Bunya Mountains

Visited: late summer

Recommendation: Beautiful parkland with lots of trails and a pleasant campground. The birdlife is abundant here and worth checking out.

The Bunya Mountains National Park was simply stunning. We explored various spots including a trail through the rainforest. The calm silence being only interrupted by the very loud thump of occasional bunya pine cones falling. These things were as big as a human head and more frightening than any snake we might encounter.

The Wakka Wakka, Jarowair, and Barrumgum people are the traditional owners of the Bunya Mountains. For countless generations, these Indigenous groups have gathered in the Bunya Mountains during the bunya nut season (December to March) for massive festivals. These gatherings, known as Bunya festivals, were likely the largest Indigenous gatherings in Australia. People from far and wide, stretching from New South Wales to Queensland, would come together to celebrate, feast on the bountiful bunya nuts, and renew social connections.

Despite initial exploitation, the Bunya Mountains were declared a national park in 1908, making it the second oldest national park in Queensland. This act helped preserve the area's natural beauty. Today, there's growing recognition of the cultural significance of the Bunya Mountains for the traditional owners. There are ongoing efforts to protect and celebrate their deep connection to this land.

We loved it here and the birds sang morning, noon and night for us. We slept at the Westcott campground and it was a gorgeous clearing with good facilities and even a large carpet python for company! As the sun came up and warmed the surrounding bushes, lots of small bush birds began flitting about around us. We just sat, watched and photographed them.

Further into the forest were groups of Regent and Satin Bowerbird. It is interesting that male bowerbirds are much less visible than the females. Presumably that is because the males are busy building their bowers. I got glimpses of the male Satin Bowerbird but they didn't stick around once they saw me! Female and/or juvenile birds were a bit more obliging. It would be nice to spend more time here to try and find the males and their bowers.