Davenport Range National Park

Friday, 20 January 2012

Northbound. We left Alice Springs for good at about 10:30AM (admittedly a tad late – but we had to make a couple of phone calls and stock up on food and fuel for the next few days) to hit the North Stuart Highway.

But instead of following in John McDouall Stuart’s tracks we veered off the Stuart Hwy after just 68km.

We weren’t done yet exploring, we were eventually going to join the Binns Track again!

Towing the trailer and the fact that we were running a bit late meant we had to improvise slightly.

That's why we didn’t stay on the Plenty Highway to join the Binns Track near Harts Range, we opted for the shortcut and turned onto the Sandover Highway instead. The Sandover Hwy is a major unsealed road in pretty impressive condition, better than most sealed highways we’d encountered in Queensland! Almost 250km we pushed on in a northeasterly direction, past Utopia and through Aboriginal land to ‘Ammaroo’, a cattle station in the middle of nowhere. 

After throwing in a quick (and improvised) picnic lunch we left the Sandover Hwy and finally joined the Binns Track again, heading north on a minor unsealed road now. This road, connecting several Aboriginal communities and cattle stations with the Sandover Hwy, had it all: corrugations from the regular to and fro between outstations, bull dust, washouts, the remnants of blown tyres, ditched wrecks in various states of decay, local families camping next to their broken down cars…

 

100km further on, near ‘Murray Downs’, we turned right yet again.
The Davenport Range National Part was our "piece de resistance" and we were in for some fun four-wheel driving! One minute the narrow track would run along atop a rocky ridge, some tufts of Spinifex only sprinkled on its flanks, next minute we’d be at the foot of the range and crossing the Frew River, its water tannin-stained and stagnant but picturesque just the same.

There was quite a bit of birdlife around, we saw a Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus), White-faced Herons (Egretta novaehollandiae) and lots of Spinifex Pigeons (Geophaps plumifera) among others.

Around another corner and the ruins of the old ‘Hatches Creek’ tungsten mine appeared on the horizon. Tungsten (also known as wolfram) from this mine played an important during wartimes.

We had to keep moving though, no time to fall into any of the deep shafts, it was still another 40km to go to the Old Police Station Waterhole – and it would take us at least another 1 ½ hours to get there. The weary explorers started wondering if they’d get to camp before dark.

The donkeys and cattle couldn’t have cared less…

We made it to the waterhole with a few minutes of daylight to spare. We even had enough time to examine all the camp sites along the waterhole to pick the best one of the spacious sites – for once again we were the only travellers around and the only complaints about our arrival were coming from a young bull, a few Australasian Darters (Anhinga novaehollandiae), Little Black Cormorants (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris)and a flock of Australian Wood Ducks (Chenonetta jubata) that took off rather noisily.

We set up camp somewhere halfway along the waterhole under the gum trees, built a neat little campfire and placed the camp oven on the coals a little while later.

Beautiful!

Saturday, 21 January 2012

The temperatures hadn’t dropped much over night and it warmed up again quickly in the morning. As much of an oasis the Old Police Station Waterhole was, we were still surrounded by harsh desert country in the height of summer.

Steve and Flip decided to jump into the waterhole right opposite the ruins of the old police station, a quick swim in lieu of a shower. Not much left of the old building and what little is left of the old stone walls these days can easily be overlooked (hint: there's a little spec of red in the centre of the image below).

Standing on the edge of this tranquil waterhole in the remoteness of Davenport Range National Park, a million miles from civilisation (or so it seemed), it was hard to imagine how back in the old days this place could have possibly been in need of a police constable to restore order among a bunch of unruly miners and put a stop to quarrels between early pastoralists and local Aboriginal people.

We left the national park mid-morning, bypassing Wutunugurra and Epenarra, to enter it again in its northwestern corner at Whistleduck Creek.
Irrmweng (pronounced: Ear-moong-a) Waterhole proved very popular with Little Black Cormorants, the Toms family outnumbered yet again!

We learnt that local Aboriginal people frequent places along Whistleduck Creek for rain making ceremonies to this day. In the 1930s, an old man named ‘Lame Tommy’ was well known for his rainmaking skills and Aboriginal people as well as pastoralists would ask for his help to break periods of drought. Lame Tommy could make the rain stop too.

We had considered camping here for the night, but the water was the colour of black tea and didn’t look too inviting. It was still pretty early in the afternoon, so we backtracked to the main road. At this point we were only about 70km away from the Stuart Highway. After passing Kurundi Homestead the trip turned into something like a rollercoaster ride for a while, the road rather narrow at times, sharp corners, unpredictable turns on top of steep crests, dips with shallow water ove rthe road – holy moly!

We reached the campground at Devils Marbles less than 2 hours after leaving Whistleduck Creek – coming full circle.

