Paluma - Rock Slides and Paradise (lost?)

So we had more rain and more wind (but hey we're getting good at that).  The boys tried to watch an outdoor movie at the caravan park (most are too late but this was at a good time).  They sat huddled on their camping chairs under their blankets (the breeze was cool and strong) but even with their valiant efforts (it was Speedy Gonzales after all), they couldn’t make it.  They couldn’t hear the movie for the wind and were more than a tad chilly when they returned to the van.  The next day, because of the weather, we opted for a mostly driving vs walking day and headed for the township of Paluma.

The road is a narrow windy road which wends its way up through the rainforest – it reminded me very much of the road to Dorrigo National Park.  Part way up the road you come across the first of the crystal creeks – little crystal creek.  With no rain falling we jumped out of the car to explore and were glad we did. It was a beautiful area.  Firstly, the bridge over the creek which was constructed between 1930 and 1935 as part of the Unemployment Relief Scheme during the Great Depression. The bridge was constructed with concrete but faced with stone and has a Roman quality about it. At the point the creek flows under the bridge there are cascades and rock pools you can swim in (not the right day for it).  It was absolutely lovely and I can imagine on a hot summer day many people would want to escape the Townsville heat and come here.

We continued our journey up the mountain and arrived in the very small and very quaint village of Paluma.  We were greeted by this sign and were glad we didn’t break these rules as neither of us had a pound on us.

We stopped for a yummy afternoon tea – Mr L had a slice of apple pie almost the size of his face and finished it (impressive).  And then we explored some of the short rainforest walks in the village. 

 Gotta say I love a good fungi - I am really such a science nerd

 Really they are happy, they did enjoy the walks.  Please believe me.

We also explored the village (which was very small and didn’t take long).  There were a couple of cafes, some holiday rentals, and some local artists. In particular Mr L wanted to visit Paluma Pottery which we did.  The kiln was set up in the front garden (actually took up most of the front garden) with the show ‘shed’ down the back.  We liked many of the pieces we saw (especially some of the bigger ones which would have worked beautifully in our garden) but alas budget and carrying anything big in the caravan prevented us from buying anything but a small rememberance of this village in the clouds.

Not the pieces we wanted to but of course, but they did match the spirit of this village

Big Crystal Creek

The next day, the rain had eased so this time we had our swimmers on as we set of to investigate Big Crystal Creek and two cool sounding places, Paradise Waterhole and Rock Slides.  We drove past Paradise Waterhole and headed straight for the rock slides (at the insistence of our boys).  After a short walk from the carpark we arrived at a sensational stretch of the creek which cascaded and cascaded over magnificent rocks falling into crystal clear pools – eminently swimmable. We worked our way up the cascades and found the rock slides which the boys enjoyed as much as they had thought they would.  David and I less so because we kept having to haul them up from the bottom of one slide back to its top to slide all over again. The next day I remarked to David that I must have slept very strangely as I had such a sore right shoulder until he reminded me of this very activity which was of course done with the same arm and shoulder for so very many goes.

After our swim here we were really looking forward to Paradise Waterhole and had even brought our snorkel gear to check out the fresh water fish that apparently you can see here.  We leapt out of the car eager and keen and with every step towards Paradise it rained harder and harder.  If I had been there by myself I would have been in like Flynn (but my family knows that at sometime I probably had some dolphin genes inserted).  The rest of the clan were less than keen, actually they were keen only to get back in the car which we did.  So in summarising our trip in the future I can say we did amazing and super cool things – but we did miss out on Paradise.  Maybe we might have to add Crystal Creek into a future winter holiday in Townsville (mmmmmmmm?????). 

Carnarvon Gorge – a Natural Wonder Indeed

Nice as our photos might be - they do not do justice to the majestic beauty of this amazing place.

The Main Track

The next morning we started along the Main Track which follows Carnarvon Creek, in fact you get very familiar with this creek as you end up crossing it many times. For us some of Carnarvon's best scenery is to be had along this track as it is here you see the most spectacular sandstone cliffs which seem even more remarkable as you are hopping across the stepping stones of your creek crossing.

The Art Gallery

I hadn’t heard about this aspect of the Gorge – the remarkable aboriginal art contained in a number of sites.  The Art Gallery is the best of these sites and contains over 2000 individual motifs, made up of around 1350 engravings, 650 stencils and some freehand art.

Wards Canyon

The track into Wards Canyon is short, but quite steep. You first come across a small but beautiful waterfall but we had been advised that the best of Wards Canyon lay beyond so we continued up the stairs and to a truly amazing place.  Wards Canyon is the most sheltered location in Carnarvon Gorge and has a diversity of ferns including the massive fronds of rare King Ferns.

The Ampitheatre

The track into the Ampitheatre had some lovely sandstone cliffs which were different colours and style to the main track.  As we got closer it becomes harder to see where the track could go until you see that you have to climb up a ladder through an ‘elevated slot canyon’ into a large round hole in the sandstone.  I can’t really describe how amazing this place is, how the acoustics are unreal and how lucky we were to have the place all to ourselves for a period.  There may have been cooeeing and even some opera while we were there – magic.

Back down the rabbit hole

The Moss Garden

The track into the Moss Garden was beautiful in its own right, there quite a few staired sections and the track climbed steeply following Koolaroo creek and through amazing rainforest.  Then you arrive at the Moss Garden – this was the last part of our journey so we didn’t have direct sunlight making it dark and ferny and mossy (but hard to photograph in this light).  The Moss Garden was breath taking and we lingered there for some time.

The Gorge Mouth walks

Baloon Cave

This is an easy, short track and a good way to loosen up our legs after the walk the day before.

Mickey Creek and Warrumbah Gorge

The walking track into Mickey Creek forks about a kilometre in and Warrumbah Gorge turns off to the right. We were given a great tip off from people coming back that way that just past the fork there was a wonderful area were hundreds of butterflies were just hanging around sunning themselves – it was a magical place, almost like a fairy glen.

Shortly after the fork there is a sign informing walkers that the 'formed track ends here'. Some visitors have interpreted this as 'don't go any further', however we were told that the best part of the gorge lay beyond and so we continued hopping over rocks, climbing along ledges into the most sensational place we have ever seen.  Places like these turn up on the cover of something like National Geographic not somewhere we manage to get to. Warrumbah Gorge narrows to a slot gorge and in places you can touch both walls with outstretched arms.  David and I made one promise to each other as we left here – we will come back!