Carnarvon Gorge National Park.

I went to Carnarvon almost 20 years ago and not much has changed. The BIG improvement is hot water in the camping ground showers. This is coin operated but I'm happy enough the pay a buck or two. A negative change it has been ripped up a lot by feral pigs. Last time I spent a week but this time it was mainly a stop over on the way to Undara. We only did a smallish walk. This is the first of two places went to in the park – the moss garden. A hobbit walking down the path would not look out of place. The image on the left is a stitch of four photo and a large version can be seen at My Panorama site. The moss garden is 3.6 K from the camping ground.

The other spot we went to is "the Amphitheatre". It is 4.1 K from the camping ground and in my opinion a "must see". The white cliffs, white gums trees, cycads and cabbage palms along the way are a big bonus. This is another multi-photo stitch.

At the end of the trail there is a ladder inside a cage. After climbing the ladder you walk thru a crack in the rock a few metres wide into the Amphitheatre. The Amphitheatre is open to the sky but is otherwise enclosed. It like being in a cave with the opening above you. Even though it was a sunny mid-afternoon it was quite dim inside. In the bottom are fern trees and some water. A tour group was there as we left and the guide told us the ladder was the site of many domestic arguments. One of her charges was quoted as saying "if you really loved me you would have taking me to the Whitsunday's instead of out here". Different strokes for different folks I guess.

This is the view looking up – pretty awesome. There are lots of other places to see but we figured we were better off leaving and spending more time further north. Most of the walks here are fairly easy and the park seemed popular with the "gray nomad" - set as was Undara.

When we set put camp around 9PM on Friday night the camping ground was full of brush tailed possums. During the night we heard a lot of dingos howling close by. Next day it was full of Kangaroos and birds – most kurrawongs. Being away from the coast under a clear sky the night was very cold and this seemed to surprise many of the campers. The Kangaroos are a real problem when driving at night. When we left on Sunday morning the place was deserted. It would have been nice to stay longer but we had 1100 K to drive to reach Undara.