Claudia and I had visited Dorrigo National Park many years before. Despite — or thanks to? — all the leeches that back then chased us along the track, it had left a lasting impression. No surprise it is listed by UNESCO as a world heritage area. Up here at around 700 metres altitude on the slopes of the Great Dividing Range, the canopy of the trees is so dense that hardly any sunshine can pass through. In the search of light, lianas and figs climb up the big trees, in the process strangling their hosts and taking over their spots. This is a very old rainforest, and one of the southern-most that can be found in Australia.
Everywhere else in the world such a place would be surrounded by coach parking areas, you’d have to pay an entry fee, and souvenir shops would rip off tourists. As is so often the case in Australia, such a divine place is almost taken for granted, and no fuzz is made about it. On our half-day visit we meet a dozen other walkers, that’s it. We start appreciating the beauty of winter — and off-season! — holidays.
