June 28th: I got up early to look for spinifex pigeons and painted finches at Joffre gorge, but we did not have much luck seeing them, but were able to hear the finches. We saw the black faced cuckoo shrike. We went to Knox gorge with Craig and Jill. This turned out to be the only gorge walk we have been on so far that was labelled level 5 for difficulty, and it really was a level 5! We clambered down many steep ironstone rocks some in makeshift steps others not so discernible as actual steps, more little challenges! We reached the bottom of the gorge where there was a small lake with very blue water. In trees overhanging this water there were many bats hanging upside down in the branches. We then proceeded to the right along the valley floor across many loose rocks and crisscrossing the stream running the length of the gorge. On one part we had shuffle around on a narrow rock ledge finding hand holes to support our weight in the rocks above. We reached the end of the gorge as far as we were permitted to go and one more there was some rock climbing to do! We saw a small legless lizard.We returned the way we had come. This time the rick ledge didn’t seem so bad but I found some mud to walk into with both boots! This resulted in my boots being very slippery and I slipped onto the hard rocks, fortunately just grazing and bruising my knees with no broken bones! My iWatch thought I had a “hard fall” and offered to call emergency services. Fortunately I was given the option to decline!
Nic and I then went to the Karijini Visitors centre where we learnt something of the indigenous history of the area. A windcheater caught Nic’s eye with 3 spinifex pigeons embroidered on it. He bought it for me and we also bought Karijini NP beanies as we didn’t bring ours with us!
We returned to the Ecocentre where a group of spinifex pigeons clustered around our van!!. Nic then checked all the tyre pressures.We had hamburgers for dinner at the Eco Retreat restaurant eating out side, before proceeding to our Night Skies viewing. Our guide was Lindsay who spoke very quickly and imparted a lot of knowledge to us. The concept of stars trillions of km away became totally meaningless because distances were so vast. We took it in turns viewing through her telescope The moon, Alpha Centuri, the Jewel Box and the Corina. She pointed out clearly Dark Emu with its head nestled in the southern cross. She told us about an app called Stellarium for star gazing and she taught us how to take a photo of the skies with an iPhone and delayed exposure.
She then discussed the concept of light pollution. Karijini is 3 on a score of 9 (Bortle score) due to nearby mines. Nullarbor is 1 and big cities are 9.
Comments
Post a Comment