NSW’s ancient World Heritage rainforests provide the ultimate short stay to escape our modern lives. 

It’s not the silence I notice when I enter the forest; it’s the racket. The animals don’t stop for a moment inside the planet’s most extensive swathe of subtropical rainforest. But it’s hardly the sharp caw of a crow or piercing scream of a sulphur-crested cockatoo. 

These are soothing sounds from God-knows-what. Calls come all at once here in the Border Ranges National Park, west of Murwillumbah. There are more than 200 rare and threatened species of animals in these protected forests, many of them found nowhere else on Earth. 

Being here is the ultimate antidote to modern life, since this is a bona fide time-travel machine. The World Heritage-listed Gondwana Rainforests of Australia preserve the largest subtropical rainforest area left on Earth – and these offer a living link to plants and animals that can be traced back more than 180 million years. 

This pristine rainforest is the centrepiece for a reviving short stay. With more than 28 national parks and nature reserves in NSW covering more than 300,000 hectares, every step takes you deeper into a world that once was. Here’s how you can best time-travel. 

Dorrigo: The waterfall capital

On the NSW North Coast, about an hour inland from Coffs Harbour, Dorrigo is perhaps the easiest place to build a rainforest short break. Begin at the Dorrigo Rainforest Centre and step onto the Skywalk, a 70-metre-long boardwalk built over the edge of an escarpment. 

Dorrigo’s forests are full of easily accessed waterfalls. Take the six-kilometre Wonga walking track to Tristania and Crystal Shower Falls; at the latter, you can walk right behind the cascade. The 5.5-kilometre Rosewood Creek walk also offers two waterfalls on one hike. You don’t need to hike at all to see the 30-metre-high Dangar Falls, two kilometres north of town.  

Stroll the 500-metre Walk with the Birds boardwalk, where you’ll likely find riflebirds, fruit doves and catbirds, or join seasonal walks, birdwatching tours and after-dark rainforest experiences with a local Gumbaynggirr ranger. And in good news for keen hikers, work has begun on the Dorrigo Great Escarpment Walk, an upcoming 54-kilometre track completed over four days.

Stay in an inexpensive suite overlooking the escarpment at Lookout Mountain Retreat, on the edge of Dorrigo Plateau. And save plenty of time for town; it’s a charming village with historic buildings, art galleries, boutiques and great cafes and restaurants. Or drive 30 minutes to the stylish Sunny Corner Pastures in sweet Bellingen, where you can cool off in the pool or huddle by the firepit beneath the stars. 

Iluka: Gondwana by the sea 

If you want whales and waves with your trees, Iluka is your piece of Gondwana forest. Located between Coffs Harbour and Ballina, Iluka offers a completely different rainforest experience, as the 136-hectare Iluka Nature Reserve protects NSW’s largest remaining stand of littoral forest right where the trees meet the Pacific.  

The best way to see it all is on the 2.5-kilometre Iluka Rainforest Walking Track – it leads to Iluka Bluff, the perfect spot to spy migrating humpback whales. There are more than 140 bird species in this piece of forest alone and strangler figs that are centuries old. Here, rainforest literally grows right to the sand and you’ll have the chance to run into rare coastal emus.  

These beaches are some of the most impressive in Australia. The surfing and swimming are spectacular, while the town itself is the prototype for the classic Aussie fishing village. The Clarence River cuts through it – you can catch the ferry across to Yamba – and trawlers provide cafes and restaurants with daily fresh fish. 

Accommodation is of the humble variety, but the outlook is five star. Stay in a cabin beside the reserve at Clarence Head Caravan Park, or opt for a rustic shack in the rainforest beside the ocean at Woody Head in neighbouring Bundjalung National Park. If you fancy a bit of luxury, stay across the water at Yamba’s cliffside and achingly cool Il Delfino.  

It’s only a short drive to Gummigurrah Walking Track; in the traditional homelands of the Bundjalung and Yaegl people, it passes through rainforest to an ancient midden beside a river. 

Armidale: An ancient mountain wilderness 

On the Northern Tablelands, roughly halfway between Sydney and Brisbane, Armidale is a gateway to the high-country side of Gondwana. It’s elevated here, so the temperature drops. 

Armidale offers the best of both worlds: a lively regional town with cafes, restaurants, galleries, heritage buildings and museums, while sitting on the doorstep of some of Australia’s most spectacular Gondwana landscapes. Four national parks are within about an hour’s drive, including the World Heritage-listed New England and Oxley Wild Rivers national parks, as well as Cathedral Rock National Park and its gigantic granite formations.  

There are more than 500 kilometres of wild rivers, flowing among a gorge wilderness. Hike 500 metres to Point Lookout in New England National Park for the best views that stretch all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Or try the 5.1-kilometre Lyrebird walking track in the same park, as it summarises everything good about the region, from steep escarpments with basalt cliffs to cool temperate rainforest teeming with endemic birds. 

Stay right in the forest in cosy cottages at The Chalet or The Residence east of Armidale, or bed down at Loloma House, a 144-year-old heritage property in the heart of town. 

More Gondwana rainforests worth visiting 

Barrington Tops, 175 kilometres north-west of Newcastle, is a mountainous rainforest reserve full of spectacular waterfalls – including the twin drop of Gloucester Falls. Expect expansive plateau landscapes with lots of lookouts and keep an eye out for platypus. 

Further north, just below the Queensland border, drop into Murwillumbah. With its pretty Art Deco streetscape and colourful art scene it’s a great base for the rainforest country of the Tweed, including the volcanic landscapes around Wollumbin (Mt Warning).