60 Australian Geographic
no more statuesque than saplings. But Alan assures me
the Gondwanan relics will stay safe here for aeons to
come. “A rockslide might take some of them out, but
they’ve been surviving long before we arrived, and will
do so long after we are gone,” he says. “They’re stayers.”Washpool and Gibraltar
Range national parks
Nerida Holznagel is a powerhouse. The NPWS
Ranger Team Leader is striding it out ahead of me,
carrying a 20kg pack, as we head into the heart of
Gibraltar Range National Park, roughly an hour’s
drive east of Glen Innes. We walk through eucalypts,
casuarina and black she-oak en route to Anvil Rock
(4km return), an impressive granite tor with hulking
boulders set atop.
As we go, birds f lit from a stretch of golden sub-
alpine swamp on one side of the path, to the other
where there is a dry eucalypt forest. We stop to admire
the banksias, bottlebrush and winter wildf lowers in
bloom. Further on, xanthorrhoea leaves splay upwards
and outwards, and small granite boulders stage gravi-
ty-defying balancing acts. It’s an easy walk, and the
conversation is even more so.“I don’t think people realise how accessible all this is
to them,” Nerida says. “I mean, we have some of the
world’s most intact and ancient rainforest right at our
fingertips. It’s not locked up. It’s here, a short walk from
your car.”
Further on we reach Anvil Rock, and clamber over
its elephant-grey surface to find a hidey hole between
two huge boulders. From this vantage point I spy Old
Ma ns Hat, a nother st r i k ing rock for m at ion. It’s perched
on the next ridge and between the two, in the crease
of a stream, sits a lush green strip of tall, open, wet
forest dominated by eucalypts and well-developed
rainforest understorey.
“This part of the park isn’t strictly Gondwanan,”
Nerida says. “But it’s vital for the rainforest’s survival.
Here we see rocky outcrops, like Old Mans Hat,
grasslands and hanging swamps give way to dry and
wet forests that in turn, give way to the rainforest.
Amazingly, it’s like Mother Nature has set up physical
barriers to help protect the jewel in her crown – the
emerald rainforest.”
The next day, Nerida and I head out on the 8.5km
Washpool walking track, which will take us on a round
trip to one of the largest stands of coachwood forest in
NSW. It’s frigid and breezy, and ice crackles underfootBe sure to tear your eyes away from the ancient giants of
the Gondwana rainforest to appreciate its many smaller gifts –
colourful fungi sprouting from moss-licked logs – in Dorrigo NP.Washpool and Gibraltar Range national parks are an easy
drive from Grafton and Glen Innes. The latter is dotted with
impressive granite boulders including Anvil Rock (at bottom).