Charismatic Carnarvon

Slightly to the west of the Great Divide in Central Queensland lies Carnarvon Gorge - a very interesting geological formation.  Team Turtle had heard many good things about this place and had already tried to get there just over two years ago on our last major jaunt.  Unfortunately, at that time, the road between Roma and Emerald was still flooded as well as the actual Gorge so we had then turned to Plan B and headed off in another direction.  This time all was dry and there was nothing to stop us!

The Gorge is about 60klms off the main Carnarvon Highway - the last 20 klms were gravel - so it was a welcome relief that we were able to set up camp and relax.   We knew that we were going to be having a couple longish days out there in the bush.

Reasonably early the next morning we were packed and ready to go.  It was only a short drive from the Caravan Park to Visitors Centre where we collected the walking trail maps and then we were off.  There were warnings that there were several creek crossings and some ladders to climb but as The Captain and The Deckie are both fit and well, it wasn't going to be much of a problem!

We chose to do a longish walk with a couple of short walks into different little gorges.  All up it was about 12klms return - thank goodness it was a pleasant walking day with the sun shining and the birds singing!

The Walking Trails

From the Visitors' Centre we crossed the creek then, full of enthusiasm we headed into the main Gorge crossing the creek another couple of times.  The National Parks people had placed some convenient stepping stones into the creek at each crossing but we did notice that as you travelled further into the Gorge, the stepping stones became a little smaller and a little further apart!  Perhaps they were trying to discourage all but the fittest and strongest from going to far!!

First little offshoot was to the Moss Garden.  A lovely little area where the water had seeped thru the sandstone layers and then when it hit the basalt and then oozed out.  This then created a large area of rockface covered in mosses and ferns.

The Mossy Rockface

The Captain Admiring The Rockpool and Rockface

After crossing back after the main creek (again) we stopped for lunch beside the creek and as well as nourishing our bodies we were able to admire parts of the beautiful escarpments that the Gorge is renown for.

Carnarvon Creek - Downstream

Carnarvon Creek - Upstream

Still with a lot of enthusiasm, we headed off down and across the creek and into a little gorge that would lead us to The Amphitheatre.

Leading To The Amphitheatre

The tiny crack in the escarpment was where we had to go - hmmmm, very interesting!  The way to go was up the steel ladders..

Heading Into The Unknown

We then had to negotiate a very narrow crevice..

The Narrow Crevice

Which then opened out into this marvellous, naturally formed cavern.

The View From The Crevice

The Way Out

Looking Up

Still Looking Up

Another Rock Wall

The size and the magnitude of this particular cavern was awe inspiring and when a person is inside something like this, it tends to make you feel very insignificant.

We were starting to feel a little bit weary by this stage but felt that we had to go to one more little gorge - after all, it was only another kilometre!  Off we trudged, crossing the creek again before we would reach our final destination.

Rock Hopping Across The Creek

Ward's Canyon was not as magnificent as what we thought it would be (probably need more water in the waterfall) but it was still something to be in awe of.

Ward's Waterfall (Without the water)

Looking down Ward's Creek

That was enough walking for one day.  Well not really as we had to head back to the car and that was 6klms away.  The worst part was the last 2klms when the legs started feeling like lead and it became a matter of putting one foot in front of the of the other.  Not really as bad as that as we did make it back under our own steam.

Final Creek Crossing

And to make us feel better, we were greeted back at the Visitors' Centre by the welcoming committee!

Welcoming Committee

We finally dragged ourselves into The Rav and made our way back to camp.  There was certainly one thing - you could tell who had been out walking all day as they could barely move that night!

No, we did not get up early the next day.  We had a sleep in to ensure our bodies would be able to move.  It must have worked as by the time the sun was up and sparkling, so were The Captain and The Deckie.

There were three little short walks that we were going to do that day - Mickey's Creek Gorge, The Rockpool and Baloon Cave.  The longest walk was Mickey's Creek - about 2klms - and the others were only about 1klm round trip each.

Mickey's Creek Gorge

The Deckie With Some More Cool Rocks

On our way back out of Mickey's Creek Gorge we came across another welcoming local who was only too happy to have his photo taken.

Carnarvon Echidna

Then on to The Rockpool.  We had packed a light lunch so thought that this could be a perfect spot to consume it.  And it was!  A nice bend in the creek had formed a reasonably deep set of waterholes - too cold for us to have a swim - and National Parks had built a nice little picnic area for the visitors.

The Rockpool

Last walk for the day was to Baloon Cave - a small sandstone overhang that has aboriginal art decorating it.  Not terribly exciting but at least we went and saw it.

Rock Art

Once more, it was back to camp and a very much deserved rest as one never knows what might happen the next day!