Sometimes you go to the expected place to find what you’re looking for. At other times, the place where you find it is much better than expected. My first platypus sighting was just that. The Platypus Viewing Platform outside of Yungaburra is a reliable spot to view these unique little mammals. Or so my friends Jenn and Ronnie had thought. They had seen them there numerous times in the past, but after three visits there, our sightings equaled our sightings for polar bears that day. Zero.
The platypus viewing area is a convenient way to see the platypus, when they are active. No such luck when we were there!
On a whim, and in hindsight, the wise intuition of Ronnie, we drove down a small road outside of town and found an unmarked trail head in the rainforest. The scenery alone made the detour well worth it. We saw three small waterfalls underneath the canopy of green. A group ahead of us had seen a platypus that morning so we waited eagerly by one pool for ½ an hour or so before Jenn spotted one at the next pool downstream.
We were never sure what part of the pool this small platypus would pop up in, but the stream of bubbles breaking the surface gave us just enough of a signal to anticipate it’s arrival.
What a sight these quirky little animals are! This one was only about a foot long. The small size was a surprise to me, as were the facts that they close their eyes when diving so use electroreceptors on their bills to detect prey underwater and the males have a venomous spur on their hind limbs. The platypus we were watching would surface and quickly disappear around the pool at the base of a fall. We spent about 20 minutes watching it come and go. It was well worth the wait to have this private moment with the platypus in such a beautiful setting. Those sitting at the viewing area in town didn’t know what they were missing!
A beautiful scene at what is now known to a small circle of friends as Platypus Pool.
a patchwork path 