When Anna, my Australian mother in Brisbane, sent me off to
Roma, she said “Make sure you go to Carnarvon Gorge, it is spectacular”. She
also said “Roma is a lovely country town, I’m sure you will like it there.
Maybe you will find yourself a nice country man.”
As I soon got to know how Roma and the country men were, her
first suggestion was kind of discredited. But I did my research on the gorge,
which convinced me that I want to go there and I had a non-country man, who was
luckily eager to have a holiday.
Mav got his days off approved, I quit the job and there we
went straight to Carnarvon Gorge dodging all the random cows, alive and already dead kangaroos and few wild
boar corpses on the way.
It was quite a challenge in the beginning. Driving the car
with the wheel on right side, that is.
Mav would say it was a challenge for me the whole way through, but I’m pretty
sure I got it better on the way back. No more turning windscreen wipers on
instead of indicators and driving offroad in random moments. We did get stuck
in the mud on the way back and had to be pulled out by a four wheel drive, but
that’s another story and definitely not entirely my fault.
Anyhow, we made it to Carnarvon, car full of trekking gear,
food and extra blankets. Mind you, it is winter in Australia now and nights can
be freezing. However prices for accommodation are outrageous – little cabin
with bed and heating, but no kitchen costs 240 dollars per night. That’s
insane. So we opted for something that is called Taka tent. It’s like a tiny
house, elevated from the ground, floor from wood, but the rest made of
canvas. There is electricity, a fridge,
but no heating. Pretty comfortable actually.
When approaching Carnarvon, the flat, semi arid landscape
changes and distant horizon is cut shorter by the hills. You know how good that
feels after all the months on the flat flat ground, nothing higher than a two
storey house?
We had three days there. Actually two as on the third it was
raining and muddy (hence the minor incident of getting stuck). But on the first
two days we got to see most of what there is. To give it a kick start I of
course chose the hardest route for the first afternoon - getting up on the
ridge to Boolimba Bluff.
This route was graded level 4 with description close to the
one used for overland track in Tasmania – the classic “Death and injury are
common in the Tasmanian mountains” (I still find that funny). As we
successfully managed to get up the route “meant only for physically well fit”,
we got to see what’s up there. It was a great view, no bluffing. As a cherry on
the cake, there was also a perfect cliff edge to sit on, enjoy the view and
ponder: Jump or not to jump?
Second day trekking highlights where heaps of kangaroos, who
don’t mind your presence, king ferns and fern tree rainforest and the aboriginal rock art.
It was great to be outdoors again, eat and drink by the
fire, not to mention that the food was made by a chef.It was lovely.
Nevertheless, all must come to an end. Got back to Roma,
washed 10kilos of mud off the car and headed back to the car rental. On the
radio Maroon 5 latest hit was playing.
Next day I had my flight to Brisbane.
