Oxley Wild Rivers National Park is the
kind of place you come for a day and stay for a week, all the while
hatching plans for when you can next get back. It is a big, wild,
sprawling National Park defined by steep and deep river gorges,
roaring waterfalls, long untracked river valleys, dry eucaplypt
ridges and enclaves of rain forest. Fire roads and walking tracks
lead down to the less rugged river valleys, but access to the most
dramatic areas of the park - the huge narrow canyons and gorges - is
adventurous.
Chandler River Gorge
Wollomombi Falls and The Chandler River
There is a lovely NP campground at
Wollomombi Falls from which you can easily walk around the all the
tourist tracks in a morning or afternoon, even allowing for all the
gawping you'll do at the jaw-dropping views. From the picnic area, a
track leads across the top of Wollomombi Falls to Chandler Falls,
and, in the other direction, the view from Checks Lookout is simply
stunning. The surrounding rolling farmland gives no indication of
the steep and rugged nature of these gorges which seem to simply open
below your feet.
Wollomombi and Chandler Falls
We scrambled down to the Chandler River
from near the campground, a somewhat adventurous descent that
required a half length of climbing rope to get all the way to the
river 500 metres below. Apart from one small rock slab which
required careful downclimbing, travel downstream was relatively easy,
scrambling over smooth river boulders past sandy banks and pools
crossing the river occasionally when required. We got as far as
viewing Church Rock before stopping for lunch on a big boulder in the
middle of the river.
Pools along the Chandler River
After lunch, we scramble upstream
through a magical landscape of small waterfalls, deep pools, and
glistening rock slabs. Red bugs live on fallen leaves, and a carpet
of tiny fern leaves floats on a rock pool studded with water
droplets. We are dwarfed by the boulders in the river, and
everywhere there is water, carving out new pools and chasms and
channels. We travel as far as we can without swimming, then find a
clean, smooth rock slab for another break and we sit, sip tea from
our flasks, and listen to the sibilant hiss of the river as it slides
down the river rocks washing them smooth.
There is a reason these are called wild rivers
It is a whole other world down in the
bottom of the gorge. There is rock and water, and shifting glimpses
of sky far above. It is a misty, rainy kind of day, perfect for
exploring this narrow land of rock and water, where the vegetation
clings to bare rock faces in a perpetual battle against gravity.
Small falls on the Chandler River
Moona Creek Gorge
The main rivers in Oxley Wild Rivers
are the Apsley, Chandler and Macleay Rivers, but dozens of other
small rivers and streams run into these larger rivers, and these
smaller watercourses have carved yet more dramatic gorges.
Moona Gorge
Not far from the frequently visited
Apsley Falls section of the park is Moona Creek and another gorge,
this one almost 600 metres deep, improbably carved out by
inconsequential Moona Creek. Unlike nearby Apsley Gorge, Moona Creek
has no facilities, but it is well worth spending a day walking along
the edge of the gorge, crossing over the top of the tiny waterfall
that is Moona Creek, and scouting out all the viewpoints along the
gorge rim.
Looking down the headwaters of Moona Creek
Apsley Gorge, Budds Mare and The Apsley
River
Camping at Apsley Gorge is deservedly
popular. The site we had over looked the fabulous Apsley Gorge,
which may not be as deep as other gorges, but is every bit as
spectacular with two waterfalls, deep pools and narrow rock walls
lining the bottom of the gorge. The tourist track along the rim
offers spectacular views and we even saw a platypus swimming in one
of the pools below.
Apsley Falls
It's worth the trek out to Budds Mare,
where the campground is a small enclave among towering eucalpyts
perched on a plateau overlooking the Apsley River where it runs
deeper and slower. The ridgelines are all dry eucalpyt forest but the
gullies harbour moist green rainforest. The starry nights are quiet
but for the sound of nocturnal birds and animals, and, in the
morning, the valley, far below is draped in mist shifting across the
river valley.
The view from Budds Mare down to the Apsley River
A faint, but easily followed track
descends 700 metres down a dry eucalpyt ridgeline to the Apsley River
where there are deep pools for swimming and gravel banks shaded by
she-oaks for camping. We spent the day exploring down river walking
along grassy banks, past small rushing rapids, and sluggish deep
pools. The river is a corridor for travel, and wild horses roam the
valley.
Apsley River and Paradise Rocks
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