Wujal Wujal (Bloomfield) Falls - May 2022

Wujal Wujal Falls.

The rain which had been stalking us for pretty well the whole time that we'd been up in the deep north of Queensland finally caught up with us last night in Cooktown. For the previous two and a half weeks we'd mostly managed to miss most of the really heavy falls, however our luck couldn't last forever and last night it had hosed down. When we woke this morning the rain was still coming down pretty solidly so obviously climbing mountains or walking beaches wasn't going to be optimal today - waterfalls, on the other hand, should be pumping. So after checking the QLD roads report to make sure that the roads were open, we motored south for an hour to the indigenous community of Wujal Wajul to check out Wujal Wujal Falls.

There is a massive car park here - it must get busy in the tourist season I guess. 

Now I've got to say upfront that this can barely be called a walk, the whole adventure was less than a kilometres from go to whoa. With the walk involving a bit of exploratory rough rock scrambling at the end,  I figured that I'd stick it up on the blog...and besides my blog is more a personal journal and this does document the days adventure. After parking the ute at the big carpark at the end of the road (stay on the Wujal Wujal community side of the Bloomfield River when coming down from Cooktown) I grabbed the camera and set off to see what I could see.

It's a nice easy track to begin with.

At about the same time that the falls came into view the track quality deteriorated a fair bit. 

Wujal Wujal Falls. 

The track from the carpark immediately passed by a Saltwater Crocodile warning before climbing a few metres into a patch of rainforest. Initially this path is a rough concrete job and even though it is sealed it was still pretty greasy after all the recent rain. After the initial climb the track contoured along the valley for a few minutes, all the while keeping a bit of distance between me and the crocodile infested Bloomfield River. It was probably only 5 minutes until I first saw and heard the falls at the head of the valley and it was about then that the formed track finished.

Walking these tilted rocks was slow and rough going.

It was this bluff that finished off all forward progress today. 

Wujal Wujal Falls.

The Bloomfield River was flowing a banka today. 

After leaving the short tourist track I started rock hopping my way up stream towards the plunge pool, and the going now was very slow. Apart from the fact that the rocks were wet and uneven the main issue with this little rock hop was the fact that the rocks were all tilted so there was very little in the way of flat surfaces to stand on. With the falls getting louder I had one last bluff to get around and I'd be at the plunge pool - except that I couldn't (well, without going really Feral). With the Bloomfield River running very high after all the rain it would of meant wading into the water to get around this vertical bluff and there was no way I was getting in the water here (if the situation was more critical then it may have been possible to climb roots and rock up the vertical rock wall to get over the bluff - it wasn't something that I needed today though!). After realising that I wouldn't be able to make it to the plunge pool today I spent a little time exploring the river, and photographing the falls from a distance before retracing my walk back to the ute.

Wujal Wujal Falls on the Bloomfield River. 

If it wasn't for the crocs I would of been in here!

Heading back to the ute...

... that was one short walk!

While it was a short walk it still took its toll on me in the heat and humidity.

The Dirt.

According to my GPS I walked around 950 metres and climbed about 21 metres on this easy stroll. While I'd call this an easy stroll the last little bit involved slow walking across uneven tilted rock so take that into account - Wujal Wujal Falls can still be seen from the end of the formed track, especially when the river is pumping after decent rain like it was today. Accessing this walk from the south requires a 4wd to traverse the Bloomfield Track, coming down from Cooktown should be OK in a soft roader or car if there hasn't been any big falls of rain recently (there are a few fords to negotiate). I used the notes and map out the the Woodslane book Best Walks around Cairns & the Tablelands along with my Alltrails App and my GPS topos.

Relevant Posts.

Waymbuurr (Mt Cook) Walk, 2022.

Finch Bay, Cherry Tree Bay & Grassy Hill Lookout Walk, 2022.

Back in Cooktown the rain had let up by sunset and we were able to enjoy planning our next little adventure over dinner.

Sunset in Cooktown.

This was our last night up in Cooktown, I really hope it's not another twenty years before Sam and I can get back up here.