DINGO TOPS FOREST PARK – FEBRUARY 2013
Shane had heard about Little Run Creek and wanted to check it out, so Helen T, Trish M and I joined him on this expedition, only took us a day but it was a big one.
On Friday night we drove north via Bulahdelah (dinner at the pub) and Wingham to Dingo Tops Forest Park rest area, arriving about 10pm, took us about 3.5 hours to get there, not bad considering. We set up our beds in the picnic shelter, no-one else was there and it was raining and everywhere was very wet.
“Tapin” means Dingo in the Kaltang language of the Biripi people; the picnic area is 40 km west of Wingham via Wherrol Flat, there are plenty of flat camping sites, picnic shelters (small and large), fire pits, toilets, but no water or bins.
On Saturday morning the weather had cleared and we did a car shuffle leaving a car at the Potaroo Falls carpark for the end of the creek walk. We began at the fire trail (gated) just down from the Boot Hill Forestry HQ on the western side. There was a short walk down this road to a broken bridge where we entered the creek (Kerriki map). We travelled mostly in the water for about 6 km to the Potaroo falls.
Along the way, there are falls ranging from about 2m to 8m that you can jump from, and about 3 or 4 falls that were too high and/or rough to jump from. So up the steep scree slope, slipping and a sliding back down, loads of ankle catching vines and calls of “rock”. Back into the water for “lumpy” rapids (code for heaps of bruises) and cascades that were fun but, again, bruising at times (you should see my b**).
Saw some evidence of wildlife but only spotted an unknown small snake and a possible echidna/platypus/water rat (didn’t get a good enough look).
The walk ends with a choice of jumps from Potaroo Falls – 8 m, 5m, or 3m, and a flat walk out on track to the car at Potaroo Falls Picnic area.
It was a big day, 8 hours with breaks, and it wasn’t easy, in fact some tears were shed towards the end of the walk (exhaustion). This was definitely different, in an area we don’t often visit. Having said that, the creek was heaps of fun, it wasn’t all that warm when we were there but on a hot day you’d really enjoy the rapids and pools. We were all so tired, we just drove back to the picnic shelter and set ourselves up again for the night, didn’t even bother with a campfire!