Days 96 - 99 of trip with no particular destination: Cobbold Gorge to Ingham

 Day 96: Gilbert River to Cobbold Gorge (Ewamian country)

A booking on the Cobbold Gorge tour (you can only see the gorge by tour) at 1:30 meant that we were on the road reasonably early so we could arrive, check the place out and set up camp.

Highway No.1, between Croydon and Georgetown, reverts to a one lane road albeit bitumen. This means that when any sort of large vehicle come head on, you have to pull right off the road and hope they stay on the bitumen.  In this way you can avoid broken windscreens caused by flying stones - you hope.  We managed to avoid such a disaster.

   

Our first stop was unexpected - just saw an old chimney and a sign pointing to something so took the turnoff. It was an old chimney used in the gold-mining days - a wonder it is still standing. So many bricks from old buildings have been relocated or repurposed. Called the Cumberland Chimney, it and a lagoon (a dam used for gold mining) are all that remains of a once thriving goldfield.  It only lasted 25 years, from 1872 to 1897! The lagoon is now full of birdlife apparently. We saw green pygmy-geese, glossy ibis, yellow spoonbills,  and magpie geese, all from a distance.

    

From there we headed through Georgetown to a little place called Forsayth (pronounced Forsyth). Georgetown is meant to have some interesting history too, being an old gold-mining place and in particular is meant to have a first-rate mineral collection which I am keen to see. We intend to come back to look better after Cobbold Gorge.  What we thought was going to be a gravel road turned out to be mostly tarred, so we travelled a bit more quickly than anticipated.

We had heard at the Croydon Information Centre the previous day that the  Forsayth Turnout was meant to be happening today, so we decided we better see what that involved.  Apparently, a turnout is a little country village's name for a show.  There would have been maybe 150 people there, all obviously enjoying the day, a free local event with no money required even for the kids' rides (bull-ride, train, merry-go-round). There was 'group of heifers' and 'group of steers' judging happening as we arrived as was the best behaved working dog class.  None of the dogs looked like working dogs to me ...

    

To Pete's delight we found a chocolate brownie and I found some cinnamon donuts to have with our coffee.  Even more exciting was to find a stall with cupcakes to have for a few morning teas to come!  My efforts in the sweets department have left a little to be desired.

Unfortunately, the arts/crafts/cooking sections were still being judged so we were unable to go inside the shed in which they were housed.

Onwards to Cobbold Gorge after morning tea.  On the road there, I was delighted to see a couple of bustards.  I had seen them before but not managed a photo.

    

We arrived at Cobbold Gorge, which is on Howlong Station, around lunch and managed to find a suitable site to set up on before heading off on our tour. 

The tour was good with the guides providing plenty of interesting commentary and knowing when to be quiet and just let us enjoy the gorge.  It is a young gorge in gorge terms at only 10,000 years old, caused apparently by movement in the earth's surface that caused the direction of the creek to change - and it found the path of least resistance, through a split in the sandstone rock.  That split has grown a bit over the last 10,000 years. The gorge is narrow and the rock sides not super high, but the shaping of the rock by water and pebbles is amazing.

    

    

Groups of 12 travel down the gorge in little punts with electric motors at either end since at the end of the navigable part there is no turn-around room.   There were four groups travelling, but the way they have the tour structured, you are in your little group of 12 and hardly see the other groups.

                    

                       

The gorge is home to a number of freshwater crocodiles, of which we saw three. Their camouflage is so good.  We hardly saw this fellow until we were right up close.

    

After going down the gorge on the punt, we climbed up one side, across the gorge on a glass-bottomed bridge and then down the other side. The guide pointed out various plants and their uses or their dangers and talked a little more about the geology of the place.  Fascinating.

           

Glass-bottomed bridge selfie

    

                  

We came across this amazing self-bonsai-ing tree.  The rock looking thing on the right is actually the top part of its root!

All in all, this was a gorge worth seeing.  However, it was an expensive exercise ($104 per adult + camping fees) and families travelling for any length of time would have to consider whether coming here is worth it. Fortunately, we have had very few big expenses, so this was one of the extras we decided to do.

Day 97: Cobbold Gorge to Wundu Camping Area (Ewaiman country)

We spent the early morning riding our bikes around some tracks that the people at Cobbold Gorge have made around the property.  That was good fun. The tracks went through savannah scrub and then wended our way upwards towards a place they call Russell's Lookout. We had to walk the last 250m, a good stiff climb.  The views from the top were good. In the second photo you can see down to the Cobbold Gorge 'Village' or camping area.

    

We capped off our time at Cobbold Gorge with a well-deserved swim in their pool - very refreshing after our hot ride/walk.

Our plans have changed a bit and we decided to head towards Einasleigh instead of retracing our tracks to Georgetown. The Georgetown history and mineral museum will have to wait for another time. We stopped for a little while at Forsayth to catch up on messages/emails and have a look at the destination for the Savannalander, a train that travels from Cairns to Forsayth. There are optional tours out to Cobbold Gorge for those who choose to ride the train.  We took a look at the old lockup there and the station. The two rooms of the lockup contain quite a lot of information relating to the history of the Forsayth area.  

