The Not So Elusive Cassowary!

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On Saturday 20th we decided to have a drive a bit further afield. Our first port of call, barely 40 kilometers away, was Tully which was easily noticeable by the huge chimneys that could be seen from a long way away belching out what appeared to be steam. The chimneys are from Tully Sugar Mill which dominates the town and is where the sugar cane is processed into raw sugar before being shipped elsewhere for refinement. The reports we had read said that Tully was devastated by Cyclone Yasi but the centre of town at least seemed to have recovered well. Apart from sugar cane there are huge plantations of banana trees in the area and many of these were ripped apart and we saw some of the remains that still had to be removed. Now, though, many new trees have been planted and the trees that survived are beginning to bear fruit so in time we hope Tully will recover fully. Apart from visiting the Information Centre, we decided to bypass Tully for the time being and to carry on towards Mission Beach. We turned off the main road and took the minor road for South Mission Beach. Straightaway there were signs telling us to look out for cassowaries and then we saw signs saying that cassowaries had recently been spotted crossing the road. These large flightless birds live only in small pockets of tropical rainforest and are on the endangered list in Australia. On our previous stay in the area we failed to see any in the wild and neither did the intrepid explorers, the Wallaby Wanderers. So, although I kept my eyes peeled I really didn’t expect to see any.

Then, I shrieked because on a piece of open grassland to our left, casually strolling around, was a cassowary!! Luckily there wasn’t much traffic about and Graham was able to, first pull over and then turn around and park closer to where the cassowary still was. It was unconcerned by our presence but was walking away from the road. Of course I didn’t have the camera with the long lens but at least I got a couple of precious photos. We couldn’t believe we were watching a cassowary – I wondered for a minute if it was an emu but cassowaries are quite distinct with a much chunkier build. They also have a blue face and neck with red wattles. Shocked and delighted, we continued on to South Mission Beach and then Mission Beach itself. Both these places suffered severe damage in the cyclone but are recovering well. We were relieved to find that Mission Beach looked much the same as it had eight years earlier – no doubt huge amounts of work have been going on to repair the damage. We popped in to the caravan park to enquire about staying there in two or three weeks time and had a lovely chat to the lady in the office. They had anticipated damage and had booked various skilled workers to attend immediately after the cyclone had subsided in order to commence repair work. It certainly showed as the caravan park looked to be in good shape and was very busy. She told us that many of the Victorian “escapees” who have been occupying the park for the last few months, escaping the colder weather further south, were now beginning to drift back towards home so she didn’t anticipate any problems for us in a couple of weeks. We drifted out of Mission Beach back towards Tully and began to look for a picnic spot we had seen signposted on the edge of Mission Beach. But guess what? We saw another cassowary strolling along totally unconcerned about passing traffic. I took a couple more photographs but we didn’t stop this time as it was on a narrower stretch of road with no-where to pull off.

Eventually we found the picnic place we were looking for. It was set back about a kilometre off the road in a beautiful part of the lowland rain forest setting but the arrangement of the picnic tables we found amusing. Signs everywhere warned of the dangers of aggressive cassowaries and of the dangers of feeding them or leaving food scraps behind. Consequently, the tables were surrounded by a sturdy security fence to keep the big birds out. We had the place to ourselves and enjoyed our picnic in a beautiful peaceful location. We secretly hoped that a cassowary would appear but given the problems that that might provoke we were happy to get back in the car. We really wanted to go for a walk but what would we do if a cassowary approached us? Another vehicle arrived just as we were leaving and we edged our way slowly along the gravel track back towards the road. About half way along we couldn’t believe our eyes - marching purposefully towards us was yet another cassowary!!! This one was quite a young one and hadn’t fully developed its plumage or colour but it was still a fair size and looked quite menacing. It made no attempt to leave the track so we stopped the car and waited for it to stroll by. It stopped right by Graham’s window and he was able to take a couple of snaps before it sauntered on towards the picnic area we had just left. It’s difficult to explain the thrill of such encounters but had we done nothing else for the rest of the day we would have been really pleased with our outing.

As it happens we still had plenty more in mind. We made our way back to Tully and stopped in the centre to explore what appeared to be the main feature – a wellington boot!! With an average annual rainfall exceeding 4,000 millimetres (160 in), and the highest ever annual rainfall in a populated area of Australia (7,900 millimetres - 310 inches - in 1950), Tully is arguably the wettest town in Australia. A rivalry exists between Tully and the nearby town of Babinda for this title. But in 2003 a giant gumboot (the "Golden Gumboot") was erected in Tully as a monument to the town's soggy climate. Appropriately, it is 7.9meters high representing the exact depth of total rainfall that fell in 1950. We climbed to the top of it using the internal staircase from where there was an excellent view of the town and surrounding area and in particular the giant sugar cane works. The monument also serves as a museum documenting past floods, as well as displaying the current rainfall for the year. We found Tully fascinating but earlier, at the Information Centre, a fellow had recommended a drive out to Tully Gorge. He said it would take about 40 minutes and the first 20 minutes would be nothing special but as we got closer to the gorge the scenery would change dramatically and would be very enjoyable. He was absolutely spot on. Once into the gorge the road followed the Tully River which twisted and turned and, in places, dropped dramatically over rapids. For this reason it has become Australia’s centre for white water rafting. We had no intention of having a go but at one of the many beautiful lookouts we were privileged to watch seven or eight rafts full of adventure seeking young people careering down through the fast flowing water and disappear out of sight as they plunged down over the rapids. Apparently, more often than not someone ends up in the water and that seems to be part of the thrill – we must be getting old because that doesn’t appeal to us one little bit!! We carried on along the road until we reached the dead end which was at a hydro station which included a dam across the river. At one time this must have been quite a tourist attraction as the many, now well worn, signs told of swimming holes and even a chair lift down over the river. None of that was accessible today but the drive up through the gorge had been fascinating and the journey back down was equally delightful.

Back on the main road through Tully we looked out for another tourist attraction we had seen a sign for earlier. It was to Murray Falls and soon we were headed up through the hills towards a spot where Sarah and Darryl had camped. There was a drive of a couple of kilometer on a gravel track but soon it opened up to the camping area which looked fantastic and, though quite remote, there were toilets and even showers available there. We drove on through the camp site to the falls car park and after a short walk we reached the base of the falls. Sarah, in her blog, had boasted about what a brilliant swimming spot it was and it looked fantastic. Now though there were plenty of signs up warning about the dangers of swimming and specifically that swimming was not allowed. We suspect the cyclonic weather earlier in the year had either disrupted the normal flow and pressure of the water or there was a risk that crocodiles were present in the area. It didn’t stop one young couple clambering past the signs and across the rocks to get in the water - sooner them than us! So with an easy drive back to the caravan, that was another extremely pleasant day fulfilled in the Cardwell area – in fact the spotting of the cassowaries had made it a rather a special day. Tomorrow we intend to travel to Innisfail – another place we’ve not stopped at before – so we look forward to the delights that the Innisfail area can offer us.

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Photos

Tully's giant gum boot
at 7.9 metres it's height is the same as the amount of rainfall that fell in 1950