The Coffs Coast is your starting point for this epic day trip and you'll want to begin with a few adventures. In the town of Coffs Harbour, the Big Banana Fun Park welcomes you with a 13m banana sculpture (the original Big Thing); inside are attractions ranging from waterslides to a 4D simulator and mini-golf. Save some energy to hike around Muttonbird Island Nature Reserve (Giidany Miirlarl), a place of Aboriginal significance and an important nesting ground for migratory shearwaters.

The other migratory species you’ll see here are humpback whales, breaching and blowing between the Solitary Islands from June through October. For a loftier look, take the plunge with Coffs Skydivers, offering breathtaking – literally – views over the coast’s long stretches of sand.

Driving out of town, pause at Sapphire Beach to learn about the local Gumbaynggirr people on a Wajaana Yaam Adventure Tour, exploring the marine park and offering a taste of bush tucker. Navigate inland for 15min to Sealy Lookout (Niigi Niigi) – from the Forest Sky Pier, 15m above ground, you can gaze over Ulidarra National Park and all the way to the coast. This is also your view at TreeTops, an adventure park with ziplining, Tarzan swings and trapezes.

It’s a 30min drive south to Bellingen, your route weaving through Bongil Bongil National Park, home to one of NSW’s largest populations of koalas, as well as 165 species of birds. From here, follow the road west – you’re now officially on the Waterfall Way, enveloped by forest in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range.

The bohemian town of Bellingen is known for many things, a laid-back lifestyle, eclectic cafes and independent boutiques among them. But its namesake river steals the show, this 70km waterway snaking across numerous national parks as well as emerald valleys, where wide-eyed cows graze.

The best way to get a feel for this lush countryside is on the water, gliding (or splashing, depending on your energy levels) about with Bellingen Canoe Adventures. If you’re lucky you’ll spot the river’s critically endangered snapping turtles, as well as cormorants, wood ducks and figbirds.

Your journey further west along Waterfall Way takes you deep into the heart of World Heritage-listed forest in Dorrigo National Park. This is part of the most extensive strip of diverse rainforest on the planet, and you’ll have a front-row seat on the Crystal Shower Falls Walk, a 3.5km loop that takes you over a suspension bridge, past ancient trees and behind a waterfall. Look out for lyrebirds and grey goshawks along your route.

For a bird’s-eye view, make a beeline for the Dorrigo Rainforest Centre and adjoining Skywalk. The former is the starting point for the region’s many hikes, with detailed maps and guides available to lead you on adventures through this truly humbling patch of wilderness. The latter is a 70m walkway through the tree canopy, 21m above the forest floor, your backdrop the peak of McGraths Hump and your outlook green valleys and gorges.

The small town of Dorrigo in the Northern Tablelands is surrounded on almost every side by national parkland: its namesake to the east, where you’ve just come from, as well as Junuy Juluum to the north and Oxley Wild Rivers to the south. It’s an idyllic base for bushwalkers, who head off from here on treks through the dense subtropical rainforest.

Leave the town behind and, just 2km later, you’ll have a delicate mist settle over you at Dangar Falls. This place is like a pocket of Eden, the waterfall cascading 30m over basalt cliffs into a lagoon enveloped by mossy rocks. Whether you take this waterfall in from the elevated viewing platform or along the walking trail skirting its froth, this is one spectacular way to feel the force of NSW’s nature.

It’s a short and winding road west from Dorrigo through yet more rainforest to the village of Ebor. This is the heartland of the Waterfall Way, with easy access to countless national parks. To your south is New England National Park, its volcanic landscape of Gondwana forest-clad valleys and steep cliffs home to more than 100 species of birds. There are hikes that last anywhere from a few minutes to a few days.

Before you venture too far out of town, take a scenic pit stop at Ebor Falls. Here, the Guy Fawkes River thunders over cliffs, dropping 100m in two cascades. Pick your lookout: from where the water falls, mid-way down the drop or at ground level, giving you vast valley views. There’s a trail linking them, with seasonal orchids and everlasting daisies along the way.

Driving south you’ll pass through Cathedral Rock National Park, covered with wildflowers in spring and banksias year-round. Clamber over piles of enormous granite boulders at Cathedral Rock, an expanse reaching 200m high and extending more than a kilometre.

It’s around 30km from Cathedral Rock to Wollomombi, a tiny village set high on the edge of the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park in the Northern Tablelands. This vast expanse of protected land is a dramatic union of ridges and gorges, rocky outcrops and rushing rivers, which tumble over the cliffs at Wollomombi Falls – the cascade can drop 220m after heavy rains.

Catch a glimpse from the lookout, or lace up your hiking boots and wander through World Heritage-listed forest of red gum and yellow box, home to the state’s largest population of brush-tail rock wallabies.

Set out on the Wollomombi Walking Track and your path will cross the Wollomombi River, a known habitat for the elusive platypus. When you reach the gorge, gaze skywards to see wedge-tailed eagles and peregrine falcons surfing thermals overhead, before the 4km trail ends at neighbouring Chandler Falls, smaller than Wollomombi but just as impressive.

Follow the Waterfall Way west for another 42km and you’ll reach your final destination on this road trip. Armidale’s leafy streets are lined with grand heritage buildings and churches – it’s known locally as the ‘Cathedral City’ for good reason.

The structure housing the New England Regional Art Museum is much more modern, however. The significant collection at this gallery covers Australian works from the 1880s to present day, uniting everything from abstract art to originals by landscape painter Arthur Streeton.

A full day of hiking, waterfall chasing, canoeing and culture seeking is thirsty work, so it’s a good thing the city has establishments like the Welder’s Dog. This popular microbrewery makes some of the tastiest fizzy beverages you’ll find in Australia, from a flavourful Indian pale ale to a zingy ginger beer and even a boozy lemonade infused with pea blossoms.