Latest news with #Bundjalung
The Age
6 days ago
- The Age
Australia's newest four-day hike traces an ancient, stunning route
One of the best things about this walk is we're doing it pack-free, carrying only day packs and arriving at camp each afternoon to find everything set up for us: our roomy tents (each large enough to stand up in and containing two comfy camp beds, sleeping bags and real pillows), a shower tent, the camp kitchen and an undercover dining area full of snacks, treats and gourmet meals. Vision Walks' CEO Wendy Bithell is passionate about supporting local suppliers, so almost everything we eat and drink comes from the Northern Rivers, including Brookfarm muesli, Stone & Wood beers, Jilly wines, Nimbin Valley cheeses and chocolates from Love Byron Bay, all lovingly prepared by local caterer the Bloody Good Food Co. That night, rain drums on the roof above our table as we dine in a bubble of light from solar lanterns, feeling like the only people on Earth. There's no mobile reception, no Wi-Fi, no one else around; in four days we see only one young couple and an older group of three, all carrying big packs. Each day we walk for five or six hours – except on day two, which is an eight-hour, 18-kilometre epic. After climbing what feels like a thousand stone steps that morning, we reach the rim of the caldera, 800 metres above sea level. The rain is relentless, ditto the mud and the leeches (though they're mercifully small). At the five lookouts we pass, mist teases us with fragments of views – Wollumbin! The sea! I love the unexpected adventure of it all. I also love the hour of silent walking we do each morning, each of us falling into single file behind Skye, tuning in to bird calls, small details beside the track – like a tiny forest of mushrooms on a mossy log – and the simple, timeless act of moving through this landscape on foot. At other times, Skye points out how the Minjungbal people (and the Widjabul Wia-bal, when we enter their Country) use particular plants, the rainforest their pantry, medicine cabinet and shed all in one. (On future trips, a Bundjalung guide will meet the group one afternoon to offer an Indigenous perspective on the walk.) After a gentle descent on day three, we arrive at a spectacular lookout and the sun makes a guest appearance, spotlighting three gushing waterfalls on the far side of Wanganui Gorge. A few minutes later we arrive at our final campsite, where our dining table has the same view and our tents are dwarfed by tall eucalypts – blackbutt, bloodwoods and stringybarks. We hear the official end-point of the Gidjuum Gulganyi before we see it. Living in northern NSW, I know Minyon Falls well, but arriving on foot really dials up the glory. For most walkers, the viewing deck at the top is their finish line, but Vision Walks adds an extra six kilometres to include the trek to the base of the falls. It's the most difficult section of the entire walk, with a tricky creek crossing and a scramble over slippery boulders, but standing at the base of the thundering falls drenched in spray is exhilarating – and gives us a visceral sense of this landscape and all the water running through it. On our way back to Byron Bay in the shuttle, I ask Skye Weatherstone for her thoughts on the walk, since it was her first time doing it too. 'I thought about the old people a lot,' she says, 'how so many of the local elders are too old or unwell now to come up here any more and that the forest would have reclaimed these trails without the Gidjuum Gulganyi. It's bringing these trails back to life, and the forest gets to have humans in it again, people who can appreciate its beauty and hopefully act as caretakers into the future.' The details Loading Where The Gidjuum Gulganyi Walk starts at Unicorn Falls in Mount Jerusalem National Park near Uki in northern NSW and ends at Minyon Falls in Nightcap National Park, 45 minutes' drive from Byron Bay. Walk Vision Walks' guided pack-free glamping experience includes chef-prepared meals and drinks, bento-box lunches, snacks, transfers, camping gear and expert local guides, from $3200 a person. See Connect Adventures is the other operator licensed to run guided walks on this track and offers pack-free walks from $2165 a person and full-pack walks from $1855 a person. See The self-guided option, carrying your own food and camping gear, costs $173 for one or two people, for the three nights. Each public campsite has five hardwood tent platforms, a sheltered table, rainwater tanks and a composting toilet. See Drive All hikers must walk from north to south so you'll need to arrange transport at either end. Transfers are included in guided walks; Vision Walks also provides transfers for self-guided hikers for $38 from Mullumbimby, $61 from Byron Bay, $121 from Ballina Airport and $138 from Gold Coast Airport. See
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Australia's newest four-day hike traces an ancient, stunning route
