Close to home #10 Boolboonda Tunnel
It’s always lovely to go on a long holiday to a far flung destination. There are times, however, when it’s not convenient or cost effective and a staycation closer to home is the way to go. The destinations in this series of posts are all just a few hours’ drive from our home. They’re easy to get to, there’s plenty to see and do and at the end of the holiday we’re home again in no time.
Visiting the small Queensland town of Mt Perry, with its quiet streets and single general store, we wouldn’t have known it was once at the centre of a booming copper mining industry. Today around 480 people live in the town, but in the late 1800s a population of more than 30,000 supported several mines, shops, churches and five hotels.
To link Mt Perry to the coastal town of Bundaberg, a railway line was constructed in 1883-84. One part of the line included a 192 metre tunnel, dug by hand through the hard granite of the Boolboonda Range. The excavators worked for two years to complete what is still the longest unsupported and unlined railway tunnel in Queensland.
The railway opened in 1884 and was in operation until 1960, when this section of the line was closed. In 1961 the railway track was removed and the tunnel became part of an unsealed road linking Mt Perry to the town of Gin Gin. Several gates along the way remind today’s travellers they are passing through privately owned farmland; drivers must make sure they close each gate as they go.
The tunnel is wide enough for just one car and, while it’s interesting to drive slowly through with the headlights on, the best way to explore is on foot. It’s wise to carry a torch, as the light quickly dwindles just a couple of metres in.
The darkness, combined with high humidity and warm temperatures, has given the tunnel a second purpose, as the ideal home for a colony of little bent-wing bats. At the halfway mark the arched entrances seem far away, and the rustling movement and constant calling of the bats create an eerie atmosphere.
On a quiet Sunday afternoon with only the bats for company, it’s hard to imagine how loud it must have been when a train loaded with freight came rumbling through this dark and narrow space. That’s probably why the bats didn’t move in until the trains moved on!
Wow what a great tunnel, would be a great place for photos.
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We took many beautiful photos of the surrounding bush and farmland but photos inside the tunnel weren’t possible because we didn’t want to use a flash near the bats. The video worked well though. 🙂
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The video is great. Are there times when you can see the bats entering and leaving the tunnel?
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We were there mid afternoon and we didn’t see any bats outside the tunnel. I don’t know for sure but I reckon dusk would be the best time to see them flying. We could hear them flapping around inside the tunnel and that was a bit freaky.
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I would have found it very freaky being so close to the bats. When I am in Cairns, the fly over of the fruit bats is still too close to me for comfort.
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I’m not keen on fruit bats either. These bats were tiny, no bigger than the palm of my hand. There was a warning sign reminding people not to handle the bats because of the risk of Lyssa virus. I’m not an animal person so touching one would be out of the question anyway. 🙂 I did stick close to Mr ET while we were in there.
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🙂 🙂
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The bats were very sensible to wait for the last train to leave before moving in!
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They sure were, Pauline. It wouldn’t have been pleasant. 🙂
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Great photos and video. I have just enough claustrophobia to not enjoy a visit inside that tunnel nor would I want to get that close to bats. We visited Austin, Texas, years ago and one of our stops was a bridge that had become a home to a large colony of bats. The smell was overpowering and when they flew out, it was like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. 🙂
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These bats were tiny, no bigger than the palm of my hand and they weren’t flying around. I wouldn’t have liked it if they were on the move. Interestingly there was no smell. We couldn’t really seem them well in the dim light of our torches.
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The longer you look at something, the more you see.
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We couldn’t see much in there. Even with our torches on it was very dull in the centre of the tunnel. 🙂
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Ooh, spooky! Though I think I’d be more worried about oncoming cars than the bats.
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While we were there everyone who drove through did so very carefully. There is plenty of room for both cars and pedestrians and also large warning signs.
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I might have been a bit freaked out by the bats. This place seems an interesting place to explore close to home. I like day trips like these sometimes. 🙂
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I found the sound of the bats a little freaky, but they weren’t flying around.
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Luckily they weren’t. I would have really freaked out about that!
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Not at all sure I would want to drive through that tunnel, but it looks like a great place to visit. Funny isn’t it to see these places that were once so busy and prosperous, now rather desolate. I find it hard to imagine how Cornwall must have looked like in the mid 1700s – 18 00s when it was the largest producer of tin, copper and arsenic in the world and one of the most wealthiest parts of the world. Now it is one of the poorest areas in the United Kingdom.
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It was quite wide so very safe to drive through, but we did go quite slowly. I suppose every place has a cycle according to human activity.
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I find tunnels a bit scary, especially if I can’t see my footing! But as you say exploring on foot is so different than by car 🙂
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The road surface was quite flat and we had torches so it was easy to see where we were walking. It was quite interesting.
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Great photos, Carol. I think I’d prefer to drive slowly through. 😯
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I think the natural inclination is to slow right down because it’s so dark in there. It’s a unique drive.
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Don’t think I’d want to walk with all those bats. 😯
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They were all roosting on the roof so I didn’t mind so much. Mr ET might tell you differently though. I held on tight to his arm. 🙂
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😀
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What a great tunnel. The bats must be delighted to have the perfect place to roost. I’d be worried about walking through under the bats in case something unpleasant landed on me… 😉
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Denzil said that too, but I didn’t think of it at the time. They were tiny bats so perhaps their droppings would be tiny. 🙂
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Tiny and dry one would hope! 😀
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They behaved for us. Maybe we were lucky. 🙂
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I hope you took an umbrella with you!
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It didn’t occur to me there might be an accident while we were in there, but an umbrella would have been a good idea just in case. We were lucky to emerge unscathed. 🙂
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I love Your idea to shoot photos from tunnels. I love Your tunnel photos; they are so different from regular landscape photos. Thank You.
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Thanks. This tunnel was so long and from the centre the entrance looked so tiny.
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