MY WORLD ~ 23 Carnarvon Gorge

Most photos may be enlarged, I hope you do.



After driving a few hundred kilometers out of
Yeppoon, see previous MY WORLD post, we started
out on the last 21km of rough gravel road to the gorge.
After a few km, there was a slight hitch...did I mention
the gravel was rough?.., while the Prof attended to a
few minor adjustments, I, being helpful, photographed
the scenery.




A view to the mountains that contain the 16,000ha
gorge area which is part of the much larger Nat.Pk.



We treated ourselves to a comfortable night in a
de luxe safari tent wit Q-sized bed and bathroom.
We felt the extravagance was warranted since we
had just passed our 50th wedding anniversary.
Early next morning we were greeted by this kangaroo
and her many friends as, armed with a large water
bottle and two apples, we headed on a daywalk
exploring up the gorge.



These are the largest Cycads we have encountered
anywhere. They must be hundreds of years old to
have attained this size.
Cycads are in a class of their own, being neither fern
not palm.



The seeds are a beautiful bright red and the whole
seed head looks much like a pineapple.

There had recently been raging floods down the river
and the track had only just reopened after major

repairs to the many crossings and destroyed rock

scaling aids 20' above the normal river height.

Because of the extra water, the Acacias were in bloom

also this pretty blue Solanum

The Heron took advantage of one of the stepping stone
crossings to look for his lunch

while pretty pink grasses swayed on the riverbank.
We hiked over eight crossings at roughly 1km
spacings which exhausted my energy, so Hobbit
fashion, I dabbled my hot feet in the water while
the Prof went on to the Moss Gardens.

There are many points of interest to hike to if you

are young and/or fit..unfortunately I am neither.

We saw a number of hopeful Herons of different

colourings on our return journey

I hardly think these fingerlings were what they

were hoping for.

This little Hibiscus like flower eased my tired spirits
as I looked up to the possibilities of scaling the cliffs

further up the gorge.

The next night we froze in a canvas cabin
without amenities, in the camp groud, but

somehow it was more pleasant to be among
other nature lovers rather than purely luxury
seekers.

If you are still interested, tune in to the next exciting
episode, without shredded tyres, next week.

For more glimpses into other places click on the Logo
at right and travel the world from your armchair.

My thanks to Klaus and the MY WORLD team for
keeping us on our toes and blogging.