Around the Valley

Click here to read Getting Started with Butterfly Gardening by Rita de Heer

Click here to see photos from around the Valley sent in by Deborah Pearse

Click here to read Rita's Jottings & sightings

South of Byron Bay, almost the whole of Brunswick Valley can be seen from McLeod’s Shoot by the Pacific Highway. Coolamon Drive atop Coorabell Ridge forms the Brunswick catchment’s southern boundary which continues west up and over Montecollum and along Koonyum Range to Blackbutt Plateau. From there the Burringbar Ranges delineate the northern limits, the Pacific Ocean shore making the eastern edge. Chincogan lies staring sphinx-like out to sea in the middle of the valley.

There are interesting places in the Brunswick Valley Catchment where you can see native vegetation:

At the back of North Ocean Shores you can get onto the Optus Track through the Billinudgel Nature Reserve. North Head Road, Ocean Shores, runs through Brunswick Nature Reserve which may also be accessed from Banool Circuit.

The Melaleuca Wetlands at the entrance of Brunswick Heads. Mangroves and native vegetation on the river at New Brighton. Heath vegetation in the Tyagarah Nature Reserve. Broken Head Nature Reserve. Up on Koonyum Range. Mt Jerusalem National Park, parts of which drain into the Brunswick River.

Walk into Arakwal National Park behind Tallow Beach (but don’t point the camera at the bitou bush!) Walk into the Cumbebin Swamp Nature Reserve at Byron Bay from Patterson Street. There's a boardwalk through the trees and seats where you can enjoy the peace of this tranquil oasis just a few hundred metres from the centre of Byron Bay.

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