Dorrigo Rainforest Centre

This week’s Travel Pics theme is A for Australia – and for Tuesday, it’s the tiny town of Dorrigo, about half way between Brisbane and Sydney, on what’s called the Waterfall Way.

There are only a thousand residents or so live in Dorrigo – but the Gumbaynggirr people lived there for thousands of years before an escaped convict became the first European to traverse the region – and then to extol the incredible wealth in native Australian timbers.

These days, most of the mills which followed have closed – and tourism’s becoming a significant industry.

In the town itself, there’s a smattering of historical buildings – and a one-shop ‘motorcycle museum’ which proudly describes itself as the world’s smallest 🙂

There’s also one of the largest collections of steam locomotives and railway equipment in Australia – but it’s not open to the public. It did open for a short time in the 80s … but then a bunfight erupted in the museum society’s membership – and its been moribund ever since.

Ah well, there IS always the National Park and Rainforest Centre just outside the town.

It features a 70 metre ‘skywalk’ with magnificent views of the Bellinger Valley below, an interpretive center to let you know why this (and other Gondwana Rainforests) have world heritage listing, and some spectacular hikes and waterfall walks.