10 - 2023 - June - Cobbold Gorge, Central North Queensland

 

Entry 10 – 2023 – June – Cobbold Gorge, Central North Queensland.

We farewelled our beautiful Lake Tinaroo setting and its kangaroo’s. It was time to head west, inland away from the coastal regions.

Our next planned destination was to experience the publised Cobbold Gorge prescient. It was about a 400-kilometre drive and we decided to cover this distance over a couple of days.  We had no set plans, deciding to idle along until we came across a nice location for the night. After travelling a bit over a couple of hundred kilometres we came across a grand looking roadside stop with a magnificent view across the plains at Casey’s Rest area.

At Casey’s Rest area as the sun set behind us, we were provided with a gorgeous view of the rising moon from below our elevated position. It was an imposing sight. The clouds cleared just above the horizon to provide us with a view of the full moon before it disappeared into the clouds.

Closing our eyes for the night, we went to sleep with our caravan curtains in the open position. Once our bodies had obtained their required rest time, on opening our eyes we were expecting to be greeted by a new day with tantalising views. Well, that was the theory. In actual fact we opened our eyes to see the start of an orange glow reaching up from the distant hills. Steve was out of bed, dressed and with the camera in hand he stepped outside into the cool breezy morning air. He stepped around the back of the caravan to be greeted by the moon hanging on to our setting.

Steve moved up to the elevated section of the rest area hoping for that special photo. Of interest if you look at the foreground of the first two photographs you can see the photographer’s shadow silhouetted by the setting moon and some reflection of moon light on our vehicle. 

As it transpired, it took a bit over an hour for the sun to make its way, rising up above the distant hill tops. Steve returned to bed, sucking in some warmth from Mary, slowly returning a more comfortable feel to his body. Then he was up out of bed and ready for breakfast. 

 

We enjoyed soaking in the view of our special setting for a couple of hours before resuming our drive. We had no need to hurry, with time to appreciate the scenery along our route.

We were travelling along a much-promoted route called the “Savannah Way.” The Savannah Way is the Northern Queensland’s main arterial route linking townships and destinations from Queensland’s western border with the Northern Territory to the ocean in the east about 1,500 kilometres. We were in Queensland and from previous driving experiences we had an expectation for the road conditions to deteriorate at any time, including along main vehicle routes as the Savannah Way. It wasn’t long before our double laned paved road became barely a single paved lane width with signage requesting small vehicles to move left onto the dirt verges of the road to allow larger vehicles the use of the paved section. On roads of this type the level of concentration for the driver becomes quite elevated. There is a requirement to be extra vigilant, monitoring the actions of approaching vehicles, and those approaching from the rear. There was also a heightened need to be vigilant of the dirt verge conditions with constantly changing forms.

At Georgetown we were happy to turn off the Savannah Way, onto a far less busy road heading south towards the town of Forsayth. This minor road was mostly double lane width with a paved surface. It still had several short sections consisting of a dirt surface with corrugated sections, returning to a paved surface then dirt again. It made no sense to a normal thinking person, “it would have been so easy to have completed the pavement,” at a minimal cost on the day of construction, but we were in “Queensland.”

At Forsayth we deviated onto a dirt surface road where our research had uncovered many negative comments about the condition of this road. We lowered our tyre pressures in anticipation for about 45 kilometres of a rough surfaced road. We normally travel with tyre pressures at about 48 psi. We lowered our tyre pressures to about 30 psi which is similar to normal passenger car tyre pressures. On dirt roads of this nature, we would travel at a speed of between 50 to 60 kilometres. Combine a much-reduced travelling speed with softer tyre pressures, provides additional flexing, counter acting the uneven terrain incurred along dirt surfaced roads. We generally find this set up more comfortable on our bodies and most definitely placing less fatigue on our tow tug and caravan.

We arrived at our planned destination of Cobbold Gorge feeling fresh and ready to explore. The rest of the day was spent exploring the camp ground familiarising ourselves with the available facilities. 

Cobbold Gorge is located on a large cattle station property. The location of a water filled swimming hole was of common knowledge since the establishment of the station property in the late 18^th century. Of common knowledge at the time, the terrain around the area nearby the location of “Cobbold Gorge,” was unsuitable for cattle producing purposes. During all those years, no one had ventured around the bend of the swim hole on the property till around the 1990’s. As word spread about the uniqueness of this gorge located in a mostly dry hot environment, combined with a country side without much to offer to attract people, it soon became a popular destination.

The cattle station is a family run property, a commercial operation. About 4,720-hectre of land was sectioned off around this water hole. In time it was granted title, as a nature reserve and named Cobbold Gorge. With the establishment of Cobbold Gorge Nature Refuge it created an area protecting a number of vulnerable and rare plant species, forming an important wildlife corridor and catchment linkages.

Away from the gorge a large camp ground was established with many different levels of accommodation set up. A restaurant, shop, bar and large swimming pool was established including all the infrastructure associated with an establishment of this type. It had just about everything you might desire in a unique bush setting. This also included a helicopter base, with many different flight options for viewing from the air or a flight to a secluded location where a couple could watch the setting sun whilst sipping champagne and nibbling on a cheese platter. 

