Incredible Places in Australia  Carnarvon National Park Q.L.D.

The Carnarvon National Park is a very interesting place to visit in Australia, however we only indicate it for the ones who are not in a rush and loves travelling by car. You must  be used or be in an adventurous mood because to get there you will go through  many agricultural areas, passing by farms and later by the Outback for about 2000 km (considering the returning point) leaving from Brisbane in Queensland. The park is an Oasis in an almost-desert land, with many attractions and free entrance.

The Carnavon National Park is divided in some sessions with a total the 280,000 hectares, and the session called Carnarvon Gorge, is the easiest one to get there. The great point of this park is that during millions of years it was submerged, the time when almost all areas of Australia were covered by the sea. After this period, the basalt clay and rocks had suffered erosion for rains, and were excavated a great ravine in the interior. This passes or gorges, cuts the whole park from the beginning to end (the photo shows the vision of a person inside the gorge looking to the top. The walls go up vertically until about 200 meters of height (photo), and vary in maximum width of 150 meters, until places where the two walls are so narrow, that a person of robust dimensions probably would stuck.

In the interior of these Gorges, the temperature is 10 degrees colder than the ones in the top, and the sun only penetrates just for few hours during the day. The result is the highest humidity in this area provide a special microclimate benefit the growing some special plants, trees and green slime. This not only occurs on the ground, but also in the walls of the Gorge. The result is such different and pretty vegetation that is hard to imagine, being almost paradisiacal. The climate is perfect for animals as Kangaroos, Marsupials and thousand of birds and parrots.

With so many narrow and steep walls, when it rains the place gets many beautiful waterfalls, forming streams crossing the entire park. A main track  is kept by the Rangers and has 21 km in the total. The principal track has many others branches to the right or to the left, and each one of those small paths reserving a special surprise. The park is like a river been fed by small streams from both the sides, only that in this in case, the streams are other ravines and narrow gorges that takes to grottos, caves and streams.

Two of these ramifications, will take you to the areas where Aborigines paintings in the rocks can be found, one of them is called Art Gallery. If you stay on the demarcated tracks you will get there, all the park has signs a long of the way identifying the place you are, and the distance to walk until main points. To know all tracks to the gorges and ravines are necessary 3 days of walk. As the place is very distant of any medical aid, is advisable not to try to climb the big walls or to do anything that can cause an accident. There are poisonous snakes in park, what definitively will encourage you not to leave the main tracks, unless you are fitted and supplied for it.

The paintings date from 3.500 years ago, and are found in three respective points of the park:  In the Balloon Cave, in the Art Gallery and the Cathedral, this last one is an immense cave in the rock with high ceiling in arch form. The paintings were made blowing the paint with the mouth against the objects, and for the ink they used water mixed a triturated mineral. For the red colour and the okra, was used Hematite and Magnesium, being these the predominant colours of all paintings. For yellow, they used Limonite with Oxide of hydrated iron, and for the black colour, the Pyrolusite with Dioxide of Magnesium. Some paintings in white colour can be noticed in some drawings, but they do not date from the same time, but from much more recent time. The drawing showed this Aborigine tribe whose name probably was Bidjara were using different types of Boomerangs. In the photo to the left, you can see many forms with 3 fingers, they are the feet impressions on the rock of small Kangaroos, and than were blowed with paint.

The Macrozamia Moorei, is known as the oldest plant the world, dated of the age of the Dinosaurs, widely found in the park, this plant produces a cluster with a species of fruit that resembles to a pineapple. Inside the "fruit", sets a ten of  dark colour seeds like wine, that spreads in the floor of the park. Please do not eat them! It is highly mortal and could give you Cancer. As fruitful trees in the park do not exist, the Aborigines are the only one that knew the secret how to make them eatable, what it was a subject for studies by scientists. The Process consists of breaking it half, and leaving them immersed in current water during 3 weeks. By the way, there are may other toxic seeds in the park however not as toxic as Zamia.

• How to get there:

From Brisbane: It will take you around 10 hours by car. Get the highway in direction of Toowoomba than go west, getting the city Roma, and later Injune, and from Injune go to Emerald. 160 km after Injune, is the entrance road for the park that consists on  44 km, being 21 km of unpaved road.

From Rockhampton: There are 280 km until Emerald, than go towards Rolleston, and from Rolleston go to Injune. The road leading to the park is to about 50 km of Rolleston.

• Where to stay: there is a Camping/Caravan Park and a Lodge with cabins, just before getting the park.

• Other important information: In the park it does not have garbage cans or collecting service, so take plastic bags to bring back all your garbage. In the Caravan and Camping grounds there is a small convenient store but with only basic food products, juice and ice bags. There are no bottle shops around in a ray of 100 km; therefore if you want to have some drinks over there it is better to get your supplies. Another important item you must get before arrival is petrol, so fill up your car in Injune or Rolleston. In the summer, go for walk early morning, because in the afternoon the heat is too strong, although is a dry heat. Take some water bottles to your room because if you are over there in dry season the water of the streams could be in very low level and contaminated with seeds of Zamia.

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