Friday morning, we got a call from the Reef Sleep people: Because
of the high seas they cancelled the reef sleep for Saturday night.
Suddenly left with three unprogrammed days, we decided to try Eungella
again. After a flurry of phone calls we got a room there for two
nights, and found the only remaining rental car in Airlie Beach.
By 9:30 we were on our way.
We arrived at the lodge in time for lunch, only to find they only serve
breakfast and dinner. So we drove back up to a little roadside lunch
and curio shop with a fabulous view. After lunch, I took a medium
sized walk along a rain forest trail – nothing unusual, but a very pleasant
walk, including some good views out over the valley we drove up from the
coast.
Broken River Retreat is a very nice lodge – unlike other places
we’ve stayed thus far, it splits the difference between luxurious and roughing
it. The bed is king size and reasonably firm, the room is clean,
it has comfortable sitting chairs, including two on a nice balcony, and
a nice kitchenette should we want it. The restaurant is good, again
not luxurious, but the meals are well-prepared and tasty, and the setting
is very comfortable. Grounds are neat and pleasant. BBQs are
available and one could easily do one’s own meals, but the nearest grocery
stores of any note are in MacKay, over an hour distant. 
One
would need to bring virtually all the food up at the beginning. The
countryside is lovely farmland, mostly pastures. 
It
looks for all like England or some of Oregon and Washington's coastal vallies
- except for the palm trees!
There are two excellent trails from the lodge, and the park service provides jitney service to another, a long walk along the Broken River. It is a lovely walk through rain forest.
We
didn't realize how little light makes it to the forest floor until we saw
the sign about climate. But the river provides a break in the forest
and lets enough light through that taking pictures is relatively easy.
Among others, I managed to get my first really good picture of a staghorn
fern.
I
also saw a lizard, a foot or so in length, at the bottom of a shallow pool
in the river. No-one at the lodge had ever seen one or knew what they are,
but I found it in the Australia Wildlife book; it is called a Water Dragon.
The platypus viewing pool is everything one could wish. We got there
at 4:30 Friday evening and waited around a while, looking at the dozen
or so turtles and just enjoying the pond; the platypus made his appearance
about ten minutes later, and “performed” until it was too dark to see him. 
He
would go underwater for about one to two minutes, sifting through the bottom
muck for edibles (yabbies, worms, etc.), surface for as little as five
seconds and as long as twenty or thirty seconds (usually five to ten),
then go down again. 
While
he was underwater you could keep fairly good track of his whereabouts by
the cloud of silt, debris, and bubbles he stirs up. He is fairly
small – most people are surprised how small he his – maybe twenty inches
overall including the flat, paddle like tail and the flat, duck beak-like
mouth. Nostrils are near the end of the “beak,” eyes just behind
it, yellowish with dark pupils that seem permanently fixed staring upward.
It is marvelous to realize one is looking at a sight few Australians have
even seen. 
Apparently
platypuses are actually quite common, but they are both nocturnal and quite
shy so few people see them. Since the park service built this viewing
platform, the ones in this part of the river have become accustomed to
people, so they go about their business with no concern for us. 
The platypus viewing is also interesting from a social point of
view. Because they are generally so shy, and so few people see them,
there are signs warning people to be as quiet as possible, in order to
avoid frightening them away. As a consequence, people maintain a
church-like silence, shushing their kids, speaking in reverent whispers,
pointing when one of the animals surfaces. 
Given
that they are on the surface for only a brief moment before the submerge
again, it involves a lot of expectant waiting. Sometimes they move
around the bend out of sight for a while – more expectant waiting. 
Even when there is no platypus in sight, it is a pleasure to stand, contemplating
the pond with all its life, without the usual chatter and nonsense of typical
humans in the woods. The amusing irony is that the cockatoos were
so noisy that people could probably have conversed in normal tones and
the platypuses would never have heard them. But I actually think
for most of the other people, the excuse for a reverent silence in the
presence of nature was as welcome as for me: I suspect most of the
chatter and noise with which people usually mar the outdoor experience
is done, not because people want to, but because they think others expect
it!
The young children are also a kick: For most of them, the
abundant and easily spotted turtles are much more exciting than the elusive
and mysterious platypuses, although almost all comply with the request
for silence, at least partially. 
And
to be sure, the turtles are indeed quite interesting, as are the ducks
and all the other birds and insects. The platypuses are revered above
all the others only because of their rarity, because of the special privilege
we all felt to be viewing something rare and unusual, something that has
been seen by only a fraction of the people on earth, including many who
have lived all their lives in Australia.
I worried for a moment about Eungella becoming too popular, about
Broken River Retreat being sold to some posh resort company; but they I
realized that the oppressive humidity and mystery of the rain forest, the
chance to see a very small and odd-looking mammal for a few seconds every
two minutes in the early morning or late afternoon, will never win out
over the sun and surf. I think the platypuses are probably safe for
yet a while. 
In addition to platypuses there are lots of songbirds, and a
huge flock of sulphur crested white cockatoos. It appears to be mating
season; the cockatoos are in a constant state of uproar, with fights breaking
out right and left and a constant squawking from just after dawn to well
after dusk. There are also lots of kukaburras. We've heard
them and seen them from a distance almost everywhere, but these came up
quite close to look us over - and tive us a chance to look them over.
I was finally able to get some good pictures. 
We
really like them - they are very interesting to watch, and their song is
just wonderful.
Kangaroos graze the lawns and the fields outside the lodge and picnic
grounds, and in spite of the signs requesting visitors not to feed the
wildlife, I get the impression the kangaroos would gladly accept a bite
of apple were it offered (one made definite begging gestures toward a couple
of little girls in the cabin next door when they stood around admiring
it and holding their paws up in imitation of it.) A ring-tailed possum
came down to feed on some apples left in a stand outside the dining area
of the lodge. I suspect other nocturnal creatures could be seen if
one stayed longer.
We had planned to go on a canoe trip down the Broken River on
Sunday morning, but other plans required that we leave right after breakfast.
It rained hard Saturday night, and probably rained on and off Sunday, but
the canoe trip would have been lovely. This vacation has been like
that many times; choices to be made, things missed. Seven weeks seems
hardly enough. I found myself wishing we could extend just one more
week.
Broken River Retreat may not be for everyone, but anyone who enjoys hiking and nature viewing would love it. The management is independent-minded: When trying to book accommodations it is necessary to be sure you understand how much deposit they want in order to reserve a room, and get a written receipt for the deposit in advance. (The problems we had were mainly because we tried to visit on Easter weekend, which is more or less the Aussie version of Labor Day – we were able to book for the next weekend with no problem at all.) Both the lodging and the restaurant are very well run, and our visit was thoroughly pleasant. If the weather’s good, they offer river fishing trips, canoeing, etc. but it was too rainy for that while we were here. I hope we'll be able to return.
Last updated September 15, 2002
send comments to
cgrd@pdx.edu
.