As we weren’t able to camp at the actual Carnarvon Gorge Campground outside of school holidays, meant an early wake up from Nuga Nuga. Burning down the highway we were finding ourselves closing in on Carnarvon as our surrounds were becoming that of a rainforest. Now, the days hike ahead was no simple feat. A 9.7km one way track lead to the furthest point of interest, the “Big Bend” and along this track there were several other fun filled landmarks to see along the way. Quick calculations demonstrated that this walk was going to be over 22km (seeing all sights) and surely one to remember! With our bags packed full of food for the trek ahead, we psyched ourselves up and made our way along the first river crossing into the Gorge.
Into a Moss Garden and onto the Amphitheatre
3.2km into our journey we came across our first turnoff, the Moss Garden. Temperatures pleasantly dropping we found ourselves in a magical lagoon where all we heard was water trickling from the sandstone formations. This garden is solely created by the mass of sandstone in which rainwater slowly penetrates until reaching solid rock and is forced out of the gorge wall. The process of water flowing from the wall creates a mossy covered sanctuary where we found ourselves in. A further 1.2km along the track and we came to a steep climb of stairs through which a tiny crack in a sandstone wall gave a greatness to behold – a natural occuring amphitheatre. Over thousands of years through erosion water had created this hidden wonder. During times of flash floods, the amphitheatre acts as a giant washing machine on spin cycle and with the subsiding water, all the contents are thrown out through the entrance.
An Art Gallery like no other
With a total of only 4.3km down, we had made it to our third turnoff. Not knowing what to expect from an art gallery in the gorge, we found ourselves quite lucky to experience this rich Aboriginal history. An entire wall was covered with a plathora of detailed Aboriginal stenciling. These included a range of stencils of hands, fishing nets, weapons of both Aboriginal and Europeans and even dark evil spirits from the dreamtime. We stumbled across a visitors book which we quickly discovered the pen didn’t work and unfortunately couldn’t leave a memo. Lucky for us someone had already written what we were thinking! After a late morning tea at this unique art gallery and only a quarter into the journey we continued deeper into the gorge.
To the Big Bend!
From the art gallery, our ever changing surroundings became denser and more overgrown and at every rivercrossing it was a gamble on which stepping stone to take along the unmarked path. This also lead to finding a vine to have a swing off! Before we knew it we had arrived at the final three points of interest, all of which were 500m apart. The first was a smaller version of the art gallery, the second was another gorge off the main path and the last, but definitely not least, was the “Big Bend”. Being 2pm when we sat down, we knew we had enough time for a bit of tucker and a refreshing dip. At this magnificant bend along the river, there was the most tranquil, crystal clear waterhole, which consequently made our quick swim bloody cold as the water was like ice!
The long struggle home
Having a gruelling 9.7km walk back, we pumped ourselves up and started on the return journey. Wanting to tick off all of the landmarks, we had to make one more stop on the way back, Ward’s Canyon. Just to add to the burning sensation in the legs there was a steep 270 step climb to reach the canyon. Nevertheless it was well worth it, home of the king fern and a peaceful waterfall. This is the only location the king fern can be found in central queensland as it’s family is mostly on the coast. Another fun fact is that the fronds on these ferns can grow up to 5m long! Not your everyday garden fern! Ticking off all the points of interest, we churned through the last of the kms and found ourselves back at the carpark. Entire bodies aching by the time we were there, we spent $1 for cold showers, with satisfaction knowing we had conquered the mighty Carnarvon Gorge!
With no idea of where our next major destination was or how bad our bodies would wake up after this epic trek, it was all a suprise to where the next stage of this undetermined adventure would head…