Today was absolutely
magical, a highlight for me. We woke and packed up bright and early and headed
out to Echidna Chasm by 7:30am. The walk to the gorge was over a river bed of
pebbles with red sandstone cliffs towering on either side and palm trees hugging
the rocks. The chasm itself was only a metre wide at its narrowest and we felt
quite small and insignificant when we looked up. On our way to Piccaninny Creek
we checked in at the airstrip and ensured we were booked for the 1:30pm
helicopter flight. Then we drove through the Bungle Bungle itself with the
iconic beehive striped domes of sandstone karst. The views were breathtaking,
it was so exciting!
We packed our
backpacks with drinks and muesli bars and set off on the Domes walk. The
sandstone is protected from major erosion by a thin film of iron oxide and
cyanobacteria which create the coloured bands. Underneath it is white, fragile
sandstone which is powdery and just blows away. We ensured the kids were
careful to keep to the sandy riverbeds and didn't walk on the domes.
They tower
above you as you walk and many have their sheer walls covered by termite mounds
climbing all the way to the top. We arrived at what we thought might be
cathedral gorge but it was tiny and disappointing, so we trekked on and on and
on and on until we reached the real Cathedral Gorge - it was incredible. A huge
ampitheatre carved out of the rocks by an immense waterfall in the wet season.
It dwarfed us all and people walking on the other side of the cavern looked
like ants. The algae on the water within the cavern reflected fluorescent
yellow in the sunlight and there were many frogs and tadpoles around. Rowan was
a real trooper and kept going despite sore, tired legs to get back to the
carpark on our tight time schedule to meet our helicopter flight. We had lunch
at the carpark picnic area with a gorgeous view of the domes of the range and
the kids watched in fascination as some local ants devoured a cocroach which
had stowed away in our lunch bag.
Full of anticipation
we reached the airstrip, went through our safety induction talk and the
children dutifully and correctly answered their safety pop-quiz questions. Then
we watched our Longranger Helicopter land and important supplies from Kununurra
were unloaded (many cartons of beer). Then it was time to get in, ducking under
the rotating blades, through the open doors - both rear doors were removed for
this flight.
Ashley and Emma each sat facing backwards with a bubble window
beside them, while Rob and I sat either side next to the open 'door' with Rowan
in between us. Ashley was jumping in his seat, grinning ear to ear with
excitement. We put on our headphones and were shown how to use the intercom
(wish he hadn't taught the kids that). Take off was so much fun. All of us in
the back row had to wear jackets due to the wind - poor Rowan had the wind in
his eyes the whole flight and found it hard to open his eyes to see. I had a
minor freak out the first time we banked left and I was hanging over the abyss
with nothing to hold on to! I grabbed at me belt but it just kept coming out! Rob snapped away with the camera and managed to get some beautiful photos. Most
of the national park has no roads and is accessible only by helicopter so we
were privileged to be able to see these remote and beautiful gorges. It was
truly spectacular.
Then came the
1.5hour drive back along the dirt road with washouts, undulations, river
crossings and dust. Poor Rob was exhausted. We took our van out of storage and
transferred to a powered site right next to the toilets and a huge safari
marquis with fairy lights where Rob and I had a scrumptious dinner of Pea and
Ham soup with fresh damper; beef stew and rice. Yum! The kids had leftovers
before hand as we knew they would say 'we don't like this', but Ashley ate what
was left off my plate anyway and loved it. He is a bottomless pit! We all sat
around the large firepit and chatted to fellow campers, then piled into bed by
8:30, completely spent.
What a brilliant day.
No comments:
Post a Comment