 | Comboyne Off the Beaten Path | Tips 1 - 10 of 10 |  |
Popular Off the Beaten Path | Other Off the Beaten Path Tips | All Tips (10) What a little treasure. You could go here for four weekends in a row and your rubbish would still be on top of the bin.
This rarely visited place offers much for the bushwalker who doesn't mind exploring. There's a delightful picnic spot where you can be serenaded by the babbling stream and the birds on high with their constant calls, darting hither and thither in the rainforest canopy.
There is a proper walking track downstream for about a kilometre but after that you can make your way downstream by rockhopping. I've been down about another kilometre and there are some great swimming holes almost untouched by man and never by mainstream tourists.
Upstream is NSW's largest blue gum, a eucalyptus saligna of significant size.
For those who have seen it all, this offers more! Leave a Comment
|
Visiting Comboyne?
Read reviews about Comboyne Hotels
Real Reviews from Real VirtualTourist Members.
Here is a spot for a picnic. There are a table and bench seating in the most idyllic glade beside a swimming hole. There are also toilets (of the outback kind) and it's unlikely you'll be bothered by anyone else.
On the Elands-Walcha Road there is a turn off called, somewhat appropiately, Rapids Road. After taking the turn it's about 3-4 kilometres down the road and you're there.
Also present is a poignant plaque commemorating the death of a 12 year-old. It's a sad reminder that, however special a place might be, dangers are ever present, especially where water is involved.
The water shown here isn't as bad as it looks. The foam is a natural one that happens after rains particularly. Leave a Comment
|
This is one of those classic trees that ascends through the undergrowth and disappears towards the clouds, the top unseen until you are beside the giant. It is the largest blue gum in N.S.W. and, for the life of me I haven't been able to find out where there's a bigger one. There are some other mammoths nearby but you'll have to do a bit of bush bashing to see them.
Also nearby is a stream and, if you hit it at the right place, there is a delightful section of birds nest ferns resplendent in a grove of trees on the opposite bank.
This walk goes north from the picnic table but is no longer marked though, once you go the first ten metres or so, you will probably easily see the worn path.
Keeping near the stream the tree comes into view after about 400 metres and is signposted. Leave a Comment
|
One of my all time favourite bushwalking places is Wilsons River. It's about an hour's drive from Comboyne or Port Macquarie, initially in the coastal valleys then along wooded ridges before you drop to the reserve. Here is a beautiful, crystal clear river with waterfalls in the side streams and a lovely picnic spot where you can dine on salad or use the barbecues provided. Leave a Comment
|
There is a side stream that comes into Wilsons River. No, actually there's lots of side streams that come into Wilsons River but, if you're going there to picnic, this is the one you should seek out.
After about a kilometre and a bit down the trail from the picnic spot you come to the side stream and head upriver.
This is the first set of falls you come to. Just visible above them is another set of falls, twice as high with a glorious swimming hole. They are a little more tricky to get to.
They have no name, they are just there, midst this glorious section of Australian bush. I've seen a fair bit of Australia but will always rank this high in my top ten of the most beautiful places I've seen. Anywhere. Period. Leave a Comment
|
Visiting Comboyne?
Read reviews about Comboyne Hotels
Real Reviews from Real VirtualTourist Members.
I've travelled around a fair bit of Australia and a little bit of the world and, if you asked me to name my top ten most scenic roads, this would be listed among them.
You should be warned that, if you're car proud, you probably won't enjoy driving up this 1 1/2 lane dirt road to get to Comboyne but, if you're like me and believe that a car is merely a conveyance, you will be rewarded with the most beautiful rainforest drive beneath sheer cliffs interspersed with panoramic views of ancient volcanic plugs, verdant fields, and the ocean. Leave a Comment
|
This is your sub-tropical rainforest. Often shrouded in mysterious mist, draped with vines, trails covered with leaf litter, bird noises resounding from the branches, lizards and echidnas crashing through the undergrowth, leeches hanging off every third leaf when it's wet and all beneath a luxurious verdant canopy.
This is of a trail just west of Elands and is atypical of those you will find in the area. Leave a Comment
|
It's unlikely you'll find a waiter or cordon bleu chef here (especially if I'm around) but give me these type of surroundings any day for a special meal.
To hell with the food, we're talking ambience here!
So what that they were only ham sandwiches washed down with cordial, we felt privileged just to be here.
"Here" being the picnic spot at Tirrill Creek.
Oh, and did I mention that just as this photo was being taken a leech or two dropped from the roof. Nothing like a bit of fresh food. Leave a Comment
|
This is just another edifying scene en route to one of Australia's most beautiful areas. Shortly before you climb through the narrow forestry road to the summit at Comboyne you get to witness scenery such as this.
Views such as this I hope explain why I rate the place as one of Australia's top ten places to visit. Leave a Comment
|
Wherever you walk in the bush around Comboyne there is an abundance of growth.
Here we see epiphytes of all different descriptions clinging to a branch near the lookout at Ellenborough Falls. Leave a Comment
|
 | 1 |  |
|
|
on February 5, 2004
