It was somewhere past the last melaleuca tree that I decided the scorching temperatures had finally gotten the better of me. I had spent the past few hours strolling uphill, in the humid air of a Queensland afternoon, surrounded by trees, as speckled goannas darted before my boots and crickets buzzed with reassuring regularity. Then suddenly it seemed like I had reached the top of a mountain, but instead of a peak strewn with rocks and brush, it was covered by a trio of sand dunes that rose toward the sky like a giant prize stage.
"I think the heat is affecting me," I said to my guide, Vivienne Golding. She smiled knowingly as I stepped towards the dunes and immediately felt my boots sink into the sand. This was absolutely real.
If there was one thing I learned on this three-day excursion to a less-visited part of Australia's central east coast, it was that there are many things in Queensland that even residents of the state don't know exist. "There are no Everglades in Australia - you mean Florida," was one response I received. But here in Australia's 'Sunshine State' (Florida goes by the same nickname) are the only other everglades (large areas of submerged grassland) in the world outside the US. Although smaller than their Florida counterpart (40 miles long, compared to 100 miles), they are just as impressive when it comes to wildlife.
Getting there is a two-hour drive from the Sunshine Coast capital to Noosa Heads, a laid-back beach town that lures hipsters, surfers and - judging by its restaurant offerings - vegans. I had checked into the light and airy Peppers Noosa Resort & Villas the night before, where rainbow parakeets perched on my balcony, and from there I decided to take a walk that started on the promenade in the middle of Hastings town centre. Street.
Within minutes I was all alone in the middle of old growth forest, strolling along the Tanglewood trail through pandanus, pine and macaranga trees, listening to the calls of brush turkeys as crickets hummed their crepuscular chorus. The route took me to the head of a peninsula where I was surrounded on three sides by foaming waves and leaping sea lions, but with no other people in sight. And all this was simply classified as one of Noosa's city walks.
The story continues
The next morning I took the 30-minute drive north, eager to experience the "official" wilderness of the Everglades. The distinct scent of tea tree filled the air as I arrived at Harry's Hut campsite to meet Vivienne. A former Olympic whitewater canoeing champion, she decided to retire 20 years ago, leaving the glory of the medals behind and instead offering kayaking tours of the Noosa Everglades.
"You can spend days here exploring. And the great thing is that you can make it as wild or mild as you want," she explained as we left the riverbank, splashing the water with our paddles, creating our own welcome breeze. "Harry's Hut camping is good for people who don't want to be in the middle of nowhere and where other people usually are, but the further you go - especially as you pass Camp Three - the more remote you are and it's just you and nature ."
We were now on our way to Camp Three, from where we would do a seven-mile loop hike to get a good overview of the Everglades. What Vivienne only revealed once I reached the summit and thought I was suffering from heat-induced delusions, is that at the summit lies the Cooloola Sandpatch, part of the Great Sandy National Park that also formed the better known K'gari (formerly Fraser). Island) which is just over 30 miles to the north.
The hike started right from the dock, where we tied up the kayaks, and followed a winding path through brush, forest, and breeding birds (44 percent of the country's species are found here in the Everglades).
By the time the trail leveled out and we emerged onto what seemed like a towering desert, I could look down and see the entire expanse of the Everglades beneath my feet.
"That's where we're going tomorrow," Vivienne explained, pointing to a huge lake, surrounded by trees and fed by veins of watery canals, more than 300 feet below.
That afternoon we paddled back along calm waters as the sky turned into a cloudy blanket of orange and purple. At the campsite we ate a homemade curry that we had baked over the camp stove, washed down with some local wine and strawberries freshly picked that morning from a nearby meadow.
The next day we got up early and paddled towards the lake - Cootharaba - which we had seen from the mountain top. But before that we had to sail across the narrow channel they call the "River of Mirrors". Because the tannin-rich water looks dark and still, everything growing above the water is reflected in the surface with enormous clarity.
Nervously, I asked Vivienne if she had ever seen bull sharks in the area; her response, "not in twenty years," was reassuring, but when something splashed into the water below, I wasn't sure I'd be brave enough to swim here as she did.
Eventually we reached a large expanse of lake, where a shovel of pelicans glided onto a stretch of sandbar, occasionally diving for fish. We watched them for almost half an hour, almost at eye level. As we approached our pick-up point, we were treated to a spectacular finale: a flock of black and white swans took off in a crescendo of monochrome feathers, their calls echoing across the lake.
Essentials
Kanu Kapers Australia offers expert and self-guided kayaking and camping tours ranging from one to three days, from AUS$110 (£60).
For more information about the Noosa Everglades see queensland.com.