Rainforest refresh

Cool temperatures, filtered light, fresh scents and flowing creeks: upland rainforest makes welcome walking country.

And the Mackay Highlands Great Walk traverses plenty of it, passing through Eungella National Park, which encloses more than 50,000ha of rainforest. At more than 800m above sea level, it’s often swathed in mist and cloud, a respite from the Queensland heat at lower altitudes. Eungella means “mountains of the mist” in the language of the local Wiri people of the Birri Gubba nation, and the park is a rich haven for wildlife including the platypus, vividly coloured regent bowerbird and rare Eungella honeyeater, found only here. Rainforest isn’t the only terrain you’ll explore: the walk’s southern end is located in Homevale National Park, which has dramatic peaks and cliffs created 30 million years ago by volcanoes, and its central section crosses the open grassy eucalypt woodland of Crediton State Forest. The walk’s contrast in terrain is dramatic and its wildlife is diverse.

Against Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) advice, we opt to hike the route from south to north, beginning with a steep ascent to Denham Range. We have reasons for this: first, we’re able to get a lift to our starting point of Moonlight Dam, a remote spot along