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| Durba Spring |
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July 31 - August 2 2024 |
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Leaving Diebil Hills, another day of clear blue sky. While
expecting clouds, and possibly rain, for a couple of days. |
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The bedding planes in Diebil Hills are about horizontal.
We see other hills which are gently sloping. |
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And approach Durba Hills. |
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Just before the entrance to Durba Spring this cave caught
our attention. We investigated later, but just a convenient home for
kangaroos or wallabies.
The slope of the rock is obvious.
We see some suggestion of cross-bedding. Rock tilted then more sand
deposited on top. |
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Durba Spring. A flat grassy area with gum trees. |
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We chose poorly. Too much shade. |
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We chose again. In the great roulette wheel of life we
again chose poorly.
Plenty of sunshine, while it lasted. The rain which arrived later turned
the grey dust to dark mud. |
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But we get ahead of ourselves. Next day a walk up the
gorge. Past the numerous pools. |
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The walls aren't high. Just impenetrable. The trees
gnarled. |
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Our nemesis. The upward slope of the rock towards
the gorge entrance allowed water to erode a series of waterfalls. Situation
normal.
The nearest of them is difficult to climb up, and would be very difficult
to climb down.
We retreat to fight another day.
It is also the slight geological tilt that makes these hills subtly
different to Diebel Hills. And the resulting permanent water making them
more attractive to Aboriginals. |
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Its a 5km round trip over stony, bouldery, ground. |
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We follow the opposite wall to our walk in. |
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Tired and back at the campsite we are entertained by a Port
Lincoln Parrot. The second of the pair a bit shy. |
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Investigate the cave near the gorge entrance. An art
gallery. |
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We have no idea of the signficance. |
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But it looks interesting. |
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A largish cave. Room to stand. |
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We explore southwards a bit. A different sort of grass.
Chewed by animals. |
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Another day, some strange marks. We think where pebbles
have fallen out of the sandstone conglomerate. It rained a bit overnight,
but not enough to dampen our spirits. We set off with a cloudy overcast cool
day. |
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We climb up onto the top of the escarpment. |
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Across the relatively flat pavement. |
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To conquer our previous day's nemesis. |
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The large pool at the top of the waterfalls is not even a
little bit inviting on this cool day. Ideal for walking. Not so much for
swimming. |
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At last. Some intact nests. But no birds. |
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Further up the gorge, we stop a wee bit before the top. |
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We find some rock art. |
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Relatively easy going. |
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We climb out by what looks like an easier route than our
descent. And find "a new plant". New to us on this trip that is. |
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With a bit of art in a cave. |
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A few red mulga trees. The curly bark is minni ritchi.
Present in a few other trees. |
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A slightly different route to return to camp. We see the
lines of escarpment, we couldn't tell what they were on the satellite pic,
formed due to the tilt of the rock. |
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And some more rock art on the way down to camp level.
That night it rained enough to convert dust to mud. Which was trod into the
truck. Which required lots of cleaning. |
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| Well 15 to Well 12 |
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August 3 - 6 2024 |
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