Eco Camp

Our next port of call is set to be the Eungela National Park. I’m in search of a duck billed platypus and this is apparently the place to see them. Only about half a days drive from Bowen we get to the park early afternoon and happen upon a campsite called the Platypus Camp, ideal. The camp is the home of an aging hippy and a fantastic prospect it seems. We set up camp and have a wander past the toilets set in the woods and the showers which despite there being no elec or gas in the woods boast hot water thanks to a wood-burning stove. Further down we get to a swimming hole in the river and a selection of inner tubes to float around in, so we take a dip and leisurely float in the river, a welcome release from the heat of the sun we can also observe the fish swimming under us and the dragonflies skimming the water above. It all seems quite perfect.

With plenty of time still left in the day we have time for a stroll up to the waterfalls with several more swimming holes. I was under the illusion that we were just popping to a platypus swimming hole so was wearing my flipflops, aka thongs, rather than more substantial footwear and they actually prove adequate for the 7km round trip as the track despite containing over 400 steps is reasonably well made. The swimming holes prove well worth the trek too, the waters being crystal clear and incredibly deep. Rob even spots a huge eel sliding down into one of the lower rock pools.

Back at the camp we’ve been told that the best time to see the platypus is dusk or dawn so we prepare tea then seal it off while we go to the platypus pool to watch and wait. Over an hour later it is now pitch black and apart from some fireflies flying by we’ve seen nothing. We return to camp to finish making tea, the level of insect life is extreme. We’re constantly being buzzed by bugs over an inch in size and there are mosquitoes everywhere too. I stay out long enough for a possum to come and sit on our eski in search of food then I retreat back into the van to eat my tea in relative peace. That night it is hot and humid in the van but there is no reprieve, the level of insect life outside prevents us opening the door and with no power we can’t even run the fan.

By morning I admit to myself that I’m not an eco warrior and we shift camp to the DOC camp back in the main park. On the way we have to drive the poor van up an incredibly steep hill and I’m not sure it will make it, but it does and near the top we stop for a coffee at a café run by a rather eccentric old lady. We’re still at the park by lunchtime, so after following the advice of some rather noisy yanks we make our way to a small lake and stand silently in the woods watching for the elusive platypus again. At first we just see a couple of turtles rising and I’m starting to think that the Americans have been mistaken but then sure enough we see a platypus. Much smaller than I’d expected, but definitely a platypus, it even stops to give its head a scratch before dipping back down into the water. After seeing several more, we’re being bitten quite badly by mosi’s again and we beat a retreat back to the campsite. Rob is feeling a little off colour so opts for a lie down and I think to put up the huge mosi net that I’d bought before going to fraser. Its perfect, does just the job, why didn’t we think of that last night? Rob is dozing with the doors open, but again with no power it’s still pretty hot. Satisfied that we’ve seen the platypus, the sole reason we were staying in the park, we head back down the hill to the tiny township we passed through on the way to the park.

Our luck is in, there is a campsite and we wallow in the swimming pool and the spa, then shower and head to the pub for tea, laughing at the poor suckers left up at the camps with all the mosi’s and the heat. Still not feeling 100% Rob doesn’t even finish his “sheep shearer’s/ozzy stew” so we call it a night and relax under the pleasant breeze of the fan back in the van.