Gondwana rainforest walk

Tuesday 31st of May 2022. Naughty time 086

We Decided to go for a walk through the lovely World Heritage-listed Gondwana rainforest That runs along the Iluka coast. It was just a short walk from the end of town to the track. There were large strangler figs, ferns and magnificent Staghorn ferns in the trees. Unfortunately there were quite a few that looked like they had been knocked from the trees in recent storms and lay prostrate on the forest floor.

About an hour into the walk we came across a huge flooded section but the water looked clear so we decided to traverse barefoot. It was a bit eerie and once we reach the other side we did a thorough search for leeches but fortunately found none.

We were rewarded for our paddle by ending up at Iluka bluff where we went rock hopping around the point and found a lovely rock to perch on while we had our picnic lunch overlooking the beautiful surf beach before heading back to town along the beach front. Here we discovered remnants of old railway carts and wheels on the foreshore.

When we cut back through the park we saw a osprey on a branch of a tree close to a nest on a nesting pole that had obviously been erected for this purpose. I love all these huge birds and could spend hours watching them especially when they are just gliding in air currents with their massive wings spread wide.

We saw a boat that was beached by the winds last night that still looked in good condition so hopefully they will be able to refloat her in next high tide.

Before heading back to the boat we enjoyed an ice cream in the park

We finished the day with sundowners while rechecking the weather for our 2 day passage up to the Gold Coast. A couple we met at the dock had cast some doubt on our decision to leave tomorrow but on rechecking we think it’s the best window for another week or so. It’s hard being novices at this when people who have been sailing for years place that seed of doubt but we both agree we are happy to give it a go especially if the web cam of the bar shows a calm exit just after sunrise tomorrow morning. For now it’s early to bed and try to sleep. Always a hard ask before a possible difficult bar crossing

Iluka to Byron Bay

Coffs Harbour to Iluka