Carnarvon Gorge is hidden in the rugged ranges of
Queensland’s Central Highlands and features amazing walks between towering
sandstone cliffs. We had five nights camping at Takarakka Campground which is
a beautiful shady campsite alongside a lovely creek, home to Platypus, Echidna's and Kangaroo's.
Day One we headed off early for the long walk to Big Bend,
via Boowinda Gorge, Cathedral Cave, Ward’s Canyon and the Art Gallery – 25kms
return. We sat and admired Aboriginal Art dating back 3,500 years, hiked up the
Boowinda Gorge, a dried creek bed full of challenging river stones, until the
towering rock walls began to close in on us and sat in the shade of the waterhole at
Big Bend for lunch.
That evening we sat around the communal campfire and met some very interesting people. Sippy informed me we would meet some characters – and alas he wasn’t wrong. One guy in particular had had a very interesting life having been a snake catcher, a song writer, recorder and performer, an opal miner and a heavy machine operator who had lived in 4 Australian States … my goodness he could talk!
Day Four we headed off to climb Boolimba Bluff – a 2.2km
vertical climb which afforded amazing views of the gorge and cliffs faces. As
we ventured up early in the morning, we were blessed to have the sun shining
fully on the cliff faces – spectacular and well worth the climb (and the many
steep steps and ladders). We then hiked Mickey Creek Gorge and Warrumbah Gorge,
again lucky enough to have the gorges to ourselves. We soaked up the grandeur,
along with the peace and quiet of nature. Total walk 15kms.
We finished the day with another swim at the Rock Pool,
along with a few turtles. Sausages with fried tomatoes and mushrooms, washed
down with a Brokenwood Rosato completed a great day.
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