'Wild Swimming' at Alligator Creek

One weekend, we decided to make a visit to Alligator Creek. This is a little place within Bowling Green Bay National Park, and a mere 20 minute drive from where we live. According to the website, “Rugged mountains rise abruptly from the wetlands, saltpans and mangrove forests of the coastal plain. Alligator Creek descends in a series of cascades, deep pools and waterfalls.”

The Park is pretty big though, 57,900 hectares, and is divided into three sections, so of course we didn’t see all of these features. We didn’t even see the waterfalls, which are a fair walk away from the car park and are best tackled in slightly cooler weather. What we did see though, is the swimming hole near the car park and camping area at Alligator Creek.

The last time we came here, this area was chock full of people, and we just walked on by to go for a bit of a hike until we got too hot. On this occasion however, we had the place almost to ourselves.

We followed the path from the car park towards the water side.

This way doesn't feel very adventurous as it soon turns into a boardwalk for safe and easy access, if you have a pushchair or mobility issue, or simply lots of stuff to carry!

We enjoyed the shade of the trees and plants, making it nice and (relatively) cool. I love these huge jungle-ferny looking cycads.

This is the swimming spot we were after – the sun was really bright, and it has bleached out the colour a bit in these photos. Those rocks were actually a really warm orangey-yellow in colour.

These fish made me laugh, with their mouths sticking up out of the water :)

Sitting on some nice, smooth rocks, we admired the quiet and beauty of the spot for a while, the warmth of the sun being all the more enjoyable for knowing we could cool off in the water.

Then in we jumped!! The water was cool but not cold, and felt gently warm once you got used to it. It was pretty clear for fresh water, although it doesn’t stay that way as the water levels drop during the dry season, and therefore the water pools and becomes stagnant. I’m hoping we’ll get another chance to visit before the water goes bad though, as I’d love to explore some of the other pools heading upstream – it would be great to take your stuff in a drybag and see how far upstream you could get. A future mini adventure perhaps?

We enjoyed our little area though, swimming with the fishes.

It’s funny, in the UK this would have been called ‘wild swimming’ – in fact I mentioned wild swimming previously. You can buy books to recommend good wild swimming spots, and even join wild swimming clubs or communities. Apparently Australians find that all quite strange – heading to a ‘swimming hole’ for a cool off during hot weather is pretty common for lots of people, so they just call it ‘swimming’…

Castle Hill

Castle Hill is a Townsville landmark, and it attracts lots of people who are keen on their fitness, as they tackle the various paths to the top, or maybe run up the road route. I’ve even seen ladies running while pushing buggies up the hill – now that is impressive!

Normally I am working on my fitness and hiking up it as fast as I can, with no stops apart from very occasional brief pauses to catch my breath - if I absolutely need to. This time, I was taking a friend up there to show her the route, and were doing it with a bit more enjoyment in mind and our cameras in hand.

The Hill up ahead

The route that I go up begins at the road, but then turns off onto a trail heading steeply up the side. The track covers rough ground, but is well-maintained, and affords wonderful views. From some directions you can see Magnetic Island sitting serenely out to sea. I love looking out to the island and day-dreaming about the koalas!

Other views look out over the town’s port, a less pretty vista. The sun is rising in this photo – people who know me well will be amazed to find that I am ever up early enough to see the sun rising!

There is wildlife on the Hill too, and on this most recent trip up there I heard a rustling in the undergrowth. Venomous snakes are an issue in Queensland, so I was worried about what might be causing the rustling. A quick check (from a safe distance!) didn’t reveal scales though, but rather spines!!

I got to watch it snuffling around while desperately trying to dig my camera out of the pouch. Of course, it had hidden it’s little face by the time I managed to get the camera switched on and pointed in the right direction, but I was still very excited: I had seen my first echidna!!!!! 

I watched the little guy for quite a while, but then I needed to carry on. The rest meant that, for a change, I got to enjoy the scenery of the path as I carried on.

I love the tropical foliage

The last section of this path is a set of seemingly never-ending steps. My legs burn and I struggle for breath as I walk up them, but I am determined to make it to the top without stopping again!

We've come a long way...

...but there's still a way to go!

Once at the top of the path, I normally turn downhill on the road to jog back to the bottom as normally the Hill is tackled for fitness training. This time I turned uphill on the road, for the short walk to the car park at the top.

Here there is a mister to cool you down, but it was so humid anyway that the mister made no difference. 

We took in the views from the top instead:

I live over in that direction somewhere!

The view over Cape Pallarenda

This monument is to Robert Towns, for whom Townsville was named after he founded it in 1865.

Angry skies brewing!

There are a few plantings up here too, with what for me is the Flowery Trinity of Tropicalness: Hibiscus, Frangipani and Bougainvillea.

