Great Sandy NP
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Cooloola - Great Sandy
National Park
 Us outside the Rainbow Beach Surf Life Saving Club.
  The view
and a proud sign.
  This afternoon Jim and Pam brought us
to a Bymien Rainforest – tall, moist and shady........ so the information boards tell us
Traditional Owners have a long and ongoing relationship with the
area that falls under Queensland’s national parks and forests. Cooloola is a
refuge for plants and animals whose habitats have been reduced by rural, urban
and coastal development. The area showcases spectacular sand dunes and the
tranquil headwaters of the upper Noosa River with one of the most protected
catchments left in Queensland. Cooloola’s fascinating sandmass, built up over
the past 500,000 years, includes long beaches backed by high dunes. Its open
heath plains are splashed with colourful wildflowers. Cooloola features
mangroves, woodlands of banksias and scribbly gum, shady blackbutt forests,
rainforests with towering trees, and tranquil lakes and waterways. A haven for
birds, both sea and land, Cooloola is a photographer’s delight offering long
landscapes and stunning sunsets— a perfect holiday destination for walking,
camping, canoeing and four-wheel driving. The Cooloola Recreation Area,
totalling 152,587 acres covers the existing 139,861 acres of the Great Sandy National Park, as
well as various state and local government managed areas, such as roads,
beaches, esplanades and other lands to the low water
mark.
More than a third of the Noosa River’s catchment area is national park. The Noosa River’s excellent water quality is largely due to this protected upper catchment. The Noosa River is around 60 kilometres long and flows into the South Pacific Ocean at Laguna Bay, Noosa Heads. Shallow lakes in the river system are tidal and contain brackish and fresh water. The surrounding wetlands are a nursery for juvenile fish. Enjoying Cooloola means seeing some of the best preserved coastal landscapes in Queensland. It’s a place worth visiting and looking after.
Certainly tall, we saw the majestic hoop pines, huge staghorn ferns and splendid strangler pines, the one Bear stood next to I happened to say what a magnificent specimen and you guessed it, he couldn’t help himself. I know I am. None of the three us said a word...... We enjoyed a really lovely bimble until it was time to make our last stop of the day at Bullock Point.
At Bullock Point we read about bird super-highways.
Our old friends, the bar-tailed godwit love it here after their mammoth migration, even if they lose 40% of their bodyweight getting here.
It’s a fair bet to say the tide was out.
ALL IN ALL WHAT A SUPER AFTERNOON A GENTLE EXPLORATORY DAY OUT
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