About the Book

The idea of writing this book arose from three considerations...

The first was to describe Queensland’s natural areas, not only in terms of vegetation and wildlife – the traditional green approach – but also to describe the landforms and their genesis (landform history), the climate, the Aboriginal people at the time of European settlement, as well as the early European explorers and their impressions of the land and its native people.

The second was to describe the regional character of the larger area in which each natural areas is situated and how these natural areas contribute to and reflect that regional character.

The third was to give practical general information for travellers about accommodation, access and suitable activities in each natural area.

THE NATURAL AREA EXPERIENCE

In addition to factual and historical information contained in this book, I wanted to share with you some personal impressions of my visits to these areas.

Impressions are subjective and so are bound to vary. To each of you who take up the journey of discovery, the experience will be different and the impact of your decision to come into closer contact with nature in its original and unspoiled state will leave you with many treasured and rare memories.

In some areas the scale of nature and its potential to unleash forces beyond human control simply leaves one in awe. Natural areas straddling the high bluffs and steep slopes of the eastern escarpment in the Wet Tropics are in this category. Here the mountains are never far away. Yet they remain mysterious, inaccessible and threatening partly because they are nearly always covered in cloud and partly because of the dense rainforests that cover their slopes.

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Even Mount Fox tucked away in the hills behind Ingham has this effect. In this case, we know that less than 100,000 years ago this was an active volcano – one can almost sense the lava rolling down the mountainside.

The arid areas in the south-west can also leave you feeling insignificant but here, without any covering forests or grasslands, the skeleton of the land lies here for all to see, indicating, possibly more clearly than anywhere else, the enormity of the forces that are at work in the natural landscape.

In other cases the contradictions in the landscape can be the overwhelming experience. The sight of the Gregory River rushing over the semi-arid plains of the Gulf Country, or the lushness of Lawn hill Gorge surrounded by the dry, dusty plains just beyond the Constance Range, are examples.

Another example of contradiction is the Ooline Trees in Tregole National Park. Here in the rolling hills of the Central West an ancient forest has withstood the vagaries of climatic change to retain a place for itself in the midst of mulga, brigalow and eucalyptus forests.

All of the natural areas are aching reminders of the past and the people who pioneered the way for the future. One of my most moving experiences was in Edmund Kennedy National Park where on the beach at Rockingham Bay, one could almost see the doomed Kennedy party struggling with their sheep and carts as they tried to negotiate their way around the mangroves.

Yet, everywhere one is reminded of the Aboriginal people who used to call these places home. This is particularly the case in places like Carnarvon where the extraordinary art work stands as a testimony to a vanished people and their way of life.

In all the natural areas there is an important element of pure scenery, but in some areas and at particular times this can be an extraordinary experience in itself. How can one forget the blood red sky along the Norman River at dusk or the early morning cloud over the Pine Ridge Environmental Park?

The adventure is therefore out there for anyone who chooses to experience it first hand. I hope this book will assist in this task. And for those who prefer vicarious thrills, perhaps this book will be equally useful.

~ Peter Shilton