Rafting Ramornie to Jackadgery - Nymboida National Park

The morning air is so clear and clean it is all space and blue is a distant, untouchable colour.  A strong breeze strips the land back to silver sharp tones. We are on the Nymboida River, out past Ramornie National Park at the Nymboida Campground preparing for an overnight rafting trip downriver to Jackadgery.  

Granite Tigers and River Dogs - Gibraltar Range & Nymboida NP

Seeking to escape the madness of Christmas one year, preferring instead to immerse ourselves in a deep wilderness, Caz and I set out on a five-day off-track adventure that involved walking across the top of the Gibraltar Range National Park, out past the granite tors of Anvil Rock and Old Man’s Hat, and down a long curving ridge to the Mann River into the remote neighbouring Nymboida National Park. At the river we planned to pull out small inflatable boats, stowed in the bottom of our packs, and paddle 15 kilometres through the rugged Mann River wilderness to its junction with the Nymboida River before continuing another 10 kilometres, around Bridal Veil and New Zealand Falls, eventually drifting through farmland back to our starting point at Jackadgery.

The story of this fantastic adventure appeared in Australia's outdoor adventure magazine, Wild. While the story cannot be viewed online, you can order back issues of Wild magazine by contacting them through their website. The story appeared in issue 128.

In hindsight, this adventure is one of the toughest I have ever done. After the challenging 17-kilometre walking leg we reached the Mann River and I collapsed in an exhausted heap. Caz still managed to find the energy each day to take some spectacular photos so here are a few extra images that did not appear in the magazine at publication. I've also included a few tantalising snippets of the adventure. Hopefully they will inspire you to track down the full story and plan your own adventure in this beautiful and wild part of our landscape. 

Devine Hut – Mann River Nature Reserve

Word of mouth is a great tool for those seeking new places, beautiful landscapes, big or small adventures. In a way, it's what this blog is about. Here is a place that came to us via word of mouth from a group of intrepid bushwalkers and members of the Inverell Bushwalking Club. 

We met the club members one October long weekend while hail, fog and snow trapped us on top of Mt Kaputar. Huddled under a small shelter in the campground we sipped hot cups of tea, wearing every stitch of merino, gortex and polypro available, listening to details of their club’s favourite walks and destinations – all of them, funnily enough, in sunny warm locations unlike our surrounds.

The conversation turned to the Mann River Nature Reserve, west of Grafton. For a long time we had thought about exploring up the Mann River, from the campground on the Old Glen Innes-Grafton road. The Inverell walkers rekindled our interest with talk of an old walkers' hut beside the river, built by a man named Devine. Obviously, it is called Devine Hut. And Devine by name, but divine by nature.