We set up our base camp at Elanda Point on Lake Cootharaba and organised our requirements - shelter, bedding, clothing, food and cooking equipment - for our three days exploring the Noosa canoe trail. I began to get concerned that the canoe would sink !!
On a typical Queensland winter's day, clear and crisp with a beautiful blue sky, we packed our canoe and set off for the wilderness.
Lake Cootharaba is 12 km long and 6km wide but has an average depth of 1.5 m. which can be very rough and choppy on windy days, as it was on this occasion with a strong southerly pushing up along. After approx. 1 hr paddling we arrived at our first destination, The Kinaba Information Centre, which is a unique structure built on pylons above the waters of the lake.
Chas is checking the map to ensure we can find our way to our first campsite.
The water in this area is a mixture of salt and fresh water and quite discoloured as can be seen in the top right corner of this pic.
A narrow channel near the information centre provides access to the Upper Noosa River, an area referred to as the Noosa Everglades - our destination.
The peace and tranquility of slowly paddling up the river through mangroves, native cotton trees, paper bark tea trees, banksias and grasses along the banks is just magic.
The peace and tranquility of slowly paddling up the river through mangroves, native cotton trees, paper bark tea trees, banksias and grasses along the banks is just magic.
This is beautiful Fig Tree Point - 5.5km from Elanda Point. We set up our little 2-man tent at the campsite which has a jetty, composting toilet, a rainwater tank, and a picnic table - luxury in the wilderness. It was beautiful, though we did get a storm during the night with lots of wind which sounded quite eerie blowing through the Melaleucas. It was also quite cold. The lake in this area is very shallow and has beds of aquatic plants which provide excellent habitat for waterbirds.
We also had a visitor. We are waiting on a reply from the Queensland Museum to identify this little beauty. If anyone can tell us, we'd love to hear. We didn't disturb each other and he was gone a little while after the pic was taken.
The next morning we had more visitors - a young couple who had also canoed up the river and had camped at Harry's Hut the previous night, another 6km upriver. They were from Paris, France. The young lady had been in Australia only 5 days. I was very impressed that they had taken the opportunity to see our beautiful National Park by canoe, had stayed overnight in a little tent, cooked their meals on a 1 burner gas stove, and had an authentic Australian wilderness experience. It was a treat to speak with them.We then travelled upstream ourselves to the section of the river around Harry's Hut known as 'the narrows'. The water here is coloured a dark colour from the tannins released from decaying vegetation which makes an excellent mirror. It is famous for the reflections on the water of the trees and vegetation along the banks (example below).
We had a relaxed lunch at Harry's, named after a local man who for many years used one of the old timber huts when he came to the area to fish. Harry has since passed away but the hut remains, and the area still bears his name.
We shared our picnic spot with one of the locals - a lace monitor lizard - before heading off once more to rech our next campsite, very creatively called Camp 1, another 3.5 km upstream.
Isn't this beautiful - the same pic taken from the jetty at Camp 1 at dusk, and again early the next morning.
We had camped for 2 nights, totally alone in the quiet, peaceful, natural environment of our Australian bush. We savoured the opportunity to experience the beautiful flora and birdlife which abounds in this area.But we had to head home. The 15km which had taken 2 days to enjoy, we now had to cover in a few hours!!
With a short lunch break at the Kinaba Information Centre we made it back to Elanda Point in approx 4 hours. Without the wind which had hindered us on the way, we had a relatively easy trip back over the calm water.
Many native animals and birds are seen in this area of the National Park. As well as the cormorant, pelican and the reptiles above we saw:
Sea Eagles
and our beautiful Kookaburra (also known as Laughing Jackasses).
2 male kangaroos having a go at each other just outside our tent.
and a joey and Mum.
We saw approx 30 kangaroos in the open area at the back of the campsite. They obviously are very much at home here, as they grazed totally oblivious to the children playing soccer only 20m from them.
There was also a family of curlews, and several cute ducks.
Timber was an important industry of the area in early years and the Melaleuca forests are still quite spectacular. Reminders of the giant trees from Lord of the Rings. Very mystical.
We loved our canoeing experience and had loads of fun exploring this most beautiful area of the Great Sandy National Park.
Stay tuned for our next adventure.
