To find a vehicle test use the pull-down lists below.
On location, hunting for dinosaurs! While waiting for a massive Sauropod to wander across the barren...
Destinations > Hidden Gem
Hidden Gem
Issue: June 2009
Words and photos by John McCann
There's a wild range of habitats and wildlife to see only a day's drive from Sydney in the Willi Willi National Park.
The gentle plopping sounds of small fruit falling amongst the leaf litter grabbed my attention as I rounded a corner on the narrow track winding through the rainforest. Scanning the dense canopy above me with binoculars I finally spotted what I had half expected to see - a large slaty-grey coloured topknot pigeon busily feeding on clusters of ripened figs. Within a few minutes I had sighted another eight of these distinctive rainforest pigeons hopping through the branches to feast on the ripened fruit. In former times flocks of these birds were said to number in the hundreds, but shooting and habitat destruction over the years have both contributed to their steep decline.
Willi Willi NP to the west of Kempsey in coastal NSW is one of those little known rainforest national parks that sees very few visitors. Gazetted in 1996, the 30,000ha park protects a mixture of sub-tropical, warm-temperate and cool-temperate rainforests and is a major catchment area for many of the creeks and rivers that flow towards the coast and help to form the Hastings-Macleay river system. Much of the park is a trackless wilderness of narrow plunging valleys, steep ridges and overgrown logging tracks.
read on below advertisement
The city of Kempsey on the Pacific Highway, 460km north of Sydney, is the nearest main centre of population to the park. Try and allow yourself at least two or three days to properly explore the place otherwise you won't do it justice and you will miss out on many of the hidden gems that go to make Willi Willi the special place it is. Remember to check the weather conditions before you go since a few days of heavy rain can make some of the tracks totally impassable and if you try to get through you could become hopelessly bogged.
There are a number of ways to access Willi Willi NP but probably the best route is to drive south from Kempsey along the Pacific Highway for about 28km and turn-off at Telegraph Point. From here you head out along Rollands Plains Road for about 14km until you come to a junction in the track where you turn left towards Bellangry State Forest. For the first few kilometres the road is quite flat, but it then starts to climb quite steeply for the next 3-4km until you enter Bri Bri State Forest. Watch out for logging trucks on the road through here - especially during the week. If you have a UHF radio turn it on to channel 24 so you can monitor where the trucks are. The road through Bri Bri State Forest twists and turns for about 19km until it arrives at a T-junction with Hastings Forest Way in Bellangry State Forest
next page »
Words and photos by John McCann
There's a wild range of habitats and wildlife to see only a day's drive from Sydney in the Willi Willi National Park.
The gentle plopping sounds of small fruit falling amongst the leaf litter grabbed my attention as I rounded a corner on the narrow track winding through the rainforest. Scanning the dense canopy above me with binoculars I finally spotted what I had half expected to see - a large slaty-grey coloured topknot pigeon busily feeding on clusters of ripened figs. Within a few minutes I had sighted another eight of these distinctive rainforest pigeons hopping through the branches to feast on the ripened fruit. In former times flocks of these birds were said to number in the hundreds, but shooting and habitat destruction over the years have both contributed to their steep decline.
Willi Willi NP to the west of Kempsey in coastal NSW is one of those little known rainforest national parks that sees very few visitors. Gazetted in 1996, the 30,000ha park protects a mixture of sub-tropical, warm-temperate and cool-temperate rainforests and is a major catchment area for many of the creeks and rivers that flow towards the coast and help to form the Hastings-Macleay river system. Much of the park is a trackless wilderness of narrow plunging valleys, steep ridges and overgrown logging tracks.
read on below advertisement
The city of Kempsey on the Pacific Highway, 460km north of Sydney, is the nearest main centre of population to the park. Try and allow yourself at least two or three days to properly explore the place otherwise you won't do it justice and you will miss out on many of the hidden gems that go to make Willi Willi the special place it is. Remember to check the weather conditions before you go since a few days of heavy rain can make some of the tracks totally impassable and if you try to get through you could become hopelessly bogged.
There are a number of ways to access Willi Willi NP but probably the best route is to drive south from Kempsey along the Pacific Highway for about 28km and turn-off at Telegraph Point. From here you head out along Rollands Plains Road for about 14km until you come to a junction in the track where you turn left towards Bellangry State Forest. For the first few kilometres the road is quite flat, but it then starts to climb quite steeply for the next 3-4km until you enter Bri Bri State Forest. Watch out for logging trucks on the road through here - especially during the week. If you have a UHF radio turn it on to channel 24 so you can monitor where the trucks are. The road through Bri Bri State Forest twists and turns for about 19km until it arrives at a T-junction with Hastings Forest Way in Bellangry State Forest
next page »