Steve and Flip had soon gathered enough firewood from the side of the Stuart Highway. Tonight’s dinner would be the last one cooked on an open fire: beef rump steaks, jacket potatoes topped with cream cheese and vegetables.

Boh boh!

Anja

Ellery Creek Big Hole

Wednesday, 18 January 2012

"Naaaaaw... Why didn't we come here last night?!"
That's what the three explorers exclaimed in unison when they arrived at Ellery Creek Big Hole in the West MacDonnell Ranges this morning.

We could have been the only campers in this beautiful camp ground just a stone throw away from the waterhole last night. We could have enjoyed the tranquillity of this remote place without any generator noise, sewerage smells or whizz-banging neighbours. And we would have been about $20.00 better off for the night as well.

From Glen Helen it's only a short 43km drive on sealed road towards the Alice on Namatjira Drive (or 88km from Alice Springs). From the car park it's only a short walk on a paved path (wheelchair accessible) down to the creek.

Ellery Creek is yet another important tributary of the Finke River. Even during dry spells there's water in this big waterhole. This ancient river cut right through the red rocks of the West Macs, shaping a picturesque gorge, creating this beautiful deep pool.
What a sight for sore eyes and weary walkers – and an important lifeline for native wildlife!
A flock of about a dozen of Black Cormorants (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) took off from a nearby gum tree to settle on a few rocks on the other side of the gap.

The water was clear and pleasantly warm – Flip jumped in without further ado!
An Australasian Grebe (Tachybabtus novaehollandiae) took little notice of the visitors and kept diving for food only a few metres away from where the exploring party was soaking up the peaceful and relaxing atmosphere.


Too hot to even consider walking a section of the Larapinta Trail (once again, excellent information provided by NT Parks & Wildlife), we had a very enjoyable time down by the water.

On completion of our loop through the West Macs we returned to 'G'Day Mate' and booked in for another 2 nights. We were still keen on exploring the East MacDonnell Ranges the next day, leaving the camper trailer in the caravan park.

Tonight we went across the road to the Heavitree Gap Tavern for a few cold drinks and a bite to eat. We nearly missed out on the yummy beef casserole (they serve very decent $10.00 meals down here, daily) as we caught up with the manager of Heavitree Gap, an old mate from Darwin. Many yarns from the olden days and a few cold drinks were shared before we eventually decided we needed a feed, minutes before the kitchen closed for the night. That was lucky!

Boh boh!

Anja

The Plural of Platypus

Apologies, I ran out of credit for the WiFi thingymagic a few days ago in Emerald, hence no internet connectivity for literally thousands of kilometres.

I guess I've got some catching up to do now that we've arrived in Alice Springs in the meantime...

Tuesday, 10 January 2012

Three unforgettable days in a rainforest retreat of our liking just went way too fast...

On Saturday, 7 January 2012 we left Cape Hillsborough.

After completing the usual chores such as grocery shopping and fuelling up, we headed for Eungella National Park.

I wanted to see Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) – and we'd been told that this national park in the Mackay Highlands was the place to see them.

It was quite an enjoyable drive through Pioneer Valley with its cane fields and small villages followed by a steep climb up the Clarke Range to the little township of Eungella.

The information provided once we were in the national park was somewhat patchy, to put it mildly. We had expected a proper visitor information centre at Broken River, something similar to Bowali in Kakadu National Park.

To start with, there was no room in the Broken River car park (which appears to be the key visitor site) to park our 4WD and trailer.

There's a Platypus viewing platform on one side of the road. In the middle of the day it's unlikely to spot platypus here, dusk and dawn are the best times. A handful of turtles were paddling in the river, poking their heads up in anticipation, obviously used to scoring a feed as a great many people still ignore all signs that prohibit feeding the wildlife.

I would have appreciated at least a little plaque with information on what species of turtle we could see from the platform – nothing!

A kiosk and an eco lodge can be found on the other side of the road – but the visitor information we came across consisted of three information boards in an unstaffed and otherwise bare room next to kiosk, nothing more. A laminated note on the outside door of the adjacent cafe indicated clearly that staff weren't interested in answering questions regarding camping bookings, etc.

After a drive through Crediton State Forest we found Crediton Hall, an old timber building with corrugated iron roof that serves the local tight-knit farming community as a meeting place. Here we could have camped for the night on the grassy area next to the building, toilets and fire place looked inviting enough – but it didn't quite have the feel we were after.

After lunch and some (heated) deliberation we decided to head back down to Finch Hatton, a small township at the base of this magnificent range. After all, a phone call at Platypus Bush Camp several days earlier had revealed that pre-booking a site wasn't necessary, we could just turn up – and it had 'Platypus' in the name. Nomen est omen, we thought – and I was not going to leave the Mackay Highlands without spotting a platypus in the wild!

