Eungella National Park - Broken River Bush Camp

 13 - 16 March 2025

We knew there was rain forecast for Eungella - but it is in the rainforest so we figured that would be part of the adventure. The sky was overcast but there was no rain until we stopped at Finch Hatton to pick up some milk. Milk had been hard to get since Tropical Cyclone wreaked havoc further south, but we didn't expect there to be none in Mackay supermarkets. Thankfully, the small general store in the Pioneer Valley had plenty.

It started to rain while we were stopped and continued all the way up the range to Eungella. It was still raining when we set the camper trailer up. We were very thankful to have a couple of good raincoats! We set up as best we could and settled in to enjoy the view of the creek at the rear of the campsite. Broken River is well known for platypus and we were hoping to get to see some, but we were really there for the birds.

Our home  for three nights

Because of the almost constant drizzle, we didn't do as much walking in the forest as we had hoped. We did manage to get out to the various platypus viewing spots a number of times between showers and were well rewarded. We also visited the cafe adjacent to the National Park office for morning tea. 

We saw at least one platypus!

On Friday afternoon we went for a drive down Dalrymple Road to a well-known spot where Eungella honeyeaters are found - and were in luck. The sky was grey, and there was some rain, but Mick did manage to get some photos. We rewarded ourselves with a drink at The Chalet - the local pub which had great views down through the valley.

Friday drinks with a view

On Saturday morning we went for another drive in search of birds - this time on the Crediton Loop Road. This one wasn't quite as successful, but helped to pass the time. There is no phone or internet reception at the campground so we drove up to Sky Window - a lookout - a couple of times each day to check the weather (hoping the forecast had miraculously changed - it hadn't). 

While we were at Eungella we had success with trapping our mouse. The first night, he took the bait and got stuck in the little house but managed to escape while Mick was trying to work out if he was in there! We set the trap again the next night, and I picked it up in the morning. I could feel that it was warm so we took it with us a long way from camp and released him in the bush. Hopefully there was only one - only time will tell.

We had no choice on our last morning than to pack up while everything was still wet. We managed to get the bulk done between showers of rain, before setting off back down the range to Airlie Beach - where there was the promise of even more rain!