We’ve made our first foray onto unsealed roads after serious preparation for the inevitable dust that might infiltrate our home. My motto is “death to dirt” and I was keen to keep the dreaded particles out of our caravan, so we duct taped two vents. The trip off-road was actually innocuous: no potholes, a few corrugations, but really quite tame. We were able to cruise along at 80kph for most of the 50 km on this road in the middle of the savannah. But we forgot to cover the vent at the entry to Silver and we had an infiltration anyway. When we arrived at Cobbold Gorge Village we were impressed from the get-go. The lake and infinity pool were the first to greet us, and given the 30C+ temps, we couldn’t wait to take a dip to cool off. This seemed more like “glamping”. We settled down to a beautiful evening breeze and a sliver of a moon as the sun set.
The next day was our tour of the gorge. Our guide Ben was a wealth of information and for 3 hours he captivated us with legends and facts about the history, flora and fauna. Very impressive.
There was more to this place than the gorge; there were several trails from 3-7 km in length, free kayaks, swimming in the pool and the dam, and golf (see pics below). We loved it here and stayed 3 nights instead of 2.
The shorter (blue) route included only 50 km of unsealed roads.Hard to tell where infinity ends and the “dam” begins.The gorge was only discovered by the landowner in the early 90s. From the top it’s evident that this natural waterway is quite narrow.Wealthy pioneer John Corbett used to ride a route across this land taking gold back to Townsville. When he was found speared with his horse nearby without a saddle it was assumed he was killed by blacks (Aboriginals). There was too much evidence to indicate this wasn’t possible. The indigenous people wouldn’t get close enough to spear him the way he was since they were afraid of horses. Plus there was only a small amount of money found on John’s body and it was known he had much more when he left that morning. Aboriginals had no use for money, so it would appear someone who knew John and the route he took was the murderer. Lots of drama here.A funnel-web spider built this creepy web. They are venomous insects and best avoided.The ride through the gorge was peaceful and quiet thanks to the electric motor on our vessel. The gorge is so narrow at the end that there is a motor at both ends of the boat and the driver moves from one end to the other to steer us downstream on the return trip.Fresh water crocs inhabit this gorge but apparently they aren’t a threat and Ben swims in these waters regularly. We saw a dozen or so on this little trip up the gorge but most were in the water. They differ from their salt-water cousins in that they are smaller, their snouts are long and narrower, all their teeth are similar in size unlike the salties with their uneven jaw and powerful-looking snout. Freshies eat small animals and fish (not people) and are not aggressive unless provoked. Look back at the Daintree pics to see the saltwater version.This two-metre female was sunning herself on the bank but we didn’t seem to phase her as we passed by.
Eventually she took off for a swim. The afternoon tour group didn’t see a single croc so we were stoked about our sighting.Nicole & Tegen ran the restaurant and bar.We paid $2 a ball to hit golf balls that float into the dam.Then we would retrieve them in the kayaks provided for a full refund (even when we couldn’t find all the balls).After golf and a hike a swim in the pool was really welcome.
5 thoughts on “Outback: Cobbold Gorge”
Love the pool!!!
Mary, thank you so much, your posts are wonderful.
Livin’ the dream ..great stuff! Keep it comin’…
Cheers
Peter & Clare
Looks like an interesting place! So was the dust in the camper awful? Hope not. Love your posts…keep them coming. Safe travels!
The spiderweb looks creepy. The croc looks sinister. All photos were totally enjoyable to see.
Keep ’em coming as you continue your adventure.