New England National Park
Posted: Tue 13 Jan, 2015 10:03 amWe did a road trip through this area a few years ago and visited a number of the parks and reserves but at the time didn't manage to stop in at New England Nat Pk (but it was still a good adventure and we saw a lot of amazing places).
Our curiosity had been piqued though and with a few days available at the end of last week, and our favourite coastal getaways heaving with sweaty holiday makers (ie rowdy bogans), we thought a drive up the Great Dividing Range to the cool New England Tablelands would be a good idea.
We walked through wet eucalypts, snow gum & rainforest, stood admiring huge old growth and lichen wrapped trees, had fun scrambling and rock hopping along slippery rainforest creeks, listening to the patter of rain as the creek burbled past. We saw only one wallaby but many of their tracks in the mud, heard far more birds than we saw, but I saw a falcon diving at great speed as we wondered at the view from the stunning Point Lookout.
The lookouts are epic, peering down from the Great Escarpment, 1500m above sea level, out to the coast and the Coral Sea beyond. The cloud layer was about the same height so that in the afternoon the clear blue sky and sunshine was suddenly replaced by swirling mist and a dark moody atmosphere. An hour later it was fine and clear again.
Sometimes after a week or even a weekend away all I can think about is coming home to a hot shower and a real bed but as we drove out and turned onto the main road I wasn't really ready to leave. I’m now wondering as I go through my photos and look at the map of walking trails whether I've opened up a bigger can of worms than when we set out!
Our curiosity had been piqued though and with a few days available at the end of last week, and our favourite coastal getaways heaving with sweaty holiday makers (ie rowdy bogans), we thought a drive up the Great Dividing Range to the cool New England Tablelands would be a good idea.
We walked through wet eucalypts, snow gum & rainforest, stood admiring huge old growth and lichen wrapped trees, had fun scrambling and rock hopping along slippery rainforest creeks, listening to the patter of rain as the creek burbled past. We saw only one wallaby but many of their tracks in the mud, heard far more birds than we saw, but I saw a falcon diving at great speed as we wondered at the view from the stunning Point Lookout.
The lookouts are epic, peering down from the Great Escarpment, 1500m above sea level, out to the coast and the Coral Sea beyond. The cloud layer was about the same height so that in the afternoon the clear blue sky and sunshine was suddenly replaced by swirling mist and a dark moody atmosphere. An hour later it was fine and clear again.
Sometimes after a week or even a weekend away all I can think about is coming home to a hot shower and a real bed but as we drove out and turned onto the main road I wasn't really ready to leave. I’m now wondering as I go through my photos and look at the map of walking trails whether I've opened up a bigger can of worms than when we set out!
- Along the bank near the headwaters of the Styx river
- 01 - Styx River headwaters.jpg (165.36 KiB) Viewed 17946 times
- Headwaters of the Styx river
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- Headwaters of the Styx river
- 03 - Styx River headwaters.jpg (146.15 KiB) Viewed 17946 times
- Weeping Rock
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- Weeping Rock & Antarctic Beech
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- Weeping Rock
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- Weeping Rock
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- Eucalypts & Banksia with sunlit Usnea (Old mans Whiskers)
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- The Bellinger River Valley & distant coast from Point Lookout
- Looking down on the World Heritage Gondwana Rainforest from Point Lookout, 1500m above sea level on the Great Dividing Range
- 10 - Point Lookout.jpg (214.18 KiB) Viewed 17946 times
