We've spent the past few days at Carnarvon Gorge, where the traditional owners are the Karingbal and Bidjara peoples. The Indigenous peoples in this area have a special connection with Carnarvon Gorge, believing that the rainbow serpent, Mundagurra, travelled through the creek, carving the sandstone as he moved in and out of the water. The traditional owners describe the gorge as being a place of great learning and spirituality.
When you enter the national park, you can feel the cultural and historical significance of the place. It's palpable. Like walking into a 20,000 year-old cathedral.
Unfortunately I didn't see as many of the cultural and natural sights as I would have liked. Most involve a day's hiking over rough terrain, which would probably make my knees complain a bit. Plus I'd left the Labs back at camp and was fretting about them. On top of that, I'd taken an unplanned swim while crossing the creek and was wet from the bum down. So I was restricted to viewing the rock pools and walking along the short nature trail near the entrance to the park.
But I was far from disappointed, and while walking the nature trail, had the very special experience of watching a couple of platypus paddling around in the creek. It's the first time I've seen these elusive animals in the wild. The photo isn't the best - they're hard to spot and even harder to photograph - but if you look really hard you might see it.
Here are some other photos I took along my wanderings. Like most of these places, the photos don't do it justice, but maybe it'll give you an inkling of how beautiful this place is.
Oh, and when I got back to camp the Labs were loyally guarding Loretta from the comfort of their beds. No need to fret at all.
You got a great clear shot of the platypus. ....actually on closer inspection the clear shot is a turtle! But I can make out the platypus. Good job! They're so relaxing to watch.
What fantastic photos Barb. And yes ... I looked hard and could see something in the water!