Redland BushwalkersA group of friendly, like minded people who enjoy a variety of activities in the great outdoors.
Redland Bushwalkers
Jerusalem Creek is located in Bundjalung National Park (NSW), between Evans Head and Iluka, a 3hr drive from Brisbane.
The main campground, Mibanbah – Black Rocks, a large campground with 50 sites, is accessible by conventional vehicle. We will not be staying at Mibanbah though, we will camp at one of two “remote” campsites on Jerusalem Creek. These campsites are located 4km north of the main campground and they are walk in, or paddle in, only. We will park our cars at the day use area and set off from there. The walk in is via a well-formed track that runs parallel to the creek and just behind the sand dunes, the paddle is along Jerusalem Creek. I plan to paddle in myself, but people can also choose to walk in. Each site has a fire ring and a picnic table and there is a composting toilet. During the day we can expect visitors to our camp (people from the main campground going for a walk or a paddle) but by the end of the day we should have the place to ourselves again (apart from the campers on the other campsite).
Jerusalem Creek is rather different from most creeks, in that its vegetation is that of a brackish or freshwater stream: there are no mangroves and it’s not a dirty, muddy stream like our creeks in the Redlands. Instead, it has clear water, albeit tannin-stained, and it has a mostly sandy, or in places rocky, bottom. It reminds of the conditions on the upper Noosa River, just at a smaller scale. I’ve been told that the mouth of the creek is generally silted up, which explains the vegetation, but currently it is open to the ocean on high tide.
Our campsite is near the mouth of the creek, between the creek and the ocean, with views both ways, in amongst some trees, but no dense canopy. It is exposed to the wind, which might be welcome to keep us cool. If there is a lot of wind, we’ll just have to secure our gear to make sure nothing blows away. There will be no planned activities for this camp, but options include beach walking, swimming, exploring the “coffee rocks” on the beach, kayaking on Jerusalem Creek if some people are bringing kayaks, and just enjoying being away from it all and winding down.
Max. group size is 6 (=maximum number allowed on the site). Camping fee is $24.60pp, payable to me, plus drivers will require a Parks Pass for their car ($8/day for 3 days or buy an annual pass (https://pass.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/pass/selection). Concession card holders can get their park pass for free via this site.
This camp is BYO everything, which includes drinking water. If there has been ample rain leading up to our trip, we might be able to get water from a little waterfall in the area (water will need to be treated and will be heavily stained by tannins). When I checked it out in October the waterfall was down to a trickle though, and hardly suitable to depend on for drinking water. If some people should decide to paddle to camp, they could take drinking water for the group in their boats. That is what I am planning to do. In a kayak we can take a lot more weight than in a backpack, so it should be no problem to also take water for others who prefer to walk the 4km to camp.
Kayaking is OPTIONAL for this camp, if you prefer to walk in with your hiking pack that is equally suitable. For anyone wanting to paddle to camp: it will be BYO kayak, paddle and PFD. It is a club requirement that a PFD must be worn when on the water.