Eungella

Eungella is a National Forest Reserve about 800 metres up to the west of Mackay. We arrived close to dusk yesterday and just had a chance to briefly view the platypuses so we were up early today for a second look – and with success. One was feeding happily within sight of the bridge over the river next to where we were staying. Apparently this is one of the best sites for them because it has never been known to dry up. In the evening we had even better viewings.

The day had dawned clear and sunny – the best day for over a week apparently – we have been really blessed by the weather all trip.The major expedition of the day was a 9km stroll downstream along a forest track. One of the vehicles from the lodge dropped us off with warnings about leeches so we were suitably sprayed and stocked up with salt. The forest was beautiful although Jean was somewhat distracted by the leeches and stopped regularly to remove the ones which had attached themselves to her shoes (see photo). For some reason I only saw one on my shoe the whole trip….

We were driven along the ridge before being dropped off and the habitat changed dramatically there – rain forest on the seawards side to eucalyptus forest on the leeward side – classic rain shadow effect.
Birds around the lodge were very noisy all day. There was a flock of cockatoos shrieking from dawn, several kookaburras laughing, and a number of more harmonious forest birds singing. The lodge was relatively quiet last night but seems almost full tonight with lots of young couples in to celebrate Valentines weekend we suspect