Conqueror of the Mountains of Australia in General and South East Queensland in Particular: Mount Matheson Loop

Location: Nightcap National Park (Mt Nardi), Northern NSW
Date: 8th June, 2014
Distance: 3 km
Time: 1 h 30 min

This weekend we were visiting my grandparents in northern NSW and decided to take a scenic drive inland to Mt Nardi at Nightcap National Park for a short walk. Most of the Mount Matheson Loop runs through rainforest, with the most striking aspect being twisty, moss covered tree roots and rocks that cross the path. The loop doesn't actually go to the summit of Mount Matheson, but circles around it and is an easy stroll.

This funny stump was filled with water and insects

Emily at one with the rainforest

Exploring Nightcap rainforest

Unfortunately views on the track are fairly limited, but what we could see of Mount Warning looked very weird to me (I'm used to seeing it from Queensland or the coast).

Mt Warning looks a bit odd viewed from the south

Helloooo!

The loop dives out of the rainforest for a short section with some giant grass trees on the northern slopes of Mount Matheson. Many of them were covered in moss, something I'm not sure I've seen before (in south east QLD grass trees tend to live in dry forests on exposed mountainsides, places not conducive to moss growth). A few plants in this section were unfamiliar to us, whether they are a feature of rainforests in this area or we just haven't noticed them elsewhere.