OTR: Day 3 … Waterfall Way

When we set out on our drive from Sydney on the 11th, the plan was to stay inland all the way up to Toowomba before turning east to Brisbane.

Well, after talking with the volunteer at the Gunnedah Visitor Center yesterday, we decided to jiggle our loosely-planned itinerary and turn east from Armidale towards the coast. Why? So that we could drive the Waterfall Way.

This route, which connects Armidale to Coffs Harbour, is 115 miles long. Along the scenic drive, are five national parks. The road winds through a lush rainforest, open woodlands, and farmlands. Unfortunately, nowhere to pull off and enjoy the roadside scenery. Indeed, to see the waterfalls one must at times detour into the national parks. We did that when the driving distances were reasonable.

Our first stop was at the Wollomombi Gorge. The waterfall here is said to have the highest drop in New South Wales. This was a horsetail waterfall … unfortunately less impressive than it probably is after the wet.

Our next stop was at Cathedral Rock National Park … a 9-mile in/out drive on a very narrow dirt road. Turns out that to see Cathedral Rock one must do some tricky bush walking on a trail rated extreme. Should have paid more attention to the map near the entrance to the park as this detour off the road turned out to be a mistake for us.

Our next stop — Ebor Falls — more than made up for our disappointing stop at Cathedral Rock. Located in the Guy Fawkes River National Park, the falls consist of two cataracts over which the river plunges some 325 feet. Quite majestic and picturesque … deserving of the name by which the Gumbaynggirr people traditionally know the falls … Martian … which means “the great falls.”

The drive was most definitely a worthy change to our original plans for being on the road.Read more