Bundjalung is a birdwatcher's paradise. Hundreds of honeyeaters feed on the nectar of the park's abundant banksias, and colourful species such as the superb and variegated fairy wrens are commonly seen around camp sites. Along the coast, silver gulls, terns and oystercatchers forage on the sand, while ospreys, white-breasted sea-eagles and brahminy kites patrol the skies. Egrets, spoonbills, herons and ducks are also spotted regularly, mainly around the inland swamps. Botanists will delight in the park's vivid displays of wildflowers. In early spring, the heathland's myriad blooms include purple irises, yellow waxflowers, white daisies and pink boronia.

Bundjalung is easily reached by turning off the Pacific Highway at the national park sign approximately 3 km (1.9 miles) south of Woodburn. The first 5 km (3.1 miles) of this road is bitumen, the last 13 km (8 miles) unsealed and sometimes heavily corrugated in places. However, conventional vehicles, including caravans, should have no trouble negotiating the route if they proceed slowly.

Four-wheel-drive vehicles are permitted on the beach between the Black Rocks Rest Area in the centre of the park and Shark Bay, 12 km (7.5 miles) to the south. To avoid possible mishaps, drive on the sand only during the hour or two prior to and following low tide. Avoid driving in or near the dunes as several varieties of native birds nest here.

There is no charge for camping within the park, and sites do not need to be booked in advance. Facilities at the Black Rocks Rest Area include pit toilets, picnic tables, firewood and fireplaces. Visitors looking for a more comfortable site should try the Woody Head camping ground on the park's southern boundary, where amenities include hot showers, toilets, washing tubs and a small kiosk. Drinking water is not available within the park and should therefore be carried at all times.

Yuraygir National Park

This park on the southern side of the Clarence encompasses the largest stretch of undeveloped coastline in eastern Australia. Magnificent beaches provide opportunities for angling, surfing and walking, and visitors can also canoe and fish on inland lakes and rivers.

There are several ways into Yuraygir. From Yamba, you can take the road south to Angourie, where you'll find excellent walks and some of the best surfing in Australia. East of Grafton, roads lead to the popular resorts of Minnie Water and Diggers Rest, as well as the settlement of Wooli. At the southern end of the park, Station Creek lies just a short distance from the Princes Highway. There are campsites at most of these places (fees apply) and a number of commercial camping grounds, motels, hotels and caravan parks can be found in adjacent towns and resorts.

Despite years of intensive commercial activity by trawlers, netters and trappers, the Clarence River estuary and the adjacent coastline continue to provide varied and productive fishing. The town of Yamba offers the most convenient access to the lower reaches of the Clarence, its numerous ramps allowing anglers to either fish within the estuary system or head offshore. Iluka also has a number of ramps, and smaller boats can be launched near the hotel as well as upstream at an old ferry approach near the power lines.

Breakwalls at the river's entrance and in its lower reaches make excellent land-based platforms for anglers targeting tailor, mulloway (jewfish), bream, blackfish, flathead and whiting, and Yamba's famous Middle Wall is one of the best-known fishing hot spots in the entire region. Where the North and South walls extend offshore from the river mouth, they also offer access to migratory pelagic species including tuna, mackerel, kingfish and cobia, as well as sharks and mulloway, especially after floods.

The extensive sand flats within the estuary system are top spots for whiting, bream and flathead, as well as crabs and prawns in season. Good catches of dusky flathead and other species can be taken by drift fishing all the way up the river to well beyond Harwood and at least as far as Maclean and Lawrence at times.

Among the many fine rock- and beach-fishing locations are Woody Head, Iluka Bluff, Little Bluff and Frasers Reef on the northern side of the river mouth, and, on the south side, Flat Rock, Green Point and Angourie Point as well as several more remote (and therefore quieter) rock platforms within Yuraygir National Park. Tailor, bream, mulloway, drummer, groper and other species can be taken from the headlands, along with big surface fish including Spanish mackerel, longtail tuna, mackerel tuna, yellowtail kingfish and cobia. The beaches in-between are likely to yield whiting, bream, tailor, flathead, dart and the occasional big mulloway or jewfish.

