Carnarvon Gorge - Or There and Back Again

We arrived late in the afternoon at Carnarvon Gorge, and checked in to the nearby private Takarakka Campground.  We found ourselves nestled in a beautiful bush campground with local wallabies, bettongs and kangaroos to keep us amused.  That said, a particular small furry animal captured Jo's heart - a delightful platypus who lived in the creek near the camp kitchen.  Each evening and morning he came out and foraged up and down the creek, enthralling the handful of campers who were willing to wander down and stand still for a few moments.

A typical photo of a shy platypus

The following morning we had planned on doing the big trek into Carnarvon Gorge, but everyone was a bit weary, so we decided to book in an extra night and walk a couple of the shorter tracks that are nearby.  We figured we would save ourselves for the big hike the next day.  

We made our way down to Baloon Cave, an Aboriginal shelter with stensiled hand prints and axe heads. It was a lovely place to sit and ponder the thousands of years that people have lived here.

Baloon Cave

After a fortifying morning tea, or was it second breakfast, we made our way to Warrumbah Gorge.  A short 1.5km walk into the gorge revealed a deep narrow chasm, best described as a cross between Echidna Chasm and Karijini.  It was delightfully cool and we enjoyed exploring the chasm's depths.

At the entrance to Warrumbah Gorge

We made our way as far upsteam as we could, marvelling at the intricate patterns carved in the 40 metre high sandstone walls.  It was beautiful and timeless and we were so glad we had elected to have an extra day here and explore these short walks we would otherwise have missed.

The gorge was wonderfully cool

We even surprised ourselves by recognising a photo from a tourist brochure of the park.  We thought all the good stuff to see was in Carnarvon Gorge proper - but the little offshoot that is Warrumbah Gorge was an unexpectedly pleasant walk.

Stike a pose - and straight to the cover of the tourist brochure

We cooled off at the nearby Rock Pool, the only place you're allowed to swim in the park.  Whilst it wasn't anything on our recent swim a couple of days earlier at Blackdown Tableland, it was still a wonderful way to cool down in the heat of the afternoon.

Cool off at Rock Pool

The next day was our planned trek into the heart of Carnarvon Gorge.  The path in basically follows Carnarvon Creek upstream, and at various junctions you can head off into side tracks before returning downstream the way you have come.  We made sure we were well prepared the night before with water bottles filled, extra water packed and enough food to last at least a day with hungry hobbits.  

Our strategy was to get up early, and push as far into the gorge as we could - hopefully as far as an Aboriginal Rock Gallery, before making our way back downstream via as many of the side tracks as we could.  If we could achieve it all, we would walk 14km in total - a pretty good effort for little legs.  We hit the tracks at the Visitors Centre at 6.40am excited and looking forward to our day on the trail.

It was a shame to wake them early for the walk

We powered on to the Art Gallery, some 5.5km up the track and found ourselves immersed in ancient rock art and petroglyphs.  It had taken us around two hours to make it here, and everyone was still in high spirits.  It was time for second breakfast to feed the little people.

The ancient rock art gallery was worth the effort.

From here, we started our journey back downstream - but by no means was our walk over.  There was plenty more to see, and we diverted off the main track into the cool Wards Canyon.

Wards Canyon has the only King Ferns in this part of the world, relics from when all of Queensland was much wetter.  Somehow these ancient plants have clung onto survival in this cool valley - and are found no where else in region.

Beside one of the ancient King Ferns

Looking upstream was like looking into a lost world at Wards Canyon

After another fortifying snack, the Little People made their departure and it was all we could do to keep up with them. Our next stop was the Amphitheatre, a huge cavern accessed by a tiny narrow cleft in the rock.  We climbed the ladders into the narrow gap not sure what we would find at the other end.

The narrow cleft leading to the amphitheatre  

The huge sheer sided amphitheatre was staggering.  It was a place of peace and solitude on our visit, but one could only imagine a flash flood churning in the basin like a washing machine.  It was awesome.

Inside the Amphitheatre 

Another snack and we were on the trail again, but our enthusiasm was starting to fade as feet were getting sore.  At the turn off to the Moss Garden, we had 650 metres to go into the valley with the moss, or 2.8km back to the carpark.  We chose to take the track into the Moss Garden, and what a pleasant place it was.

Some of the moss at the Moss Garden

Ancient rainwater has percolated through the sandstone and seeps out of the rock here, where it meets the impervious shale.  The dripping walls support an amazing variety of moss and we savoured this special place - whilst nibbling on another snack of course. The moist air was deliciously cool and a beautiful waterfall added to the ambience of this wonderful place.

The return back to the carpark was hard work - all 3.5km of it - the only saving grace being it was mostly down hill.  We kept trying to distract the boys, all the while gaining precious distance back to the car.  

Their determination to finish the walk was as admirable as it was necessary, but we eventually made it back almost six hours exactly after departing.  We refilled our water bottles and drank gratefully from them - thankful not to have to walk any more in the now 35 degree heat.  We had done it - gone there and back again.  Whilst we were very pleased we had made the effort, I sense there was a certain relief that we wouldn't have to do it again any time soon.

We enjoyed a quiet afternoon back at camp, fed and washed.  It had been an epic day, but we had to turn our minds to where we would go next?  These are not easy questions, but sometimes the weather forecast encourages certain courses of action.  As does the amount of kilometres one can cover in a day.  

Decision time... or lets just go this way and see what we find...

So where are we off too?  Well at this stage I can't exactly say as we haven't worked it out ourselves.  I am sure it will be fun.