We started at 8.00am today for our visit to Cobbold Gorge. The day included,
- a 40km drive to the town of Forsayth over mostly gravel roads, through grazing country, described as "Sandstone Country"
- a 47km drive by bus to Cobbold Gorge Resort, again through grazing country
- a 2km walk along a creek adjacent to the resort
- Lunch at the resort
- A 47km drive by bus over gravel roads to the Gilbert River
- Swap from the bus to another bus, which took us across the Gilbert River to Cobbold Creek
- A walk along Cobbold Creek and up to the top of the Gorge, which included a lesson, including tasting, on bush tucker
- A return boat trip up the Gorge
We arrived home as the sun was setting and we were a bit bushed. There was an upside. We cruised through 10,000 steps today.
Firstly some background. The Gorge is named after Francis Cobbold, an Englishman, grazier and surveyor, who came to Australia in 1867 aged 14.
The property on which the Gorge stands, Robin Hood, is owned and run by several brothers from the Terry family. The choice of the property name came from the fact it was sandwiched between two other properties, Sherwood and Forrest. Need one say anymore? The whole property occupies 1200 square miles.
One Terry brother, Simon, runs the Cobbold Gorge Resort and all the tourist activities. These included swimming in the infinity pool, paddle boarding in the Cobbold dam and Gorge, and bush walking. We did one walk along a nearby creek but one could not rave about the walk.
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| 060617 The Cobbold Gorge Village from the air (photo of a poor photo) |
The focus is however on the Gorge itself. It is a split in the sandstone mass and is quite young, an estimated 10,000 years old. The split formed ultimately the Cobbold Creek which runs through the Gorge. It is fed by water captured by the surrounding countryside, so that in time of heavy rains, the creek level rises up in the Gorge and the boat trips are not possible. The Gorge walls rise up to 30 metres above the water level.
Following is a series of photographs, which track our arrival at the Robertson River, its crossing in Ugly, the walk along the Cobbold Creek and up to the top of the Gorge, and the boat ride.
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| 060617 Our transport from Forsayth to the Cobbold Gorge |
Robertson River Crossing
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| 060617 Robertson River |
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| 060617 Robertson River |
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060617 Robertson River
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| 060617 "Ugly" the bus for the Robertson River Crossing |
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060617 Robertson River, showing the route Ugly
takes to get to the other side of the river |
Cobbold Creek
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| 060617 Cobbold Creek below the Gorge |
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| 060617 Cobbold Creek downstream of the Gorge |
The Top of the Gorge
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060617 "I'm just a lonely tree" struggling
atop the Gorge |
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| 060617 The Cobbold Gorge taken from the top |
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| 060617 The Cobbold Gorge taken from the top |
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| 060617 Adullam's Shelter, top of the Gorge |
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| 060617 The Gorge from the top |
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| 060617 The Gorge from the top |
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| 060617 The Gorge from the top |
The 460m Boat Ride up and down Cobbold Gorge
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| 060617 Embarkation point for the Gorge boat ride |
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| 060617 Looking upstream from the embarkation point |
The following photographs are of the Gorge and are taken from the boat. They are unlabelled unless something noteworthy is present.
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| 060617 Another lonely little tree, top RHS |
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| 060617 The head of the Gorge. The boat could go no further |
It was busy while we were there and the two boats operating had difficulty in passing each other.
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| 060617 Little room to pass |
We saw plenty of birds and wonder of wonders, as we were about to leave the Gorge site, a freshwater crocodile.
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| 060617 Our one crocodile for the day |
Apart from the bush tucker we experienced there were a couple of wild flowers.
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| 060617 A grevillia just outside the Cobbold Gorge |
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| 060617 Wild Hibiscus |
It was an interesting day to say the least. The jury is still out as to whether Lawn Hill or Cobbold Gorge is the better. They are so different that a judgement is difficult.
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