FROM THE RAINFOREST TO THE SEA

Wind your way through rainforest drives to a couple of the Northern Rivers best kept coastal secrets!

WORDS BY LORRAINE HOLLOWAY, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN & LORRAINE HOLLOWAY

When you’ve been on the road for as long as we have, and seen all that we have seen – sometimes you find yourself taking things for granted. Never was this more apparent than our recent run to the playground of my youth – the Northern Rivers of NSW. As we wound our way around the country side in northern NSW, not really thinking as it is all so normal to me – it suddenly became apparent that we were in an extraordinarily beautiful area. There we are, surrounded for the most part by rainforest and soaring mountain peaks, en route to one of the state’s most stunning coastlines – this isn’t the norm for everyone else, this is heaven! This area was the playground of my youth, now I would like to share it with you – you’re going to love it.

QUAINT RAINFOREST VILLAGES

Meandering along the little used Mount Lindesay Highway, through heavily treed slopes and past the cragged peak bearing the same name as the highway, part of the Scenic Rim; driving with windows down, you can hear the bellbirds pinging as you pass the higher sections of the road, a sample of what is to come as you descend into northern NSW villages.

The first village of note is Woodenbong, a picturesque town in the heart of many National Parks like Border Ranges, Kooreelah and Mount Warning in NSW and Lamington and Mount Barney in Qld. This quiet little town, officially declared in 1908, has its roots deeply entrenched in natural and cultural history, timber being its main source of early employment followed by dairy, cattle and crops. These days, the village is a peaceful stop over on your way to the south along Summerland Way, or to the west to Legume, Killarney and Tenterfield on the Mount Lindesay Road, and is surrounded by World Heritage rainforest. Today, this village is one of the side doors between Queensland and New South Wales.

A 13km drive from Woodenbong takes you into Urbenville, another small village you just have to see. This one was established in the 1860s due to a gold rush in the area and proclaimed in 1912.

TAKE A SCENIC DRIVE

A scenic drive from Tooloom Falls, along winding dirt roads brings you to Paddys Flat on the Clarence River. It’s a good idea to leave the van at Tooloom Falls Camp, as the track is a little tight for most vans. Paddys Flat was part of “The Brisbane Line” – a line of defence built to protect residents south of the area from potential invasion during WWII. The tank traps – concrete pyramid shaped structures - are still visible beside the river. What a great insight into some local history you probably never knew of!

Urbenville, nestled beneath the North Obelisk (or Coutts Crown Mountain), is positioned close to the Clarence River catchment area, providing opportunities for fishing and fossicking, swimming and canoeing. Nearby Tooloom Falls offers a peaceful freedom camp to take in the beautiful waterfall, falling eight metres into a large deep pool. Camping, hiking, swimming in the pool below the falls and bird watching is available. There is even a resident platypus in the pool.

Continuing through Petty Gully Flora Reserve, you can see lush subtropical rainforest draping itself over the creek below. On arrival, back on the bitumen at Tabulam on the Bruxner Highway, you will cross the Clarence River again, this time over the Tabulam Bridge, one of the longest timber truss bridges built in Australia.

Tabulam is one of those villages where if you are enticed to stay, you may never leave! We met Geoff, who, with nothing more than a five year plan, bought the post office back in 1991. Close to 25 years later, Geoff and his wife have brought up a family, and are still firmly entrenched in the small village society.

Harry Lasseter, famed for the Lasseter’s Lost Reef in Central Australia lived in the area for five years, and is rumoured to have raised the Tabulam Post Office by 15cm to reduce the danger of flooding from the Clarence River. I asked Geoff about this – despite having lived in the post office for 24 years, he’d never heard of this story. As well as the post office, Tabulam boasts a hotel, an organic store and a general store, and a police station built in 1911. Famed for its race weekend, (first Saturday after Melbourne Cup), the race track fills with campers from near and far; camping is allowed along the river bank at the race course.

The pretty town of Bonalbo offers a respite from your drive; stop off for a coffee or a meal at the Dog and Bull Hotel – you won’t be disappointed. I was surprised to count five churches in town; along with a small supermarket, bowls club and swimming pool, post office and a hospital and chemist. The small caravan park, run by community volunteers, is clean and green, with spotless amenities.

Heading back to Urbenville is the turn off to Bean Creek Falls, where after a gentle downhill hike from your car (track not suitable for caravans) you can watch the falls tumble over an escarpment with a magnificent remnant rainforest backdrop.

OVER THE RANGE

Our drive continued over the Richmond Range to the East, down through Casino (it was Beef Week), and through Lismore into Nimbin, where we set up in the showgrounds for a couple of days. The village, originally a small timber and dairy town was the site of the Aquarius Festival in 1973. Some of the hippies stayed and populated the area, bringing their quintessential and quirky ideas to the town, welcoming new settlers in search of an alternative way of life. The culture remains, and Nimbin is now known internationally. It was these ‘alternatives’ who saved the area in the Nightcap National Park from logging in an effort to protect the rainforest; after successful protests in 1979, the falls were re-named Protester Falls.

Markets are held on the 4th and 5th Sunday of the Month, while Farmers Markets are held in town every Wednesday. We tasted pizza at the Trattoria, checked out the ‘Mad Hattery’, and bought a rug for our caravan from one of the many alternative shops in town. Visit Nimbin with an open mind and enjoy the lifestyle.

Winding down over the range like a roller coaster, we passed through villages like The Channon, Dunoon and Clunes, and saw macadamia plantations in the rolling green hills. The Channon is host to one of the biggest markets in regional NSW. With buskers, homemade food and, hand crafted products, they have a motto of “make it, bake it or grow it”. Operating for over 30 years, this motto still stands.

GOING COASTAL

Suddenly the blue of the Pacific Ocean appears before you as you head down into Byron Bay; the azure coastline rolling out ahead of you as you pass through the numerous scenic drives. Our plan was to park the van and head to the lighthouse, the most eastern point of Australia. However, a weekend in Byron meant too many people, too much traffic and nowhere suitable to park a big rig. The caravan park were asking $24 just to leave the van on their site for a couple of hours, and there is no parking for rigs at the information centre. While it’s great for a day visit, Byron isn’t the best RV hotspot in the region.

We moved on to Lennox Heads where we were able to check into the Lake Ainsworth Caravan Park, take a quiet walk along the Seven Mile Beach at sunset, watch kayaks glide over the lake and wander the main street, with shops right opposite the surfing beach. If you happen to be there on the second Sunday of the month make sure you take in the Lennox Community Markets. These markets have been held since the early 1980s, as a fundraising initiative for the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter. Lennox Head has everything Byron will offer you and more, for a fraction of the price!

Our final port of call was the Black Rock Camping Grounds in Bundjalung National Park. We were the only campers there for the two days. Set behinds the sand dune, the park has individual sites, suitable for caravan, motorhomes, camper trailers and tents. Right on the beach, you can enjoy the sunrise as the black rocks – or coffee rock glisten in the sun. The black and brown rock formations are remnants of the Pleistocene age. Drop toilets are available, and picnic tables, bbq pits and clothes lines are situated on each camp site. Walking tracks take you along Jerusalem Creek – or you can paddle your kayak down to its mouth at the ocean. The walk along Jerusalem Creek takes you past tuckeroos trees and banskias bushes; you will see wild life – we saw a beautiful diamond python as we wandered the track, and the reflections on the creek - paperbarks mirrored in the calm still tea tree coloured water.

Bundjalung National Park is a perfect spot to wind down after wound you way through the rainforests villages of Northern NSW to the ocean.