One of the best things about this walk is we're doing it pack-free, carrying only day packs and arriving at camp each afternoon to find everything set up for us: our roomy tents (each large enough to stand up in and containing two comfy camp beds, sleeping bags and real pillows), a shower tent, the camp kitchen and an undercover dining area full of snacks, treats and gourmet meals. Vision Walks' CEO Wendy Bithell is passionate about supporting local suppliers, so almost everything we eat and drink comes from the Northern Rivers, including Brookfarm muesli, Stone & Wood beers, Jilly wines, Nimbin Valley cheeses and chocolates from Love Byron Bay, all lovingly prepared by local caterer the Bloody Good Food Co. That night, rain drums on the roof above our table as we dine in a bubble of light from solar lanterns, feeling like the only people on Earth. There's no mobile reception, no Wi-Fi, no one else around; in four days we see only one young couple and an older group of three, all carrying big packs. Each day we walk for five or six hours – except on day two, which is an eight-hour, 18-kilometre epic. After climbing what feels like a thousand stone steps that morning, we reach the rim of the caldera, 800 metres above sea level. The rain is relentless, ditto the mud and the leeches (though they're mercifully small). At the five lookouts we pass, mist teases us with fragments of views – Wollumbin! The sea! I love the unexpected adventure of it all. I also love the hour of silent walking we do each morning, each of us falling into single file behind Skye, tuning in to bird calls, small details beside the track – like a tiny forest of mushrooms on a mossy log – and the simple, timeless act of moving through this landscape on foot. At other times, Skye points out how the Minjungbal people (and the Widjabul Wia-bal, when we enter their Country) use particular plants, the rainforest their pantry, medicine cabinet and shed all in one. (On future trips, a Bundjalung guide will meet the group one afternoon to offer an Indigenous perspective on the walk.) After a gentle descent on day three, we arrive at a spectacular lookout and the sun makes a guest appearance, spotlighting three gushing waterfalls on the far side of Wanganui Gorge. A few minutes later we arrive at our final campsite, where our dining table has the same view and our tents are dwarfed by tall eucalypts – blackbutt, bloodwoods and stringybarks. We hear the official end-point of the Gidjuum Gulganyi before we see it. Living in northern NSW, I know Minyon Falls well, but arriving on foot really dials up the glory. For most walkers, the viewing deck at the top is their finish line, but Vision Walks adds an extra six kilometres to include the trek to the base of the falls. It's the most difficult section of the entire walk, with a tricky creek crossing and a scramble over slippery boulders, but standing at the base of the thundering falls drenched in spray is exhilarating – and gives us a visceral sense of this landscape and all the water running through it. On our way back to Byron Bay in the shuttle, I ask Skye Weatherstone for her thoughts on the walk, since it was her first time doing it too. 'I thought about the old people a lot,' she says, 'how so many of the local elders are too old or unwell now to come up here any more and that the forest would have reclaimed these trails without the Gidjuum Gulganyi. It's bringing these trails back to life, and the forest gets to have humans in it again, people who can appreciate its beauty and hopefully act as caretakers into the future.' The details Loading Where The Gidjuum Gulganyi Walk starts at Unicorn Falls in Mount Jerusalem National Park near Uki in northern NSW and ends at Minyon Falls in Nightcap National Park, 45 minutes' drive from Byron Bay. Walk Vision Walks' guided pack-free glamping experience includes chef-prepared meals and drinks, bento-box lunches, snacks, transfers, camping gear and expert local guides, from $3200 a person. See Connect Adventures is the other operator licensed to run guided walks on this track and offers pack-free walks from $2165 a person and full-pack walks from $1855 a person. See The self-guided option, carrying your own food and camping gear, costs $173 for one or two people, for the three nights. Each public campsite has five hardwood tent platforms, a sheltered table, rainwater tanks and a composting toilet. See Drive All hikers must walk from north to south so you'll need to arrange transport at either end. Transfers are included in guided walks; Vision Walks also provides transfers for self-guided hikers for $38 from Mullumbimby, $61 from Byron Bay, $121 from Ballina Airport and $138 from Gold Coast Airport. See
The Age
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Sydney fine-diner moves up in the World's 50 Best Restaurants longlist
In late May, Mindy Woods – owner-chef of Karkalla On Country near Byron Bay – received the World's 50 Best Restaurants Champions of Change Award. Woods, a Bundjalung woman, was the first Indigenous woman to appear on MasterChef Australia. She was named a Champion of Change for using her platform to blend cultures and empower the community, and cultivate a more inclusive food industry that supports minority voices. Meanwhile, Central Otago destination diner Amisfield became the first New Zealand restaurant to appear on the World's 50 Best list in its 23-year-history, scraping in at 99th. It is unlikely any other Australian venues will feature on the list, which last year crowned Barcelona's Disfrutar as the 'world's best restaurant'. (A four-hour tasting menu at Disfrutar costs around $500 before drinks and may feature a dish called 'Fear: The Prawn', where guests are asked to hunt through dry-ice vapour with bare hands to retrieve the shellfish.) The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 longlist
Sydney Morning Herald
