Day 6 - warm rivers, fat rain drops

Yuppoon treated us to a wonderful before-breakfast swim. Although still murky, it was not dusk, the sun was shining and it was hot. Locals walked the dogs, a romantic couple went by and we floated in the sea carefree. While in the water, I could only think how much I miss to be able to go swimming. In Darwin we have salt water crocodiles and box-jelly fish, so it is not a good idea to do so. There I venture calf-deep in the water while I take Sombra (our dog) for a walk. And definitely not carefree.

With our next destination in mind – the Whitsundays – we left the warm embrace of the Pacific Ocean and went for breakfast. We treated ourselves to an iced coffee from the coffee shop across the road, Alyson’s wonderful mushroom and tomato omelette and we defined our route for day. We left around 11 am towards Eungella National Park, a lowland rainforest in Central Queensland.

Queensland produces lots of cane sugar. And after leaving Yeppoon we saw vast areas of cane fields. Very similar to what we had seen in previous days. There are rail lines and little trailers to transport the cane to wherever cane gets transformed into things like rum, sugar and molasses. Along the road we passed a billboard with an ad for a politician who recently said that there is no such thing as a bleached coral reef “That all is well, thank you very much”; this while diving at the South end of the Great Barrier Reef. We went over bridges that either covered channels of dry rocks and sediment or passed by others with water of dubious quality. This happens while we are dreaming about being able to go snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef, perhaps even a night dive. We have been cooking ourselves and limiting expenses so as to have that as an option. And we know that the Great Barrier Reef is not doing well.

It is not doing well because – among other reasons – rivers are taking lots of sediment from agricultural lands that hinders the well-being of the Reef. Coral reefs are complex colonies of tiny animals that host even smaller alga that produces their food. The alga – because it is a plant – needs the sun to do so.  When the river brings sediment, it hangs around the water and handicaps the algae’s ability to catch the sun to produce food and feed the coral. Eventually the alga abandons the coral, the coral loses its food and its colour and die. The white calcareous skeleton remains and the coral is bleached.

We also passed by a massive processing plant. Big chimneys reaching to the sky. Bright light green fields surround everything while the darker green of the remaining rain forests stand guard in the background. And we reached the conclusion that is amazing (in the cynical sense) that science has been able to pin point one of the reasons why the Great Barrier Reef may not be that Great in the future, yet we – as a society – have failed to address that.

Our cynicism is broken with Fred Astaire singing “I’m in heaven” on the playlist and I can’t stop being amazed at the Australian countryside. The contrasting greens; the well planned towns full of trees and gardens; the fact that we are travelling together seeing this, is indeed heaven; if I were to believe in one.  Yes, there are things that upset me, but putting my environmentalist brain on the side, I am extremely happy to be here.

We arrive in Platypus Bush Camp next to Eungella National Park and we are greeted with tall trees with vines, rumbling waters in rocky river beds, bright coloured birds and the possibility to see a platypus. The simple fact to be entering platypus territory brings contentment to my heart and a big wide smile to my face. After setting camp, we stood quietly by the platypus pool for quite a while. We saw bush turkeys, blue kingfishers, an eel, a turtle and tiny fishes. No platypus though, hopefully tomorrow. The rain stopped us contemplating life, contemplating the pool where platypuses live. We ran for shelter while big rainforest drops fell on us, and started our evening to the sound of pouring tropical rain, big fat frogs, beetles seeking the light and the beating of our hearts.