Winjana Gorge National Park
Located about 25km from Tunnel Creek, Winjana Gorge National Park provides
a great spot to camp...but you pay for the privilege..$9.00 per person
per night.
The camping area is nestled at the foot of the imposing limestone cliffs
of the Napier Range and near the the head of the 3.5km long Winjana Gorge.
The Gorge was created by the Lennard River forging a path through the
fossil rich limestone reefs that gave birth to the Napier Range about
380 million years ago in the Devonian Period.
The reefs evolved from the deposition and build up of the calcareous
skeletons of millions of lime secreting organisms and corals; a number
of which are present today as fossils.
We set off a little after dawn to tackle the walk through the Gorge and
to explore its diversity of flora and fauna.
It wasn't long before we encountered a sandbar, completely surrounded
by water, and populated by dozens of dozing freshwater crocodiles. Further
along the track we saw several individual specimens, all brazenly basking
in the sun along the waters edge...totally unperturbed by our presence.
...a spectacle that reminded me of Parliament...carcasses harmlessly
dozing about...but waiting to strike at the first opportunity.
Deviating from the established pathway, and the right bank of the Gorge
that was now bathed in full sunlight, we decided to cross a sandbar to
the other side in order to capture some photographs of the illuminated
cliffs.
Mission accomplished, and being the pioneer types that we are...idiots
might be a more accurate description...we proceeded to trek back to the
mouth of the Gorge on the left bank...pushing our way through virgin scrub
and wading through long grass....ever vigilant for snakes and other opportunistic
crawlies with a craving for our soft white flesh.
Then...just as the South Pole was in sight...we were robbed of our ultimate
victory...stopped by mother nature...who had conspired against us by depositing
a cluster of huge, unassailable ghoolies between the cliff face and the
water's edge.
Idiots though we may be...we were not going to brave the crocodile soup
to get to our ultimate destination...so defeated, we retraced our route
to the established pathway on the other side of the Gorge...doubling our
journey's distance.
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