I didn’t until recently. I could tell the difference in feel of a forest, particularly when climbing or dropping in altitude. The transition from dry to lush forest I’ve always found more pronounced that the transition from lush to dry. And the rainforest along the coast is completely different again.
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service put together a great booklet on the various rainforests throughout NSW called Under the Canopy. This page is from it and is the clearest description of various rainforest that I’ve found.
Less than 1% of the Big Scrub rainforest that once covered the Byron-Tweed-Ballina-Nightcap area and beyond is left. What is left in the region however are some of the richest rainforests in NSW that range all the way from the cool temperate to subtropical types shown above. What defines each type is the complex makeup of climate, soil, forest structure, leaf character and special life forms.
You’ll find some beautiful littoral or coastal rainforest along parts of the Byron coast such as the Cape Byron Walking Track in Byron Bay, the Three Sisters Walking Track in Broken Head and the Tyagarah-Brunswick Track in Tyagarah Nature Reserve, as well as parts of the Ballina Coast such as Boulder Beach and Angels Beach on the Ballina Coastal Walk.
We are lucky in this area to have two World Heritage listed Gondwana Rainforests of Australia: Nightcap National Park and Wollumbin National Park. World Heritage listed Gondwana Rainforests are considered natural treasures because they contain ancient plant and animal species whose origins can be traced back to the ancient super continent, Gondwana. These two rainforests thrived on the fertile soils of the ancient Tweed Volcano which has Wollumbin at its centre. Both national parks, especially Nightcap have a great choice of walking tracks that allow you to explore the forests.
Did you know…
- The trees of a tropical rainforest are so densely packed that rain falling on the canopy can take as long as 10 minutes to reach the ground?
- A large quantity of flowers and wildlife in these local rainforests are not found anywhere else in the world?
Next time you’re looking for calm and relaxation and something different to recharge your battery take yourself out to a rainforest. You’ll be glad you did.
