Tranquil, pretty and peaceful, the waterways of Myall Lakes hold many charms for the work-weary holidaymaker. This is an area where you'll find camp sites that appeal to camping veterans and first timers alike.
There are four interconnected lakes spread over 10,000 hectares in the wilderness of Myall Lakes National Park and a great choice of camp sites and bushwalks.
A sliver of land separates the lakes from 40 km of mostly beach. Holiday activities include fishing, swimming, canoeing, sailboarding, surfing and bushwalking. Camp sites are dotted around the shores of each of the four waterways - from Myall Lake to Boolambayte, Two Mile Lake and on to Bombah Broadwater.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) manages most of the more basic, close-to-nature camp sites where you can take in views across the lakes and over the sand dunes to the ocean.
If you don't really like roughing it, try the more civilised, activity-rich camping park, complete with shop and cafe. Myall Shores at Bombah Point offers all the 'camping in comfort' essentials - showers, a shop, cafe and licensed restaurant. You can also hire canoes and runabout boats (or tinnies) for messing about on the water.
A camp site that lies somewhere between sparse and sophisticated is Mungo Brush, another Parks and Wildlife site. Mungo Brush is neatly wedged between Myall Lake and the beach so you can combine all those peaceful freshwater pursuits with more active surf fun. If fishing is your game, you'll be spoilt for choice with freshwater and ocean fishing in close proximity.
The area around the camp site is littoral rainforest and a low canopy of trees lets you escape to the shade in the hotter months. Toilets, gas barbecues and running water make camping and cooking in the great outdoors much easier to manage. Like many other camp sites, it's close to gently sloping beaches that make freshwater swimming fun for little children who can run in out of the shallow water.
Some camp sites have been closed indefinitely because paperbark trees have been dropping limbs at an alarming rate - it's believed that some of the beautiful old trees are around 300 years old, so it's best to avoid camping underneath them.
Bushwalking is one of the best ways to see the whole area, especially in late spring and early summer when the ground is carpeted with wildflowers.
For a sweeping view of the Lakes try the fairly sedate Old Gibber Trail, which starts on a fire track off Mungo Brush Road, and winds around Boolambayte Lake to Johnsons Beach and up to a lookout point at Johnsons Hill.
A steeper climb up Violet Hill rewards you with another spectacular view of the waterways. The Wooton Forest Railway Walk takes you along a light railway used by loggers, giving a nice insight into the area's early settlement history.
To experience the best of this area's natural wealth try the Mungo Brush Rainforest walking track which starts from Mungo Brush and takes you down the coast, past native trees like coogera, native olive and strangler fig. Koalas have been spotted in this area and are most likely to hang around in paperbark and swamp mahogany trees.
The NPWS has information on these and other walks, like the Bulahdelah Mountain walk which explores alum quarries carved by settlers early last century.
There are public boat ramps at Bulahdelah, Nerong - which also has a food shop - Korsmans Landing, Mungo Brush, Myall Shores and Violet Hill. This is a good place to combine a camping and boating holiday, as many of the NPWS camp sites are located near sandy beaches where dropping anchor is easy.
When you need to return to civilisation, the main towns in the area are Seal Rocks, Bulahdelah (a centre for boat hire operators) and the twin towns of Hawks Nest and Tea Gardens, all within a 30 km radius of Mungo Brush.
NSW National Parks can be closed at times of bushfire and bushfire danger. It is advisable to check with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service before you set off. Either phone 1300 361 967 (within NSW) or (02) 9253 4600 or visit www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au.
The lakes are calm and are a great place to take the kids on a canoe ride. There are always plenty of canoes to hire and the kids will adore the local wilderness.
Mary, Brisbane.
I thought Myall Lake was magnificent when we went in the summer, but I would book early to beat the rush. As we all know, Myall Lake can get busy especially during the Christmas Holidays.
Peter O'Toole
Get in early to steal away the best view spots at Johnsons Beach. If you're quick, you can get yourself a piece of land looking over the ocean. This is a busy spot in school holidays though!
Marilyn, St Marys.
4WD
