Culgoa

The Culgoa River is what they term a “distributory” of the Maranoa. Apparently when the Maranoa River floods (as did most rivers in Queensland earlier in the year) it dumps a pile of water into this area into a number of channels. One of these channels is the Culgoa River. It and others so filled flow to join the Barwon, and eventually the Darling and into the Murray.

As you can imagine to get full flow in such a system requires large amounts of rain. In addition, because these rivers fill essentially from the bottom up, and not so much as a collection of tributaries, the land around them is a bit odd. Essentially it is arid land with little rainfall. However, when this kind of rain event happens, the river fills up, and if the flood is good enough, the river breaks its banks and flows out onto the floodplain. This deposits large amounts of fertile and fine silt over a wide area and the land comes alive. Also, since the land is so flat, the floodwaters take a long time to recede and billabongs can remain filled with water for a long time. It is a vibrant time for this country.

It is in this mood that we find it. It is also the reason we came at this time. We saw the Culgoa river flowing in its deep, almost artificial-looking carved-out bed. The evidence of its flooding is strong. The banks are lined with exposed tree roots. However, above the banks all of the trees show a marked flood level stain. You can look across the plains and see the level on all of the trees. You can also see the many horizontal lines on the banks as the waters have slowly receded. The whole display is so stark you almost feel guilty adding your footprints to the scene.

The wildlife also comes alive. We have seen large mobs of kangaroos and wallabies complete with joeys. We have also seen large groups of emu and a few chicks as well. Sadly, the ferals also enjoy the good season. The coming of Europeans to this land has also brought goats, pigs and foxes, and we have seen all of these.

Europeans worked this land for over 150 years. There is evidence in the ruins of the original dwelling constructed on the banks of the river here. It was hard work for the early European settlers coming to terms with the erratic flow of the seasons, as well as in there attempts to assimilate, or eliminate the native population. By the late 1850s many of the able-bodied settlers had moved off to try their luck in the goldfields, and the aborigines were used as labourers to keep the pastoral industries going. So began the aboriginal pastoral industry involvement in this area. Many different families attempted to make a living out of this land with the property changing hands a number of times, before being acquired for National Park recently.

We came to see birds and we have not been disappointed. Early mornings show plenty, but different ones are about throughout the day.

The days are warm and pleasant, but the nights are cool but manageable. The thermometer dipped to 3.5 this morning, but with absolutely no wind and a warming sun it isn’t so hard to get moving.

Clear nights too!