Thursday, September 6, 2012

3 September 2012 -Takarakka Bush Resort, Gorge Section - Carnarvon National Park, Queensland


Our overnight stop proved to be a quiet restful place for weary travellers and offered the bonus of the lit up icons. We wandered out into the dark after dinner to check out the promised light and were amazed to see the two entire cliff faces lit up revealing one face with the indented shrine and the other with the relief of “the Virgin” standing out from the rock. Of course without the suggestion of the place name and without imagination, the casual observer may well have wondered what they were looking at aside from a great waste of electricity. I am keen to find out who foots the bill for this extravagance; perhaps it is a very evangelical branch of the Catholic Church?

This morning, uninspired by the vision of the previous night, we travelled the short distance into Springsure. This township of about one thousand people sits at 322 metres ASL and today serves the surrounding rural population and the travellers passing through. While it appears to have most services, I found it uninspiring. 

The newspaper was not due in until the late morning and we were not keen to hang about so carried on, now heading seventy kilometres south east to Rolleston with about a fifth of the population of Springsure. Close by is a prison and a coalmine, and of course a thriving cattle industry. The general store doubles as the fuel outlet where we topped up with just 10 litres of diesel. At just over $1.60 a litre, we calculated our requirements carefully; we had paid $1.43 a litre in Emerald. Rolleston is situated on the junction of the Gregory, Dawson and Carnarvon Highways and could probably support a little more business in town.

The road south to Rolleston passes over the Staircase Range, named after a sandstone escarpment that has naturally formed the shape of a staircase. Below, the wide valley irrigated by the Comet River and its tributaries is laid out; quite a lovely sight.

From Rolleston we headed south this time on the Carnarvon Highway and turned west sixty or so kilometres south, heading into the National Park. We had been warned that the road into the park was “just hideous”. We were well prepared, both mentally and practically. Chris had covered both the fridge and door vents with taped up cardboard and I had been extra careful with packing everything securely in the caravan. The first thirty kilometres or so were sealed, narrow and very pretty, through flat cattle country. Large concentrated herds of contented fat beef cattle stood about in the fodder crops and we wove our way along the unfenced road, attempting to avoid most of their output. We crossed a couple of fords but still the road continued to be very acceptable. Finally we reached the last gravel section and passed over fords at the bottom of steep gullies, but apart from gathering dust which is the bane of Chris’ life and to be avoided wherever possible, we arrived at this absolutely delightful camp without incident. Perhaps having had such a low expectation was a bonus after all?

It was just after midday when we checked in, paying an exorbitant $42 per night for a powered site. We set up camp in twenty minutes, had lunch and then headed up in to the National Park just a few kilometres up the road.

What a stunning place this is! The Carnarvon Fan Palms are in full bloom, as are the wattle. The birds here are countless; apparently there are about 173 different species. The Pretty Faced Wallabies were lounging about the Information Centre in the most nonchalant manner, many with the long lanky legs of their offspring extending from their pouches. We picked up a guide from the office and wandered about the centre reading the interpretative panels and examining the excellent relief model of the gorge.

Travelling back toward the camp we paused to do a couple of lovely walks: an hour and a half up into the Mickey Creek Gorge and the very narrow Warrumbah Gorge where we could stretch out our arms and touch both sides. The gorge sides were high, narrow and tilted so that at one point we could not see the sky. The second walk was a much shorter half hour up to Baloon Cave, a short walk through fan palms and cyclads to a small sandstone overhang featuring stencilled Aboriginal rock art.  The aboriginal word  Baloon refers to the three rock adze shapes stenciled on the wall.

Back at camp, we joined a camp fire talk from a guide at 5 pm where we learned much about the geology, biology, anthropology and history of the place. The original 16,000 hectare part of the National Park was a cattle station which was taken back by the government when the leaseholder was unable to meet his payments in 1932 and declared a park. The Carnarvon Gorge National Park is just one part of the Central Queensland Sandstone Belt parks; the belt covering an area of approximately 82,000 square kilometres. 

Tom, the park guide, who kept us spellbound for a good forty minutes was also trying to tempt us to join his guided tour which I am sure would be excellent. He is a mine of information however we will make our own way up the canyon tomorrow morning. He gave us some excellent tips on how to approach the trip, the best being to start as early as possible in the morning to catch the wildlife before they shelter from the heat. With that in mind, we have set the alarm for 5.30 am and I am off to bed early.

No comments:

Post a Comment