May. June 65W
E’VE BEEN told that if you
want to experience it all in the
Wet Tropics – a stunning vista,
rugged waterfall, rainforest walk and wildlife,
with a bit of adventure thrown in – then take
Kirrama Range Road to Blencoe Falls.
Starting 11km north-west of Cardwell,
via Kennedy, it was built in the 1930s to
serve a tiny timber-cutting community and
was reopened in 2014 after Cyclone Yasi.
The guide says it’s just 62km to Blencoe
Falls – but three hours driving time. As it
turns out, even that’s ambitious.
A kilometre or so up the road, a fallen
tree blocks the way. It’s too big to move, and
we must back-track most of the way to
Kennedy to get phone coverage to report it.
Cassowary Coast Regional Council send
a crew, and we’re soon joined by Shane
Flanagan and Chris Sheely, who, with the
squeal of a chainsaw, have the log gone in
a matter of minutes. Chris continues ahead
to clear more blockages – six in total.
This road still has patches of old bitumen- left there because “it’s historic”, says
Shane – but even without snags we take
it carefully.
The promised vista finally appears at
Tuckers Lookout, where we gaze down the
Kennedy Valley out to Hinchinbrook Island,
4km off the coast. At Society Flat, an easy
720m circuit introduces us to the giants
lurking in the rainforest. These include
towering kauri pines, which can grow up
to 45m high.
As we descend, the rainforest soon yields
to savannah grassland and we take the turn
towards Blencoe Falls Camping Area. From
here we can walk to Blencoe Falls. We’re
level with the top of this cascade, which
plunges 90m to a cauldron of foam. Yet
just a few hundred metres down the gorge,
the tranquil Herbert River looks as if it’s
barely trickling.
A building storm threatens to block our
path again, so we turn for home. But the
only obstacles we see are animals – cattle,
eastern grey kangaroos, a wild pig, a pair
of turtles crossing a low causeway and a
wallaby bent low as it darts in front of us.
Kirrama Range Road
This historic road that winds through World
Heritage-listed rainforest is considered one of
Queensland’s great early engineering feats.