We start today early with an opportunity of walking right to the end of the Gorge to Big Bend – a distance of 20 km return. There are many walks to do on the way out and back, such as Boowinda Creek, Ward’s Canyon, Art Gallery and the Amphitheatre.
The steep overhanging walls of Carnarvon Gorge house some of the most vivid aboriginal artwork anywhere in the country. The indigenous art sites and rock engravings at places like the Art Gallery and Cathedral Cave house literally thousands of such images, images there to teach aboriginal customs, laws, history and where to find food.
You’ll walk the length of the gorge, crisscrossing the river on stepping-stones many times. Interestingly the indigenous people felt that the gorge had immense power and preferred not to live here permanently. Once you’ve walked the gorge you’ll get an understanding to why that was so.
If this sounds like a lot, there are numerous fascinating gorges to visit with our second guide who will be offering a less demanding walk for some of the group.
After dinner enjoy an optional night walk with our professional guides and try to spot sugar gliders among the many other animals that inhabit the forest this time of day.
Walks: Moderate / 20km / 6 to 7 hrs / an alternative easier walk is available
Meals: Breakfast, packed hiking lunch and dinner
Accommodation: Carnarvon Gorge Wilderness Lodge
Jane R
Guides Michelle and Christian were amazing, having local + detailed knowledge of the geography, plant and bird life, and aboriginal painting “stencils” etc.
The bus was top notch super comfortable getting from Roma to the gorge, which was amazing and super peaceful- really high cliffs and gums but plenty of rainforest ferns and palms as well.
I also enjoyed the basic accommodation (it looked just like a 4 bed cabin but with thick tented fabric) ,and just managed ok with no heating on a 2 degree night. The Breeze Holiday Park has just built better cabins with air con so maybe that’s an option in future. It was super quiet after dark. Bring a decent torch or 2 or a headtorch .
Food was excellent – eg hot porridge one morning, lots of fresh veggies, including chicken veg stir fry- yum!
All in all is give this second spot out of 9 recent walking tours I’ve done.
Tracy W
Thank you Auswalk! What a gorge-ous experience we had. Blessed with magnificent weather and outstanding guides, this is an area you just have to experience. Tucked away and preserved so beautifully, there are stories to learn and incredible sights to see. Go!
Jack J
Woh!!! What an hidden treasure. Our trip to Carnarvon Gorge was equal to any we have done in the world. Our guides Kat and Merel were a wealth of knowledge and made sure we were safe and enjoying our trip at all times. Both were extremely professional and genuinely cared. Kat and Merel were called to assist an emergency at the caravan park along with one of our fellow walkers who was a nurse. It bought home to us all the importance of walking with a company who had medical procedures in place. The accomodation at all places was more than acceptable, the quality of food was fantastic and a surprise. So good to see a variety for lunch instead of the basic sandwich. I requested a slight change in diet and it was never an issue. Carnarvon is a long journey however the breaks and organisational skills to have that short walk after a day of driving was excellent. We would arrive at our destination, bags in our room, shower and dinner. Dividing the group into those who requested a shorter option was fantastic. The faster group were then able to move at a faster pace and cover more ground on some of the more challenging walks. This trip is well worth the journey. Thank you Auswalk. This is our first trip with your company and I am sure we will be lining up for more.
Susan R
Wonderful experience amongst Australian old forests ,wildlife ,good track walking, great food & excellent accommodation. Gorges spectacular, do do the helicopter flight at Carnarvon Gorge. Guides extremely knowledgeable, caring & fun. Wonderful way to spend 8 days but do train beforehand. Great holiday for singles.
Jen N
Marie and Lisa, our Auswalk guides, made it all go smoothly and as a result the experience was very enjoyable and informative for us(even down to making a surprise birthday cake for one of our walkers). A great balance of shorter and longer walks at each location. We also enjoyed having a smaller walk on the days of bus travel to break this up. Our hosts at each location made us feel very welcome. Believe it when the Auswalk notes say it can get cold at these locations!!