Battleship Spur

This walk had been under consideration for quite a few years. The fact I had never tried a Queensland walk and it’s sheer remoteness both appealed. A few false starts including booking too late on one occasion meant the walk was now even more enticing.

12 | BWA October 2018

Wards Canyon

The first thing one realises when travelling to the gorge is its remoteness. The gorge is between Roma to the south and Emerald to the north, some 720 kilometres north-west of Brisbane by road.

After being caught in Brisbane’s peak traffic and buying cooking gas at the last minute it took me over nine hours to drive to the gorge. The drive west, passed through Toowoomba, a country town to rival Ballarat and possibly Geelong in size. Once through though, the road heads north-west into agricultural land, mostly cotton farms.

I reached Roma in late afternoon with another 200 kilometres remaining. The endless roadworks had slowed me somewhat. North of Roma the landscape turns to bushland and rolling hills, but I couldn’t escape the damn roadworks. Stopped at a red light for 10 minutes in the middle of the bush and with the Takarakka Lodge reception closing at 6pm, by this time I was ready to just charge through.

As the light dimmed, bright ochre red beams struck the evening clouds on the horizon to the west, highlighting the mountain range I was slowly moving toward.

The road dropped sharply into a valley while twisting around rocky outcrops. Large brown rocks dotted the roadside and growing larger as I approached. One monolith moved onto the road! *&%$# cattle! They were really hard to spot in the fading light and more so through an insect-encrusted windscreen. Slowing down I weaved through the “cow rocks,” my presence and the vehicle not bothering them in the slightest.

After passing many more animals - including a pair of wallabies standing on the roadside as if they were waiting for a bus - I entered Takarakka Lodge. I missed the office by six minutes but thankfully they had left an envelope with booking details. I had been looking forward to a cold beer but this was not to be.

Takarakka Lodge is well stocked with general supplies but don’t expect to buy screw bottle gas. They do sell metho though. It is a pretty place and very popular with caravanners. I was told cheaper camping was available back a few kilometres but my tent site only cost $20 or so.

BWA October 2018 | 13

Boowinda Gorge

Entrance to “The Amphitheatre”

Day 1 – to Big BendTotal time 6 hoursThe next morning was sunny and still. Roos welcomed me at the empty Carnarvon Gorge reserve, where camping must be booked and it's only open school and public holidays.

The walk through the gorge is very popular and I pushed through a full bus of old folk as they decided whether to ford the first stream. The gorge is heavily wooded at the start and the track twists through woodland and around rocky outcrops, making for some interesting walking.

The first attraction is a 650 metre detour to the Moss Garden. It was a quiet and dark cavern with a small stream falling to the lichen-covered rocks below. Very tranquil and worth the walk.

There are similar detours further on including the, Amphitheatre, Wards Canyon, Art Gallery and Cathedral Cave. The latter two attractions have some well preserved indigenous rock art. There's also some more recent contributions from visitors who feel the need to advertise their visit. I wonder if they will call graffiti the carbon age rock art?

The Amphitheatre was visually stunning. A steep staircase leads to a narrow path through a crevice in the rock, and a few metres later it opens up to a cavernous, well, cavern. Apparently classical musicians used to lug their instruments into this open cave and play to audiences. It would have sounded amazing.

The first day was over by mid afternoon, with only ten kilometres walked plus side trips. Allow six hours at a leisurely pace.

Big Bend is a flat and shaded camp on the inside of a bend in the gorge. A beautifully cool waterhole was great on the legs. The towering sandstone wall is just the other side of the river and being a gorge, light is lost very early. There are good composting toilets and a picnic table.

Day 2 – to Gadd’s walkers' campTotal time 8 hoursWalking time - forgot.

The second day’s feature is a 600 metre steep climb to Battleship Spur. To start the climb the walker needs to backtrack down Carnarvon Gorge and turn right into Boowinda Gorge - far narrower and darker than Carnarvon. This was an awesome start to the day. Boowinda Gorge runs narrowing and snaking through the sandstone, large basalt rocks littering the floor. Tree trunks piled like matchsticks against immovable boulders are an indication of the ferocity of this canyon in flood; today it was thankfully completely dry.

14 | BWA October 2018

A collection of tarns and orange trail arrows marks the start of the ascent. The track starts with a rock scramble through a crevice, quite okay for a fit walker but definitely not for the tourist bus hordes!

The track soon reaches a flat area with a sign, warning the ill-prepared to turn back. This stops day trippers walking through to Gadd’s camp, but seems strange as the Battleship Spur is a good, albeit long day walk.

The climb to Battleship lookout took the best part of four hours, very steep and very long. Staircases avoid anything too treacherous but be prepared for a slog, especially with a full pack and a day’s water. Battleship Spur is a slight detour off the main trail and a great place for lunch. Epic views of Carnarvon Gorge are laid out like a map below.

The remaining 10 kilometres to Gadd’s walkers’ camp is mostly overgrown foot track through grassland and cycads. The undulating track disappeared several times and a few more track markers could help. The grass is so dense, one can be 10 metres from the track and not see it.

Gadd’s walkers' camp consists of a good long drop toilet, a shelter and an underground rainwater tank with two hand pumps, which makes a lot of sense as no one can leave the tap on and empty the tank, and the water is kept away from sunlight. Great idea.

