After a quite cosily driving to the entrance of the national park and a subsequent drive over hedge and ditch (which was fun due to our SUV), we arrived late afternoon in the campground at the gorge. After a nice chat with the lady at the reception the plan for the evening was set. We wanted to hike to the lookout with a view over the gorge, to eventually enjoy the sunset. A word and a blow, after we built up our great 32$ tent, we started our hike. Indeed the hike was longer than we thought and it took us around 90 minutes to reach the rim of the gorge and the end of the hike. Shortly before we reached the end, it happened what actually shouldn’t happen in Australia. Tobi felt a hurting sting in the shank and after a targeted hit, he felt the same at his hand. In the beginning, we really weren’t sure what it was, because we just rapidly went away from its reach. As we were 90 minutes away from the ranger’s station and out of any mobile reception, it could have had an ugly outcome. But obviously it was “only” an aggressive Australian hornet. It hurt a lot and looked really bad in the beginning, but after talking to the ranger when we were back, Tobi could luckily keep the leg.
Sensitized for the Australian bush, we enjoyed the view over the gorge, but hurried back to reach the civilization before dusk. On our way back we saw an Echidna, this time a pretty active one, and a kangaroo, who lost its way somehow in the cliffs.
The next day, we got up early in order to spot a Platypus (we remember, these are the flat nosed beaver similar animals). These weird creatures are unfortunately very hard to see in wild. Most of the tourist guides sound like this: “at this spot, you can may spot a platypus during dawn or dusk in certain times of the year and certain weather conditions with lots of patience and luck.” Ok, we needed to be patient, but the lady at the reception of the camp ground assured us that it is really easy to observe one, that’s why we made the effort. It took us one hour (during breakfast), but as Kerstin was away for 5 minutes, Tobi could spot one (the picture turned out badly), but to get an impression of the creatures, here a picture from wikipedia). In the evening, we indeed could see a pack (this time with Kerstin), but due to the dusk it was hopeless to make any good pictures.
The rest of the day, we spent hiking through the gorge. As Kerstin felt a bit sick, we only did half of the way to see the 3 best attractions: Ward’s Canyon, Amphiteatre and Moss Garden. The hike was a bit monotonously (around 7km through bush), but the way included some passages through a river (Kerstin got wet feet :-/). But as we had to go the whole way back, it was getting a bit annoying. But anyway very beautiful and away of mass tourism! During 6 hours of hiking we met only 4-5 other groups we already met before at the camp ground. The three attractions were really worth it to hike so for long. But you’ll see that on the pictures.
The next morning, we tried again to take a good picture of a platypus, but this time no one appeared. So we drove to Airlie Beach, the gateway to the Whitsundays. But again, this is another story…