Westward Ho!

Even though I promised myself no more traveling due to rapidly dwindling funds, I couldn't resist a spontaneous roadtrip to the outback during our mid-semester break. With only a vague itinerary in mind, five of us packed into a Wicked campervan that was in questionable condition. Carnarvon gorge would be our eventual destination, but getting there and back was an adventure in itself. Located 800km northwest of Brisbane, the gorge is an oasis in middle of central Queensland's notoriously dry highlands, with springfed crystal clear waters feeding the surrounding tropical rainforest, enclosed by towering sandstone cliffs. As we drove further west, the towns grew smaller and the townspeople grew wider. My doubts of Australia having the world's highest obesity rates have since been put to rest.

We pulled into Carnarvon National Park late in the afternoon, found that the main campgrounds were full but we could take the trail to Big Bend, where campsites located 10 km away were still unoccupied. So, with only a few hours of solid daylight left, we packed up what we need for the night and hiked. Quickly. The trail was relatively flat, but very tricky terrain because we were basically following the riverbed. Even when it hasn't rained for months, Carnarvon Creek still flows steadily, as rain throughout the year percolates slowly through the sandstone and seeps out into the gorge. We passed Cathedral Cave, which houses some of the Australia's most well-preserved rock art, showcasing work by aboriginals over 3500 years old. We reached our campsite at dusk, a fabulous site with our own personal pool and cliffs that provided great acoustics for our iPod speaker setup. We were the only ones around for miles, and we celebrated our good fortune with cold beers. From the case that I carried for 3 hours.

Lush greenery in the Carnarvon oasis

Aboriginal stencil art with and handprints

Sandstone cliffs surrounding our campsite

The next couple of days were spent sweating, hiking, swimming or a combination of all three, and it was blissful. So of course we blew a tire on the way driving out of the park. Did I mention we had already blown the spare tire on the way drving into the park? Right. Did I mention we were in the outback with no cellphone or radio reception? Interesting. So we sat by the side of the road... and waited. After a couple of hours somebody drove by saying he could fix our tires, so he left with two of our friends while we waited at the van. 5 hours later... we were still waiting. It was growing darker with the setting sun and the rain was starting to pour down outside. Inevitably images of Wolf Creek began to creep into my thoughts. I was about to switch from mildly worried to deeply concerned, when we saw headlights in the distance. Our friends were back! With new friends! And beer! The tires still weren't fixed, but our night was salvaged. After an impromptu roadside party and a few angry phone calls, we were on our way home the following morning, only 30 hours behind schedule.

Still happy campers