clog blog: Platypus and Kangaroos

What to do when you find yourself in Northern Queensland for a few weeks? Go exploring of course!

Northern Queensland is probably the furthest in Australia you can travel from Perth. It’s a whole day of travelling by plane, but it sure is worth it. Top attractions in Queensland are the beaches, islands, rainforests, and the Great Barrier Reef. There are some special National Parks with some great wildlife too.

Justin has done a lot of travelling for work this year and this time he has been seconded to the port in MacKay (pronounced Mac-Kai) in Northern Queensland for a few weeks and since it is a longer time, Bron was able to join him. The work weeks were pretty standard but the weekends were crammed with exploring.

MacKay is located on the banks of the Pioneer River about 1000 km north of Brisbane and has a population of about 120 000 people. MacKay is the sugar capital of Australia growing more than a third of the country’s sugar cane. One doesn’t have to go far out of the city to see fields and fields of cane at every stage of growth and the farms stretched all the way to Airlie Beach and Eungella, as far north and west as we went. It gave us a very South Coast of Durban feel with the humidity and all the cane. MacKay is also the gateway to the Bowen Basin coal mining reserves with two bulk coal terminals at Hay Point just south of MacKay.

The view from our apartment at high and low tide

Highlights of things we did in MacKay itself are:

The Bluewater Trail – a ~20 km pedestrian and cycle path circling the city including paths along the river, through the botanical garden and along the ocean front. Bron enjoyed walking an 8 km stretch from the apartment on weekday afternoons.

Queen’s Gardens – Apart from the Orchid House we didn’t see much happening here, mostly seemed to be centred around a cricket oval with no game on that day.

Orchid House – Located in the Queen’s Gardens and the most beautiful and diverse collection of orchids we have seen. Every size, shape, and colour you can imagine. It helped that they were mostly all still in flower. We were pleasantly surprised by this great find in the city.

Farmer’s Market – All of 6 stalls on a Wednesday afternoon but great for fresh local produce.

Northern Beaches – Specifically the 6 km Black’s Beach we frequented on the weekends (well, the ones we were actually in town for, lol) and Town Beach, right next to the port and marina. Bron would drop Justin at the marina in the morning and then enjoy an 8 km walk (return) on Town Beach 3 to 4 times a week.

The Pioneer River at Finch Hatton

Ring of Fire Cascades at Finch Hatton Gorge

Boibs at Finch Hatton

View of the Pioneer Valley

Exploring outside of the city started in the Pioneer Valley at Finch Hatton Gorge about an hours drive west of MacKay where the swimming holes are popular with locals in the summer. A 1.6 km path through sub-tropical forest leads to the Araluen Cascades and a further 1.4 km ends at the Wheel of Fire Cascades so named for the red flowers that bloom here in the spring. A swim after the walk would have been very welcome however the water was still really cold given how hot it was outside. The rocks were also super slippery, getting in and out accident free would be a challenge.

Further down the track from Finch Hatton is Eungella National Park (pronounced young-gella). We were hoping to do some of the walking trails here as well but they seemed closed off and didn’t correlate with the map we had. Instead we settled down for some wild platypus spotting.

Walking in Eungella National Park

Australian Brush Turkey

(with about the same amount of brain as a guinea fowl)

Real wild platypus!!

The Broken River than runs through the park is one of the most reliable places to spot wild platypus in Australia. Platypus along with 4 species of echidna are the only 5 living species of monotremes, mammals that lay eggs. Platypus may seem a little confused with a bill like a duck, a tail like a beaver and feet like an otter, but these features give them great advantage in the water. Platypus are great swimmers and we enjoyed watching one dive and swim fast to the bottom to forage and then bob back up to the surface again. Male platypus grow to around 50 cm and weigh between 1.2 and 2.4 kg while female platypus grow to around 40 cm and weigh between 0.7 and 1.6 kg. They also have a venom-injecting spur on the hind foot making them one of few venomous mammals. The platypus we saw was about 30 cm long and looked very sweet and friendly. Platypus are very shy animals and we feel privileged to have spotted one in the wild. There were also a few fresh-water turtles of various sizes swimming and floating around that were fun to watch.

Kangaroos and wallabies on the beach at Cape Hillsborough National Park

Cape Hillsborough National Park is about 45 min drive north of MacKay and is the perfect spot to snag that iconic Australian photo of kangaroos on the beach. Only catch is you have to be there at sunrise which can be somewhat of a challenge if you are not camping in the park. The first time we arrived 10 min before sunrise at 05:30 only to discover the kangaroos all left the beach at sunrise. Fail. The second time we arrived on the beach at 04:50 in complete darkness (yes, we ~~were~~ are crazy enough to go twice). The Roos are so quiet, you don’t know they are there at all until it starts to get light. The smaller wallabies were very skittish but the larger kangaroos were very chilled and stayed around much longer. They appear to forage in the sand looking for snacks and also eat the vegetation on the edge of the beach.

Views from the lookouts at Cape Hillsborough

Boibs at Cape Hillsborough

The incoming rain

After the roos all left we enjoyed a long walk on the beach and along a trail to lookouts over the bay where we spotted turtles in the water below. The second time the tide was low enough to walk across to the nearby island. There was also fresh turtle tracks and a turtle nest on the beach the second time, their fifth nest of the season, we were so excited to see it. It was wonderful to enjoy the beach mostly to ourselves and so early in the morning before it got too hot. After the beach it was tea and scones time at the Old Station Teahouse near the park followed by a long afternoon nap!

See you next time for more MacKay adventures!