Then it was time to head back down the road, and the threatening skies release their rain just in time to make it impossible for my camera to focus on this tree full of sulphur crested cockatoos.

So that’s Castle Hill, all the more exciting to me now for having seen an echidna!

I’ll just leave you with these beautiful frangipani flowers that we saw in a garden at the bottom, just because they are so pretty :)

Koala-ty Time on Magnetic Island ~ Part 2

The next morning on Maggie was a special treat for me as a birthday present from my husband. A bit childish maybe, but definitely my cup of tea – breakfast with the koalas!

Bungalow Bay Koala Village offers a chance to have a buffet breakfast, surrounded by animals, at their purpose-built koala park!

Everyone booked for this experience arrived and were shown through to the area, where we were introduced to the various cockatoos and parakeets, and a koala! Then we enjoyed a nice buffet breakfast, which included a bit of native Australian and campfire cooking, plus a glass of native guava champagne.

After brekkie, it was time to meet some more critters! There was a gorgeous coastal carpet python – I saw one of these outside our apartment shortly after moving in, these snakes are harmless to humans, and are very beautiful.

A selection of lizards

A sugar-glider

And then some more koalas! Like this mum and baby

After seeing all of these animals, we then had a chance to get a photo taken holding a koala. We thought that this was included in the price, but it turns out it’s an extra $16 each for this. Queensland is apparently the only State to allow people to hold koalas, so I hope it doesn’t distress them. I must say though, the koala we held did not seem distressed at all, but I think that maybe the practice of getting them used to being held can be a bit distressing for them.

All too soon and the koala cuddling is over, but we still feel the need for some more caffeine, so we headed to Nourish café at Horseshoe Bay again for some coffees. The café is across the road from the beach, which has a tiny strip of park next to it. On one of the park tables I can see loads of the beautifully coloured rainbow lorikeets have descended to make a meal of some fruit that has been left there.

I go over with my camera to see if I can get some photos, but the birds aren’t at all bothered by me and I actually get to sit at the table and watch them! They are squawking and pecking away like mad, and are so comical!

After a while (and many many photos!) I leave the birds to it, and we head off to find a different trail for some more hiking. This time we take the Forts trail which you can easily pick up from the main road not far from Horseshoe Bay.

We follow the trail, and Adam gets to indulge in some military history, as this walk takes us to some key features from the defence of Australia during WW2, while I get all excited about animals again as we spot another wild koala! 

The Forts walk is a pathway that ends in a loop, so we follow it round and spend time reading about all of the different features, such as the gun emplacements, and the control buildings. 

The sun gets lower very rapidly when you’re this near to the equator, so the light is changing quickly by the time we are heading back along the loop. We join up again with the outward path and follow it back, looking out for the koala again. We spot one, a sleepy little thing in the trees :)

Then Adam spots another koala a bit deeper into the trees. This one is wide awake and very active – climbing up and down trees, even leaping between branches that are not too far apart! I never knew that koalas leapt around so energetically, and it certainly is fantastic to watch!

The light is too dim now to get clear photos, but I do my best to capture his antics :)

Eventually we leave – I’m nervous about walking in the bushy areas when you can’t see where you’re treading. With snakes around that have names like ‘death adders’ I don’t want to put a foot wrong! After getting back to our accommodation, I decide to walk to the end of the road to spend some time with the rock wallabies again – they are too cute to stay away from.

Hiding down in the rocks amongst the wallabies is a little possum – I’ve never seen one before and I love his great big eyes and big pink ears!

It gets dark and I go home again, but we still have one more day left on the island.

In the morning we have to clean up the cottage, then we go out for a leisurely breakfast. We have time for one more walk, so we pick a different trail. This one starts across the road from the Forts trail, heading off in the other direction.

The vegetation and scenery is really different here, despite being so close. The plants look fantastic, to us having moved from the UK it’s like walking through a botanical garden showcasing exotic plants.

We keep an eye on the time as we have to meet the ferry home, so when Adam says it’s time to go back I ask if we can just go a little bit further, just to the next bend in the path to see if we can spot any animals. He agrees – we have mostly walked uphill so the return should be quicker.

We get to the next bend and there are still no animals to be seen. I turn back to tell Adam that there is nothing there and we can go now, and in the tree above his head is another koala! 

I could stay and watch it for ages, but we have to get back to the ferry, so reluctantly I tear myself away.

Over 3 days on Maggie, we managed to see wild koalas every single day. I assumed that this was normal, but I’ve since heard of lots of people who have been there without seeing any, so I feel especially lucky in my wildlife spotting!

Maggie is certainly somewhere that we will return to before we leave Townsville, there is plenty more to do that we didn’t get around to – and I can’t wait for the marine stinger (potentially deadly jellyfish!!!!!!) season to be over so that I can follow some of the self-guided snorkelling trails around the island.

It’s amazing here!