duck-billed back

Tracey in the Kitchen
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After picking up supplies, we headed inland towards the Atherton Tablelands, and the town of Yungaburra, where, we had read, there was a platypus viewing platform which was regurlarly visited by our egg-laying marsupial cousins at dusk and dawn. The drive was terrific, snaking up hill through lush green vegetation, and affording us great views of the valleys below. It was a short distance as the crow flies, but took us several hours because of the incline and snakey road, so we arrived in Yungaburra around 1700 hours. We drove to the viewing platform, but as it was still light decided to find somewhere to park the van for the night. We found a campsite around a mile away on a large lake, called Tinaroo. We found a plot on the bank of the lake about 50 metres away from the water, and then drove back to the viewing platform.

Cathedral Fig and some fool
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The 'Viewing Platform' was simply a parking space next to the creek (oz for small river) with a large board to stand or sit behind and holes cut out to look through, a simple hide really. We sat there for about half an hour watching the water, with only the insects causing ripples. As it got darker, there was another ripple in the water, different from those made by the insects. We both watched and realised it was a foraging Platypus just under the surface. After about five minutes of this the Platypus surfaced with his back towards us, tail visible, before diving below shortly after. Success, our first wild Platypus. We watched a while longer but the tell tale sign of the duck billed back?? disappeared soon after, and as we still had to cook decided to leave and come back in the morning.

some fool and a van-Wicked
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We went back to the camp site in high spirits and cooked dinner before settling down to an early night. We got up earlyish, and had breakfast and left the site, getting to the viewing platform around 0830 hours, and met a couple of Ozzies who informed us that the guided tours come around 0530 hours to catch views of the elusive creatures, and realised we were a bit late. We went for a riverside walk, but did not see our friend from the night before this time.

We then drove to the nearby Cathedral Fig tree, which is quite spectacular. It is a strangler fig which starts of growing in the hosts upper branches and sends its roots down to the ground. After some time the fig has enough roots and size to engulf its host tree and suffocate it. The fig now stands where once its host did. The Cathedral fig is about 500 years old and is about 50 metres high and 30 metres around, as it keeps sending roots down to support its upper branches.

Campsite at Tinaroo
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We then set off for our next destination Mission Beach, via another giant fig tree......