A choice of waterholes

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Day 88 - Townsville to Murray Falls

We’ve had a great time in Townsville and the campsite, despite the questionable location has been a good base. This morning we even washed down the caravan and scrubbed the lino flooring which turns out to be grey not brown! Back on the road we found a gas station with diesel at just $1.18 a litre, Darryl virtually swerved across the road not to miss the entrance! They even sold hot sausage rolls, bargain!

We had a choice of destinations today and played with which to go to right until the last minute! We’re a bit wary of dirt roads these days and also National Parks in the mountains because we’ve learned that the ‘Not advisable for caravans’ signs have a tendency to be right at the last minute ie when you’ve gone too far to turn around! Paluma Range National Park was giving us this sort of vibe and although the associated Jourama Falls campsite description was lovely we decided to carry on to the lower level Big Crystal Creek Campground with its Paradise Waterhole which even Lonely Planet raved about! It’s a 1.5km dirt road off the highway and although the campsite gives quite a baron, dusty feel to it the description of Paradise for the waterhole is spot on! With the sun sparkling in the water it’s a glorious sight and the warm temperature is very tempting for a swim! We hold off and return to the car having decided to travel on to the Murray Falls campground, another permit site but further north.

When we come off the highway we travel through the Aboriginal community of Jumbun at Murray Upper. The elders of this community operate tours and invite you to visit them and immerse yourself in their unique rainforest culture. It does sound really interesting and something we’d both like to do at some point but not today!

The bitumen turns to gravel and we reach the entrance to the camp ground. On arrival it’s immediately obvious that we made the right choice, the site is lush and green, the different options for swimming all look divine and we can hear the waterfalls pounding the rocks from our chosen pitch, perfection! Camps 5 has struck gold again, Murray Falls campground is reference 24 in the Queensland section.

It doesn’t take us long to set up and we’re straight down to the river for a swim! There are a few different options but we select the one where a family is just leaving thus meaning we have it all to ourselves! The water is gorgeously freezing but once you’re in and swimming around you soon forget that brrrr feeling when you first got in! Comedy follows trying to get out and back in again, the rocks are really slippery so you have to be careful and haul yourself out on your bum or swim round to the ‘beach’ side where you can actually walk out, but neither of us realised that to start with!

We while away the hours and try to photograph the birds and the butterflies, usual story though, they’re just too quick! Back on dry land we start the fire and cook up a stew for dinner. We’re joined by what we earlier thought was a fellow campers dog but we now think she’s a stray as you are not allowed to bring pets to National Parks. She’s a young dog, good natured but very, very jumpy. She hangs around in the hope that she’s get a bite to eat and then trots off to her next set of friends for the night! We’ll have to ask some questions in the morning and alert the ranger if he’s not already aware as a stray dog and wildlife is surely not a good mix.

Here’s to a good nights sleep.
Night all, Dar and Sar

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