Australia 2019 – Day 13 – A long driving day and a very wet surprise

I had a long driving day. I knew that now and then I might have to run a few hundred kilometers, but when the GPS forecasted 400 km I knew I was in for trouble. So, out of Hunter Valley and toward the coast, and from there the M1 through New Castle, Taree, Port Macquarie, Kempsey, Macksville, Urunga, and finally Bellingen. This last town is at the foot of the Dorrigo National Park, and is presumably the start of the tourist route called Waterfalls Way. When I got there around 2 pm the sky was overcast and rain was menacing. Still, I started on my way up to Dorrigo, thinking I could take a quick look around before committing to spending the night there. As I went up the mountain the skies opened up and I found myself in a torrential rain. I did see a couple of tiny waterfalls on the way up and, familiar with the Australian love for hyperbole, I thought to myself that the whole “Waterfalls Way” was nothing but a marketing ploy.

Once I reached the top of the mountain I figured that the least I should do was to stop by the Visitors Center of the Dorrigo National Park. The ranger welcomed me warmly, and pointed me out into an elevated walkway, which in a few steps had me suspended on the canopy of the temperate rainforest of eastern Australia. It was magical! Out of the rain and mist rose hardwood trees that soared 100 feet above the level of the canyon floor. I have no clear idea what these trees are, but they are not your garden variety of eucalyptus. Oh no, these are trees that look plucked from a Cretaceous landscape, when the gymnosperms of the Triassic (conifers, cycads, and gingkos) were joined by the first angiosperms (e.g., the hardwood trees). I was in total awe, and my plans of a quick look around evaporated like the rainforest mist. I need time to walk through this landscape, so I have decided to spend the night here, so I can devote that best part of tomorrow to the exploration of this amazing anomaly in this otherwise parched country.

It is too wet to camp, so I have broken down and have taken a comfortable hotel room. My host is the archetypical friendly Aussie, who after checking me in handed me two sachets of salt “for the leeches, mate”! I look forward to a very wet walk tomorrow morning.