Finally we got to Carnarvon Gorge in beautiful weather, and we loved it. Magic place.
Kerry’s snippets in fuscia.
Getting there
Yeppoon > Rockhampton > Mount Morgan > Banana (yes Banana) > Moura > Bauhinia > Rolleston > Carnarvon Gorge (450km)
We left Yeppoon at 7:30 and it did not take us long to get to Rockhampton. We are leaving Mobi on the north side of town at the Parkhurst Motel & Caravan Park. This is quite a good park with largish grass/slab sites and only $25 a night. We picked a site near some permanent residents as we will be leaving Mobi there for 3 days. Trying to drive in, I get Mobi a bit too close to a tree and a man came out to guide me safely through. Not an oops moment but close.
Then there was a scramble to get everything we are taking with us out of Mobi, then getting as much as possible out of The Cruiser and into Mobi, including all the camping gear off the roof cage. We decided not to bother putting on the wheel-lock as there are quite a few permanents about. We also set up the water, electricity and drainage to make it look someone will be home soon.
We also activated the “tracking device” – just in case Mobi gets stolen. I am not looking forward however, to getting text messages from the wretched thing every time the wind blows. But it’s not at all clear how to de-sensitise the settings – the manual is gobbledegook except for the bit that says “made in China”.
The drive to Carnarvon is along the Leichhardt Hwy., crossing the Dividing Range – great views from the Stopford Way Lookout – and through historic Mount Morgan (I really wish we could have stoped for a look around this place – full of history).
Along the way, we stopped at a cairn to remember the 18 people, Australian and US military, killed with the crash of a C47B Dakota aircraft.
Then we were back on the Burnett Hwy, which we traversed a couple of weeks ago after our first efforts to get to Carnarvon. It was a long drive (450km), pretty country at first with rolling landscapes and mountains (or are they large hills?) in the background. But as we got further west it all flattened out.
Approaching Carnarvon we started to see beautiful sandstone outcrops in the mountains. The last 40km drive in from the highway got prettier by the kilometre, with lovely mountains surrounding. We cross the creek-crossing that stopped us last time – there was still strong flow over the causeway but only enough for us to create a splash.
Day zero – arrival
The Takarakka Bush Resort is great – a lovely natural setting. We were in a studio, the more expensive accomodation, which is a modern small room about the size of a shipping container. Queen bed, large ensuite, tea/coffee making and a good sized deck. The studios have their own camp kitchen and a fire pit. Very nice.
Kerry was quickly chatting up the wallabies and kangaroos. Then she spied an echidna, but it was gone into defence mode by the time I got there with camera.
Then we walked along the creek, part of which is a platypus conservation area. It is a lovely area – ideal platypus country. We walked very quietly, and there is a sudden splash and large ripples – but we did not see it. We will return later.
From there we went up to the lookout, which, once you get into a tree free area, has great views across to the escarpment.
That evening we cooked a barbecue and then got the fire pit going. We talked to another couple for a few hours before hitting the sack.
Day one
Beautiful morning, a tad chilly. We decided to do a number of walks outside of the main gorge area to ease ourselves in. First up was Baloon Cave, a 500m walk to visit an aboriginal art site. It’s actually more of an overhang then a cave. The art work is mainly hand prints, which are quite faded. Nevertheless it is a nice walk and it does get the legs going.
The second walk is Mickeys Creek, which is listed as being 3km in total. Initially we walked through wooded open grasslands, and then we began to see beautiful sandstone escarpments on either side. Soon we came to a fork in the track and, as advised in the Takarakka walking guide, we took the right-hand track to the Warrumbah Gorge.
This is a short walk with a lovely babbling brook to walk beside, beautiful spotted gums, tree ferns, the Carnarvon fan palm and of course high cliffs on either side. When we reached the sign that said “formed track ends here”, we kept going as advised in the notes. Very quickly the gorge began to narrow down, until we found ourselves In a very narrow creek bed with high vertical cliffs on both sides. This place was awesome and we could almost touch both sides at once. What a brilliant place.
We walked back to the fork in the track and completed to walk up to Mickeys gorge on the other side. Not nearly as dramatic – but Warrumbah would be hard to beat.
From there we went to the Visitors area – lots of signpost information. We walked the Nature Trial so did our first river crossing. This walk was getting overgrown and is not a great walk – there is not really a “nature” aspect to it, more a walk for the sake of a walk.
Next was the Rock Pool, where we first had lunch. We had seen that the creek was higher that the stepping stones so I returned our lunch gear to the car and we took off our walking shoes to wade across. Lucky Kerry had brought a pair of thongs with her. Unfortunately the pool doesn’t look at all clear and clean after all the rain. We meet a couple of rangers who agree it would be best not to swim there for a few days.
Later in the afternoon we go over to look at Sandstone Park, a new caravan/camping place we had heard about. When we drove up there we saw 2 things: firstly, a massive cleared area on top of the escarpment but with nothing on it except some porta-loos, a dump-point, a water tank and not any evidence of ‘open for business’; and, secondly, the most magnificent views of the gorge country across to the most beautiful sandstone cliffs. This is where to come to get some brilliant photos and to appreciate the vast scale of these gorges and cliffs. Fabulous!
