Wurruma Swamp
30th January 2021
Early morning November 2019.
Depending on what time of the day and year you visit Wurruma Swamp it will look very different. My favourite time to visit is very early morning and if you get fog it is magic.
Wurruma Swamp I believe is on Jirrbal Country and I was having trouble finding out the meaning of the word. I turned to my friend Rita Pryce for help and she came back to me with this information:
I just spoke to Uncle David (Hudson) about something and asked what Wurruma means. He said he just knows that ‘Wurruma’ means Water Spring.
Wurruma Swamp at the start of Sunrise. February 2020.
If you do not get fog you might get a beautiful sunrise like I did on this early morning visit in 2020.
A frosty morning May 2020.
During winter early morning at the Swamp can be bitterly cold but it gives the location yet another totally different look.
The Swamp revealing itself after Sunrise. March 2020.
Once the sun has risen the vastness of the Swamp reveals itself pretty much all year round. The swamp extends way to the right of the area shown in this photo.
The most common view of the Swamp
From the photos of the Swamp I have seen most people drive in, take the above photo from the carpark and leave. There is a lot more to see here than what is visible from the carpark.
A cattle track at the Swamp.
The Swamp is cattle country and there are tracks all around it that you can walk just so long as it is not overflowing. More on that at the end of this post. Watch out for snakes as a local told me there are Brown Snakes present. Cattle shit is there all the time so watch your feet.
A stare down.
The cattle inside the Swamp I do not think are handled very often so they are quite wary of humans and run off when encountered.
Because this is cattle land please make sure that you close the gate straight after entering and leaving. It would be a shame to lose access to this area just because people were lazy.
Some of the trees around the Swamp. January 2021.
As you walk around the Swamp you will encounter some really different vegetation, insects and birds. Birds we will talk about next.
A lone Pale-headed Rosella.
The Swamp is home to a large variety of birdlife but is most well known for the Black Swans that live there. There are more but here are some of the other birds I have seen there so far are:
May 2020.
Early morning and late afternoon are the best times to view the Swans in my opinion. They seem much more comfortable around people then but you still have to approach slowly.
May 2020.
When I first read about the Swans at Wurruma Swamp there was mention of hundreds. I have never seen that many there at one time in the two years I have been visiting. The most I have seen on any given day is probably no more than 30.
A couple of Swans swimming back towards me. May 2020.
When I first slowly approach the Swans they usually swim away. However if I sit and wait they often swim back to resume the feeding closer to the area that I disturbed them in.
January 2021.
Swans feed on plants on the top and bottom of the swamp. If there is little vegetation on the surface the water has to be shallow enough for their necks to reach the bottom so they generally feed in the shallower water near the edge.
A dry Swamp, December 2020.
At the time I write this I am preparing to visit the Swamp tomorrow for the first time since we have had heavy rain. I expect it to look very different to what it did late last December.
One of the many turtle shells we found. October 2020
A local told me that when the water level drops greatly the feral pigs take advantage of the situation, enter the Swamp and eat the turtles. That is probably why we saw so many turtle shells during the long dry stretch. It is also why I often see pig hunters on my early morning visits to the area.
Wurruma Swamp, 31st January 2021.
Fast forward to the future and we have been to visit a very wet and full Wurruma Swamp. I intended to take a photo from the same spot to compare water levels but that area is well and truly under water.
Wurruma Swamp, 31st January 2021.
Miserably wet we decided to head back to the picnic shelter and get out of the rain. Sitting at the spot you see so many photos off we were treated to a beautiful sunset.
As we drank a cup of coffee cup and waited for the sun to go down some Swans came over and fed in front of us.
Wurruma Swamp gate, 31st January 2021.
Even after we had driven to the exit gate Mother Nature was still putting a show on for us. As you looked down the road that runs adjacent to the gate the sunset after-burn was lighting up the power poles.
How to get there
First get to Ravenshoe and then head towards Mt Garnet. A short distance before you enter Mt Garnet, on the left hand side you will see a sign for Wurruma Swamp that points you down a dirt road. Turn left into it.
Do not turn right!
Follow that dirt road a short distance of a kilometre or so until you get to this sign. To get to the Swamp you need to go straight ahead, do not turn right. I took this photo when I was leaving that day.
Make sure you chain the gate so that the cattle cannot get out.
Those gates are the entrance to the Swamp and are there to keep the cattle in. Once you open them to drive in make sure that you chain them securely shut behind you. The drive from the gates to the Swamp is about another kilometre and the road is good.
Unless you have a 4WD I would walk around the Swamp especially if it has been raining. You have been warned….do not get bogged! They call it swamp for a reason.
Have fun.