Uki
Uki is a charming village by the beautiful Tweed River near the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wollumbin National Park. The majestic backdrop of the towering Wollumbin - an ancient volcanic plug Captain James Cook named Mount Warning in 1770 – is a sacred site for Aboriginal people.
Getting to Uki in The Tweed is easy. The village on the far NSW North Coast is only 30 minutes’ drive northeast of Nimbin, a colourful alternative lifestyle centre. The drive from Murwillumbah is 15 minutes, Gold Coast Airport 40 minutes and Byron Bay 50 minutes. Brisbane to Uki takes two hours.
Bushwalking, cycling, fishing and boating are popular activities. You’ll find accommodation in Uki to suit various budgets. The Mount Warning Hotel is a country pub serving hearty meals. At Mavis’s Kitchen and Cabins has a country-style restaurant on a former dairy farm surrounded by rainforest.
On the third Sunday of the month is the Uki Buttery Bazaar, a delightful village market with stalls selling local arts and crafts and tasty food at the heritage-listed Buttery Factory. Wander around the town and explore other historical sites - a fire in 1914 on the main street destroyed some buildings.
Enjoy fishing and kayaking on Clarrie Hall Dam, a tranquil waterway with scenic views. The dam is well stocked with Australian bass. Northern Rivers Sportfishing offers a kayak fishing tour on the dam and the meandering river, which winds past Uki on the way to the sea at vibrant Tweed Heads.
Uki is a great base for exploring Wollumbin and other Gondwana Rainforests of Australia as well as conservation areas in the region, such as Border Rangers National Park, Nightcap National Park and Mebbin National Park. The best walking trails near Uki in the magnificent national parks include:
- Lyrebird track, Wollumbin
- Byrrill Creek walking track, Mebbin
- Falcorostrum loop walking track, Border Rangers
- Protesters Falls walking track, Nightcap
Uki is in a green caldera, the vast crater of the eroded Tweed Volcano covered in rainforest and farmland. The shield volcano last erupted 20 million years ago during the Miocene epoch and is one of the largest extinct shield volcanoes in the world. Wollumbin is the remnant core of the volcano.
