Cobbold Gorge

Friday, 18 October 2024

With our tour of Cobbold Gorge starting at 7.45am we hit the bistro for breakfast right on opening time at 7.00am. We were offered an excellent selection of fruit, cereals, toast and spreads and a range of cooked breakfast items too: eggs scrambled, fried or poached, mountains of bacon, mushrooms and beans. We actually started walking down to the bistro a little before 7.00am and the blue-winged kookaburras treated us to some song. They look and sound a bit different from our kookaburras down south.

At 7.45am we gathered outside reception to wait for our guides and the bus that would drive us down to the gorge. While we were waiting the resident argus monitor was out and about again. It walked quite close to the reception building where we were waiting seemingly unphased by the great gaggle of humans waiting out the front … and racing to photograph it! All in a morning’s activity for a laid-back lizard I suppose!

Tanya and Grant arrived and split us into two groups and then asked us to board the 4×4 bus/truck vehicle. Tanya provided us with commentary as we drove to the gorge telling us that the gorge is situated within Howlong Station a working cattle station. The family originally purchased Robin Hood Station in the 50s but had a manager in place until they moved to the property in the 70s. In more recent times the original station has been subdivided and split between the children, with youngest son, Simon, receiving the ‘worst’ acreage.

As we crossed the dry riverbed of the Robertson River Tanya told us that the water was running above the surface until about six weeks ago. She also assured us that although the river looks completely dry it continues to run beneath the surface.

Continuing the story of the Terry family, Tanya told us that while Howlong Station is relatively poor for cattle, Simon has realised the tourism potential of the gorge. About 9,000 hectares in and around the gorge has been designated a wilderness refuge with the assistance of Les Hiddins, the Bushtucker Man who identified four species of plant unique to the gorge. The land surrounding the gorge is sandstone so there is no grazing for cattle, but it’s an idyllic waterway that maintains a near constant water level throughout ‘the dry’ and visitors to Cobbold Gorge are able to explore by foot and by boat with a Savannah Guide.

We were allocated to Tanya’s group and after her and Grant had delivered more information about the gorge and its discovery in their shed/shelter near the gorge she led us down to the water and across the pontoon. It has been so dry and hot it was amazing to be taken to this hidden oasis that was cool and green.

But before we explored by boat we were taken on an interpretative bush-walk up over the sandstone that surrounds the gorge. Tanya shared a wealth of information with us pointing out a number of toxic plants and a couple of the species unique to the gorge. The highlight of the walk was the glass bridge that spans the gorge so that these days tourists are taken on a circuit walk alongside and over the gorge. Before the bridge was installed the bush-walk was out and back again and it was really difficult to see down into the gorge. The glass bridge is seriously over-engineered with Tanya saying that it would be possible to drive a 14-tonne truck over it … if you could get a 14-tonne truck anywhere near it!!

We returned to the dock adjacent to the pontoon over the water and boarded our flat-bottomed boat with strict instructions about limiting our movement in the boat so that we would not ‘rock the boat’! The small craft is very sensitive to changes in weight distribution and the gorge is very narrow so, to keep from bumping the walls too much, Tanya needed us to stay seated and not lean over the sides.

The boat is powered by a very small, very quiet electric motor so we were able to enjoy being taken along the gorge without a noisy outboard spoiling the tranquility. We motored quietly along the entire length of the gorge, under the glass bridge all the way to Agate Creek which is the source of the water in the gorge. Tanya pointed out wildlife along the way: several species of fish, freshwater (Johnstone) crocodiles, a kingfisher, a currawong, tortoises and two sorts of spider. The circular webs of the St Andrews Cross spiders were prolific with the pretty ‘lace doily’ webs dotted all along the walls of the gorge and one intrepid golden orb spider. Her web was blown away a few weeks ago and the guides were not sure if she had survived but she has now re-spun her web in a new location.

After thoroughly exploring the length of the gorge we motored back to the pontoon. With the sun climbing higher in the sky by late morning it was starting to get warm even inside the gorge. While the sun was lower, we had been able to enjoy the shade in the gorge as we explored. We drove back to the village trying to spot koalas in the eucalypts. The koalas here in Queensland are smaller and more difficult to spot. Unfortunately, none were seen today.

Arriving back at the reception centre it was time to remove our walking shoes and let our feet get some air! As soon as noon ticked over, we headed to the bistro for lunch. Yesterday afternoon we heard one of the kitchen staff talking about the pizzas she had cooked for lunch so we had been thinking it would be pizza for lunch. Hmmn, that may have been something special that was prepared for the day trippers because we had to choose what we wanted from the lunch menu. Cathy enjoyed a chicken caesar wrap, Steve tucked into a steak sandwich and Bernie and I demolished HUGE Reuben sandwiches on sourdough. All the while we had a small flock of apostle birds begging us for scraps. We kept telling them that human food is bad for them and asking them what they’re going to do for lunch when all the tourists are gone in a couple of weeks? We steadfastly refused to feed them.

After lunching in the bistro, we changed into our togs to enjoy the infinity pool overlooking the dam again for a couple of hours this afternoon. The red-tailed black cockatoos have been squawking all day and I have been trying to get photos of them all day. Of course, they did their best flyover of the pool/bistro area while I was in the pool and far from my camera! Still, we HAVE been able to photograph many of the other birds.

After wallowing around in the pool and reading poolside for hours it was time to get ourselves ready for our late afternoon helicopter flight over the sandstone formations that surround Cobbold Gorge and, of course, fly over the gorge itself for a birds-eye view of the glass bridge. It was very interesting to see the striking parallel fractures in the Hampstead Sandstone caused by movement along the Robertson fault line. Tanya had described this on our tour, so it was awesome to be able to see it from the air.

All too soon our 15-minute flight was over, and it was time to set down on the helipad again. Our pilot was Harry who is one of Simon’s sons and a third-generation cattle grazier. Bernie asked if the helicopter will be used to muster cattle at the end of the tourist season at the end of this month but was told that a smaller, two-seater chopper is used to muster the cattle.

At 6.00pm it was time to eat again. It was still so hot. How hot was it? It was so hot we were watching the kangaroos swimming in the dam from the bistro decking! Ate too much AGAIN! When it’s all inclusive you feel somehow compelled to eat all you’re entitled to??! Overeating aside, we would definitely recommend the Cobbold Explorer Package that we booked to anyone interested in exploring this little bit of Queensland.

We have had plenty to do during our two days at Cobbold Village. If it had been a little bit cooler there were even more activities we could have tried. There are several bush walks around the property but, even though they are short walks, it’s TOO HOT. We would have had to carry too much water to be safe and to be honest the pool was way more appealing! We could have driven out to Quartz Blow Lookout for the views. We were told that sunset is lovely out there BUT then they had us booked for dinner at 6.00pm so that didn’t work out. And, if we had been feeling particularly adventurous, we could have gone stand up paddle boarding in the gorge … with the freshwater crocodiles!!