Day 8

8 February 2013

Well last night was freezing! Compared to what we have been used to in the last couple of months anyway! My feet would just not warm up!

Woke up to a cool morning but the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky so can't complain. We got up and boiled the kettle the slightly old fashioned way on the gas stove and made a cuppa and had brekky.

We were off to visit some falls and walks today in Dorrigo or just outside of it. I had sort of researched where everything was but I thought there would be signs to everything so just decided to hop in the car and go. Another rookie mistake we drove for too long in wrong directions and Joel was losing his patients, also on the road we lost Internet connection so I was unable to even google where we were going!

We happened to stumble on a sign to Ebor which had Ebor falls so followed the road to find these. The falls are about 1km from the Ebor town centre and are well worth a look. There are upper and lower fall viewing platforms, would have to say the upper is the one to go to. We took a photo here with the falls behind us and honestly the photo just didnt look real! Looks like we had photoshopped the falls in the background....but it was real and beautiful!

We then headed to cathedral rocks NP and headed down a long gravel road which we weren't really sure where it would end....Joel decided he didn't want to travel so far to see "rocks" so we pulled up to chop some firewood for our campfire tonight (lamb shanks are on the menu)! While chopping wood we noticed that there was a dead cow in the paddock which at first I thought may just be lying down for a sleep however if the chainsaw noise didn't wake it up, it was clearly dead!! For anyone that wants to visit the rocks they are about 8km down this gravel road and about a one hour walk from there.

Wood piled into the ute we decided to head back to Dorrigo for some lunch and work out where we were going next. We stopped at the local IGA and picked up some ham for lunch and headed back to camp. Ham and salad rolls for lunch, we decided to wash the ute as it was filthy from our little crazy road adventure the day before. We then wanted to go to the skywalk in Dorrigo so looked up the map and worked out where we were going before leaving camp! It is only about 2km out of Dorrigo and it is located at the Dorrigo Rainforest Centre. It was $2 per adult to get into the centre where there is a shop, information centre, skywalk, other nature walks and cafe. Well worth the $2!

We had a little look around the rainforest centre information, which had stories about the wildlife and land etc. We the walked out on the skywalk which is 70m above the forest floor and looks out onto amazing countryside, you can see for miles.

We then decided to take a walk to crystal falls which was about a 2.8km walk round trip but is very steep on the way back! Forget about the steepness on the way back, there are plenty of chairs to rest at, this was by far the coolest thing I have seen in a while. You walk across a suspension bridge and to your right is this cascading waterfall which is great enough but then you can keep walking to the back of the waterfall and get light sprays of water from the waterfalls raging force as it cascades down the rocks and into the waiting pool below. You can have a dip if you like to but we didn't take our togs so didn't go on. In between the waterfall and the walking track is these awesome cave walls! Honestly it is so hard to explain but I would highly recommend it to anyone that is in this area!

The steep climb back up was tough going, especially as Joel and I thought it would be a good idea to run up some of it! At the top is a nice picnic area with gas BBQs so you could make a real day of it!

After this we were buggered and headed back to camp. Hot shower, few wines and beers, chat to some of the other campers, start the fire, put the lamb shanks on and we are now just enjoying the serenity again! Haha

Our tip for today is to always visit the information centres in towns you think you might like to camp in. Not only can they give you great information about the touristy things to do but (as a nice couple we met told us) can also advise on free camping spots etc.

Carly & Joel.

 

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Day 7

7 February 2013

Now I know what Darryl was going on about in the castle! How's the serenity?!

We were googling all last night on where we should go next and Joel found a place called Dorrigo which has a few tourist attractions and is a bit inland for something different rather than being on the coast. It is approximately 3 hours drive from Ballina and if we could go back we may have researched the route we took a little better than trusting the phone GPS to get us there! Tip for all you travellers out there, more than one road leads to where you want to go but it's not always the right road!

Well let me give you a quick picture of the road we travelled on for about 50 kms....

Seriously have a look at all the winds and corners and turns and crap there is on this road, then add gravel for some of the way, sheer drop offs down the side of the mountain, steep mountain climbs and just never knowing where it is going to end! It was a little bit crazy and probably not the safest route; however the rainforest along this road was amazing and it was a bit of a challenge.

After that road I was a little skeptical at what we might pull up to, as we got closer the big luscious green hills appeared with cattle everywhere and rolling valleys and then a big beautiful lodge house which was our destination! The actual camping ground is called Dangar Falls lodge and camping, there is a lodge at the start of the property that sleeps 10 and is for rent also but behind is a nice fenced off area that looks over all those hills,cows and valleys and this is where you can camp. It's $20 a night unpowered and $25 powered.

We set up the camper for a short stay probably two nights so we didn't worry about the annexe etc, which made the set up process much shorter. Which also means that we were able to cook a sausage on the weber much sooner and sit back and relax looking at the amazing view!

What's that we hear? It's the Dangar waterfall and its only a short walk from camp! It is a little steep and uneven but not too bad, we were both in thongs however if we go down again I will put my proper shoes on. The noise is pretty intense from this fall, especially after the rain I assume but it is raging and quite spectacular! There is a short boardwalk which we walked along to get to the falls and then there is some rocky area to walk down to get to the bottom of the falls. Well worth it! We have read of people swimming in here but right now it is friggin freezing! It was quite literally like dipping your toe into ice cold water so unless we get a 40 degree day I don't think we will be doing any swimming in the falls. We took some happy snaps and then walked back to the very top where there is also a viewing platform where you can look down on the falls.

We then walked back through the front of the property where the lodge is and noticed a couple of doors were open....doors led to a flushing toilet and hot shower! Double score!

We have now collected some wood for our fire and we are sitting back and taking in the serenity.... How are we going to top tomorrow?......stay tuned to find out!

 

PS Another tip for fellow travellers - if you are packing up your Jayco camper, always ensure you know where the car keys are! This morning we packed it all up and then Joel says "ok where are the car keys, let's hook it up" and I say "I don't know, last time I saw them they were inside the camper!" There was a few dreaded moments where we thought we were going to have to unpack it all again to find the keys but luckily they were in the car! Good lesson!!

Carly & Joel

 

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