A few shallow water crossings on the gravel road to Finch Hatton Gorge were no real challenge. Along the way we noticed a couple of local families swimming in the rock pools by the side of Gorge Road, in crystal clear water. Just 2 km short of Finch Hatton Gorge we found the Platypus Bush Camp. Some fellow campers had already set up camp but Wazza asked a very friendly Canadian couple to move their Jucy van so we could nudge our camper trailer into a level niche between a small shed and the creek.

Once the tent was up and the boxes unpacked, we went to explore Wazza's unique rainforest retreat. What a place! The sparkling clear creek safe to swim in (no crocs, stingers or other nasties), bush toilets with monstrous resident Green Tree Frogs, showers with a view, hot water from a wood-fired oven – all nestled into dense rainforest vegetation complete with over 50 species of birds. And the huts...next time I'm going to stay in one of the huts!

The Platypus viewing pool was only a short stroll upstream from where we were camped. No swimming or fishing here, no disturbing the wildlife!

I'm happy to announce that on Saturday, 7 January 2012, the sun had set already and the full moon was on its way up, I spotted my first Platypus in the wild!

Funny little creatures they are: the bill almost as broad and long as the tail, brown fur, big claws on the front feet – and lightning fast in the water.

This little critter, only about 30-40cm long from bill to tail, would pop up after a dive in the deeps of the pool, float on the surface for a few seconds and then, bum up and bill down, disappear again for a few minutes. Truly special!

We shared our platypus-viewing experience with a small number of like-minded travellers. Everybody at Platypus Bush Camp respects its “Land for Wildlife” status and tries to leave as little impact as possible while enjoying the beauty and diversity of the place during their stay.

I would like to make a point of this as only a couple of kilometres further upstream, in Finch Hatton Gorge (also part of Eungella National Park) we would make a totally different experience just a couple of days later.

The proximity to Mackay makes the gorge with its swimming holes and rock pools a popular destination for day trippers – not much different to Buley Rockhole and Florence Falls in Litchfield National Park. These places get totally overrun on long weekends with visitors from Darwin.

So we decided to wait and hike the trail up Finch Hatton Gorge on Monday instead and spend Sunday (8 January 2012) relaxing and swimming in the rockhole at the bush camp instead, followed by more platypus spotting at dusk. By the way, the plural of platypus is 'platypuses' or simply 'platypus'.

There were surprisingly few mosquitoes around, bliss! Wazza reckons the frogs are taking care of mozzie larvae in the very few stagnant pools of water, the creek otherwise flowing too fast for pesky mosquitoes to breed in.

On Monday, 9 January 2012 we raised early to head up Finch Hatton Gorge.

We were the first ones on the well defined trail that leads about 2km up the gorge to the 'Wheel of Fire'. Well, if the information boards were a little more informative I wouldn't have been left guessing as to why you would name a waterfall with something “fire” in it – apparently there's a plant of this name growing around the place.

We also stopped at the 'Araluen Cascades' where testosterone-driven teenagers and young adults jumping and diving off cliffs and trees into the deep pool below, ignoring the warning signs on the rocks not to dive as deaths have occurred here, were totally oblivious to the wildlife we spotted: goannas, spiders, chubby skinks and tree snakes. Yep, that's Flip in snorkelling there, still struggling with his head above the water he's a pro with the snorkel!

The walk would have been nice enough – but the rubbish left behind by the weekends revellers really turned us off! Somebody even left a 25l esky on the walking track, half-filled with empty stubbies. By the time we reached the car park the esky was full with rubbish we'd collected along the walking track. Disgusting!

Back at Platypus Bush Camp Steve separated recyclable empties from general rubbish, cleaned the esky thoroughly and put it to good use immediately. We treated ourselves to more swimming in the rock pool (even Dog, Wazza's canine pet, jumped on one of the tubes to join the fun in the water), listening to the birds and the frogs. Unwinding is so easy at this place.

The explorers vowed to return as the lot of us could have stayed longer – a lot longer!

Boh boh!

Anja

Cape Hillsborough National Park

Thursday, 05 January 2012

Happy New Year!

The three explorers left Bargara on 31 December 2011, stocked up on food and fuel in Bundaberg and headed north on the Bruce Highway.

We took a little detour to check out the Town of 1770 and Agnes Waters, beautiful places – and crowded too. The Workman's Beach camping area which at a different time of year should prove a worthwhile rest stop, showed tell-tale signs of a New Years Eve party (involving several dozens of teenagers and P-platers in various states of sobriety, rubbish strewn around their camping sites, lovely!) in full swing at around lunchtime...
However, we're glad we checked out Round Hill and the beautiful scenery that would have amazed Captain Cook just the same when he anchored here in Bustard Bay in May 1770.

