INTO THE WILD

Donna Rishton
Sep 3
4 min read

"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads.” These bush tours take you

beyond the beaten path, into the valleys, gorges and waterways of Nightcap and

Mount Jerusalem National Parks. From liloing to wild swimming and canyoning,

there's an adventure story waiting to unfold.

WRITTEN BY CHRIS ASHTON

That iconic quote from ‘Back to the Future’ is rather apt for the remote abseiling tour I’m on. We stepped off an overgrown fire trail some time ago and are now traipsing through the undergrowth of Whian Whian State Conservation Area – skirting grass trees and reaching from one rough-barked Tallowwood after another to steady ourselves on uneven terrain. If I wasn’t under the expert guidance of Tim Williams from Wilderness Adventures, who knows his way

through these trees as if following Google Maps, I’d be close to sending out a distress call.

Whian Whian State Conservation Area is around 30 minutes from Lismore, and

45 minutes from Byron Bay, within the World Heritage-listed Nightcap National Park. The area was heavily logged for more than a hundred years, though has since returned to a thriving natural state, after the last rumbling logging truck departed in the mid-1990s.

This private tour began from the carpark at Minyon Falls – a jaw-dropping

100-metre plunge that locals and tourists are keenly familiar with. Despite

visiting this spot countless times over the years, I had no idea there was

abseiling just across the ridgeline behind it.

“Most people don’t realise there’s rock climbing or abseiling in

Whian Whian, even if they’ve lived here their entire lives,” says Tim, who

relocated his family and long-running outdoor adventure tour company

from the Blue Mountains to the Northerns Rivers in 2017.

Fully licensed to operate in the conservation area, his abseiling,

canyoning and “adventurous bushwalking” tours take in locations few

travellers would encounter on their own, and he’s found hidden gems

as a result. Like fellow Northern Rivers operators VisionWalks Eco Tours,

which recently debuted four-day hikes on the new Gidjuum Gulganyi Walk through Nightcap and Mount Jerusalem National Parks, Williams is

passionate about showcasing the region’s diversity.

A chief reason for that diversity is the ‘Goldilocks’ factor: not too hot, not too

cold. Seasons here are influenced by the temperate climate of the south and tropical heat of the north. This means it has more biodiversity on land and in

the water than anywhere else in Australia. More than 270 native wildlife species and over 1000 plants, trees and shrubs are said to call Whian Whian home.

Based on the varied bird songs I hear dancing through the trees alone, I’d

believe it.

“There are a lot of opportunities to push yourself physically and mentally out

here, too,” explains Tim, as he sets up the first of five pitches we’ll be

completing during this full day tour. “I think that’s kind of my pitch to people:

‘If you want to do something that’s unique, that takes you to places no one

else gets to visit, whether it’s deep into the rainforest, along overlooked waterways or to find these incredible lookouts, we can do it”.

Tim says the winter months are best for active pursuits such as bushwalking, abseiling and rock climbing, while the balmy summer heat delivers a perfect opportunity for canyoning, liloing along lazy streams, or wild swimming at

the base of waterfalls.

As a self-confessed abseiling novice, I wasn’t sure how demanding this experience would be. Tim’s approach though is to tailor each journey to the individual (thankfully). It’s still challenging, as we lug backpacks filled with

ropes, clinking carabiners and essential first aid equipment, but it’s achievable. That said, I’m not really focused on the weight, but rather the thrill of

rappelling down cliff faces and breathing in views from each lookout.