Cobbold Gorge

Cobbold Gorge wasn’t on our initial list of places to visit, but we heard from so many people how great it was, that we decided to go.

The Road

We weren’t sure if we should bring the caravan with us since it’s dirt roads all the way to the gorge, but other people told us it would be fine and their website promised that the road was in good condition and regularly graded. We left the Undara Lava Tubes (see the Tubes, gorge and outback post), via what looks like a major highway on the map and even has the name “The Savannah Way”. After a few kilometres however, the pavement dwindled down to only be wide enough for 1 car/truck. However, there were several trucks, cars and caravans on this road so we had to constantly pull off onto the dirt to let them by. It was pretty scary when one of these big road trains comes the other way because they do NOT tend to move off the pavement. Here’s a photo of the “highway”:

After about 150kms, we turned off and took the road towards Cobbold gorge:

The last 50kms of this road was particularly bad – corrugations and potholes. When we pulled into the caravan park, everyone seemed to be fixing something in their van and cursing the road. Many people had their refrigerators, ovens or microwaves fall out, others had electrical or plumbing problems. We had a small plumbing problem with a tube in our hot water system, but luckily R was able to fix it with the help of a neighbour.

Cobbold Gorge is a big tourist spot. There were probably 70-100 caravans in the caravan park. They ran 4 tours per day and many helicopter flights. In addition, the dinner and breakfast spots at the restaurant seem to be packed every morning and night.

The Tour

The day after we arrived, we joined the 10am gorge tour. The tour started with a bus trip over the seasonally dry river (they are only open 6 months in the year) and then to a shed where the tour really began.

The tour started with a 1-hour bush walk with a guide who told us about how the gorge was formed (millions of years of floods depositing layers of sediment) and some information on the plants we were seeing and their use in aboriginal culture. The walk took us up to the top of the gorge, across a glass bridge spanning the gorge (very scary!) and then down the other side back to where we began.

The Gorge Bushwalk

Here are some photos of the walk up:

When we reached the top, we had to cross over a glass bridge – it was terrifying! We had to slip these blue protective covers over our shoes so that we don’t scratch the glass. Looking down really scared me…

The Boat Trip

Once we finished the bushwalk, it was time to get on a boat and navigate the narrow gorge.

Another Bushwalk

On our second day, the kids and I decided to go on a bushwalk up to a lookout and around the area. The days were hitting 30C (86F) already by 10am so we decided to head out around 8. It was a lovely walk, but by about 11:30 when we got back, the temperature was way up in the 30s (90s) and we were dying.

The Pool & Bar

One of the best things about this caravan park was the restaurant/bar and pool area. It was an infinity pool overlooking the dam/river with a swim-up bar. A swim and a beer/wine – perfect end to a day!

The one downside to this place was the lack of phone reception. Their advertisements and website say they have internet and they confirmed this in an email to me. But, when we arrived, they only had 1 bar of reception in only 1 square metre (3 feet) area in front of the door to reception. This signal was even off a booster 50 km away!! Needless to say, it’s wasn’t good enough for me to work so I had to take an unexpected day of leave which I’m sure my boss wasn’t that impressed with.

Even though the road was terrible and so was their phone reception, we had a good time at Cobbold Gorge.