Whilst we were staying at Bellingen we took advantage of one of their day trips. It was a trip along Waterfall Way into the Dorrigo National Park. We had read about the rainforest but you really need a car to get there so we thought we would have to miss it out. We were delighted when we discovered we could go with the hostel. On the day we went we were the only people who wanted to go so it was just us and our personal guide Graham.
Tristania Falls
The tour was about 4 hours long and encompassed looking at the stunning views, the flora and fauna and absorbing the sounds of the rainforest. Our guide was great and told us all about the different noises we were hearing and the sights we were seeing. He had visited England previously and so was also very interested to find out about where we’re from.
About 10 mins into the tour we spotted our first wallaby jumping through the bush which was awesome. It sat and looked at us for about a minute but we could only get a fuzzy photo because it was too dark and we didn’t want to use the flash. Then he was off.
We were then shown a strangling fig. These grow around large trees, taking all the nutrients in the soil and eventually kill the tree, leaving a hollow where the tree once was. They reckon this process takes over 100 years.We were able to stand inside what would have been the tree whilst surrounded by the strangling fig. It was cool to see the insides of the fig.
We could hear a few birds in the forest. A whip bird, where the male calls and then it is answered by the female and sounds like a whip cracking! The whompoo pigeon as this is the noise it makes and some very load yellow tailed black cockatoos. We also heard the infamous lyre bird which is great at copying any sound it hears.
Our tour took us to a couple of beautiful waterfalls, Crystal Showers waterfall and Tristiana falls. At Tristiana falls you are able to walk right up to and stand at the bottom and get sprayed by the water. The sound was phenomenal and you could see the birds flying in and out.
The next waterfall was Crystal Showers Waterfall which is normally the lunch spot however it was raining and so we couldn’t stop there. The walk took you under a ledge which the waterfall was falling over. There was a small tunnel you could stand in and see the water pouring down in front of you. In the roof of the ledge there were stalactites hanging down and holes where the birds were living. In the picture below you can see where we walked as there is a gap in the foliage. This pool is apparently nice to swim in but it was raining and there would have been too many bugs/ leaches around.
Crystal Shower Waterfall
About half way through it started raining hard and we needed to find shelter. The leeches came out and started to have a good feed. We both got eaten but as usual Jo’s was worse than mine! When he finally got it off the blood was pouring out. Apparently they inject you with anti-coagulation so that your blood is easier to get out. This also means that when you get the buggers off it takes ages to stop the bleeding.
The rain developed into a terrific thunderstorm just as we stopped in a sheltered spot for lunch, which was handy. We were able to stay there and sit it out until the rain calmed down. Whilst there some other tourists from China joined us who did not like the leeches and were screaming and crying. To pass the time we got chatting about all sort of things and our guide told us the true stories that the horror film Wolf Creek is based on – not nice! After about 45 mins the thunderstorm stopped and we were able to carry on. We went to do the skywalk which is a beautiful walk over the forest canopy and has stunning views however it was cloudy!
After the rainforest we drove a short distance to see Dangar falls which are large waterfalls. They were beautiful and very loud. Some people reportedly jump off this but there was no way I was gonna do this, it was 50 foot plus.
Us at Dangar Falls
It was a great day, but we were pleased to get back to the hostel to get dry again.
