Taking the heat in Carnarvon Gorge
November 2006
Two days of driving across hundreds of kilometers of flat dry country, the monotony broken only by an occasional open-cut coal mine or cattle range, brings us to the Carnarvon Gorge section of Carnarvon National Park in central Queensland. It is 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit) when we arrive! The thought of a long hike the next day is daunting, but that is what we’ve come to do. Carnarvon Gorge is known for its dramatic sandstone bluffs, its fascinating Aboriginal rock art—both painted and carved—and its wildlife. We hope to see it all on the park’s well-developed walking track system.
Fortunately, next day is a bit cooler. The first impression is of sound—echoing between the walls of the gorge as we walk along are the insistent cries of Common Koel, the raucous laughs of kookaburras, and the loud piping of Pied Currawongs. The latter are bold and inquisitive, letting me get close images around the camping area.
And it’s at Carnarvon that finally we see kangaroos—more and closer than we’ve seen in our entire trip up until now. Around the visitor center and picnic areas, lanky Eastern Grey Kangaroos and delicately-featured Whiptail Wallabies emerge to feed at dusk. I love rim lighting. It works well for furry mammals, but less so for birds unless they’re fluffed up on a cold morning. I underexposed 1 stop from the normal exposure of this Eastern Grey Kangaroo to accentuate the rim-light and avoid blowing out the highlights.
