The high cool country around the Waterfall Way, with its sub-alpine plants, offers diversity in scenery, climate and environment, but best of all it offers diversity in activities. It is a bushwalkers dream, offering from casual strolls through wooded areas and heaths, to strenuous gorge exploring. At 1562 metres above sea level, Point Lookout offers spectacular views over the great escarpment, across the rugged wilderness of the New England National Park and the Bellinger Valley to the Pacific Ocean. New England National Park dates back to 1932 and is now World Heritage listed. The south track to the lookout from the car park is wheel chair accessible. Vegetation communities include wet and dry eucalypt forests, sub-alpine heath and swamp, cool temperate forest and subtropical rainforest. There are over five hundred different plant species including many summer flowering wildflowers and orchids. The weather can change quickly; summer is cool and winter temperatures can drop dramatically. In winter, some of the creeks and tiny falls freeze into shimmering icicles gleaming from the rocky creek beds. Snow is not uncommon. A number of clearly marked bush walks through mossy beech forests and fern gullies, past cliffs and enchanting waterfalls provide some the most stunningly beautiful scenery in our park system. This is god’s own country. This is one of the last remaining places where you can actually experience the dawn of time. The park provides the experienced bushwalker with some outstanding wilderness walks. For those preferring extended walks on more defined routes, the Fire Trails from the Park Entrance can be followed to either Robinson’s Knob, Diamond Flat, Platypus Creek or the Bellinger River.

Cathedral Rock is an exploration of time, place and spirit. Characterised by magnificent huge granite tors, sub-alpine heaths, a myriad of wildflowers and eucalypt forest, Cathedral Rock seems ageless. These giants originated beneath the ground more than 270 million years ago as part of the large southern land mass known as Gondwana. Large quantities of molten rock surged to the surface and solidified. More than two million human life-times of rain and wind eroded the surrounding material, leaving these magnificent monuments. Because of its upland granite landscape and lower rainfall, the geological landforms, vegetation and indeed even the climate, differ dramatically to that of nearby New England National Park. The varied and diverse flora and fauna make Cathedral Rock a great place for a day trip. There is a number of walking tracks ranging from easy to difficult. A climb to the top of Cathedral Rock rewards the visitor with stunningly spectacular views of the

tablelands in all directions; a view for which the park is famous.

Ebor Falls, part of the Guy Fawkes River National Park is located just 500m off the Waterfall Way at Ebor, 80 kms East of Armidale. There are three viewing platforms, which provide dramatic views of the falls and the rugged country to the north. For many years hand tinted photographs of these picturesque falls featured in the carriages of New South Wales Railways. Most of the escarpment walking tracks at Guy Fawkes River National Park start at the nearby Chaelundi Creek. Guy Fawkes River National Park is vast. Viewed from its cliff dotted perimeter, the valley seems to stretch endlessly to the north and south. Green spurs and ridges interlock like giant’s hands until the scene is lost in distant haze. The modern day explorer can travel for days along the Guy Fawkes River valley without seeing another person. The park is in a rain shadow and does not receive high rainfall. It is dominated by large areas of open woodland. Yellow box, cabbage gum, red gum and stringy bark cover the stony slopes and ridges. In the upper slopes and protected gullies are stands of dry rainforest, conspicuous from the ridge topes by the darker green colour of their leaves. Wildlife is prolific. As well as marsupials, a variety of fauna exist in the pristine river habitat of the valley below: platypus, turtles, eels, catfish and endangered freshwater cod. Insect life abounds and provides the repast for the rich aquatic life. You may hear and see brush turkeys, lyrebirds and wedge-tailed eagles. Guy Fawkes National Park is also famous for its brumbies.

Oxley Wild Rivers National Park incorporates the mighty Apsley-Macleay gorge system and includes the nearby Wollomombi Gorge and Long Point, where the gentle undulating New England Plateau suddenly drops hundreds of metres, and waterfalls tumble to their stony catchments. You will be impressed and inspired by the untamed beauty of Oxley Wild Rivers National Park. which. It embraces over 90,000 hectares, making it the seventh largest national park in New South Wales and the sixth largest declared wilderness area. It boasts 13 major waterfalls and the largest area of dry rainforest in New South Wales, with 755 known plant species and 173 bird, 31 reptile, 17 amphibian and 47 mammal species. Other locations of interest within the park include Gara Gorge, Dangars Falls, Budds Mare, Apsley Falls and Tia Falls, all spectacular destinations in their own right.

Wollomombi Gorge offers sensational falls and gorges. The Wollomombi River dives 260 metres down the cliff face and just to the right the Chandler River tumbles down to join the gorge below. There are gorge rim walks and a track that takes you down the gorge to the Chandler River. The walk is very strenuous and the National Parks and Wildlife Service recommends you take plenty of water and allow five hours for the return walk.

Long Point, eighteen kilometres from the historic town of Hillgrove, takes you to the edge of the wilderness. Here you get a feeling of isolation and remoteness. There are two posted walking tracks around the gorge rim with inspiring views over the Chandler and Macleay River systems. The paths, often crisscrossed with delicate spider webs, teem with bird life.

Dorrigo National Park is one of Australia’s most accessible rainforest areas and is a tribute to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. The impressive Skywalk, Walk with Birds, and other areas have been designed for easy access and impressive viewing vantage points. The Rainforest Visitors Centre incorporates a 50-seat video theatrette featuring the history, ecology and beauty of the rainforest in New South Wales. At the Centre you can access details about the rainforest, walking tracks and facilities, and browse through an excellent assortment of books, quality souvenirs and posters. In 1986, Dorrigo National Park was included on the World Heritage List to ensure the preservation of its biological diversity. The Park’s rainforest represents a natural heritage of outstanding value to science and conservation. The escarpment was created when the Ebor volcano erupted about 18 million years ago leaving a basalt layer. Following this eruption, rock began to slowly rise, and the uplift created the New England Plateau, a part of the Eastern Highlands of Australia. The sudden rise in landmass lifts the humid coastal air, producing rain, mist and fog. The average rainfall is about 2 metres, most of which falls in the summer months. There are a number of walks, which are all well marked and maintained. After visiting the Rainforest Centre, visitors can continue to the Never Never Picnic Area where there are picnic and barbecue facilities and more walking tracks throughout the rainforest.

Located in the heart of the Waterfall Way, eighty kilometres east of Armidale,and within cooee of all these parks is Yaraandoo Eco Centre, offering budget to up-market accommodation, superb regional cuisine and adventure based activities. Yaraandoo is a great place from which to base your bush exploring activities. All in all, there is plenty of bush walking accessable from Yaraandoo.

Focusing on groups of 12 or more, you are guaranteed excellent service and facilities in the heart of the New England Wilderness. For further information contact Yaraandoo on 02 6775 9219.