Gibraltar NP

Monday 5th April to Friday 9th April 1999

Gibraltar Range lies midway between Grafton and Glen Innes. Dramatic and diverse changes in the landscape are typical with dry sclerophyll forests, granite tors, sub-alpine swamps, lush rainforest, plummeting waterfalls and wild streams. They offer refuge to a rich variety of wildlife including many rare and endangered species. The park was granted World Heritage status in 1986.

Patricia and I had done the sixty kilometre circuit forming the Gibraltar-Washpool Heritage Walk last year but rain had prevented us from fully appreciating the views. We were eager to go back and explore more of this seldom visited area.

We drove down on Easter Monday in the rain, but the weather forecast was hopeful. We set up camp at Mulligans Hut and were later joined by Russell.

Despite the rain, we did a short walk that afternoon to the top of Dandahra Falls, the highest in the park with a drop of 240 metres. The falls were at their best with the recent rain adding to the volume of water plunging into the deep gorge below.

Tuesday awakened with not a cloud in sight. We quickly ate and set out for the Needles, six granite columns sitting 300 m above the edge of the Great Escarpment overlooking a wilderness of vast forest. We explored the Needles and then headed for Tree Fern Forest where we had lunch amongst the oldest plants in the world, predating flowering plants by 200 million years.

Wednesday dawned clear and fine. We drove to the forestry gate along Moogem Road. A brisk 2 hour walk and we were on the Haystack, an impressive rock formation. From the summit are stunning views of untamed wilderness in all directions. We lunched on the banks of Grassy Creek with nearby tin mining relics dating back to 1860. We took a detour off the forestry track to explore more of the wilderness. Patricia with her compass steered us to within 20 metres of where we had left our cars. Russell and I were left speechless.

Thursday was bright and clear. We had spotted a sign a few days earlier marked “Junction Spur Ridge, 8 Hours” We couldn’t find the walk on our maps but the spirit of adventure was upon us and we decided to leave it to serendipity as to what we would find. It turned out to be the highlight of the week with a steep downhill track leading to the junction of the two Dandahra Creeks. Along the way were stunning views of the falls and rugged landscape. We rested at the junction, in complete isolation from the rest of the world.

Friday, the rain set in, and though we tried to do a short walk, Patricia and I felt that we had already done the best the park had to offer. We decided to leave that day with fond memories of our stay.

Many thanks to Russell who came with us to share the beauty that this country has to offer.
Richard