Echidna Chasm, Osmand Lookout, Domes walk, Cathedral Gorge, sunset lookout

Monday 16th June 2008

We had a quiet start to the day with the girls all playing together more or less happily. We did have to separate the two families for a while tho’ – too much time together doesn’t always suit them. Instead we settled our girls down to some did school work before putting a picnic lunch together and heading out to Echidna Chasm.

We’d been told that the best time of day was 11:30 to 12 so we weren’t surprised to see a tourist coach and quite a lot of cars there but luckily most of them were on their way out and by the time we got into the deepest part we had it more or less to ourselves. The chasm gets very narrow with high sides and as the light came overhead there was some excellent colour in there – hope the photos do it justice.

The walk is not like any of the other gorges we’ve been into because it goes along a (seasonal) creek bed that is made up of very large pebbles that used to be compacted together by silt that has now washed away. There were lots of palm trees and creepers growing in there and we also passed the bower of a bower bird with the usual collection of white stones decorating it outside.

Having taken lots of photos (had to be arty rather than reflecting the reality because of the angles involved) we walked out of the chasm and took side trail to the Osmand lookout. This has an excellent view, not only of the entrance to Echidna chasm but also of the Osmand ranges and surrounding countryside. Back at the car park we polished off our sandwiches in no time at all before hot-footing it round to the other side of the Bungle Bungle Ranges.

The girls were not at all keen to do this next bit – too many gorges again! The 45 minute drive with loud music helped a bit to change the mood. As we got around the corner we started to see the beehive-like domes that the area is famous for and we made many stops for photos – each one better than the last. It is truly impressive country and Paul and I were full of ‘Wow’s!

We were able to drive right into the domes before parking up and then dragged the girls along with us around them before heading into Cathedral Gorge. I made a deal with Holly to stop the whingeing and miraculously it stopped... so much better.

This walk was different again – either soft white sand or solid rock under foot made it much easier going and once we got into the shade it was deliciously cool. The dark bands on the domes are where the cyanobacteria penetrated the dirt (a long time ago!) and the orange bands are where the dirt dried out too quickly for bacteria to survive.

It wasn’t a very long walk (luckily for us) and we were soon in the stunning amphitheatre known as Cathedral Gorge. It is almost a full circle with huge overhanging rock and a (rather brown-looking) pool in the centre in which I got a few reflection photos.

The girls amused themselves with building sand castles in the lovely soft sand so we didn’t bother them for a while – despite there being no opportunity to swim they were happy and we had to make the most of it!

Walking back out seemed, as always, to be much quicker and we were less worried about our water supply with the end (and more water in the car) within our sights.

We did a speedy drive (so much easier without the trailer!) to the visitor’s centre before it closed so we could ring the UK and wish Mum and Elle Happy Birthdays. We had a long chat with Mum (Telstra PhoneAway card combined with an overseas calling card!), left a message for Elle and then rang Dad before he heads out to the UK.

All the calling left us with very little time to make it to the lookout for drinkies – specially since we had to pick up the drinks and nibble first! We were also stuck in the dust of the several others with the same idea but we got to the carpark, hotfooted it up the hill and made it with a few minutes to spare, took a photo then finally got out the sunset fare. Once again the kids did a good job of amusing themselves without too much input from us. Coming down from the lookout we really noticed the difference on the shaded side of the hill – distinctly cool! We were parked next to a car that had an incredible splash of orange dirt across its bonnet as well as a crushed roof rack – think it had been in a rollover recently – none of the doors on the passenger side quite closed properly. It was a sober reminder of the dangers of off-road driving.

Back at camp, supper was whipped up in super speedy time with Holly’s help so that they could watch the end of Shark Tale before crashing into bed – it had been a big day for them (and us).