                

                   Cell door                                      Rear view of lockup building

    

We left Forsayth to travel onwards to Einasleigh, the site of another gorge we had just recently learned about.  We didn't get there. On the way we noticed a sign saying Wundu Camping Area and thought we'd check it out.  It turned out to be a six-kilometre drive to get there but it was through beautiful forest. This is hilly country and quite unlike any we have come across for a long time.

At the camping area there are two short walks but heaps of bush to wander around in.  We decided to stay the night. There are only two camping spots and it didn't look like we'd be inundated with people.  We did the two walks before lunch. The views were splendid.  I think we must be looking across to Lava Plain country, country where there were once many volcanoes.

Did I say I didn't think we'd be indundated with people?  Lo and behold, we just finished the two lookout walks when who should drive up but a policeman!  He came up the track pretty fast but took his time to look cool and collected when he finally got out of the car.  Did he think we were someone else?  Was he there on a lunch break? Who knows. After a friendly chat he went off and did the two walks then drove off.  Weird. As he was coming back from his walk another car drove up. A couple did the walks then drove off.  After that no-one. We spent the rest of the day and night on our own.

I spent all afternoon wandering around and at night set up for a moth watch. I was rewarded with lots of interesting things.

First of all, plants.

    

   

Next, daytime critters.

    

    

And lastly, the creatures of the night.

    

     

Day 98: Wundu Camping Area to Mount Fox (Warrangnu country)

Now, off to Einasleigh to get where we were going to go yesterday!  We had heard about Copperfield Gorge, formed when water gouged its way through basalt (the result no doubt of one of the volcanic eruptions and subsequent lava flows).  The gorge is not huge but it is beautiful.  I was unprepared for what I would see. The rocks are amazing.  Well worth a visit and there is a free campground right next to it.

    

    

       

We could have stayed and explored longer but our destination for today was Mount Fox, which is a separate, southern part of Girringun National Park, west of Ingham.  After turning off the road to Charters Towers, we had to travel about 60km along a dirt road. About half of that was nightmarish, trying to avoid wallabies/kangaroos that were barely visible along the sides of the road.  There had obviously been recent rain and I think the short new shoots by the roadside was attracting them earlier than when you would expect to see them.  It was still well and truly daylight.  We had two scares but Pete skillfully managed to avoid being the cause of two more carcasses beside the track.

The Mount Fox campground is run by the local RFS and is cheap and well appointed.  Close by are Mt Fox itself and a place called Raspberry Falls. We hope to see them tomorrow.

Day 98: Mount Fox (Warrungnu country)

We decided to ride our bikes to the base of the Mount Fox walk and so headed off reasonably early.

Well, trust us to take the wrong turn but we did and what should have been an easy bike ride turned out to be a tough one.  Thank goodness for e-bikes is all I can say.  We went the long way round the base track!  One section was so steep and slippery that we both pulled over and walked the bikes up. No go even with the motor full blast.  Too scary for me. I want my body in one piece!  This was one steep climb we did manage but the photo doesn't show how steep it really was unfortunately.  I was quite proud of myself for getting up.

Mount Fox is the remains of an old volcano and up the top is a crater. The walk from the base carpark is not long, but it is steep and slippery with finely ground up basalt.  They say it is a 3-stop walk up and a 4-bumslide walk down.  Not far wrong!  Unfortunately, it is also incredibly weedy.  It is a shame that National Parks has probably neither the time nor money to do anything about this.  There is meant to be a walk around the crater. I got about 1/5 of the way around but it was a snake heaven and really not a sensible walk to do without much better snake-proofing than I was wearing.

Fortunately, the views were wonderful.  The first photo is a view of the crater, the second a video of the views.

We have decided to stay another night here at Mt. Fox.  It is very peaceful and we would like to do the Raspberry Falls walk, but not after our bike ride and walk today.  So, we enjoyed a quiet afternoon and evening after a late lunch.

Day 99: Mt Fox to Ingham (Nywaigi country)

The caretaker of Mt Fox Campground had told us that we would love Raspberry Falls and told us how to get there. I'm not sure that he has ever been or he might be a bit more careful in what he tells people. Firstly, there is no signage on the roads.  That's okay for us - we have an app that told us where to go.  Secondly, the last bit of the road in is only suitable for high clearance 4WD.  You wouldn't want to go down the track to find a creek crossing you can't get over and no real place to turn around.

The only indication of the start of the walk is this sign.

The walk is only 4 km return and goes through beautiful rainforest and along a creek. The floor of the rainforest with its piles of humus is so soft to walk on. While not particularly easy with plenty of trip hazards and the last section with plenty of 'wait-a-while' or lawyer vine waiting to ensnare unwary walkers, I actually love this sort of hike.  It feels less 'choreographed' than many walks. 

    

               

The end is definitely worth the effort. You complete the walk at the point where the creek turns into Raspberry Falls, falls that cascade down the steep escarpment to the Ingham valley below.  We could see all the way to Hinchinbrook Island, although it was a little hazy.

    

After a coffee at the end of our walk, we headed down the mountain to Ingham where we bought cheaper diesel!!!, supplies for our Hinchinbrook walk, which we start on Friday, and did laundry. We are staying here the night before heading off to Lucinda tomorrow.  Hopefully, in the morning I will fit in a walk around the Tyto Wetlands that are right beside where we are camped.