Shelley Head, in Yuraygir National Park, is a particularly good rock-fishing spot accessible via walking trails from either Angourie Point or Red Cliff. The turn-off to Red Cliff is located at Maclean, on the Pacific Highway. This same road leads to nearby Brooms Head and the beautiful Sandon River. Brooms Head is a small village with a caravan park and store. It offers good beach and rock fishing, especially for tailor, and reef fishing offshore. With due care, it is possible to beach-launch a boat here. The Sandon River lies south of Brooms Head and marks the end of this particular coastal road, with the Sandon's southern shores being reached via Minnie Waters to the south, along a 4WD track. The Sandon has a boat ramp that provides access to prolific reefs offshore and to the river's small estuary. Whiting, bream and flathead are the major targets in the estuary, along with the occasional mangrove jack taken around the rock bar further upstream.

The highest tributaries of the Clarence hold scattered, marginal populations of introduced trout, but as the branches of this mighty river tumble from the high escarpments and merge, native species predominate. First and foremost among these -in terms of both size and importance -is the once-threatened and still-protected east coast or Clarence River cod.

A kissing cousin of the western Murray cod -a species from which it developed in the relatively recent evolutionary past -the east coast cod is a strikingly attractive, highly territorial species capable of reaching perhaps 40 kg (88 pounds) in exceptional cases, though it is more commonly found in the 1- to 10-kg (2.2- to 22-pound) range.

East coast cod numbers declined dramatically during the twentieth century until rescued from the brink of extinction in the 1980s. Today, thanks to their protected status and careful restocking of depleted stretches of various rivers, east coast cod populations are rising, and in the not-too-distant future limited sport fishing (on a purely catch-and-release basis) for this challenging, hard-fighting species could even be reintroduced. Meanwhile, any angler accidentally hooking one of these magnificent native fish should carefully unhook it and return it quickly to the water.

Other notable fish species in the freshwater reaches of the Clarence system include eel-tailed catfish, Australian bass, Nepean herring, eels and the occasional golden perch or yellowbelly (possibly escapees from farm dams). Of these, it is the Australian bass that attract the greatest interest from anglers. The rugged Clarence Gorge, a short distance upstream from Copmanhurst, acts as an effective natural barrier to the free movement of bass for years at a time. Occasionally, however, it is inundated by massive flooding, allowing fish of all sizes to move in both directions and thereby maintaining a healthy population of bass above the gorge in rivers such as the Mann, Nymboida and the upper Clarence. Access to these regions can be difficult because much of the land fringing the Clarence is private. However, adventurous anglers who launch canoes at Jackadgery or Cangai are likely to enjoy exceptional sport.

More accessible and consistent bass fishing is available downstream from the Clarence Gorge, near Fine Flower and Copmanhurst, as well as in lower tributaries of the Clarence such as the Orara, Coldstream and Esk rivers and Sportsmans Creek. In these tributaries, bass are often caught along with other brackish water species including estuary perch, bream, flathead and the occasional ox-eye herring (tarpon) and mangrove jack.

Washpool National Park

Several of the Clarence's tributaries begin high in the Gibraltar Range, which forms the western boundary of the Big River Country. This is a wild region of majestic, rugged peaks and lush, dense rainforests. Mountain streams tumble through boulder-strewn gorges, their banks lined with delicate ferns and mosses. In the forest canopy, huge bird's-nest and staghorn ferns cling precariously to the branches of ancient, giant trees, occasionally crashing to the ground with a mighty thud when their weight becomes too much for their host to bear. On the leaf-littered rainforest floor, fungi of every imaginable shape and size decorate the rotting timber.

Three contiguous national parks; Washpool, Gibraltar Range and Nymboida -preserve an enormous swathe of this astonishing wilderness; all enjoy World Heritage status as part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves area, which was declared in 1994.

The most accessible of the Gibraltar Range national parks, Washpool National Park protects 27,700 ha (68,450 acres) including the largest area of old-growth, warm-temperate rainforest in New South Wales. A large proportion of the national park consists of an elevated, trackless plateau that in some places rises as high as 1200 m (4000 feet) above sea level. Numerous species of trees, shrubs and flowering plants clothe its ridges and steep slopes, including the world's largest remaining stand of coachwood.

