Davies Creek National Park

Because we had taken our camper to the party at Kuranda it seemed a waste not to have at least one night camping somewhere.  A quick google had us looking at Davies Creek (Dinden) National Park.  Everything that I read about the place seemed favourable so I went to the National Park website and booked us in for a night.  

Davies Creek Road

We arrived around noon at our designated campsite only to find a mob of young folks already set up.  I went over to them with our permit in my hand and it didn't take long for me to realise that they did not have a permit.  They had just taken pot luck that there would be an available campsite. I pointed out to them that they should have vacated the camp by 11am so they said that they would be packed up within half an hour.  That was fine by us because we wanted to go to the end of Davies Creek Road and wander along the Kahlpahlim Track.

Kahlpahlim Track

Spot the leech?

This track is 12kms and we knew that we wouldn't be walking the whole distance as it was close to midday. It was drizzling on and off and the leeches were prolific.  Whenever we stopped to take a photo they were all over us.

We photographed lots of different fungi that are everywhere in tropical rainforests (Philip is loving the super macro on his new camera!)

After we had walked a few kilometres we thought we should probably head back to the car and on to the camping spot.  The young ones had vacated the spot and had kindly (???) left the campfire burning.  It astounds me that National Parks allow people to light fires when it is so dry.  We quickly setup, had a bite of lunch and then a nanny nap. Philip had only managed four hours of sleep after watching the rugby so we slept for a good hour.  After we woke we decided to explore our camping area.  We wandered downstream and came across this Willy Wagtail nest with a chick!

Tiny Willy Wagtail

The creek at the campsite was a lovely spot with shallow sandy bottom swimming holes and crystal clear water.  The sound of water tumbling over the rocks is a most beautiful sound.

Our campsite

The stream by the camp

 

We arrived back at our camp in time for sundowners and as the temperature was dropping we stoked the fire and moved our chairs closer to the warmth.  Is there anything more relaxing than watching dancing flames?

Sleep came easily to us with the sound of the water lulling us into dreamland and we were surprised the next morning when we looked at the clock and it showed 7.30 am. That is a sleep in for us.  We cooked up eggs for breakfast and then started to pack up the camp.  

We had talked the previous night of heading back to Davies Creek Falls and doing the short circuit track before heading home.  As it was Monday morning there was absolutely no one around.  Davies Creek seems to be a weekend retreat for most people.  

Looking down the gorge from the falls lookout.....rather a misty day...

Davies Creek Falls

Davies Creek Falls are spectacular, tumbling at least a hundred metres over the granite rocks.  There was a lot of water in the falls which was surprising given the dryness of the area.

After photographing the falls we continued along the circuit walk. We wandered through a typical Australian bush with blackboys and gumtrees.  

Australia is truly a remarkable country.  We have visited three National Parks in the past few months, from one end of Queensland to the other and every photo I took could have been taken at anyone of them. The scenery is almost identical even though the temperature differences have been vast.

As we headed back to the car we both commented on how invigorated we both felt.  It turns out that we love "glamping" more than either of us really expected.  Our little camper is a joy to stay in and just makes camping so easy.  We said goodbye to Davies Creek National Park and made our way back to the highway.

Anthill Lane on the way into Jacques Coffee

Mmmmmm!

On our way home we saw the signs for Jacques Coffee.  This is another place that we said we would visit "one day" and as it was mid morning this was "the day" to have one of the best coffees I've ever had.  A wonderful way to end our long weekend.