Carnarvon Gorge

Back to our travels again.

I left you when we had just arrived at the camp ground at Carnarvon Gorge.  This camp ground is only open during the tourist season.  It is on the rim of the gorge on private property.  The site is surprisingly flat and has wonderful views, as opposed to being down in the gorge caravan park.  Both beautiful, but vastly different.  The facilities consist of an office, a communal fire pit, portaloos dotted around the camp and a dump point.  Other than that, you have to be totally self sufficient.

The sites are humongous.  Most people park their van side on to take advantage of the best of the views.  Each site has a fire pit.  A great idea, as it prevents lots of little ash piles around the place.

When we were there the weather was perfect.  We are so pleased that we delayed our visit until travelling home.  The nights were clear with no moon, so the canopy of stars were spectacular.  You could join a group to view the night sky, but as we had recently done that in the Warrumbungles we didn’t bother.  We just enjoyed the view.

Once we had set up in the early afternoon it was time to go for an explore.  First stop was the information centre to get a map.

Last time we visited we went on a walk with a park ranger to the end of the main walking track.  This time we did things differently.  The main reason was that in recent times I have been having trouble with my feet and have been struggling to walk very far.  Fortunately, just before we left home I was able to see the podiatrist and get some orthotics.  I’m happy to report that they are working a treat.

Our first walk was a short one on the way into the gorge and was one we had not done on our last visit.  Don’t you love the name.  Mick’s very own walk.

It was a lovely walk through diverse vegetation.  Beautiful palm trees.

Huge eucalyptus trees. 

You have to give ones like this a hug.  

I always like finding little ferns.

These cycads are toxic.  However, the aboriginal people developed a way to treat them to be edible.  Sadly, that knowledge has been lost.

Overall, it was a lovely introduction to our visit to the area.

After our walk it was nice to have a sit in the sun and knit and read.

Late in the afternoon we wandered up to the communal fire pit where the hosts told us a bit about the area.  

We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset.

The next morning we packed our lunch and set off for a longer walk.  Although not the full length of the gorge, it was going to be up a side branch path that we had not been on before.  It is called the “Moss Garden”.

A feature of the park is the beautiful stepping stones to cross the creeks.

There are also lovely stone stairs in various places.

More lovely trees.

Cliffs.

Ferns and elk horns.

The end of the path we took was at a beautiful pool with a little waterfall and as the name suggested, lots of moss.  For most of the time we were there we were the only ones present.  A lovely peaceful spot.

Our walk was 7.5km.  Now, I know that isn’t very far, but after the way my feet had been playing up for the last few months, that was monumental, especially as much was on uneven ground.  I was so pleased that I was able to do it.  (By the way, my feet are even much better now.)

We enjoyed our lunch in the picnic area back near the car park.  

We spent the afternoon back at the camp ground.

We saw some of the pretty faced wallabies that inhabit the area.

As well as some of the cattle that tend to wander through the camp ground at times.

Later, Mick lit our little camp fire and we once again enjoyed watching the sun go down.  

What a beautiful place to be.

The next morning, I got up early to catch the sunrise, as you do have the 360 degree views that are advertised.

It was time to get back on the road and continue our explorations.

Our first stop was at a memorial for a plane that crashed during WWII.  It went down during a violent electrical storm while flying from Darwin to Brisbane.  All 19 on board, being both American and Australian, were killed.

Before long we were back out on the highway and heading south.  More soon.