Iluka Day Walk 18 August 2024 – Clarence Valley Bushwalkers Trip Report, by Christine Casey, Secretary
As Christine noted “We are very lucky in this part of the world to have rainforest and beaches right next door to each other, with a river ferry ride thrown in”.
On a perfect winter’s day ten of us met at Yamba jetty for a ferry trip across to Iluka, where we met up with another two of our bushwalkers, to walk around the foreshore to the World Heritage listed littoral rainforest at Iluka.
Although we have done this trip a number of times before, each time it is different. This time we did not have an East Coast Low sitting off the coast, blowing so hard that the National Park was closed, and generating massive swells and waves that threatened to sweep us off the breakwater.
Nor was there a power outage that closed the coffee machines in Iluka. And the track through the rainforest wasn’t so flooded that we had to either bush bash through the smilax creeper or wade waist deep the dark tannin stained creek that used to be the track.
This time we just had a cool westerly wind at the Yamba that had us pulling on jackets and fleeces, then finding shelter downstairs in the ferry for the crossing. Morning tea was in Iluka’s riverside park, out of the wind and in the sun.
The walk itself was relaxed and enjoyable. Conditions were very dry through the rainforest, but cool and shady under the tall canopies covered in vines and epiphytes. National Parks had gone to a lot of effort to replace the old faded signage along the track and at Iluka Bluff picnic shelter. There were now impressive new versions with interesting information about the birds, plants and landforms along the track.
We had lunch at the beach and picnic area at Iluka Bluff then returned in time to catch the 2:30 ferry back to Yamba. Another very pleasant day with friends enjoying our spectacular part of the world.
