Carnarvon National Park

One of the most picturesque places we’ve been to is Carnarvon National Park. This place is one of the best known and popular of Queensland’s gorges. It is in a place called the sand stone belt and is one of the prettiest gorges we’ve been to. The sheer rock walls of the gorge look like they’ve been cut because they are so sheer and smooth, the rock falls look like they’re made of concrete and have been put there deliberately because the sandstone falls in very square shapes.

We have stayed two nights at Carnarvon Gorge and we have found that that was enough to see lots of the gorge and several of the off shoots that are just as spectacular as the main gorge. The first off shoot that we went to is called Warrumbah Gorge and was narrow, cold and wet but also had a spectacular array of mosses and ferns. It was also lots of fun just trying to get as far as you could in the slippery conditions with a very cold creek running beneath you.

On our only full day we did a 15km walk up the main gorge to see the sights. We visited four places in the gorge which were, the Moss Garden, the Amphitheatre, the Art Gallery and Wards Canyon. The Moss Garden was fascinating because the water is soaked up by the sandstone and gradually goes down towards the water table. Before it gets there it hits a layer of slate which it can’t penetrate and is forced sideways out of the rock to sustain a spectacular array of mosses and ferns on the ever-damp rock the dripping water creates. The water is also in the rock for anything upwards of 500 years between when it is absorbed by the sand stone and when it is expelled above the slate level.

The second place we stopped is called the Amphitheatre and was originally a massive piece of sandstone that had faults in the rock all around it. The water gradually wore away to make a massive hole that was only accessible by a narrow crack in one of the walls. It had a nice echo and was nice and cold which was great relief to us because it was building up to be a hot day.

Thirdly, we visited the Art Gallery which, as the name suggests, is a place of ancient rock art done by the aborigines of the area. These art works were in a spot that was slightly higher than the canyon and was consequently hotter but the art work was excellent and very clear despite its exposed position.

The last place we went to is called Wards Canyon and had perfectly clear and freezing water. It was also nice and cold and had some plants that didn’t exist anywhere else in inland Queensland. We had lunch here and it was a well-needed rest break before the long walk back.

It was a long day and my legs were dead when we finally got back, we also got an ice cream before going off on our own to do whatever it was we wanted for the rest of the afternoon.