visitor’s centre.

Dorrigo National Park

The big feature is the Skywalk lookout, and to reach it you must navigate through the large visitor’s centre (during open hours) or use the side entrance after hours.  We ventured out and admired the view to the ocean, albeit visibility wasn’t the greatest above Raleigh.  If you’ve ever wondered what the view is like above the treetops, this is one way to experience it in person.  Now we made a silly error – we started off on the Wonga walking track without realising that we could have simply driven to the BBQ area.  This would have removed significant walking time and enabled us to reach the Crystal Showers falls.  In any case, the walk was exceptional; this is through pristine Gondwana Rainforest and is breathtaking in both scale and environment.  Don’t take it from me, check this out for a description:

Rainforest once covered most of the ancient southern supercontinent Gondwana and remains the most ancient type of vegetation in Australia. The Gondwana Rainforests provide an interesting living link with the evolution of Australia. Few places on earth contain so many plants and animals which remain relatively unchanged from their ancestors in the fossil record. Some of the oldest elements of the world’s ferns and conifers are found here and there is a concentration of primitive plant families that are direct links with the birth and spread of flowering plants over 100 million years ago. A range of geological and environmental influences in the Gondwana Rainforests determine where forest communities grow. This process has occurred over millions of years and will continue to change the forest mosaic into the future.

We took the Lyrebird link track and eventually found the BBQ/toilet area.  It was about a kilometre on foot, with reasonable uphill/downhill work, all on even cemented paths.  It was fun to breathe in the clean forest air and to do some wildlife spotting.

We were able to observe further views from the park before turning back to the visitor’s centre for a hearty and much deserved lunch.

Then, after the kids stuffed around in the gift shoppe, we hit the car for the return back down the hellish mountain.  It’s fair to say that the return trip was a lot faster and we made good time into Urunga. 

Urunga

Our destination was the Honey Place, partly owing to the fact that our eldest son’s lunchtime diet is almost exclusively honey sandwiches.  The place had a live beehive which you could view by opening two doors on opposing sides, which stuck out from the side of the building.  Jake thanked the bees personally for making honey.  We tried a few different types of honey and I ended up buying some made from local flowers.

The owner gave us a tip to view the Urunga boardwalk, it turns out to be one kilometre long.  We drove over past a caravan park on the shores and whilst the kids played in a playground, I made my way out against gale force winds, to shoot the length of the walk.

Once I returned, we made our way back to the car, and subsequently drove back to Coffs Harbour.  When we arrived, Damian wanted to go into the pool, so the three boys and I ended up down there.

I pulled the boys out of the pool kicking and screaming and we ended up eventually back in the room, and dinner followed.  Eventually it was bedtime, and then afterwards Toni and I played some board games. 

Then I wrote these updates and now it’s time for bed!