Return to Eden ... Finch Hatton Gorge: easy to find and lose yourself in.
Craig Tansley rediscovers his favourite North Queensland hideaway.
'Sorry mate, I was just having a leak," says a middle-aged bloke in a blue singlet that looks like it hasn't had a wash since the last decent floods ripped through here. White hair sticks out from a trucker's cap when he peers around the corner. "Mate," Jack says, recognition in his eyes. "What ya been up ta? We'll have to have a beer." Four years, practically to the day, and the old bugger still remembers me.
But, then, not a lot happens here in the forests. That's the way the local folk like it; modern life with its twists and turns never held much appeal.
It's four years since my last visit and Finch Hatton Gorge looks just as pretty as I remember. It's a green world, about 70 kilometres west of Mackay. Driving through the Pioneer Valley, hectares of healthy sugar cane plantations give way to the longest and oldest continuous stretch of sub-tropical rainforest in Australia. There are 52,000 hectares of national park here but this place, Finch Hatton Gorge, is my favourite.
It's part farmer's domain and part rainbow region - some folk live in mud houses they fashioned themselves. Then there are blokes like ol' Jack, and Wazza, who owns the best "bush camp" in the country. You couldn't call Jack or Wazza hippies, probably never tried mung beans or lentils and I can't imagine Jack eats anything that didn't once have skin on it. They're societal drop-outs, refugees from a fast-paced world. But what a place to drop out.
It's strange there's not a queue of people as you enter Finch Hatton Gorge. It's tropical north Queensland's best-kept secret. Just writing about it feels like a trespass into a special little kingdom, where platypuses are more common than tourist buses and where waterfalls never run dry - all it takes is a day's heavy rain and it floods.
Take the turn-off just before the town of Finch Hatton (fairly unremarkable, except for the juicy steaks at the pub) and find yourself a creek crossing. That's when the world turns a greener shade of green, the rainforest creeps in at you and characters like Jack, who runs the kiosk, won't let you go.
Last trip, I took Jack up on his offer to sample his home-brewed beer. He makes home-made mango ice-cream, too. It's not bad but I prefer the home-brew. "Best beer in the country, mate," he told me. "You know why? Cleanest water in the whole damn world, mate."
We sat beside a clear creek, behind his old shed and swapped tales, while all around green frogs croaked, big blue ulysses and birdwing butterflies went by and a platypus made a rare splash outside of dusk. I'm still yet to see the waterfalls Finch Hatton Gorge is famous for. The Wheel of Fires Falls is the pick, they say. You take a 2.1-kilometre trek through virgin rainforest to huge, running falls, while Araluen Falls is a smaller copy.
But sight-seeing doesn't seem important here; somehow it feels too cliched to fuss about with a camera. Something happens when you reach the gorge and you prefer to treat this place like home, bunker down for days and nights in the forest doing not much more than staring at the trees, watching for platypuses, talking to the locals and wondering how time passes so quickly when you've barely lifted a finger.
Stay at Wazza's place. It's actually called Platypus Bush Camp but just ask for Wazza's. He set the place up as a campsite 20 years ago but has since updated. Now you stay in one of three open-air tree huts nestled among giant palms. The kitchen is in the forest, as is a small bush bar that's strictly BYO. At night, you can make damper in Wazza's bush oven and listen to the frogs croak. There's no electricity to get in the way of looking at the stars, either, although Wazza's place does have flushing toilets and a warm shower set out among the palms, with screens for privacy.
Of course there are more modern places to stay but you'd miss the magic of the place. Finch Hatton Gorge is not your average Queensland holiday destination. Should you feel active, one of the rainbow people (mud-brick home, own hydro and solar energy and a perma-culture farm to feed the kids) has set up a novel way to make a living - Forest Flying.
An overhead cable and pulley system runs 25 metres above the ground, allowing you to travel through the canopy. It's great fun but what I like best are the directions for drivers listed on the Forest Flying website: "Drive over the bridge and turn left ... at the stop sign, turn right ... eventually you'll get to a creek crossing, directly after that turn left ... go through two gates and up a steep hill ... "
Truth be told, there's probably not much to do here that you couldn't do in a day. But that would be to miss the point altogether. Finch Hatton Gorge isn't just another destination, it's another world. It'll suck you in; nature and some of Queensland's most likeable rogues competing for your attention.
Twice I've left now, retreating slowly beyond that swollen creek crossing back into the world. Next time I hope it floods and I have to stay longer.
The writer travelled courtesy of Tourism Queensland.
TRIP NOTES
GETTING THERE
Virgin Blue flies direct to Mackay. Phone 13 67 89, see virginblue.com.au. Jetstar (131 538, www.jetstar.com.au) and Qantas (13 13 13, qantas.com.au) fly to Mackay via Brisbane.
Take the Mackay-Eungella Road 45 minutes west of Mackay, turn right to Finch Hatton Gorge.
STAYING THERE
Wazza runs Platypus Bush Camp, phone (07) 4958 3204, see www.bushcamp.net.
You can also stay at Finch Hatton Gorge Cabins, phone (07) 4958 3281, see www.finchhattongorgecabins.com.au.
WHILE THERE
For Forest Flying, phone (07) 4958 3359, see www.forestflying.com.
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