Friday, October 2, 2015

At home it would be unthinkable for me to be up, showered and dressed, happily (!) by 5:15 am. Since the sun rises here just after 5:00 a.m. and most importantly the flies sleep until 7:00 a.m., this and evening are the best times of day.

From a daytime temperature of 39 and 6% humidity to a nighttime low of 11-13 we are treated to a huge range of temperature. I love the places where it is dark, dark, dark at night and cool enough to need the sleeping bag as a cover.

What to say about the Domes part of the Bungle Bungle range? They are water-sculpted mounds of layered rock often beehive shaped, composed of sediment and a thin covering of cyanobacterium which when worn away leaves the alternating black and orange layers. They ought to look like a Hallowe’en witches hat but instead are simply awesome.

Next we set out on The Cathedral walk along a rocky riverbed to a huge semi-circle amphitheatre in the rock surrounding a pool. I can imagine it as the setting for songs and stories told around evening campfires. It was a place for silence and for the longest time we had it to ourselves in still reverence. Another couple arrived and were also taken in by the place whispering and walking slowly and quietly.

This was our day for walking. We’d been told by campers that the walk to The Echidna Gorge gives the best view of the sandstone cliffs at 11:00 a.m. when the sun is directly overhead and shines deep into the narrow gorge.

The walk into the gorge reminded me of Petra, Jordan and how the water and wind scoured the gorge walls creating the narrowest gap for our bodies and through which the sun reached the gorge floor at noon. At one point the gorge opened and it appeared to be the end but then we saw a ladder and climbed into an opening 10 feet across where again we sat in silence with 5 young people all of us caught up in reverence for the beauty.

The walls were 180 metres high, of red sandstone, at times so close together that my wide brimmed hat could not turn sideways and I had to take it off to pass through.

By the time we returned to the campsite we felt as if we had explored the wonders of the world.

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