To access the Cobbold Gorge water way was by a guided tour only. Bookings were a requirement. We assessed the 7-day weather forecast before committing ourselves. With a weather forecast of cloud cover clearing on day 7 we booked our spot which required full payment in advance including all other costs to be incurred. We booked our Cobbold Gorge water experience for the forecasted sunny day, delighted to secure our position with only a hand full of spots available for that day.

2023 fees were $114 per person for a three-hour gorge tour session. We booked a camp site, $138 for a period of three nights. Our first night in the camp ground we went to sleep with overcast skies. In the morning we woke to a beautiful clear blue sky. We verbally thanked the weather forecaster for providing great weather conditions for our Cobbold Gorge Experience.

We thought there were about 60 people at the gathering point for our allocated tour time. We were divided up into four groups. Some people were in attendance with private tour groups and others like us had our names called out and we were placed with a specific guide. The four groups boarded their individual 4wd bus and we were ferried to the gorge location (about a 15-minute drive.)

Our tour guide appeared to be quite knowledgeable about most aspects of the Cobbold Gorge environment. There were two parts to the gorge tour. One component was to travel along the gorge on a boat and the other was a walk-about to view the area formations, flora and fauna.

Our group started with the gorge boat component.

This consisted of a small electric powered pontoon like boat ferrying people along the confines of the gorge at times barely two metres wide. Once everyone had boarded the boat and were seated, it felt quite stable. There was a motor at either end of the boat where the guide was seated for the 800-metre trip into the gorge. Once at the end of the gorge the guide moved to the other end of the boat to resume the return trip.

 It was an amazing experience, travelling along, through the gorge. There were all sorts of different colours reflected on the water surface and our good feel senses were tantalised by the different shapes of the near 30-metre-high gorge walls. Our pictures can show an indication of the gorge scenery. What the pictures don’t show was the blissful joy provided by the gorge setting, mesmerizing all our feel-good senses. 

One section was appropriately named the duck rock.

One of the groups had made their way to the boat departing area prior us. Aiding to the hypnotised setting our group’s arrival time at the boat departure point was timed to perfection where we didn’t sight the other boat once, as we travelled through the gorge. The only time we became aware of the presence of the other boat was an announcement heard from our guides two-way radio, when the other boat was on its return trip. This announcement was timed to perfection as we had just entered a slightly wider section of the gorge. Our boat moved over to one side of this opening and the returning boat almost instantly appeared from around a bend.

Once the returning boat had passed us by, after high fiving all of its occupants on our near side we continued along the gorge till there was no more gorge. 

For the return trip our position on the boat changed from located at the front to being at the rear. The scenery was a bit different, as we were looking at different angles and a slightly different angle of the sun which altered the reflections highlighted along the gorge wall and water.

Disembarking the boat, we commenced a walk around the area with provided descriptions of the surrounding bush and its available bush tucker. This included some geological information and sighting of some of the local wild life.

 Another much publicized feature at Cobbold Gorge was the construction of a glass-built bridge spanning across a section at the top of the gorge. There was a requirement to cover our foot wear with some soft cloth booties before proceeding onto the glass bridge. It was another different experience. 

 

At about this time our guide was starting to crack the whip, ever so lightly as our allocated time had nearly expired. It was a brisk walk back to our conveyance vehicle. As it transpired our guides were allocated a 30-minute rest/meal break from our scheduled arrival back at camp till the departure time for the afternoon time slot.

 Arriving back at camp we were feeling rather hot and weary. We decided to cool down in the facilities infinity pool. Our bodies were quickly cooled but thankfully not too cold. We were quite comfortable, happy to swim about and enjoy our setting.

Part of this enchanting setting was the availability to swim up to a pool side located bar and be able to order a drink whilst staying seated or floating in the pool. We were lucky to have the pool all to ourselves at the time. Possibly something to do with the bar not operating at that time of day. Later we saw the pool was quite busy with lots of people around the bar area. 

 There was a large dam with sit on paddle boards available for use. Steve accepted the challenge, enjoying some time on the water.

All of the above activities we participated during the same day. It had been an exceptional day with the accompanied adrenalin rush lasting throughout the day. When our minds finally slowed down, we slept well.

The following morning, we decided to experience one of the publised walking trails. You were required to register which walk you were travelling, your departure time and sign back in with your return time. We chose the 5-kilometre loop walk. What wasn’t mentioned, the walking path was one of the station vehicle tracks utilized to check on the stock and the stock water troughs. The surface was quite rocky and we found ourselves walking along the cattle constructed walking trails as it was more comfortable under foot. The country side was covered by tall grasses and trees. Cattle country. We were in need to monitor our foot placement with the additional hazard of many land mines, compliments of the cattle.

The day time temperatures were around the 32 C mark. We were feeling rather hot on our return to camp from our walk and it was a no brainer where to next. The cool pool waters initially felt chilly but it wasn’t long before we were moving about in the pool once again all to ourselves. Divine!

Cobbold Gorge provided a grand setting, accompanied by some good constructive thoughts with setting up an active human facility. Even the camping area toilets and showers were of a good standard with room to move about in. All the staff acted in a positive, professional manner oozing with a happy disposition. The whole set up provided good encouragement, aiding with a happy people environment. We experienced some good positive conversations with fellow occupants.

It was bloody good. One of those rare excellent, commercial operations. We would recommend a Cobbold Gorge experience.

After three nights at Cobbold Gorge it was time to move on.