Yes, it’s the same place I went to with Mum and Dad, but this time, I went on the really long walk, the one that goes past the waterfalls.

I packed the usual gear – sandwiches, waterbottles, emergency GPS beacon – and drove the long, winding road to Dorrigo.  I bypassed the gift shop and went right down to the rainforest, which was living up to its name by being very humid and muggy.  The actual temperature wasn’t very high within the shade of the trees, but it felt very hot because sweating did nothing to cool me down.

The rainforest itself was very beautiful.  You can’t say you didn’t see these coming:

 

The path was bitumen – according to the informative signs, that’s so it doesn’t get washed out in heavy rains – but there were places where I had to duck lianas, and several places where they’d been tied out of the way.  Check it out:

I also took pictures of some crazy-looking trees:

This one is a strangler fig that has killed the tree it originally grew on.  I liked the way the sunlight was passing through it:

I also recorded a lot of birdsong.  Seriously, there was no point at which the place was silent.  These are the highlights:

 

It was nice soundtrack to take a walk to.  I dawdled, looking for birds and other animals, so what was supposed to be a two-and-a-half-hour walk ended up closer to four hours, but I got some good pictures and video out of it.

The first one I spotted just a little way from the visitor’s centre.  I think it’s a female golden whistler:

 

I also got a picture:

Then I found a Brown Gerygone – these little guys were everywhere!

 

I’m not sure why Dorrigo is such a hotspot for them, but whenever I heard fluttering or rustling, it was usually these guys or the yellow-throated scrubwrens.  Who are coming up next, and might be familiar to you guys from my Bellingen entry:

 

I find it scratching its head hilarious, though I’m not sure why.  Maybe because it looks like something you’d expect a dog to do rather than a bird.

I also found a caterpillar climbing up a thread in the middle of the path:

 

Apparently, Google informs me that some caterpillars jump off plants in response to threats, with a little silk bungee cord so they can get back to the plant once the danger has passed.  I did not know this, and now feel like I’ve fulfilled my quota of ‘learning new things’ for the day.  And now I’m distributing it so all you can learn it, too – yay for education!

Also from the Bellingen post; how many of you remember the crappy photo of the Bassian thrush?  Well, here’s a much better video of it:

 

Apparently, it’s rare to see these guys, partly because of their camouflage (well done on that one, evolution), and partly because they’re described as ‘secretive’.  Though when you look like that and forage among thick leaf litter and low bushes, I don’t think you have to try very hard to be ‘secretive’.

Now have another yellow-throated scrubwren, hopping along the ground:

 

Either this one was pretty bold, or my ninja skills are better than I suspected, because this one practically guided me along the path for a while, just hopping in front of me.  Then it hopped off into the bush and I kept following the path.  Maybe I missed my opportunity to follow my spirit animal to realms of monsters and magic, but I think I’m much happier without that.

The path diverged, and you could either go on the ‘Satinbird Stroll’ or ‘Walk with the Birds Skywalk’.  I chose the skywalk:

As you can see, I was quite a way off the ground.  Not above the treetops, but definitely enough that I’d break something badly if I fell.  I saw some more brown gerygones, moving too quickly to get good video of them, and I managed to get some out-of-focus footage of a Lewin’s honeyeater:

 

I was off the skywalk and back to the bitumen when I spotted this white-browed scrubwren:

 

I heard something flying through the trees, and used my camera to zoom in.  I found this kookaburra, obviously fresh off a successful catch:

I have no idea what’s it got there – a slug or snail seems to be the best guess.

At this point, I sat down to have my lunch, and got treated to the sight of some more brown gerygones fluttering around just opposite me.  I took some video:

 

And it even stayed still long enough for a picture too:

When I’d finished my lunch and was back to walking, I passed this liana:

I’m not sure what happened to make it grow that way, but I was disappointed that loop wasn’t big enough to sit in.

