Carnarvon Gorge Day 2

I had a fairly lazy day today. I was going to walk to the top of Boolimba Bluff, the top of the cliffs nearest the visitors centre, but after walking from the end of the car park and crossing the creek I decided that it was all too much! So I walked along the nature trail that runs along the creek and crosses it several times.

Then I went to the rock pool. You’re supposed to be able to swim in it but although the setting was gorgeous, the rock pool itself was uninviting. The edges were straight down more than a metre, so you’d be covered in dirt getting in or out. Platypuses live here. As they’re nocturnal, you need to be there at dusk to see them.

There are four places to stay at Carnarvon Gorge itself. There’s a campground in the national park. Its ablution block is currently out of order, so no one can stay there. Just outside the park there’s three other places - the Carnarvon Gorge Wilderness Lodge which is very expensive, the Big 4 Carnarvon Gorge Holiday Park, and Sandstone Park. Otherwise you’d need to stay more than 100kms away (Injune is 180kms but Rolleston is closer). Both the wilderness lodge and the holiday park have cabins, but they were all full when I tried to book, so I had to camp in my car at either the holiday park or Sandstone Park. The holiday park and the wilderness lodge are both down in the hollow whereas Sandstone Park is on what might be a mesa, and every site has spectacular views. The holiday park has much better facilities, including a cafe/restaurant where I got lunch today. The caravans are all crammed in together. My site here is about the size of a small house block.