This morning we woke to a cloudy sky. But that is ok since we know that we have a lot of driving today if we are going to go along the Waterfall Way and stop to see a few recommended waterfalls. (on the map the RED line indicates where we drove).
Before we left we had to go back down to the beach one more time. We discovered a number of people on the beach and they looked like they were going to go surfing. On a closer look we realized that we were watching a group of students and wondered if this was a school activity. Since it is Sunday here we decided it was more likely a Surfing lesson of some sort.
We headed out on the highway that would take us over to the Waterfall Way and this took us inland over a mountain range. For the first 100 km (approx) we drove on a narrow windy road that is hard to believe is called a highway. There were few straight stretched and the corners were sharp. We found it strange that it is called a highway with a speed limit registered at 100 kph. Most of the time we drove about 40 to 60 and the 100 km stretch of highway good over 2 hours to travel.
Then Wes, who was driving, got a real scare when we came around a corner and was confronted with a Motorhome coming towards us with a crowd of bikers in various stages of passing him. Behind the motorhome was a large commercial van and we had to figure what to do with the 5 bikers in our lane passing the motorhome. Oh, and by the way, there were more bikers in front just returning to the right lane and several behind the motorhome and some behind the commercial van. Remember that these are narrow roads with NO (and I do mean NO) paved shoulders. Wes slammed on the brakes and pulled as far to the edge as he could and basically came to a stop letting the bikers sort things out. No one hit us but it was a bit nerve wracking.
Here is a picture of Wes beside a termite hill or ant hill. We did not try to find out which but just quietly posed, snapped and left.
The first stop for us was the Wollomombi Falls (pronounced 'walla mom bee'). At one time they were believed to be the tallest in Australia. However, recent geographical revisions place them at second or third tallest, depending on the source, after Tin Mine Falls (New South Wales) and Wallaman Falls (near Ingham, Queensland). The Chandler Falls are located to the right of the Wollomombi Falls when viewed from the main lookout. After they join, these rivers are known as the Chandler River and become a tributary of the Macleay River.
Our second stop was the Ebor Falls which is a gorgeous set of waterfalls with a two-tiered upper falls and a plunging lower tier. We walked to the viewpoints for the upper falls and then walked along the path to a lookout for the lower falls. We felt this was the best falls we had seen in Australia.
Our third stop was in Dorringo National Park to walk out onto the Skyway – a walkway that goes out from the escarpment and is about 4 stories from the ground providing you with an uninterrupted view of the mountain range below and ahead. Also because you are above the canopy level, you are able to study the rainforest from above.
The Park is part of the New England Group of the World Heritage Site Gondwana Rainforests of Australia inscribed in 1986 and added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2007. The park contains several tracks allowing hikers to view the park's waterfalls and vistas to the coastal plain. Because of the time of day (already close to 4:30) and we still had to get to Coffs Habour for our campsite, we did not do any trail hiking. Wes of course was disappointed.
We finally got to Goffs Harbour by 5:15 to learn that the campgrounds office closes at 5 weekdays and 2:30 on Sunday. Fortunately they have a way to be contacted which we were able to do and get settled in the park. We of course walked down to the beach. The waves are a bit choppy right now and it is late so we opted to forgo the swim today.
This has been a long day again and tomorrow we are determined to get to Brisbane so I will not be writing much more tonight. Tomorrow starts soon so night.
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