At this point, the sides of the pathway were getting pretty steep, and I could see why there were waterfalls up ahead.  This next video isn’t even one of those waterfalls – just a little stream that crossed the path and I had to hop over.  You can hear birds chattering in the background:

 

This is a giant stinging tree:

Which was quite helpfully signed, probably because they don’t want people touching it.  Basically, the tree is a bit like a nettle – the hairs cause stinging that can last for hours, and severe stings can last for months.  Researchers handle the aerial parts with heavy-duty welding gloves, and the sting has been known to kill dogs and horses, so they’re not kidding when they tell you not to touch them.

I wandered past a dead tree that looked like it had just cracked off at the base:

I also discovered a lizard in the leaflitter just beside the path:

 

I took a video because it was hard to see in the photos – you need to see it move.

It was just a short way on from there that I finally found the waterfall.  You had to walk over a suspension bridge to see it:

It swayed every time I shifted my weight, which didn’t inspire confidence, but it did give me a nice view.  Presenting Crystal Shower Falls:

I thought that was just a name, but it does look a shower, doesn’t it?  It’s a very thin, gentle waterfall (though I’m sure that changes after a lot of rain).  This is the little pool beneath it:

It does look like some kind of magical grotto, something deserving of ‘crystal’ in its name.

The obligatory waterfall video:

 

The less-impressive view on the other side of the bridge:

I just like the way everything looks so crazily overgrown.  Makes you think about the first settlers, who took a look at that and thought ‘yes, we need a road through there’.

A side-on view of the waterfall, because there was a little detour going behind it and I couldn’t get over how light and filmy the water looked:

Behind the waterfall:

And looking out:

The ceiling was dripping here and there, but it was actually pretty comfortable behind the waterfall.  The damp rocks lowered the ambient temperature, and I regretted that I’d already had my lunch, because this would have been a much nicer place to stop.

The video:

 

I’d seen people with towels and swimming gear along the path, and I didn’t know why.  I think this explains it, though:

Yes, that’s a tiny path down to the pool that looks like a magical grotto.  I doubt it’s an approved swimming area, but I’m sure that doesn’t stop them.

I found these behind the waterfall:

Totally graffiti, no authentic Aboriginal handprints to be seen, but I didn’t mind it.  It’s a lot prettier than the usual graffiti anyway.

When I was re-joining the path, I found some large-billed scrubwrens flitting around on the rocks.  You can still hear the waterfall in the background:

 

The bridge I had recently crossed, from beneath:

Not much in the way of stabilisers – no wonder it swayed so much.

There was a little dragon in the path that I didn’t even notice until it had run away, up onto a rock and was giving me the stink-eye.  I took a photo of it silently judging me:

I sat down and had a drink at this place that calls itself Hardwood Lookout:

False advertising, really.  The foliage blocks pretty much everything except a little sliver of sky, though I could just spot the edge of a mountain through the leaves:

Around the corner, the bitumen curved off, but there was a suspiciously cleared and flattened portion of the ridge that suggested there used to be another path:

As you can see, though, it didn’t last long:

I was tempted to see what was down there, maybe figure out the purpose of the random path into nowhere, but I didn’t want to get lost in the rainforest and have to activate my emergency GPS beacon, so I followed this path:

The one with bitumen.

Which was a good choice, because I spotted this butterfly:

For all the bitumen, there were places where the path became this:

Basically, I just had to step over the watercourse and try to avoid the mud.

I spotted this brush turkey to the side, making this funny grunting sound:

 

I’ve never heard one of them do that before.  I’ve seen brush turkeys all over the place, but this is the first time I’ve actually heard one of them vocalise.

I also found a green catbird, and have both picture and video to prove it:

 

They’re called catbirds because their call sounds like a cat, apparently.  I think you guys can figure out the reason for the ‘green’ part of their name by yourselves.

I also spotted a single leaf wiggling on a small bush, and filmed it, just because:

 

It’s probably air currents and stuff, but it looks really weird, probably because it’s actually wiggling, not blowing back and forth.  It looks like it’s trying to escape.

There was a second waterfall along the path, and I spotted this little guy when I was getting close:

That red belly marks it as an Eastern water dragon.