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Sydney fine-diner moves up in the World's 50 Best Restaurants longlist
In late May, Mindy Woods – owner-chef of Karkalla On Country near Byron Bay – received the World's 50 Best Restaurants Champions of Change Award. Woods, a Bundjalung woman, was the first Indigenous woman to appear on MasterChef Australia. She was named a Champion of Change for using her platform to blend cultures and empower the community, and cultivate a more inclusive food industry that supports minority voices. Meanwhile, Central Otago destination diner Amisfield became the first New Zealand restaurant to appear on the World's 50 Best list in its 23-year-history, scraping in at 99th. It is unlikely any other Australian venues will feature on the list, which last year crowned Barcelona's Disfrutar as the 'world's best restaurant'. (A four-hour tasting menu at Disfrutar costs around $500 before drinks and may feature a dish called 'Fear: The Prawn', where guests are asked to hunt through dry-ice vapour with bare hands to retrieve the shellfish.) The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 longlist
News.com.au
03-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Man starts petition after proposal to jack up campsite rates in one Aussie state
A proposal to increase camping fees in NSW national parks would make camping more expensive than renting a house. The NSW government has proposed introducing a six tier system that would make the rate fro some campgrounds as much as $97 a night or $679 a week, compared to a three bedroom home that can be rented for $600 a week. Filmmaker Michael Atkinson made the point in a social media video he shared from the Woody Head Camping Area in the Bundjalung National Park on the NSW North Coast. 'You can rent a three-bedroom house (down the road) with garage for $600, so it's almost $100 cheaper to rent a three-bedroom house with garage outside the park, as opposed to a small patch of grass here in the park,' Mr Atkinson said in the video 'I counted 89 campsites on this map, that is revenue raising of $55,000 a week just for this campground, excluding the money that they make from cabins.' In 2023-24, about 1.8 million people stayed overnight at 365 campgrounds located in national parks across NSW. The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service developed a proposal 'to make camping fairer' for visitors and address issues when people did not show up, known as 'ghost bookings.' A tiered camping fee system was developed with pricing based on services, facilities and seasonal demand. A NPWS spokesman said more than 23,000 submissions were received during the consultation period. 'The NPWS invited feedback on a proposed model to introduce a more consistent and simplified statewide camping fee and booking system for the 365 campgrounds across NSW national parks,' a spokesman said. 'No decisions have been made on the proposal. 'NPWS will advise the public on the next steps once feedback has been considered.' Mr Atkinson told NewsWire that before Covid booking systems were used for high use campgrounds, and about 70 per cent of campgrounds in NSW national parks were free. He said a booking system was introduced to manage the infectious disease and it only cost $6, but because bookings were so cheap campsites would be booked out months in advance, then people would not show up. Mr Atkinson said the government's solution to prevent 'ghost bookings' was to jack up the prices, but the proposed hike would stop low income earners from being able to afford camping and discourage young people from heading out. 'For people like me, you feel ripped off that you're going to a public space in a park that we own, and paying what I think is a significant amount of money just to camp on our own land effectively,' he said. Mr Atkinson said a better solution would be to increase the number of campgrounds that were available at the sites which would increase grass space and remove undergrowth that clogged national parks. Mr Atkinson started an epetition to let the NSW government know how many people were against the proposal. The petition titled Keep camping affordable for all Australians in NSW National Parks has already received support from more than 7600 people. He also has support from the Nationals and people living outside of NSW who have been contacting the NSW environment minister directly. Opposition tourism spokesman Kevin Anderson said in a statement the decision would put some of NSW's most-treasured natural assets behind a paywall in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. 'When I asked the Minister for Tourism about this in Question Time last month, he refused to acknowledge the issue, despite the heavy impact it will have on the tourism sector by deterring people from wanting to camp in our National Parks,' he said. 'The Minns Labor government needs to go back to the drawing board and find better ways to save money than hitting hardworking families who are just looking to get out and enjoy nature.' Scott Barrett MLC said National Parks should be more accessible for everyone. 'This proposal will put camping out of reach for many families and that's why I believe it's important to support Outback Mike with this petition,' he said. 'Some of my favourite moments have been spent with my family in our state's iconic national parks and limiting those experiences for other families based on cost is extremely frustrating.'
