Road trip 2011 - part 4

I wanted to visit Bellingen, because it's supposed to be arty-crafty, and a potter whose work I used to like now lives there. But internet searching had turned up zero places to camp in Bellingen. So we went for the Bellinger River at nearby Repton. It was a pretty, peaceful-looking spot, right beside the river. In fact, I hoped the brake on the ute wouldn't fail (or be played with by 5-year-old hands) or we would have rolled right in.



While shopping for camping gear for the trip, Graham had come across a complete fishing kit, and had bought it in a fit of enthusi-asm. Finally he had a chance to try it out. Using some bacon rind as bait, he lowered the line into the river and sat and chatted to another fisherman, while I cooked dinner. The sun was setting, turning the river pink, when I announced that dinner was ready. Graham pulled in his line and cried "Aargh, I've caught a fish! Now what do I do?" Fortunately the other fisherman was able to show him how to unhook the fish, after which he threw it back into the river. No fish for dinner.

Next day we drove into Bellingen to look for pottery. We found a craft complex with a little bit of pottery, but mostly it had imported "craft". I made enquiries and found that the potter I was interested in had taken up managing a small shopping complex. Oh well. We went inland to Dorrigo National Park and Rainforest Centre. The rainforest was similar to Lamington National Park, but perhaps with fewer large trees and fewer birds visible. We did the treetop walk (not as exciting as at Lamington) to a lookout where a special camera attachment had been set up.

We set off on a circuit walk, trying to persuade Louka to stay on the path. She much prefers to be just off the path. She enjoyed clambering over the rocks below the waterfall.

But soon after that she was wading through a pile of dead leaves when she started to yell and scream "Ow! Ow! OWWW!!!!" We don't know what stung her, whether a leaf from a stinging tree or an ant or other insect. We picked her up crying and wailing, which eventually subsided to snivelling, then she fell asleep. A sleeping 5-year-old is a heavy weight to carry on a fairly steep bushwalk. We were glad when, half-an-hour later, we reached the Rainforest Centre café. We set her down in a chair and ordered lunch.


After lunch we headed up the dirt road to the other, less popular, part of Dorrigo NP: the Never Never picnic area and walks. It was cloudy and dim, with the remains of very big trees.




As we emerged from the forest on the way back, we had to stop to let some cows off the road.