Wildlife is abundant in Washpool. More than 260 species of birds have been recorded including currawongs, eastern yellow robins, scrub wrens, fantails, Lewin honeyeaters, crimson rosellas and king parrots. Sharp-eyed travellers might also catch a glimpse of the elusive lyrebird foraging around forest edges. The most intriguing of the park's feathered inhabitants, however, is the satin bowerbird. After constructing an elaborate bower out of fine twigs, the glossy, dark blue male tries to attract a female by placing small blue objects such as straws, feathers and pen tops around the bower. Single-minded in his devotion to this task, he collects these items from any available source, including tents and picnic sites.

Most native mammal species are nocturnal, but several can be seen around camp sites including three species of possums. The thick-set mountain brush-tailed possums are the most regularly encountered as they often scavenge around picnic tables. Ringtail possums are more elusive, but, with the aid of a good torch, may be spotted high in the trees beside the walking tracks. The much smaller sugar-gliders are more difficult to locate, but, again, using a torch may help you locate one of these charming creatures. Near the park entrance, koalas and greater gliders can sometimes be sighted in the tops of tall eucalypts.

Washpool's walking trails range from a pleasant one-hour stroll along the banks of Coombadjha Creek to demanding three-day hikes through remote wilderness. Anyone attempting these extended treks into the park's interior should be reasonably fit and fully equipped for emergencies. A compass, topographic maps and wet-weather gear are essential.

Though remote, the park is accessible to conventional vehicles and roads are generally well maintained. Caravans and trailers should have no trouble negotiating the track into Bellbird Camping Area, but should not attempt the steep descent into the walk-in camp sites at Coombadjha Camping Area.

Bellbird Camping Area is the park's main camping ground; it has picnic tables, fireplaces, firewood and toilets, and a large shelter shed where visitors can cook during wet weather. Washpool National Park is a region of high rainfall, and showers or thunderstorms are likely at any time of year.

Gibraltar Range National Park

Abutting the southern boundary of Washpool, Gibraltar Range National Park covers 17,273 ha (42,682 acres) of rugged granite peaks, rainforest, heathlands and towering eucalypts. Wildlife is particularly prolific here, with eastern grey kangaroos, red-necked wallabies and swamp wallabies spotted regularly in various parts of the park. Rarer species include the endangered parma wallaby and the seldom-seen tiger quoll. The rich array of birds includes king parrots, eastern yellow robins, rufous fantails, a multitude of honeyeaters, and the magnificent wedge-tailed eagle. At certain times of the year, rangers lead night walks in search of nocturnal mammal species such as the greater glider, squirrel glider, sugar glider, brush-tailed possum and short-nosed bandicoot.
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There is a camping area at Mulligan's Hut, 10 km (6 miles) inside the park along the Gwydir Highway. One of the most interesting trails here is the 5-km (3.1-mile) return hike to Dandahra Falls; however, the last part of the track is very steep and should therefore only be attempted by fit walkers.

Nymboida National Park

With no walking trails, no major roads and few other facilities for visitors, Nymboida is the least accessible of the Gibraltar Range national parks. However, it offers superb whitewater rafting as well as exhilarating wilderness experiences for self-sufficient and well-prepared canoeists and bushwalkers.

Nymboida's 19,000 ha (47,000 acres) of almost impenetrable forest are centred on the steep-sided Mann River valley. At the eastern end of the park, the Mann meets the Nymboida River forming a raging torrent that plummets through deep, forest-clad valleys. Several local tour operators run thrilling trips down these dramatic waterways.

Adventurous visitors can venture into the national park in a canoe from Buccarumbi or on foot from Jackadgery. Vehicle access is difficult, with only two rough 4WD tracks penetrating the park. One leads through Ramornie State Forest to Ramornie Forest Camping Area; the other leaves the Gwydir Highway at Glen Innes and follows the Narlala Road and Cooraldooral Fire Trail to the Mann River.