Later we caught up with Lilian and John, a couple we did the 4WD training with last year, who had just arrived in their very new van and Cruiser. It was great to see them again and we are likely to catch up with them again on the way around. They admit to being complete novices, as do we, so we have a lot in common. We share our discoveries in this new caravanning world.
At around 6 we go to the platypus pool but again do not get to see any. Then we have dinner over at their van, before a short stint by the fire as we wind down.
Day 2
The big day. We woke to a rather chilly morning – glad I had brought a light jacket. A quick breakfast and were are away, leaving the Visitors Area at around 8. Our aim was to do as recommended in the Takarakka walking guide – walk directly to the Art Gallery then walk back, diverting to the side gorges to see the other attractions. That should be a total day’s walk of 14km.
We crossed the river – the views up and down river are iconic – and the walk takes us along a good trail through wooded grasslands. After about 2km we came across a bunch of highschool kids and their teachers who were giving out instructions. How come we never had trips like this when we were young?
We crossed Carnarvon Creek 6 or 7 times on the way up. The river was high so some crossings were tricky. At No. 4, 2 rangers were doing remedial works – moving a bloody big rock into a gap in the line of rocks so walkers can hop over. We got over ok but they warned us that the No. 5 crossing is even worse. We decided to take off our boots and wade, and are in the middle of doing this when the school group arrives. The teachers and the local guide, with a show of bravo, just walk through in their boots, but confusion rages on the kids – some follow suit, some get their shoes off. A French women also arrives and takes her shoes off, but so nearly tumbles into the water. I have my video ready.
We get to the Art Gallery at a bit over 4.5km on Kerry’s Garmin (battery on mine has died). This led us into the false sense of security that it was not so far to get back to the start. The track to the Art Gallery site is uphill (naturally) with the last few hundred meters steepish. But soon we, with the school class, whose timing is great, are gazing at over 2000 engravings, ochre stencils and free-hand paintings across the 62m long sandstone walls of this significant Aboriginal site.
The Art Gallery contains some of the best examples of stencil art in Australia. The sandstone outcrop is amazing, curving up and out from the base, reaching for the sky. Lovely place.
On the way back down it was shoes off at crossing No. 6 but we are very pleased to see that the rangers have repaired crossing No. 5 – no need for shoes off at this one.
Our next delight was Wards Canyon. Now we know you are wondering what is the difference between a gorge and a canyon – and here we have both terms used, a canyon within a gorge. Gorge and canyon appear to be interchangeable. In some countries, “gorge” is used for “canyon” and vice versa. The word “gorge” is widely used in Europe and Australia, while “canyon” is widely used in the US. Anyways, the dictionary says that a canyon is a deep valley having steep sides, and a gorge is a deep ravine with a river flowing through it or a ravine without the river.
But Wards Canyon is very special and deserves a much more imaginative name that “Wards”. It does involve many steps up a steep track but it is so worth it. We first got to the waterfall which is nice but small in height and volume, but then we went on up to its source.
Here we were lured into a cool and inviting canyon that went back more that about 50m with massive cliffs on either side. This is a beautiful place, sheltering the world’s largest fern, the king fern Angiopteris evecta. These green ‘dinosaurs’ are the only such ferns now living in non-coastal Queensland, kept going by a constant source of water. Magic!
A possum hunter used to make this upper canyon his home for several months each year – I guess there must have been a lot of possums back in the day. This is a very special place – fairies and elves could happily live here.
The next side attraction is the Amphitheatre and Kerry sat this one out. Getting very tired. This involved a 650m walk and another river crossing, plenty of steps as well; but then the discovery of a secret oasis.
Access is via a set of steel ladders leading to a thin slit in the cliffs that takes you to a hidden 60m deep chamber gouged from the rock by running water. The thin entry gorge provides the only exit.
This is a place for quiet thought—the towering stone walls and natural skylight, the ferns and the entry/exit gorge create an awe-inspiring atmosphere.
The final side attraction is the Moss Garden, another 650m walk with steps and a river crossing. By this time we are tired so it feel like a much longer walk that it is. But we then arrive at a lovely moist enclosed dell, full of tree ferns, and at the end is a lovely little waterfall tumbling over a rock ledge into a rock pool – a perfect place to escape the heat.
Here, water dripping constantly from the sandstone sustains a lush, green carpet of mosses, ferns and liverworts. Very, very pretty.
Back at the turnoff to Moss Garden we see we still have 2.8km to walk to get to the Visitors area. We are both very tired but just have to get on with it. It rubbed salt into the wound when the rangers drove past us on their little all-purpose micro truck, and then to remember that the car park is a very long way from the Centre.
All these steps really have take it out on us – it was only a 14km walk but at this stage I am feeling it. So I took a seat while Des walked the walk to get The Cruiser.
The evening we did not see any platypus. We cooked in the bush kitchen, Lilian and John came over and we got the fire going. A good evening was had by all.
It was a great couple of days and we are so glad we returned. It is such a wonderful place that we felt good simply by being there. Tomorrow it’s back to Rockhampton – only 450kms over the bumpy old Dawson Highway.
Photos about this blog can be seen here – click here