We rolled through Rockhampton in the early afternoon.
You know you're in cattle country when you see a bride and groom exchanging their vows in a small park next to the Bruce Highway, just a stone throw away from the oversized replica of a Brahman bull situated in the centre of a roundabout right on the Bruce Highway. There was another cattle sculpture in the same park (Santa Gertrudis? Romagnola? It was big and brown and in the flesh would have made any breeder proud) and we couldn't help but wonder if it would serve as a backdrop for the official wedding photos.

We passed through Rockhampton and left Yaamba behind as well. A little later it became obvious that we wouldn't make it to Carmila Beach or any other worthwhile rest or camping area until after dark. And to be honest, we didn't really feel like pitching the tent after the late night we'd had at Bargara and the overall distance travelled for the day. So we treated ourselves to a motel room and the luxury of an ensuite bathroom in the small township of Marlborough.

Dinner was noteworthy for the flustered manager of the establishment who'd given most of her staff the night off to celebrate at the local hotel. She was completely out of her depth when guests (the Toms family) unexpectedly checked in and demanded a feed and she apologised profusely about not being familiar with the content of the fridge/ freezer in her kitchen. We enjoyed our meal nonetheless (as otherwise it would have been 2 minute noodles) and retired to our room where two thirds of the party didn't manage to stay awake to great the new year.

The Toms family started into the year 2012 well rested, happy and healthy and arrived in Cape Hillsborough National Park at noon.

It's a beautiful little national park just north of Mackay. We decided to set up camp at Cape Hillsborough Nature Resort, a caravan and camping park on Casuarina Beach – and after checking out the other camping areas of nearby Seaforth, Haliday and Ball Bay I must say it was a good decision.

We parked our camper trailer in an unpowered site right behind the dunes, taking delight in the scent of flowering hibiscus and native gardenias that builds up to a powerful perfume while the sea is calm and the breeze is only light. Coconut palms line the grey sandy beach that glistens and sparkles with the finest shards of mother of pearl.

The hills around us are densely vegetated with Hoop Pine (Araucaria Cunninghamii), Elegant Palms (should have written it down), different species of figs, eucalypts grass trees and ferns of various shapes and sizes. Over 150 different species of birds frequent the area and I'm happy to announce my first sighting of an Olive-backed Sunbird! Beautiful little thing, wish it would have stayed a bit longer!

Laughing Kookaburras, Brush Turkeys and Orange-footed Scrub fowl are among our early morning visitors while the possums make themselves at home throughout our camp at night (and even use the roof of our canvas tent as a playground for their joeys). The nocturnal wildlife with their light sensitive eyes come out of their hollows and down the trees after dark. I would hate to harass possums and other critters with the strong flashlight of my camera, temporarily blinding them, hence there are no photos of these furry natives.

Occasionally a young female Eastern Grey Kangaroo calls in as well, after an early morning hop on the beach. Yep, the wallabies and kangaroos in this part of the woods are beach goers!

And why wouldn't they...

  

 

Since it is such a relaxing and picturesque place, we decided pretty early on to extend by two nights.

Yesterday we tackled the Andrews Point Trail in the morning to avoid the heat of the day. The walking track ascends on the southern side of Casuarina Beach in the shade of dense rainforest vegetation. We could hear a great many chubby skinks rustling in the leaves. After not even 20 minutes we had reached the first viewing platform, Twin Beach lookout. Below us Casuarina Beach and Wedge Island, stunning views!

We continued on the track and stopped at Turtle Lookout and Andrews Point next. By the time we reached Wedge Island Lookout the tide was on the way out so we could return to our camp taking the shortcut along the beach. I walked across to Wedge Island as the causeway was no longer submerged, a few anglers were heading over to the rocks as well.

This morning we took the narrow 4WD track that starts behind the resort's reception building and leads to the Yuibera Plant Trail, an Aboriginal plant use walk on the southern side of the hill. It was rather interesting to compare the native vegetation with related plant species and their uses we know from Kakadu and the Top End. Anyway, I'm still not too keen on the Rotten Cheese Fruit (Morinda citrifolia) which is said to be a great cure for colds.

Another couple of walks to tackle yet, there's a mangrove board walk as well as a walk along the beach to Beachcombers Cove at low tide. Steve is still keen to go fishing on the beach. And since all vegetation is protected and he can't just cut one of these straight-growing Beach Hibiscus saplings to make a fishing spear, he will have to use rod, reel and prawns for bait.

We may yet have to extend our stay at Cape Hillsborough for another day or so before we can embark on our next adventure in the Mackay Highlands – there's still so much to explore here!

Boh boh!

Anja