Day 3 – to West Branch camping areaTotal walking time 4 hours 45 minutes. Total time 6 hours.

The day is a 15.8 kilometre walk on 4WD management track and foot tracks, with a steep climb in the first seven kilometres past Angelina Creek.

The vegetation is a mixture of eucalyptus and cycads loosely dispersed through grassland. Once atop the first climb, there are great views east across the Carnarvon Creek gorge, 300 metres below, a good place for morning tea.

After a few more kilometres the track leaves the 4WD track, with a well marked left turn and onto single track. The track undulates

Boowinda Gorge

BWA October 2018 | 15

and descends into the Boot Creek valley where dry ironbark eucalyptus replaces the greener Cycad grasslands.

The West Branch walkers' camp is across a suspension bridge and is a 500 metre detour off the main track. This campsite is 200 metres from a drive in campsite, convenient if you have the need to beg a grey nomad for a beer! It is a very quiet spot with only one camper there on my walk.

Day 4 – to Consuelo camping zoneWalking time 5 hours 10 minutes. Total time 6 hours 30 minutes.

The morning began with two inquisitive magpies just outside my tent and a grey kangaroo with an inverted joey just a few metres away. They must have been surprised to see a human appear from the strange blue orb - about as surprised as I was to awake to an audience.

Day four is the longest - 17.3 kilometres with two steep inclines. The track from West Branch ascends gradually through sandy ironbark country and up into the Cycad grasslands again.

All single track, it is in good condition and didn’t disappear on me once, unlike day two. In good condition except for the pig’s relentless digging. I reckon they use the track as a piggy super highway and every hundred metres or so, sniff a buried morsel, excavating six square metres in the process. This can be beside the track, or right in the middle. It makes the track very hard to follow and is a complete mess visually. Some hillsides are covered in these unsightly digs. There must be thousands of the little mongrels out here and they need to be dealt with. There, I feel better now.

The two climbs are not arduous and the peak of the second climb is a good place for lunch.

The afternoon walk passes through the "Mahogony Forest”, a large area of enormous silver top stringybark - very similar to the alpine ash forests in Victoria. The height is now over 1200 metres which would explain such vegetation possibly.

Consuelo camping zone is a picturesque spot in a small valley and well protected. As with Gadd's walker's camp there is a shelter and underground water tanks.

Foot bridge to West Branch walker's camp

16 | BWA October 2018

Day 5 – to Cabbage TreeWalking time 3 hours 40 minutes. Total time 5 hours 30 minutes.

A relatively easy and short walk across the Consuello Tableland, mostly flat and easy walking through more beautiful forest.

About to leave when a rustle in be nearby grass revealed a black pig walking my way. Being a greenhorn Victorian (yes I know we have pigs in Victoria) I tried my best dominant intimidation ... something like gooowwnnn uuuckkkkooffff getouttaeree. It worked. The pig took off for the hills.

In retrospect I was glad of this harmless initiation in pig scaring. The day saw two more surprise pig moments. Almost on top of one of one before we realised each other’s

presence. Pig - “snort” and hasty retreat right across my path. Human “eek” frozen to the spot - replacement underwear please!!

For the remainder of the day I announced my presence with some cursing jibberish every few hundred metres. These pigs are huge and quite mean looking. The piggy excavations continued to be seen throughout the day.

I made camp at 2pm at Cabbage Tree. Another shelter and underground water tank but no toilets. The area is a camping “zone” which means you can pitch a tent anywhere in the vicinity but in reality options are limited as the surrounding grass is so thick and tall. A very tranquil spot though and one bar of 3G Telstra reception.

Day 6 – to the Vistors' CentreThe trail condition of the last day is in stark contrast to the virtual freeway of day five. Immediately from camp the walker is pushing through chest high grass - this continued on and off until the Demons Ridge climb.

Rock art

BWA October 2018 | 17

Peter is from Eltham, Victoria and is an avid bushwalker. A fan of longer treks, he has completed the Larapinta Trail, Overland Track (in winter) and the Australian Alps Walking Track, north to south. His next challenge is hopefully the Bibbulmun Track in Western Australia.

Alistair Hartley, Senior Ranger, Sandstone Management Unit, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, took time from a busy life – literally fighting bushfires – to provide advice about Carnarvon National Park.

The park is 298,000 ha in size, stretching about 220 kilometres. It encompasses a wide variety of rare and unique vegetation types from Brigalow/Belah and softwood scrubs through to open Queensland Bluegrass plains. It is also home to some rare and threatened fauna, with a number of new ground snails having been recently identified, as well as Glossy Black Cockatoos and Quolls having been found within the park. As well as finding unique flora and fauna within the park, there are a number of high-quality Aboriginal sites. These locations are important, and hold special significance to Aboriginal people, who still regularly visit these areas to conduct traditional activities.

The only bitumen road into the park is the access road into Carnarvon Gorge, with access to all other sections being over unsealed roads of varying quality. These roads are impassable after rain.

The best time of the year to visit is between April and October. These are cooler months, and provide a much more enjoyable experience to the park. Be warned though, sections of the park can drop below 0 °C in the middle of winter, and in summer, temperatures can exceed 40 °C. It is always advisable to have large amounts of water with you when exploring these remote areas.