My first view of the actual waterfall:

I love the way the rock has worn so that it almost looks like steps.  I took video too:

 

There was a bridge in front of this waterfall, but before I got there, I had to go down these stairs:

There was no real reason to take that picture – I just like that the ‘guard rail’ on the corner is a tree.  Way to work the environment!

The waterfall from the front:

And you get two shots from different angles because I like the way the rocks look in shadow in the first one.  Shhhh – I’m being artistic.

On the other side of the bridge:

Again, I could just glimpse part of a mountain between the trees:

After crossing the bridge, I came to a turn that was so overgrown I had to duck:

Still, it made me feel like I was some kind of special jungle adventure, even if my hat did get knocked off at one point.

Past the hat-stealing branches or lianas or whatever those are, I found a grey fantail:

 

And another lizard:

This one you can see without a video.  I also passed a very impressive collection of fallen trees:

I saw something fluttering in the leaves near a steep drop-off, and went to check it out.  It turned out to be a Rufous Fantail:

 

This was kind of exciting, as I’d heard of them before, but never actually seen them.  I also have a photo of the fantail looking like it’s just been caught on candid camera:

Another possibly-pointless picture (say that six times fast), but I liked the way the tree roots had clearly crumbled the rock but were still holding it in place:

And for this one, I just liked the trees growing on top of the dead tree:

I saw a shadow on the path in front of me, and pointed the camera upwards.  That’s how I managed to catch this Brown Cuckoo Dove:

 

It’s feeding, so it’s not very clear, but I managed to get a much better picture:

Now, this one just looks like a rock with holes in it, but bear with me, this has an explanation:

Okay, now these mountains were formed when the Ebor volcano erupted a long, long time ago.  It erupted several times, resulting in layers of volcanic rock, which were slowly eroded into the mountains we know today.  There were several rocks like this along the path, and they were formed by bubbly lava that cooled quickly, trapping air bubbles in the rock.

Pretty cool, huh?  And that little bit of information has ensured I’ll be keeping my eye out for rocks like that from now on.

I’ve also learned that the rainforest is filled with dead, fallen trees.  It makes sense, really, but you somehow never think of it like that.  There was one that I had to walk under:

There was a little bird on top of the tree, which I only noticed when it started hopping around.  I zoomed in with my marvellous camera and found another grey fantail!  Or it could be the same one, really – how would I know?

 

From under the tree:

I also found this wild-looking mushroom:

And speaking of dead trees and mushrooms, this one has a solid crop going:

I was constantly hearing flapping in the upper canopy, and eventually I finally managed to find out what it was when I caught a group of white-headed pigeons feeding:

 

This video is kind of fuzzy, but I was pretty thrilled to find a superb lyrebird:

 

They’re very iconic, after all, and the one at Point Lookout was the first one I’d ever seen in the wild.

There was also plenty of rustling in the bushes during the walk, which usually turned out to be lizards or something that I never saw.  But this time, I found some Australian logrunners!  It might not be too clear in this video, but there’s a pair of them – a female is digging, and towards the end of the video a male wanders in at the side:

 

This is a close-up of the female – female logrunners have an orange throat:

 

Just before I made it back to the visitor centre, I spotted a staple of my bushwalks – the yellow robin:

At this point, I was thinking longingly of the air-conditioning in my car, but I went up to the picnic area because for a little while in the hopes of finding more wildlife.  And did I ever!  I spent about ten minutes up there and got three good videos out of it.

First up, some more yellow-throated scrubwrens, this time with a juvenile:

 

Then I spotted an Eastern whipbird:

 

And finally, I filmed this brush turkey because it kept following me around the picnic area and the opportunity was too good to pass up.  So here it is, looking at me like I owe it something:

 

On the way home, I stopped to get a photo of something that had amused my parents and I the first time we came through.  You see, on Thora Bridge, which spans part of the Bellinger River, we saw this:

No, I have no explanations for you.  It’s Ned Kelly fishing – it doesn’t need an explanation.

You probably won’t hear from me for a few days – we’re expecting some bad weather up here – but I’ll be heading out again soon enough.