wujalwujal

Bloomfield River in Queensland, ca. 1884

from State Library of Queensland

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  The Bloomfield River is one of striking beauty. Numerous rainforest creeks, including the mighty Roaring Meg Creek merge in the hills and cascade over the rock formation to form at the base of the beautiful Bloomfield River. This system is so named after Lt Blomfield of the 5th Regiment by Phillip Parker King whilst charting the inside passage of the Great Barrier Reef in 1817-18. Today, depending on the season, you might find it a raging torrent carrying monsoonal rainfall down from the mountains and out to sea, or a peaceful river that rises and falls with the turning tides. The river has special significance to the original peoples of this area, the Kuku Yalanji Aboriginal people, who still use the area for hunting, fishing and collecting. It passes over an old crossing and then under the new bridge at the local Aboriginal community of Wujal Wujal, which means ‘many falls’. Within the river is an island, which in the early 1900s was used as home base in the dry season for locals and others working on the boats in the pearling and trochus shell industries. Further downstream, Granite Creek runs in to increase the flow, adding more seeds and other debris from the rainforest. Source: www.bloomfieldescape.com.au/nature/bloomfield-river