Myall Lakes (Edit)

By Michael Whyms
Published 26-Jul-06 08:21 PM

If you're looking for a quiet spot to relax with good year round camping and plenty of things to do this would be it Ð and its only 3 hours from Sydney. While it is busy during holiday periods, the Myall Lakes National park is the ideal place to relax.

The National park is situated between Hawkes Nest and Seal Rocks on the New south Wales central coast and protects one of the largest lake systems on the East coast of Australia. It consists of four lakes which feed the Myall River on its way to the ocean at Port Stephens.

It can be accessed via the Pacific Highway at Hawkes Nest and or via ferry from Buladelah.

Most of the activities in the area are centered around water sports, where fresh water fishing, canoeing and swimming in the Lakes can be supplemented with salt water fishing, scuba diving and swimming in the Ocean, less than a hundred metres away. There is also bushwalking and sightseeing in the area with the ruins of the Rainbow, a shipwreck visible on the beach at Seal Rocks, and dolphin and whale watching.

Four wheel driving is restricted to some areas of beach in the National Park. It is also permitted on a council controlled area north of Hawkes Nest Golf Club and South of the Big Gibber Headland. You must have a permit to drive on the council controlled area, which are available from Great Lakes Council offices (Pacific Palms and Tea Gardens), Hawks Nest First National Real Estate or Tea Gardens information centre.

The cost of the permit is $40 per driver per financial year, so plan your trip accordingly so you donÕt have to buy two (buying a permit in June would be a bad idea). The permit allows access to beaches in the Great Lakes and Greater Taree City Council areas. You must provide your license and registration details, as well as your third party insurance details. Extra drivers can be added at a lower cost. More information is available from their websites.

Driving on the dunes is illegal and is necessary to protect the local animals. The usual preparation for sand driving is a must with all entries to the beach soft and sandy.

Extensive bushwalking tracks now exist throughout the area, including the Old gibber track, which runs from just north of Mungo Brush to Seal Rocks. The Old Gibber track was closed in February, 2005 and is an access track created for the sand mining industry in years gone by but has since been neglected and was a challenging drive.

A sign at the gate gives the reason for the closure as the high cost of maintaining safe public roads and warns of a review of beach driving in the area as well. With the upgrading of carparks and facilities in the area it seems obvious that this will soon be restricted too.

Other four wheel driving opportunities are available in the area west of the lakes, around the Buladelah area and are accessed via that ferry north of Mungo Brush. Other areas worth exploring include Seal Rocks, however with the closure of the Old Gibber Track this is now a longer trip.

Campsites in the area are well developed, with all having a minimum toilet block (well maintained pit toilets) and Mungo Brush having shelter and BBQÕs in a large area with about 100 marked campsites. Approximately half of these are also suitable for caravans. Camp fees are collected by a ranger daily and are $5 per adult per night, and an additional charge of $7 per car per day can be paid to the ranger or via a ticket machine at Mungo Brush. The upside is the ranger has brochures and other information on the area available at no cost.

Mid-week in August and I shared Mungo Brush with a Tasmanian completing is round Australia trip and three tourists from Europe and we all had plenty of space to ourselves. Mungo Brush is also a great base for 2 bushwalks which start at either end of the site.

Although the restrictions for four wheel driving increase this is always a great place to holiday.

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