Today marked our last day at Carnarvon, with our next stop to be the Great Barrier Reef. Although we’ve stayed at Carnarvon Gorge longer than expected due to the cyclone off the eastern coast, it allowed us to explore even more of the beautiful park.
We were woken again by the sounds of Laughing Kookaburras, reminding us that this was their home and we’ll have to wake up with them, even if it’s 5:30 am! For breakfast, Maggie and Roger cooked up some of their famous porridge and we spent the rest of the morning relaxing and watching the mob of Eastern Grey Kangaroos make its way around the campground. So many joeys to be seen!
After lunch, our field guide Simon led us on a hike to Boolimba Bluff, sharing his massive amount of knowledge of this park with us. We were able to witness the changing landscape as we increased in altitude and began to have variation in light. The trees became taller and skinnier, conserving the energy that would be used to produce a stronger trunk for more energy to collect nutrients and water. As we reached the base of the bluff, we were met with a steep incline and many stairs! But getting to the top was worth it, with some great views as well as a discussion of the the Aboriginal history of Carnarvon which spans back thousands of years.
We ended our day by beginning to pack up for our next journey, and saying farewell to Simon. We spent the rest of the night around the campsite fires, roasting Australian marshmallows and looking at the stars. That was just one of the great things about Carnarvon, the beautiful nigh sky which provided us with hours of stargazing and hunts for the southern cross and Big Dipper.
Carnarvon ended up being a great place to conduct our field studies, but also gave us so many variations in landscapes to explore. A wonderful last adventure in the Australian bush!