9th June 2013
After hesitantly leaving the river bed at Gregory Downs we head for Lawn Hill. I (Kristy) hadn't heard much about Lawn Hill before so I didn't really know what to expect. Tim had heard it was good so he pre booked us four nights at the National Park, and I'm glad he did. Lawn Hill National Park is a beautiful spot, well worth a visit.
Just outside of Lawn Hill National Park is Adels Grove campsite. Although we already had a booking at the national park, we thought we'd stop in for a quick sticky beak. It was a beautiful spot right next to a gorgeous flowing stream with plenty of shady trees, but very expensive, so we continued on to Lawn Hill to find our pre booked site.
The entry to Lawn Hill National Park, also known as Boodjamulla.
Very nice public amenities, catered to day trippers. Actual flushing toilets, not smelly drop pitts which is very unusual for a national park.
Information boards with the history of how the gorge was formed. A very fascinating read. If you're interested in it, you can get all the information of the National Parks website.
Our campsite, right next to the river (behind the trees).
Swimming hole and canoe hire in the gorge.
Early morning walk to 'Island Stack', which is pretty much a large pillar of rock that the river wraps around. Tim was in his element playing with his new toy - a Canon 6D. Hence where all of our beautiful pictures have come from.
Up we go. I wish I hadn't eaten so much breakfast.
Island stack lookout - looking back over the gorge to the south east.
Looking towards the opposite side of the gorge.
Tim doing his thing, scouting out the best shots.
I thought this tree was so pretty, I had to be lame and get a shot admiring it's beauty lol.
Looking down into the gorge. This section was in shadow first thing in the morning but it made the palm trees really stand out.
200 metres above the river we walk across this amazing rock. Once apon a time when there was an inland sea and this little fella was on the bottom of the ocean. Very cool!
The oldest parts of the gorge date back to 1560 million years ago when the area was on the sea bed. No mistake "1560" million years ago.
Around 400 million years ago the area to the east and south (below Constance range and the fossil area 'Riversleigh') was once again under water and by this time animals existed. Apparently nowhere else in the world has such a rich, detailed and continuous fossil record of the fauna, habitat and climate in one location. Over 250 fossil sites currently exist in the area.
Looking north east as we come to the end of the circuit.
That afternoon as the weather is heating up, it's time for a swim, off to the Indarri Falls we go.
tWe couldn't believe our eyes when we stumbled into this beautiful oasis.
We're not scared of crocs!! Well at least not small freshwater ones.
A last minute decision brings us to doing another walk today to view the sunset from another high point in the national park - The Constance Range. We pretty much ran up the range trying to make it in time for the sunset, turns out we got there with pretty of time to spare and Tim was able to get some stunning pics.
Looking east towards Adels Grove. Above and below
Looking west back towards the gorge.
The next morning we're up early again to canoe down the gorge. Adles Grove hire canoes at the national park for $25/hour. We nearly had a heart attack when we heard to price, but we really wanted to paddle down to gorge so we had to fork out the cash. I'm currently in the process of trying to convince Tim that we should buy a 2 man kayak and strap it to the roof. It's a work in progress lol.
Like a mirror!
Once we get to Indarri falls, we have to drag the canoe 30m to the upper gorge.
After a relaxing afternoon laying under these trees and writing this blog, we are ready for our next destination. We'll be leaving tomorrow morning and heading to Kingfisher camp which is only a 100km away (via dirt road of course). The plan there is to catch some fish...hmm, hopefully we'll have better luck there than what we had at Karumba.
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