Alligator Creek

One of the differences I’ve noticed in outdoorsy things in Australia compared to the UK is in ‘Wild Swimming’.

In the UK, access to inland water ways can be pretty restricted, water quality can be poor, and everyone has seen those adverts warning of the dangers of swimming in lakes and rivers, backed up with drowning statistics and everything.

I have no doubt that in certain areas there are risks – for example anywhere that the current could be too strong or where there are underwater obstacles that could pose a danger, or swimming in lakes or flooded quarries that you can jump into, but maybe not climb out of ok… But I do also believe that these risks are often exaggerated, and that with care you can safely Wild Swim in many places. And there are plenty of guides in both book and online form to back up this theory!

In Australia, where there is not only the chance of the above risks occurring, but also in many areas the added risk of crocodiles, people seem to have a much more relaxed attitude to Wild Swimming. While there are areas that swimming is advised against or even forbidden, there are also many other areas where swimming is encouraged, and swimming holes are often signposted from the roads and even have amenities like changing areas and car parks so that you can access them easily. In fact, in Australia they don’t seem to say ‘Wild Swimming’ at all, they just say, well, ‘Swimming’.

The good thing about this is that it’s easy to find good access to lovely wild swimming spots if you fancy a day out. The bad thing about this is that it’s easy to find good access to lovely wild swimming spots if you fancy a day out – so often you find plenty of company at the swimming holes and lose a bit of that sense of adventure.

Still, some areas have really great swimming spots right near the car park and amenities, plus equally good swimming spots further along the trail where most people don’t venture, so you can still get that small dose of adventure.

Alligator Creek, about 20 minutes’ drive south of Townsville on the Bruce Highway is one such spot, and with recent wet season rains flushing out the stale water and raising the water levels in the pools, three of us headed there for an afternoon of walking and swimming.

Passing by the main swimming hole a short walk from the car park, we followed the track towards Cockatoo Creek and the Falls, keeping an eye out for a good swimming spot. Finding a likely place near a large flat area of rock, just before the path heads up a short section of steps, we hopped into the cool water. Floating about in the little pool, we soon decided that we needed to explore. 

A river turtle downstream of the swimming area

 

Our pool was separated from the next by a little section of boulders over which the water ran. This wasn’t a big dangerous rapids section, and so we had fun finding suitable spots to slide across and whoosh down with the flow of the water. 

View from the lookout - these pools are just upstream of the main swimming area, and good for exploring

The next pool had a shady area which was great for escaping the sun, but soon I was off again sliding down more boulders and finding little patches to scramble back up ready for more slides. In one place the water fell from a bit more height with a slightly deeper plunge pool at the bottom. Wedging yourself between these rocks in the plunge pool and sticking your shoulders under the falling water, you could get a pretty reasonable massage going on!

At our first swimming area. Of course I forgot to take the waterproof camera in with me, so no shots of exploring :(

A while of exploring in the water, and we decide it’s time to walk more and find a new swimming spot. Walking further towards Cockatoo Creek, we spot wildlife along the way. Birds, lizards, insects – there is plenty to see. The noise of cicadas fills the air, a sound so intense that apparently it can actually repel birds! On many trees we find their discarded nymphal skins, where the cicada nymph has emerged from the soil to begin the final part of its life-cycle as a winged adult, a singing one too if it's a male.

You can see the tear down its back, where the adult insect has climbed out

Fun facts: Cicadas are the loudest insects in the world, and there are more than 200 species in Australia

We also spot brumbies, wild/feral horses of Australia, through the trees. This is the first time I have seen any so it’s pretty exciting for me, and everyone is interested enough to stop and watch them for a little while, listening to their whinnying calls.

They are pretty shy, and keep plenty of trees between themselves and us. We managed to count 7 of them altogether.

We find another swim spot, but the exploring is not as good as our earlier area and so we don’t stay as long this time, and I unfortunately don’t even remember to get any pictures.

