Canungra

Sharpe park river bend country 21st October - 22nd November 2013

We looked for a suitable free (or at least reasonably priced) campsite within a 45-minute drive of the Gold coast. We had a few reasons for this. I had applied for a couple of jobs, we had friends visiting from Melbourne and I still had more fishing to do with Dave.

We came across Sharpe Park in Canungra. At $60 a week this was good value within close proximity of the Gold coast.
What we didn’t realize when we visited Sharpe park is how much wildlife we would see, It was amazing!

I watched this male Fairy Wren feed his fledgling for ages, he knew I was there and didn’t seem to bother about my presence.

Hearing a commotion down at the river I went to investigate. This fruit bat had obviously missed his way home and decided to roost wherever he landed. The main Roost was about a kilometer away. He didn’t look injured just annoyed that we were so close to him. We left him alone to carry on telling the ducks off that were below him.

We saw some magical sunsets at Canungra as well as some amazing electrical storms in the distance.

Now here is something that you don’t see too often. Once again I followed a loud commotion to see what was happening. A very large goanna had climbed high into a tree (obviously after a nest) only to be mobbed by a couple of Sulpher crested Cockatoos. The one in the picture was actually not just nipping at the goanna’s tail but actually grabbing hold and trying to fly off with the bloody thing! It was hilarious to see, but what a racket!

It’s amazing to listen to some of the wildlife right on your doorstep so to speak. In the dead of night this little bullfrog had a call that sounded like a pneumatic drill. He was deafening, I had to chase him out of his tree on the third night just so I could get some sleep!

During one of Andrea’s walks she spotted a secluded part of the river. It looked to good to be true. We nearly broke our necks getting down the banking but it was worth every scratch. We now have our private swimming hole. What a delight it was on a hot day. We never saw another person in all the time we visited the pool. It was heaven to say the least.

Yes even the SES rescuer is a scarecrow!

We have visited Mount Tambourine before with Dave and Kath and had a great time so decided we would make the trip again. However trying to get up the mountain from Canungra with a 1200cc Daihatsu Terios is a whole new ball game. Our poor car nearly didn’t make it. It was overheating like hell and I actually thought I was going to blow the engine up. With a lot of coaxing a few choice words she spluttered to the top of the mountain. It’s a really nice place up there and worth the effort to get to the top (perhaps in a more powerful car). It seems that the scarecrow competition is catching? There were some great entries.

A Kookaburra visited us on a regular basis asking for his dinner on each occasion. I really am a sucker for these wonderful creatures.

I know they don't look like much but Platypus are adorable creatures and so very strange!

Andrea and I are always on the lookout for wildlife that you don’t see every day. We had heard that Duck Billed Platypus were in the river and made it our mission to find one. I had success on my first trip down to the water. I couldn’t believe my luck. I had to wait for Andrea to comeback from her walk to tell her the good news. We planned a trip down to the same spot the day after armed with cameras. Once again lady luck was with us and the Platypus came out to play. The video is very short (Platypus are busy little creatures) so blink and you may miss it.

Sharpe park river bend country bush camping (3095 Beechmont Rd Witheren)

Latitude -28 04 90S   Longitude 153 18 66E

Dump-point - No Toilets - Yes Water - Yes Pets - Yes Shower - No 

Length - 11 Mtrs Level - Yes Noise - No Grassed - Yes Cost - $6 per person per night Time Limit - 3 weeks