NORTH QLD ADVENTURE - DAY 22 - VISIT TO THE BABINDA BOULDERS…
Today we head to Babinda. We get to catch up with my friend Brenda’s parents who have offered for us to spend the night in their back yard.
They were not going to be home until around 1pm, so we decided that we would check out the Babinda Boulders before arriving at their place…
We left Cairns around 10.20am. It was only an hour’s drive to the Boulder’s from our caravan park. As we drove through Cairns, I got a glimpse of another Big Aussie Icon that I can tick off our list. The big Marlin Fish outside one of the big shopping centres. I even managed to grab a photo of it…
This time I also wanted to photograph the Mt Walsh’s pyramid this time… as I had taken it from the other direction, the last time we were up north.
I managed to get a good shot of it with the cane paddocks below…
The Babinda Boulders are situated about 7 kms out of town. To get there you need to drive through the main street of Babinda. We noticed this visit that the town was decorated up with knitted and crocketed blankets on the seats and around the posts in town… This time there were a few new murals that I hadn’t seen on previous visits…
The Boulders is a popular cool swimming and picnic area in the tropical rainforest in the foothills of Mt. Bartle Frere at 1622m, Queensland’s highest mountain.
The Boulders area is named for a series of huge outcrops of granite boulders found along Babinda Creek amongst volumes of sparkling, cascading, cool, clear mountain water.
With an exceedingly high average annual rainfall of 4614mm, the surge of water in the creek as it thunders through the Boulders adds to the wild beauty of the region. The creek is surrounded by lush tropical rainforest with a myriad of trees, ferns, vines, fungi, moss and lichen.
A sealed, well maintained walking track leads downstream to the main Boulders viewing area.
Some areas within the Boulders are restricted swimming zones. Signs at the main parking area provide diagrams and information of fauna, flora and safety.
The Boulders themselves were a hive of activity with lots of folk out there enjoying the beautiful weather and having picnics in the covered picnic areas, and barbecues, children were playing on the play equipment there and others were swimming in the swimmer’s area of Babinda Boulders.
Since we were last here, they have built a lovely concrete walkway down to the water with steps into the swimming area….
Before setting off on the walk to the Devil’s Pool, I read the Aboriginal Legend in regards to this pool which was displayed on a large board at the commencement of the walk. It was very interesting and is as follows.
Legend has it that a long time ago, when the Yidinji tribe lived in the Babinda Valley, there was a tremendous upheaval that created these unusual shaped Boulders with their foaming, rushing waters. In the tribe was Oolana, a very beautiful young woman. Also in the tribe was Waroonoo, a very old, wise and respected elder.
It was decided that these two should be given in marriage to one another, and so it was done. Some time later, a wandering tribe came through the valley, and as was the friendly custom of the Yidinji, they make the strangers welcome, inviting them to stay. In the visiting tribe was Dyga, a very handsome young man. All eyes were upon him for his grace and beauty. At first sight, Dyga and Oolana fell in love.
So great was their strong attraction for each other they arranged to meet secretly. Knowing full well that their desire for each other would never be permitted, they ran away. Oolana knew she could now never return as she was rightfully married to Waroonoo. They journeyed well up into the valley; spending wonderful happy days together and they camped under Chooreechillum, near the water’s edge.
The two tribes had been searching for them and it was at this spot, they came upon the two lovers. The wandering tribesmen seized Dyga, forcing him away, calling how they had been shamed and how they would travel far away and never return. The Yidinjis had taken hold of Oolana and were dragging her back, forcing her to return with them to the rest of the tribe. Suddenly, she broke away and violently flung herself forward into the gentle waters of the creek, as she called and cried for Dyga to return to her here, but the wandering tribe had gone, and with them her handsome lover.
Would he ever return? Just at the very instant Oolana struck the water, a tremendous upheaval occurred. The land shook with terror and sorrow as Oolana cried for her lost lover to come to her. Her anguished cries spilled out as rushing water came cascading over the whole area. Huge boulders were thrown up and she disappeared into them. Oolana seemed to become part of the stones as if to guard the very spot where it all happened.
So it is to this very day, her spirit remains. Some say that at times her anguished calls cry out calling her lover to return – and that wandering travellers should take care lest Oolana calls them too close to her beautiful waters, for she is forever searching for her own lost lover and this must always be.
Up to 17 lives have been lost at the Babinda Boulders, most of them young men.. After reading this sign, the tragedy of this week really hit home as another life was lost in this area with a man drowning earlier in the week swimming where he shouldn’t have been swimming…
There are signs everywhere warning people not to swim here as there are very strong currents that are not obvious from above. Sadly too many people do not heed the warning, and many people have downed here including now two this year…
It was a bit unbelievable for us to see people swimming all the way along this creek given the tradegy that had unfolded here earlier this week.
We did the whole walk which took us to the Boulder’s Gorge Lookout at the end. Again, there were a couple of guys in here swimming and sliding down the rocks, where they shouldn’t have been.
The walk is only about 1.4kms return, very easy, mostly in shade on a bitumen pathway.
Still as we had walked it in the middle of the day, we came back very hot and sweaty and decided that we needed to cool off so climbed into the van and got our swim gear so we could get changed down at the changing shed…
The water was extremely cold and it took us a little while to get in but it was beautifully refreshing and once, we were in we were very happy to just sit in there and cool off.
There were areas of sand on the bottom, but area areas were quite rocky. There were a few deep pools around some rocks that people were jumping off, but it is a great place for families to be able to swim together. There were quite a few people in here, some with kayaks, others with inflated rings and pool toys, but everyone seemed to be having a great time…
We were in for a while when we head quite a bit of thunder rumbling and as it was now after 1pm thought it was time to hop out. We had cooled down somewhat and were feeling half decent again, so it was time to go get dressed and head to Elaine and Pauls.
On our way back through Babinda we stopped to take a few photos of town, mainly the beautiful old State Hotel, some of the colourful poles and a few of the murals in town.
It was close to 2pm when we arrived at Paul and Elaine’s. We had a pretty chilled out afternoon sitting in the air conditioning of their lounge room just chatting and catching up. It has been a while since we have seen them.
We enjoyed a lovely meal of meat pie and vegetables and retreated to our van around 8pm. Once again I caught up on some of my photo editing whilst Steve watched a bit of YouTube. We were in bed by 11pm… Another day done and dusted.
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