Heading back along the track towards the car park we see more wildlife, this time including a goanna, or lace monitor lizard. It’s really handsome and we watch as it makes short work of climbing a nearby tree.

Back at the main swimming hole, we have one more dip in the water before driving back to town. Maybe not overly ‘adventurous’, but certainly a great way to spend a few hours :)

10 Favourites From a Month of Visitors

My best friend from home and her two kids came to visit for a month during the UK’s summer holidays. That made it winter here, the best time for getting out and about in the tropical north of Queensland. Apart from a week in New South Wales to see Sydney and the Blue Mountains, the rest of our time was spent up in this beautiful part of the world.

Here’s a summary of our more adventurous bits:

1 Swimming in waterholes (QLD)

Crystal Creek, Paluma

Babinda Boulders

2 Hiking in the Blue Mountains (NSW)

The Three Sisters

Two reluctant hikers and their mum

3 Camping our way up through north Queensland

Cairns

Flying the Welsh Flag in Cape Tribulation

4 Finding wildlife on the beaches (QLD)

Peppermint Stick Insect, Cape Tribulation

Sea star, Kurrimine Beach

Pelican, Kurrimine Beach

5 Snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef (QLD)

6 Spotting humpback whales! (QLD)

7 Croc Spotting on the Daintree River (QLD)

8 Ziplining through the jungle (QLD)

9 A sunset kayaking tour (QLD)

10 Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUPing)  (QLD)

 

Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island

Return to Magnetic Island

Very recently I got to return to Magnetic Island, an island just off the coast of Townsville and a place that I love.

We had won free accommodation for a couple of nights, and this was perfect as I had wanted to go back to the island to enjoy hiking in cooler weather, and watersports outside of jellyfish season.

First stop for me was to visit the rock wallabies again, before passing a bit of time strolling the beaches and drinking coffee while we waited for the tide to get low. 

Magnetic Island has a couple of self-guided snorkel tours, where features are marked with buoys so that you can spot different corals and so on quite easily. The recent winds had all been from the south east though, which apparently makes the waters around there more murky, so visibility was not good for us and we didn’t see a great deal very clearly.

Heading out on a low tide though did mean we got to see a few cool things, like giant clams, some corals, and the odd fish. Maybe not my very best snorkelling experience, but it was still great to get out in the water and experience another world.

Attempted snorkeling selfie

Giant clam

Corals

The following day, my plan was to hike across the island. The trail we followed wasn’t nearly as long as I had expected it to be, but this was perhaps a good thing as it seems my walking shoes had gotten a bit bent out of shape during our move to Australia, and I ended up with painful blisters. The scenery was worth it though, and it was fun to know we were hiking across an island.

That evening brought more wildlife encounters, as possums came to our accommodation. They make quite a racket running along the roof of the small building, despite being so small. I sat quietly in the doorway watching the shy creatures, and one even came pretty close to investigate what food we might have inside.

One day remained on the island, and I wanted to spend it looking for turtles. We had seen marine turtles out in the bay, poking their heads up to breathe, while sitting by the beach, and I thought that maybe if we were out on the water we would see them closer up.

We hired stand-up paddleboards (SUP) to go out on the sea, and I took snorkelling gear in case the opportunity arose to watch turtles underwater. 

I only got one good view of a turtle while we were out, as it breached the water coming up for air. I wasn’t quick enough getting to my camera though, so the only turtle photo I ended up with was taken from the beach, and the turtle is only visible as a black dot in the water.

Finally, we went for one last hike - I really didn't want to leave without having seen a koala! So on the way back to the ferry, we stopped to go on the Forts Walk. This walk is well known for being a good place to spot koalas, and as the evening was approaching it was a good time as well as a good place. Luck was onside again, and on the return to the car we spotted a cute little koala perched up in a tree just next to the track, lazily munching on gum leaves. A perfect farewell from Maggie again :)