July 18

What a terrific but tiring day. We set out at 8.30 to do the Carnarvon Gorge Walk. The complete walk, with all the side excursions is 23 km however we opted to do the section which provide access to the four most popular parts – a distance of 12 km. Walking up the Gorge in the early morning was absolutely fabulous and didn’t change one bit as the day progressed. The colours were outstanding – the white of the sandstone cliffs in the sunlight, the greyish-white of the flooded and spotted gum tree trunks, the dark grey/black of the ironbark trunks, the bright green of the sand palms and the darker green of the cycads. Starting to sound like a botanist, aren’t I?

The walk crossed over Carnarvon Creek 10 times before we reached the end of our section – each crossing involved rock-hopping. Fortunately the rocks were quite large and stable so it wasn’t in the least hazardous. Each crossing is numbered so you can easily find where you are by referring to the walk map. By the way, the complete walk involves 22 creek crossings and of course each crossing on the way out has to be recrossed on the way back.

Our first stop was at the Moss Garden – water dripping through the sandstone has created a carpet of mosses in a cool, humid side gorge. The Art Gallery consisted of a large collection of aboriginal art - stencils of hands, aboriginal tools and weapons and engravings. Ward’s Canyon involved quite a steep climb but was very rewarding – another cool, humid environment with an ancient species of king fern dating back to the time of the dinosaurs. The final “attraction” was the amphitheatre. This involved another uphill walk and a ladder climb before passing through a narrow opening into the actual amphitheatre which was like a huge cavern without the roof. The base was approx 60 m in diameter and the walls sloped upwards to an opening about 30 m across.

Six hours after we had set out we arrived back at the car park, tired, exhausted but exhilarated by what we had seen.

A National Parks ranger presented a slide show here tonight and provided a few more insights into the park and its operation. Interesting to note was the fact that the ladder we had climbed to get access to the amphitheatre has already been repaired three times due to the force of the water coming through the opening and that the previous ladder had been completely washed away in a previous flood event – such is the power of nature!