Sydney 2014 – Day 2 – 18th January – Grafton to Ebor via Dorrigo

Just to clarify. We did not share the facilities in Grafton with greyhound races. They had been on the night before. Instead we had a quiet night with little traffic and one train in the distance. We slept through anything else that happened.

The road from Grafton to Dorrigo runs through Coutts Crossing and then follows the Nymboida River into the mountains. The Nymboida canoe centre is on this road. On this river very game (or silly) people do heroic things in canoes and kayaks in white water.

Nymboida Canoe Centre

Nymboida Canoe Centre

No activity there today. There is probably not enough water coming down due to dry conditions. There are extensive facilities for visitors including camping areas, cabins and caravan sites. Just past the canoe centre and on the banks of the Nymboida River stands the quite new looking Nymboida Hotel, which appears to offer all the normal facilities for travellers and those who want to linger a bit longer.

Armidale Road

Armidale Road and power lines – both going up! Roads never look as steep in photographs.

Then the climb up the mountain starts. The road is narrow and winding. It mostly runs through thick bushland with the occasional cleared rural areas. While not an ideal road to tow a caravan it is quite safe if taken slowly. This is the Armidale Road which joins the Waterfall Way about 10 km north east of Ebor. We left this road at Tyringham and took a short cut through North Dorrigo to Dorrigo itself. Again some steep climbs but by this time we were driving through cleared farming country with rolling green hills almost a far as we could see.

Canopy Caffe Alfresco Area

Outdoor dining area – the Canopy Café, Dorrigo National Park

Sky Walk2 Sky WalkThe National Park is the key attraction at Dorrigo but as it was lunch time when we arrived we decided to try The Canopy Cafe. An excellent meal! Ruth’s club sandwich was big enough to feed more than one club member and my chicken, mushroom and sundried tomato pasta was to die for. And the chips? Made from Dorrigo potatoes, of course.

The main attraction at Dorrigo National Park is the Sky Walk, a sort of cat walk that extends out above the rain forest on the escarpment and provides stunning views over the forest, mountain ranges and down the Ballenger River valley to the Pacific Ocean.

Forest, Mountains & Sea

View from Sky Walk

Knee Test in Progress

Knee test in progress

To give Ruth’s knee the promised workout we did an 800 meter rain forest walk with some downhill and up hull sections. The knee passed with flying colours.

Danger Falls

Danger Falls is a popular swimming spot

This is the Waterfall Way after all, so for our first waterfall we took a short drive north of Dorrigo to Dangar Falls. We had been there before but this time there was much more water in the river so it was worth the effort.

Dorrigo Main Street

Main street in Dorrigo

 

Another unique feature of Dorrigo is that it is the largest railway graveyard in Australia. There are hectares of rolling stock and engines standing on the lines around the rail depot which was, in its day, was the end of the line. The track is so winding that the section to Dorrigo was recognised as the slowest section in all of NSW Rail. I think there were great plans for the collection of railway equipment but there was not much sign of action as we drove past.

 

From Dorrigo we then proceeded along the Waterfall Way to Ebor. This piece of road has no flat sections. You are either ascending or descending and the grades are quite steep. But it is only about 47 kilometres so we were soon at the Ebor free camping area. We have only two caravan neighbours but for a while we had about 450 neighbours of the four legged variety. A local farmer was moving his herd between paddocks and was temporally holding them near the gate to the free camp.

Ebor Street

The leafy main street of Ebor

 

Fussypots at Ebor

Fussypots café at Ebor

 

Four Legged Neighbours

Four legged neighbours

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Talk about noise! But he drove them via a stream for a drink and then moved them on to a paddock further away. We are fairly quick on the uptake, so two of our neighbours joined us for drink. Can’t let the cattle have all the fun!

So we three caravans have been joined by the farmer’s horse for the night, while he has driven home in his 70 series Toyota utility with his three cattle dogs on the tray. We really are in the rural scene.

Sydney 2014 – Day 1 – 17th January – Home to Grafton

We are on the road again, but just for a month. It was a very familiar drive today, down the Gold Coast and Pacific Highways to Grafton, where the overnight stop is at a small caravan park at the Greyhound Racing Club. The “dish lickers” were performing last night, so all is quiet.

Just two stops along the way. Lunch by the Tweed River at Chindra and coffee at Ferry Park near Maclean. Somehow, with the time difference between Queensland and NSW at this time of the year, there is no time for morning tea. We no sooner leave home than it is lunch time.

On the green, green grass of Grafton

Chindra always has interest for us. Over 100 years ago my maternal grandfather operated the pedestrian ferry over the river. The family lived nearby and Mum’s playground was the river bank. She talked of playing with the soldier crabs on a small sandy beach. She had no siblings, so the crabs were probably her main play mates.  I think she enjoyed their stay at Chindra.

The plan for this trip is to stay as much as possible in the higher country to avoid crowded coastal caravan parks and for cooler nights. After a few days at Katoomba (where Ruth and I honeymooned over half a century ago) we will move on to Sydney where we will stay for a week. Daughter Karen is coming home from India for six weeks. She flies into Sydney on Friday 30th January. Younger daughter Briony has a birthday on 3rd February (now resident in Sydney) so we will celebrate her birthday and spend time together. A few days after we travel home, via the coast, Karen goes to Tasmania for a few days but then joins us for a month in Brisbane a couple of days after we get home. We will celebrate what Karen calls “the birthday season” while she is with us. She and Craig have birthdays only a few days apart near the end of February.

Ruth is travelling with a brand new knee. The entire process of the replacement has gone very well and eight weeks on from the big day she has almost full use of that vital joint and not much discomfort. On day 2 of our trip we will give it a bit of a work out as we travel along the Waterfall Way to Armidale.

Until then stay well.